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POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



with the first three rays of the dorsal fin, 

 the duct being formed as in Trachinis. There 

 is also a spine on each gill cover connected 

 with a poison gland. The effect of a wound 

 from either of these fish is quite a serious- 

 matter. At the moment of puncture only 

 the sharp prick is felt. In a few minutes, 

 however, the part commences to burn and 

 itch, and then becomes acutely painful. 

 These pains increase in violence and extent. 

 Then a feeling of suffocation is felt, and 

 pain over the heart. From this time com- 

 mence those cries of anguish which can al- 

 ways be recognized as caused by the acutest 

 torture and fear. The dies are continu- 

 ous, and beads of sweat stand on the brow. 

 Flashes of light pass before the eyes, and 

 the pulse is found to beat intermittently. 

 Finally, delirium and convulsions supervene, 

 which may pass on to collapse and death, or 

 may, after lasting for many hours, gradually 

 subside, leaving a malaise which is very diffi- 

 cult to get rid of. The point of puncture soon 

 shows the results of intense irritation, and 

 may eventually become gangrenous and ne- 

 cessitate amputation. The treatment is prac- 

 tically the same as that for a snake bite. 

 The poison approaches that of the serpent in 

 character, being alkaloidal, very quickly de- 

 composed, and intensely rapid in action. It 

 is secreted in larger quantities at the spawn- 

 ing season, and is most active in the male 

 fish. On coasts where these fish abound it 

 frequently happens that bathers are poisoned 

 by stepping on one of them, the Trachinii 

 being especially fond of concealing them- 

 selves just under the sand in shallow water. 

 It would be of interest to know whether Dr. 

 Calmette's snake-bite antitoxin is also effi- 

 cient against the venom of these fishes. 



Baku. A very interesting account of 

 Baku, the great petroleum center in Russia 

 on the Caspian Sea, is given by W. F. Hume. 

 Its growth, it seems, has been almost West- 

 ern in rapidity. What was an insignificant 

 town of fourteen hundred inhabitants thirty 

 years ago, is now a flourishing city of over 

 one hundred thousand souls whose popula- 

 tion is still rapidly increasing. Two causes 

 have combined to bring about this rapid 

 growth : First, its magnificent harbor, and, 

 secondly and chiefly, its proximity to the 

 main area of naphtha supply, which already 



rivals that of America in productiveness. 

 Several attempts were made to start refiner- 

 ies in this district, the first by the brothers 

 Doubinnin in 1823, but until 1859, when M. 

 Kokareff founded the Baku Petroleum Com- 

 pany, none of them were successful. In 1865 

 the first refinery was established in Baku itself, 

 and so rapidly did the industry develop, that in 

 IBYS the town was in danger of becoming en- 

 tirely absorbed by the distilleries that rose on 

 every hand, while the black, dense, and acrid 

 smoke from the naphtha-fed furnaces poi- 

 soned the atmosphere. The nuisance be- 

 came such a serious one that the whole in- 

 dustry was moved outside the town (by an 

 edict of the Government, which is Russian). 

 How intolerable it had become, may be in- 

 ferred from the fat that the sole firmg ma- 

 terial for the furnaces was the refuse oil, and 

 no smoke-consuming appliances were em- 

 ployed ; not only the buildings but the whole 

 surface of the ground became coated with a 

 thick layer of soot, while the roads were al- 

 most impassable, owing to pools and ponds of 

 oil. The city received the name, Tchornoia 

 Gorod (black town), which still clings to it. 

 Through the use of a smoke-consuming de- 

 vice the present factory district is quite free 

 from soot, and is hence called the white 

 town. Baku is a commercial center, but 

 most undesirable for residential purposes. 

 It is subject to heavy dust storms, rainless- 

 ness, intense heat, and there is an almost 

 entire absence of vegetation and fresh water. 

 The only garden is the so-called Alexander 

 II, maintained at great expense, the shrubs 

 and trees being planted in imported soil. 

 The spot of chief interest about the town is 

 the plateau of Balachani-Sabountchi, situ- 

 ated about eight miles to the northeast of 

 Baku. Here are located the great petroleum 

 wells. Viewed from a distance the tall, closely 

 set, truncated towers erected over the wells 

 look almost like a pine forest. These pyra- 

 mids consist of a wooden boarded frame- 

 work, and are easily removable when the 

 bore becomes exhausted. The Baku district 

 is so saturated with naphtha oils that there 

 is an ever-present danger of serious fires 

 through the ignition of the hydrocarbon 

 gases, which escape not only from the bores 

 but through every fissure and cleft in the 

 soil, and, although every possible precaution 

 is taken, many disastrous fires have occurred. 



