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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



cooled before it enters the interior of the 

 carnage. The windows of the car are so 

 arranged that thorough ventilation is se- 

 cured and the accumulation of moisture 

 prevented. The appliance is now in use on 

 several railways in India, and is found to be 

 of great value. The average reduction of 

 temperature secured by it is about 15 Fahr., 

 with an evaporation of six gallons of water 

 per hour. With a larger amount of water 

 it is said that a reduction of 30 may be 

 readily obtained. 



CONSCIOUSNESS AFTER DECAPITATION. 



M. Heindrich, who filled the office of 

 headsman in Paris for fifty -four years, 

 has lately died, after officially cutting off the 

 heads of 139 criminals. He appears to have 

 been a man of some cultivation ; and had 

 sufficient interest in his business, it is said, 

 to attend the lectures of Velpeau, in order 

 to obtain a knowledge of the exact position 

 of the "vital joint." He also made various 

 improvements in the construction of the 

 guillotine. A visitor once asked him if he 

 thought the separated head retained con- 

 sciousness after it had fallen into the basket. 

 Without giving a direct reply, he related 

 several instances which went to support an 

 affirmative answer. On one occasion he said 

 a woman's head made a faint effort to spit 

 at him ; and he also spoke of violent con- 

 tortions occurring in the muscles of Orsini's 

 face a phenomenon that has been ob- 

 served in the faces of others immediately 

 after decapitation. It is the opinion of the 

 Lancet that these movements are reflex, and 

 not at all of a conscious nature. They are 

 probably due to the sudden loss of a large 

 amount of blood, which here, as elsewhere, 

 gives rise to convulsions. The mere blow 

 must stun, and, before recovery takes place, 

 the flow of blood from so many large vessels 

 would be sufficient to produce perfect un- 

 consciousness. 



FOSSIL FLOWERS AND INSECTS. 



A fauna and flora of the Eocene period 

 have been dug out of the rocks by M. Mu- 

 nier-Chalmar, of the French Geological So- 

 ciety. He exhibited before it Crustacea, in- 

 sects, and flowers, in a wonderful state of 

 preservation. The minutest details of the 

 delicate organization cf these vegetable and 



animal species are preserved with great 

 nicety and fidelity. The flowers retain their 

 calix and corolla, and some of the stamena 

 still have their anthers. M. Munier exhibit? 

 some which are yet buds, others just blown, 

 and still others with their petals all gone, and 

 nothing left but the ovary. We may still 

 observe the soft appearance of the insect 

 larvae, and can even discern the nerves of 

 the budding wings of the nymphaa. Among 

 the insects M. Munier recognizes a familiar 

 domestic bug, in which may be seen the 

 glands which secrete the mal-odorous liquid 

 peculiar to those insects. Finally, among 

 the Crustacea, he has found a new species, 

 in which we may study the minutest de- 

 tails of the masticatory apparatus. 



A PHOSPHORUS- LAMP. 



The following is a description of a safe 

 ty-lamp, employed by the watchmen of 

 Paris, in all magazines where explosive ma- 

 terial is stored : An oblong phial of the 

 whitest and clearest glass, containing a 

 piece of phosphorus about the size of a pea 

 Pour in some olive-oil, heated to the boiling- 

 point, until the phial is two-thirds full, and 

 then seal it up hermetically. To use it, re- 

 move the cork, allowing the air to enter the 

 phial, and then recork it. The whole empty 

 space in the bottle will then become lumi- 

 nous, and the light obtained will be ecmal to 

 that of a feeble lamp. As soon as the light 

 grows weak, its power can be increased by 

 uncorking the phial, and allowing a fresh 

 supply of air to enter. Thus prepared, the 

 phial may be used for six months. 



EFFECTS OF TRAINING. 



The Lancet, in a short article on " train 

 ing and its risks," d propos of the recent 

 university boat-race, says : " We could men- 

 tion numerous cases in which the reserve 

 force of the system has been so forestalled 

 by amateur oarsmen that not only specific 

 vascular disease, but physical decrepitude, 

 has declared itself long before the meridian 

 of life. Within the last few days we have 

 seen a list of cases in which, besides prema- 

 ture ill-heajth, even death itself was induced 

 by the constant practice of rowing, followed 

 by the tremendous final struggle. It is not 

 only that the transition from customary to 

 athletic regimen, and vice versa, has evils of 



