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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



mined spot, so that trephining at this spot 

 may cause the paralysis to disappear." The 

 experiments of Galvani and his followers 

 on frogs have taught us to estimate the 

 effect of the electric current on nerve and 

 muscle, and shown us how to apply galvan- 

 ization to the prevention of the paralysis 

 which ensues from the destruction of the 

 motor nerves. The numerous patients re- 

 lieved of nervous diseases " by this admira- 

 ble therapeutic agent have no call to speak 

 ill of such vivisectors as Galvani, Aldini, 

 Volta, Magendie, Marshall Hall, Remak, Du- 

 Bois Reymond, and many others, since it is 

 to their discoveries that the relief of their 

 ills is owing. Would Galvani have made 

 his discoveries had he refrained from dis- 

 secting frogs ? Would the electric current 

 have been applied to atrophied limbs if it 

 had not been found that the action of this 

 current in dogs was salutary and not dan- 

 gerous ? " Certain diseases of the urinary 

 organs have been studied in animals. The 

 treatment of sympathetic ophthalmia by 

 section of the ciliary nerves of the diseased 

 side has been shown to be advantageous by 

 experiment, and the results yielded by ex- 

 periments on dogs and rabbits have been 

 applied to patients. The correct treatment 

 of cataract has been similarly learned. 

 Encouraging progress is made by vivisec- 

 tion in the study of the formation of callus, 

 of pseudarthrosis, of osseous grafts, of re- 

 generation of bone by periosteum, subjects 

 of great importance in surgery. The vaso- 

 motor theory, which plays a large part in 

 the medicine and surgery of the present 

 day, has been established by experiments 

 on the great sympathetic and the rabbit's 

 ear. Dr. Brown-Sequard has furnished 

 useful ideas relating to epilepsy and tetanus 

 from the results of painful experiments on 

 dogs and Guinea-pigs. Trial on animals is 

 useful to determine the action of new medi- 

 cines, for " we do not wish to experiment 

 on man at the risk of poisoning him, where 

 animals can be employed " ; so with poisons. 

 Finally, if we deprive savants of the right 

 to submit living animals to experiment, we 

 shall go back beyond the days of Galen. 

 " If all those who have been relieved 

 verily made to live again" says Dr. Richet, 

 " by modern medicine and surgery, could 

 speak, they would confound those who load 



vivisection with calumny, and they would 

 hold that their own life and sufferings 

 weighed more in the balance than the suf- 

 ferings of those animals which have been 

 sacrificed in laboratories to the lasting ben- 

 efit of man." 



Compression of the Feet of Chinese Wo- 

 men. Miss Norwood, an American mission- 

 ary at Swatow, has published a description 

 of the processes employed to reduce the 

 size of the feet of Chinese women. The 

 binding of the feet is not begun until the 

 child has learned to walk and to do certain 

 other things which she could not well be 

 taught to do afterward. The bandages em- 

 ployed are manufactured for the purpose, 

 and are about two inches wide and two 

 yards long for the first year, five yards long 

 for the subsequent years. The end of the 

 strip is laid on the inside of the foot at the 

 instep, then carried over the top of the toes 

 and under the foot, drawing the four toes 

 with it down upon the sole ; thence it is 

 passed over the foot and around the heel ; 

 and by this stretch the toes and the heel are 

 drawn together, leaving a bulge on the in- 

 step and a deep indentation in the sole 

 under the instep. This course is pursued 

 with successive layers of bandage, until the 

 strip of cloth is all used, and the end is 

 then sewed tightly down. The "indenta- 

 tion " should measure about an inch and a 

 half from the part of the foot that rests on 

 the ground up to the instep. The toes are 

 drawn completely over the sole, and the 

 foot is so squeezed upward that, in walking, 

 only the ball of the great-toe touches the 

 ground. Large quantities of powdered alum 

 are used to prevent ulceration and lessen 

 the offensive odor. At the end of the first 

 month the foot is put into hot water, and, 

 after it has been allowed to soak for some 

 time, the bandage is carefully unwound, " the 

 dead cuticle, of which there is much, being 

 abraded during the process of unbinding." 

 Ulcers and other sores are often found on 

 the foot, and " frequently, too, a large piece 

 of flesh sloughs off the sole, and it some- 

 times happens that one or two toes drop 

 off." When this happens, the woman con- 

 siders herself amply repaid for the addition- 

 al suffering by having smaller and more 

 delicate feet than her neighbors. Each time 



