HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



253 



the common elm {Uliims cainpcstris) to bifurcation of 

 the central vein, often to the extent of complete divi- 

 sion of the leaf into two leaves. When the division 

 is slight, the tip of the leaf is only slightly bifid, but 

 we often meet with all intermediate degrees of bifur- 

 cation between that and complete duplication of both ■ 

 leaf and leaf-stalk. I have been observing this for 

 seven or eight years, and have, thus far, only found 

 it in U. campcstris ; I have never seen it in Uhmi-s 

 siibcrosa. 



In the Wych elm ( U. monland) I have sometimes 

 found an apparent division of the tip of the leaf into 

 three ; but, upon careful examination, it has proved to 

 be only an elongation of two lateral veins, and not a 

 bifurcation or trifurcation of the central. 



Although this trifid condition is more common in 

 young trees of U. campestris, I have also found it in 

 the terminal leaves of branches on old trees : in some 

 young and vigorous shoots, nearly all the leaves are 

 sometimes partly, or completely divided. I shall be 

 glad to learn through the Science-Gossip columns, 

 whether other observers have noticed the same thing, 

 as soil and situation may possibly make it more or 

 less a local peculiarity. I have looked in vain for 

 similar forms in hazel, hornbeam, beech, &c. 



NoRRis F. Davey, M.R.C.S.L., &c. 



GOSSIP ON CURRENT TOPICS 

 By W. Mattieu Williams, F. R.A.S. 



THE natural law of demand and supply is well 

 illustrated by Microbia. The public mouth 

 is wide open and eager to swallow any and every 

 bugbear concerning these creatures, and they are dis- 

 covered accordingly. A scientific contemporary tells 

 us that " The dangers to public health which lurk in 

 out-of-the-way places appear inexhaustible," and then 

 describes the researches of M. Reinsch of Erlangen, 

 who "has devoted much study to the matter," and 

 thereby discovered that old and recent coins of all 

 metals from all the European states are infested with 

 "micro organisms of algre and bacteria." Reinsch 

 obtains these by industriously scraping away the 

 matter which accumulates in the interstices of the 

 relief with a needle, placing the scrapings in a drop 

 of distilled water, and examining this under a micro- 

 scope. We are further told that "a recent writer in 

 ' Science et Nature ' refers to this discovery as of 

 great importance from a hygienic point of view." 

 This has been repeated in many newspapers and 

 magazines, — has in fact "gone the round." If any 

 of my readers have been alarmed thereby they may 

 send me by parcels post, addressed to Stonebridge 

 Park, N.W., all the questionable coins in their pos- 

 session, as I am not frightened at all, having discovered 

 long ago that, in spite of tooth brushes and dentifrice, 

 the interstices of my own teeth and tongue and palate 



are in the same condition as those of the coins, and 

 yet I have lingered on for threescore years and still 

 remain alive. If these readers (after despatching the 

 coins as above) will use a needle and scrape between 

 their own teeth, as Reinsch did between the relievi of 

 the coins, and examine the result with a high power, 

 (|-inch or upwards) of a good microscope, they will 

 find abundant microl)ia all alive and wriggling. Some 

 of them may possibly be " comma shaped." A good 

 haul of these may be readily captured by scraping the* 

 tongue with the edge of a knife. I doubt whether 

 we can scrape anything that has ever been moistened 

 and exposed to the air without repeating Reinsch's 

 discoveries, if we put the scrapings in water^ and 

 magnify sufiiciently. 



Another bugbear has been set on foot by the 

 newspapers. We are to be infected by means of 

 maccaroni, as the following quotation will show : 

 "A correspondent writes to suggest the connection 

 there may be between cholera and maccaroni. Any 

 one who has followed the road along the coast from 

 Naples to Pompeii must have noticed the numberless 

 rows of maccaroni tubes along the wide margin of 

 the roadway." This is followed by a picture of the 

 consequences of the wind depositing "the seeds of 

 pestilence " on the adhesive surface of the paste and 

 the paste accordingly carrying cholera microbia 

 throughout Europe. 



"Our correspondent " has, however, omitted two 

 facts which completely refute his alarming suggestions. 

 The first is that the maccaroni which he saw hanging 

 out to dry on the roadside is not exported at all. 

 It was manufactured exclusively for domestic use, 

 and no more likely to reach England than the pan- 

 cakes made on Shrove Tuesday in English domestic 

 kitchens are likely to be exported to Naples. 

 Maccaroni is the staple food of Neapolitans, and the 

 Neapolitan housewife makes it as familiarly as the 

 English housewife makes the paste for pies and 

 puddings. That which comes here is produced in 

 large factories, where the dangers described are no 

 greater than in ordinary bakeries. The second fact, 

 unseen l)y the writer, is, that before we eat maccaroni 

 we stew it in boiling water for about half an hour. 

 This would effectually wash away and destroy any 

 infection germs that might possibly be adherent 

 to it. 



These alarmists say nothing concerning another 

 possible carrier of infection that is not cooked, not 

 washed, nor cleansed b/ any other process, but 

 which in the course of its manufacture is handled 

 freely by questionable fingers and in very hot fever- 

 smitten climates, and not unfrequeutly moistened by 

 questionable saliva. The consumers of this very 

 questionable product simply suck it in its raw un- 

 cleansed condition. I refer to the cigar. Further 

 details concerning the picking of the leaves, their 

 exposure like the maccaroni for drying, the rolling, 

 and the final finishing twisting and moistening of the 



