550 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



ply the result of the more decided extension of the irritation 

 which attacks the conjunctiva and the nasal and pharyngeal 

 mucal surface. He concludes, in fine, that hay fever must be 

 stricken from the list of diseases as a distinct condition, and 

 that it is to be regarded simply as a catarrhal fever, influ- 

 enced and modified in its origin and progress according to 

 individual peculiarities, and by atmospheric conditions which 

 produce acute affections of the bronchia. 1 JB, October 19, 

 1873,46. 



CAUSE OF PUTREFACTION IN EGGS. 



According to Gayon, the putrefaction of eggs corresponds 

 with the development in them of vibriones, and these he 

 thinks are introduced in the egg while in the process of for- 

 mation in the ovary, but do not penetrate as high as has 

 sometimes been supposed. In proof of this fact, the author 

 in examining the oviduct of a recently killed fowl has found 

 both bacteria and spores of fungi. Their number diminishes 

 in passing up the oviduct, but they have been seen as high 

 as four or five inches from its aperture, and there is no reason 

 why they may not pass up still higher. 21 A, November, 

 1873,1150. 



RESEARCHES ON DIABETES. 



Among the more important of the conclusions announced 

 by Professor Claude Bernard, of the College of France, as the 

 result of his investigations upon diabetes, is 1st, that sugar 

 exists in a normal condition in the blood and liver; but for 

 the demonstration of this fact recourse must be had to fresh 

 blood from a vein or artery, as it decomposes very rapidly 

 after death. Diabetes is simply an exaggeration of the con- 

 ditions under which sugar is normally formed. 2d, any sur- 

 plus of sugar in the blood is always eliminated by the kid- 

 neys ; and, as a general rule, while there may be 70 parts of 

 sugar in a thousand of the urine, we can not have more than 

 2 or 3 parts in the blood. 3d, the sugar in the blood is de- 

 rived from the liver, and the action of the nervous system is 

 exercised upon it through the circulation. 4th, the opinion 

 of those who consider the presence of sugar in the liver and 

 in the blood as a cadaveric phenomenon is entirely errone- 

 ous; on the contrary, the presence of sugar in the blood is a 



