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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



tions a sufficient fund has so far been kept 

 in hand to provide for the treatment of 

 every patient who ha3 made application; 

 so that none have been turned away on ac- 

 count of inability to pay the cost of treat- 

 ment. While it is not intended to make 

 the institution a charity, it is desired to 

 keep this feature up. A prize fund has 

 been started to encourage the research for 

 new and effective remedies and methods of 

 treatment for cancer. 



The American Society of Naturalists. 



The meeting of the Society of Naturalists, 

 which is composed of persons who regularly 

 devote a considerable portion of their time 

 to the advancement of natural history, was 

 held in Philadelphia in the latter part of 

 December, 188G. A prominent place is 

 given in the proceedings of the society to 

 the discussion of questions relative to meth- 

 ods of investigation and of instruction. At 

 the present meeting the discussion on meth- 

 ods in teaching was led by Professors H. S. 

 Williams and Davis, of Harvard College, on 

 geology and geological investigation ; Far- 

 low, on botany ; II. N. Martin, on collegiate 

 teaching of biology ; and Whitman, on the 

 proper position of biological investigation 

 in the university. It is contemplated to 

 discuss the subject of science in the schools 

 at next year's meeting. 



Why English Trade is declining. The 



latest English "Blue-Book" exposes the 

 fact that English trade is falling behind in 

 most countries, while German commercial 

 interests are gaining the ascendant. The 

 reasons for the change are somewhat com- 

 plicated, but the principal ones may be 

 summed up in the assertion that English 

 merchants have lapsed into a kind of indif- 

 ference about pleasing and accommodating 

 their customers, while the Germans are tak- 

 ing great pains to ascertain and meet their 

 wants. The reasons assigned for the supe- 

 rior vigor of German trade in Italy are a 

 " higher standard of technical education, 

 greater activity in the employment of com- 

 mercial travelers speaking Italian, greater 

 attention paid to the wants of the Italian 

 market, and greater facilities for delivery 

 and for payment." In Bulgaria, " some Jew 

 from Vienna comes every week offering 



something wanted." The remark applies to 

 several countries. " Ask an English manu- 

 facturer to alter the shape of an article to 

 meet the requirements of foreign markets, 

 . . . he generally refuses. The German 

 manufacturer, on the other hand, has no 

 prejudices ; if he find that an article of a 

 certain shape commando a ready sale in any 

 particular country, he makes it, however 

 foreign it may be to his own tastes and 

 wants." So it is in Greece, Roumania, Ser- 

 via, Turkey, Spain, and South America. 

 The lesson is drawn from these facts by 

 the " Spectator " that the English manu- 

 facturer must display more intelligence, 

 more adaptiveness, more energy, more sym- 

 pathy, if he is to hold his own against the 

 increasing rivalry of the highly educated, 

 active, and expanding German. Ilis com- 

 mercial education must be improved. Boys 

 must be taught the modern languages, and 

 be given a speaking as well as a grammati- 

 cal acquaintance with the tongues of the 

 peoples with whom they are to stand in com- 

 mercial relations. But these and other 

 branches of commercial importance still hold 

 only a subordinate place in English second- 

 ary schools, while men of commerce and 

 manufacture are trained almost entirely in 

 subjects rather suitable for the professions. 



Sewerage and Typhoid Fever. The 



Baltimore " American " some time ago ques- 

 tioned the value of a system of sewerage in 

 promoting the health of a city, and cited, in 

 justification of its doubt, the case of Balti- 

 more, a healthy city without a system, as 

 opposed to Brooklyn and Boston, where the 

 systems of sewerage are extensive, and yet 

 diphtheria and scarlet fever and other like 

 diseases are more prevalent than in Balti- 

 more. The London " Sanitary World " an- 

 swers these doubts by citations from the re- 

 port of Mr. Erwin F. Smith to the Michigan 

 Sanitary Convention on "The Influence of 

 Sewerage and Water-Supply on the Death- 

 Rate in Cities." This paper shows, almost 

 decisively, that the introduction of sewerage 

 and water-supply jointly has had a marked 

 influence in reducing the mortality from ty- 

 phoid fever, at least. The difficult point is 

 to ascertain the influence of the sewerage 

 alone. The introduction of a pure water- 

 supply is unquestionably an important ele- 



