i8o 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



states show very plainly that the use of anaesthetics 



for annulling pain in surgical operations is but a 



revival of an ancient practice, and that the mandrake 



(Atropa mandragora) was one of the most popular 



agents. 



" Give me to drink mandragora 

 That I might tleep out this great gap of time." 



exclaims Cleopatra during the absence of Mark 

 Antony, and Iago says, when he had duly poisoned the 

 mind of his confiding master, 



" Not po-py nor mandragora 

 Nor all the drowsy syrups of the world 

 Shall ever rr.edecine thee to that sweet sleep 

 Which thou ow'dst >esterday." 



Dr. Richardson with some difficulty obtained a 

 specimen of the root, and from it prepared the 

 "Wine of Mandragora" according to the ancient 

 recipe. His experiments show that the ancient 

 reputation of this preparation was well founded as far 

 as its anaesthetic properties are concerned, that it is 

 "a general anaesthetic of the most potent quality," 

 and he has no doubt that its active principle, if 

 isolated, would be " one of the most active anaesthetics 

 we have yet discovered." This is not all, it possesses 

 the valuable property of producing long continued 

 local insensibility. Dr. Richardson found that, on 

 applying the tincture to his lips the insensibility was 

 very decided, and lasted for more than an hour. 



Some of our very numerous aspirants in organic 

 chemistry will do well in separating the alkaloid or 

 whatever else the active principle of the mandrake 

 may be, and studying its compounds. 



As regards the difficulty of obtaining specimens, I 

 may mention a fact that came under my notice two or 

 three years ago. The driver of one of the Harlesden 

 omnibuses on which I was riding, drew from his 

 pocket a piece of what appeared to be horse-radish, 

 and told a long story concerning the wondrous 

 medicinal virtues of this root which he called the 

 mandrake. He used it by scraping, and chewing the 

 shavings. Its appearance corresponded to the 

 drawings I have seen, excepting that it lacked the 

 bifurcation supposed to represent the legs of a man. 

 He obtained it from a herbalist and always carried 

 it, supposing that he thereby rendered himself proof 

 against infection. 



Science in Turkey. — A report on the Climat- 

 ology of Constantinople, based upon the results of 

 twenty years' observations made at the Imperial 

 Meteorological Observatory by command of the 

 Sultan, may appear surprising to some people who 

 have been deluded by factious falsehoods iDto the 

 belief, that the "unspeakable" Turk is a creature 

 incapable of scientific or any other progress. M. 

 Coumbray, Director of the Constantinople Observa- 

 tory, issued between 1868 and 1874 a monthly bul- 

 letin, including the results of observations made in this 

 and the other observatories of the Ottoman Empire. 



The recent report for 1887 refers mainly to Con- 



stantinople, where the minimum temperature was 

 l7°-2 (January, 1869) and the maximum 99°"i 

 (August 1880), a range of 82 . This is considerable, 

 but the climate of Odessa is far more severe, the 

 temperature in winter commonly falling more than 

 20 degrees below that of Constantinople where the 

 worst climatic trouble comes with a S.E. wind, the 

 Sirocco or Samiel, which is a diluted simoom 

 blowing from the desert. I spent June and July there 

 many years ago and found myself prostrated with 

 severe headache and lassitude, which led me to 

 suppose that I was sickening for fever. It lasted 

 just three days, and the first intimation I obtained ot 

 its real cause was the inquiry from an Englishman of 

 greater experience in Eastern travel, who asked me 

 how I had pulled through the sirocco. 



Protection for Fishes.— The Liverpool Marine 

 B'ology Committee made a holiday cruise at Whitsun- 

 tide which must have been very interesting to the 

 naturalists. Among other proceedings they practi- 

 cally tested the effect of the electric light as an 

 adjunct to fishing, by lowering at night two nets 

 under similar conditions, excepting that one was near 

 to a sunken electric light, and the other on the dark 

 side of the same ship. After being out for three- 

 quarters of an hour the nets were hauled in. That 

 which had been towed in the dark contained 

 practically nothing ; the illuminated net contained an 

 abundance of Crustacea, especially of free-swimming 

 species. The experiment was repeated with modifi- 

 cations, the results in all cases showing that the light 

 adds greatly to the power of the fishermen. Besides 

 these, other experiments have been made where true 

 fishes, vertebrata, were concerned, and all with 

 similar fatality. Practically, such luminous decoy is 

 but a refinement on the old Norwegian method of 

 salmon-spearing by night, with a blazing wood fire 

 overhanging the bow of the boat. 



It does not appear that this electric bait has yet 

 been commercially used on a scale of any magnitude, 

 but if it does come into extensive use, it will add to 

 the existing necessity for legal restrictions to sea 

 fishery, in the limitation of reckless capture of young 

 fishes, or rather of fishes that have just passed through 

 the natural dangers of infancy, and are entering upon 

 that stage of life when they may escape their ordinary 

 enemies, and rapidly grow to become valuable food- 

 material for ourselves. This protection may be 

 afforded, by specifying a minimum size of certain 

 fishes that may be exposed for sale. If, for example, 

 the fishermen could find no market for "slips" and 

 "grilse," their own interests would be sufficient to 

 induce them to return these to the water, in order 

 they might become soles and salmon. 



The Recalescence of Iron. — This is a curious 

 and obscure subject. In the course of cooling from a 

 white heat, some samples of iron appear at certain 

 temperatures to start into an increasing glow. Mr. 



