28o 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



germs are being dried and carried into the 

 air by every passing breeze, by every sweep- 

 ing, and how they are capable of producing 

 the disease six months after drying ; when 

 we think of the miscellaneous crowd sleep- 

 ing in hotel bedrooms ; when we think of 

 the close, unventilated sleeping-car with 

 hangings and curtains so well calculated to 

 catch the germs, and where, as some one 

 has said, the air is as dangerous as in those 

 boxes filled with pulverized sputa where 

 dogs are placed for experiment ; then when 

 we remember that man's lungs are a regular 

 hot-house for the multiplication and growth 

 of these seeds of consumption is it any 

 wonder that one citizen in every seven dies 

 of this disease ? " As the lesson from these 

 facts, the author advises that no consump- 

 tive should be allowed to expectorate on the 

 floor or street, and all sputa (from consump- 

 tives) should be disinfected and burned. 



Characteristics of Leprosy. The eti- 

 ology of leprosy has been studied in Cash- 

 mere by Dr. Ernest F. Neve. The disease 

 may be recognized in its early stages by cer- 

 tain integumentary changes, or by anaes- 

 thetic patches. The skin of the forehead, 

 especially of the superciliary ridges, becomes 

 somewhat thickened and dusky in color, but 

 not necessarily irregular. The hair of the 

 eyebrows is scanty. There are two main 

 types of leprosy in the valley the anaes- 

 thetic and the tubercular ; but patients may 

 often be seen presenting at once anaesthesia, 

 macules, tubercles, and ulcerations of soft 

 tissues and bone. Anaesthesia seldom re- 

 mains for any length of time uncomplicated. 

 Blisters are apt to form, and then local 

 death of tissue and ulceration. Portions of 

 bone removed by operation in the more ad- 

 vanced stages are spongy, and appear to 

 have undergone a process of rarefying os- 

 teitis. Withdrawn nerve-influence is greatly 

 concerned in the affection ; and the nerves 

 supplying the degraded part are found, on 

 clinical examination, to be thickened and 

 sometimes tender. The nerves most often 

 involved in leprosy are, in order of frequen- 

 cy, the sciatic, musculo-spiral, ulnar, and me- 

 dian. The changes in the reflexes are essen- 

 tially of the nature of diminution. Super- 

 ficial reflexes disappear early. Muscular 

 atrophy occurs in advanced cases. The tu- 



bercular form is apt to be more severe than 

 the anaesthetic, and is often superadded. 

 The face becomes distorted, with elevations 

 a few lines in diameter, especially affecting 

 the forehead, nose, and auricles, producing 

 the characteristic leonine appearance, but 

 scattered over the whole body. In treat- 

 ment, nerve-stretching has been found val- 

 uable as a palliative. 



A Sacrifice to the Yankee Pie Idol. 



There is a belief, in other parts of the coun- 

 try, that the New England digestion has been 

 sacrificed to pie ; but few persons, probably, 

 have known of other valuable possessions 

 being offered up to the idol. In a biographi- 

 cal sketch of Charles Chauncy, second Presi- 

 dent of Harvard College, written in 1768 by 

 his great-grandson of the same name, the 

 writer states that, desiring to possess the 

 papers of his illustrious ancestor, he made 

 a search for them and found that they had 

 descended to a son of the president, " who 

 had kept them as a valuable treasure during 

 his life ; but upon his death, his children 

 being all under age, they were unhappily 

 suffered to continue in the possession of 

 his widow, their mother. She married some 

 time after a Northampton deacon, who prin- 

 cipally got his living by making and selling 

 pies. Behold now the fate of all the good 

 president's writings of every kind ! They 

 were put to the bottom of pies, and in this 

 way brought to utter destruction." 



Mangoes. Hundreds of varieties of the 

 mango are grown in India ; and, according 

 to Dr. G. Bonavia, fifty or more kinds might 

 be named which for texture and exquisiteness 

 of flavor would more than compare with the 

 same qualities in the nectarine and peach. 

 Only those who have had opportunities of 

 trying the choice varieties have any concep- 

 tion how good this fruit is. The unculti- 

 vated seedling mangoes are generally fibrous, 

 but this does not prevent their having very 

 often an exquisite flavor. To enjoy them 

 they must be sucked. The choicest man- 

 goes, of which there are scores, have no 

 fiber in their pulp, and not a trace of tur- 

 pentine flavor, except, perhaps, a suspicion 

 of it in the skin. " When the skin is re- 

 moved, if you shut your eyes while eating 

 them, you might often be deluded into the 



