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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



nouncement with a kind of reserve, and re- 

 marked that the horny texture of the bill 

 seemed to spread over these vascular papil- 

 lae much in the same manner as the enamel 

 over mammals' teeth. Blanchard resumed 

 the investigation in 1860, and found in cer- 

 tain birds, among them some parrots, for- 

 mations imbedded in the jaws, which when 

 microscopically examined presented consid- 

 erable similarity in composition with den- 

 tine and in structure with teeth ; and he 

 concluded that those birds possessed a real 

 dental system. Dr. Fraisse believes that pa- 

 pillae are frequently present in the horny 

 bill of the parrot, that they are rich in ves- 

 sels and covered with a veneer of peculiarly 

 adapted horn-cells which Blanchard took to 

 be dentine, and which in microscopic sec- 

 tions have quite a resemblance to that for- 

 mation ; but that real teeth do not exist in 

 birds. " Whether any first rudiments of 

 teeth may have been the origin of the growth 

 of horn-teeth is very doubtful ; but in all 

 probability the horn-teeth should be regard- 

 ed as secondary formations." The teeth of 

 the odontornithes, in which Professor Marsh 

 has found dentine and enamel, are excepted 

 from this conclusion. 



Alcohol regarded as a Beneficial Agent. 



Dr. William Sharpe, an English physi- 

 cian, has published a pamphlet in which he 

 seeks to demonstrate that alcohol is a fac- 

 tor in human progress. Looking into the 

 history of the subject, he finds that the vine 

 and the product of the vine have been in 

 olden times more intimately associated with 

 man's intellectual growth and development 

 than with his purely physical wants. The 

 stimulus of alcohol, when judiciously con- 

 trolled, "always leads to active and higher 

 mental efforts on the part of individuals," 

 thus producing a contrary effect to that 

 of other stimulants, which tend rather " to 

 bring about a contented state of dreamy in- 

 action " and to repress effort. " To under- 

 stand fully," he says, " the beneficial action 

 of alcohol as regards mental development, 

 we must first get a clear view of the value 

 of those states of cerebral excitement which 

 most people, though in varying degrees, ex- 

 perience something of, rising as they then 

 do mentally above the level of what may 

 be called their ordinary every-day thoughts. 



This is not difficult, if we bear in remem- 

 brance that it is during such periods of high 

 mental activity, in which the mind, tran- 

 scending the more circumscribed limits of 

 reason, sweeps intuitively into the veiled and 

 distant regions of universal truth, that all 

 great conceptions arise and have arisen in 

 times past, crudely at first it may be, but 

 which, nevertheless, when reduced to order 

 and embodied in works, have been of ines- 

 timable value to mankind. . . . The stimu- 

 lus produced by alcoholic liquors, if not 

 nearly of so high an order, is more easily 

 called into play, while in a practical sense, 

 the latent ability being present, it is more 

 vigorous and effective as regards actual 

 work. Hence the value of alcohol, as a 

 stimulant, lies in the fact that it produces 

 artificially and sustains temporarily that 

 state of mental excitement or exaltation ne- 

 cessary to the conception and projection, 

 though not to the detailed elaboration, of 

 those enduring works that, whether in the 

 domains of art, architecture, or engineer- 

 ing, are remarkable for boldness of execu- 

 tion, originality, and grandeur of design ; 

 and further, that it is the only manageable 

 stimulant which, when used in moderation, 

 and in the form of wine or spirits, is not 

 only not injurious, but conduces to the gen- 

 eral health, while it favors both mental and 

 physical development." Dr. Sharpe also as- 

 signs to alcohol a beneficial agency in stimu- 

 lating genial thoughts and feelings. 



Japanese Lacqners. The Japanese dis- 

 tinguish in lacquers between crude lacquer, 

 which is obtained from the trunks of live 

 trees and forms the basis of nearly all the 

 mixtures used in making lacquer-ware ; 

 branch lacquer ; and black lacquer, a prep- 

 aration. The yield of branch lacquer is only 

 about one per cent in comparison with that 

 of other lacquers, while the proportion of 

 ninety per cent is required in working. 

 Hence a mixture is made of various kinds of 

 lacquers, sea-weed jelly, finely grated sweet- 

 potatoes, and as much soot as is needed to 

 color the mass. Each manufacturer has his 

 own special mixture, but the extraneous ad- 

 ditions are believed not to injure the qual- 

 ity of the whole. True branch lacquer be- 

 comes extremely hard when dry ; but, since 

 when used alone it will not dry under some 



