556 ANNUAL RECOltD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 

 DESTROYING THE TASTE OF COD-LIVER OIL. 



An Italian physician, referring to the objectionable taste 

 of cod-liver oil, and the many methods adopted to render it 

 less obnoxious to sick persons, states that its peculiar smell 

 and taste can be completely removed by digesting it with 

 roasted coffee and ivory-black. For this purpose, one part of 

 good roasted coffee and one and a half parts of ivory-black 

 are to be mixed with twenty parts of cod-liver oil, and the 

 whole placed for a quarter of an hour in a retort heated by 

 steam to a temperature of 120 to 140 Fahr., after which the 

 liquid is allowed to settle, and is then filtered. The oil, it is 

 said, then tastes and smells precisely like coffee. 



As iodine is said to lose not only its taste and odor, but 

 also some of its chemical and physiological properties after 

 being mixed with an infusion .of coffee, it may be necessary 

 to add a certain quantity of free iodine to the mixture thus 

 prepared in order to restore that element to the oil. 21 C, 

 September, 18*70, 164. 



NEW AFFECTION OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. 



A peculiar and hitherto undescribed affection of the nerv- 

 ous system is mentioned by Dr. Fieber, of Vienna, as being 

 characterized by an impossibility of executing moderately 

 fast movements through the agency of the will, while ex- 

 tremely slow or very rapid movements can be executed with- 

 out any difficulty. 20 A, May 27, 622. 



SIGN OF HYSTERIA. 



According to a French memoir, an infallible sign of hyste- 

 ria consists in the insensibility of the epiglottis. This, as 

 stated, may be readily determined by introducing the finger 

 gently into the mouth, so as not to disturb the patient, and 

 placing it upon the base of the tongue. In case of hysteria, 

 the epiglottis may be displaced and scratched with the finger- 

 nail without producing the least regurgitation. 6 A, May 

 13,591. 



CAUSE OF SUN-STROKE. 



According to a late writer, sun-stroke is due to the action 

 of light upon the brain, exerted through the eye, and not, as 



