POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



573 



sitic disease is quite different. Dr. Parkes 

 names as the diseases of cattle that should 

 be watched for : Pleuro-pneumonia, foot- 

 and-mouth disease ; cattle-plague, or rinder- 

 pest ; anthrax, or malignant pustule ; sim- 

 ple inflammatory affections of the lungs ; 

 dropsical affections from kidney or heart 

 disease; indigestion with apoplectic symp- 

 toms. The first three are described as con- 

 tagious, and the last three as sporadic dis- 

 eases, in a work by Professor Williams, of 

 Edinburgh. To this list Mr. Hardwicke 

 adds, as contagious, glanders and farcy 

 (which may be communicated to consumers 

 of horse -meat), puerperal apoplexy, and 

 variola. He also adds a list of epizootic 

 diseases, meaning diseases occasioned by 

 parasites, including measles in the pig ; rot, 

 or fluke disease, in sheep ; gid, turn-sick, 

 or staggers, in sheep ; phthisis, or hoore, in 

 cows, pigs, and poultry (gapes). The dis- 

 eases of sheep are similar to those of cat- 

 tle. They are subject to small-pox, malig- 

 nant pustule, a parasitic chronic lung affec- 

 tion, and braxy or splenic apoplexy. Pigs 

 are subject to anthrax, typhoid, and hog- 

 cholera. The contagious diseases are com- 

 municable by contact, by inoculation, and 

 by infection. Hence it is not safe to let 

 any of these classes of diseased meat go 

 forth to the public as fit for consumption. 

 To the opinion that cooking will destroy the 

 contagious property and render the food fit 

 for use, Mr. Hardwicke replies that there is 

 no proof of it. Meat subjected to a tem- 

 perature of 160, which it is thought will 

 thoroughly cook it, may still be productive 

 of disease by inoculation. We are yet ig- 

 norant of the nature of the contagious 

 property, and, if it be a living germ, what 

 proof have we that, even if we succeed in 

 destroying this germ and the entozoon of 

 parasitic disease, a possible potent matter 

 produced by the germ or ova of entozoon 

 may not still exist and possess infective 

 qualities ? 



The Milky Sea. The peculiar colora- 

 tion which has given the name of the milky 

 sea to certain regions of the ocean has been 

 remarked by many sailors, but a diversity 

 of opinion has been expressed as to the 

 cause of the phenomenon. Some have at- 

 tributed it to electric action taking place 



during the hours preceding a storm ; others 

 to chemical combinations resulting from the 

 decomposition of the bodies of marine ani- 

 mals and plants, and producing phospho- 

 rescence ; others to spawn deposited on the 

 surface of the water, which is supposed to 

 be made to shine by the moving of masses 

 of fish through it. None of these hypoth- 

 eses have been confirmed, but they have 

 all been contradicted by positive evidence 

 that the milky sea is produced by a pro- 

 digious accumulation of animalcules, capa- 

 ble of becoming phosphorescent sponta- 

 neously, or of being made so by friction. 

 The most recent and decisive evidence in 

 this direction was observed on board the 

 French ironclad Armida, on her recent 

 voyage from Japan, while crossing from 

 Point-de-Galle to Aden. At about half- 

 ! past twelve in the morning of the 10th of 

 ! February, 1880, the sky being clear, with 

 ! no moon, the western part of the horizon, 

 [ toward which the ship was going, became 

 so bright as to attract the attention of the 

 officer of the quarter. He at first thought 

 the light was occasioned by the numerous 

 bright stars which were about setting, but 

 the increase of the light caused him to 

 change his opinion, and he concluded that 

 it was from a ship on fire. A half hour 

 afterward a layer of whitish foam appeared 

 covering the water for a considerable ex- 

 tent. The whole sea, shining with a milky 

 luster as brightly as the usual phosphores- 

 cence which a ship produces in its passage 

 through the water, resembled a field of 

 snow in a clear night. It shone enough to 

 efface all traces of the undulations of the 

 swell ; the waves could not be distinguished ; 

 and the sea seemed as flat and even as in a 

 calm. The wake of the ship (which is gen- 

 erally visible for two or three miles back), 

 and the disturbance of the water by the screw 

 were hardly marked on the still surface. 

 These facts proved that the luminous coat- 

 ing was not merely superficial, but that it 

 had a considerable thickness. The phe- 

 nomenon became more marked and intense, 

 and one observing it might have believed 

 he was locked in a sea of ice, had there 

 been no movement of the ship to undeceive 

 him. By daylight all had disappeared. On 

 looking closely at the water as it rippled 

 along the ship, there were noticed a great 



