NOTES. 



527 



thousands of hands. Slag taken from the 

 refuse-heaps around these works contains 

 as much as 53 per cent, of iron. The whole 

 surrounding district is well worthy of being 

 thoroughly explored by the antiquary, as 

 it contains many hieroglyphic inscriptions 

 which would doubtless throw much light 

 upon the early history of metallurgy. 



The Sack-Tree. A notable tree is the 

 Antiaris sacc-idora, or sack-tree, of Western 

 India, the inner bark of which forms a very 

 good material for sacking, and also for cord- 

 age. It often attains a height of 100 feet, 

 with a diameter of six. The native method 

 of making sacks of this material is very sim- 

 ple. Usually a tree about one foot in diam- 

 eter is chosen, and from this a section of 

 the length desired for the sack is cut. 

 This log is steeped for some time in water, in 

 order to soften the bark, and is then beaten 

 all round with clubs. In this way the outer 

 bark is removed, and the inner detached 

 from the wood and rendered soft and plia- 

 ble. Next it is folded over on itself at one 

 end, after the manner of skinning a squirrel, 

 and so turned inside out. All that is now 

 required to complete the sack is, that one 

 of the ends be sewed up, which is readily 

 done. But a sack may be made without 

 stitch or seam. This is done by arresting 

 the process of skinning some two or three 

 inches above the farther end of the log, and 

 then sawing off the latter at that point. 

 The sack has then a solid wooden bottom. 



These sacks are extensively used in 

 "Western India and Ceylon, and serve their 

 purpose very well. The same material is 

 sometimes employed in the manufacture of 

 clothing, and for paper-making. To pre- 

 pare it for the former purpose, the bark is 

 stripped off in pieces, which are then thor- 

 oughly soaked and beaten out till the tex- 

 ture becomes white and rough like fur. It 

 is then cut according to the required shapes, 

 and stitched together. 



Substitute for Quinine. The employ- 

 ment of carbazotate of ammonia (ammonia 

 combined with carbazotic, picric, or trinitro- 

 phenic acid) has been suggested as a sub- 

 stitute for sulphate of quinine, and Dr. 

 Beaumetz, of the Societe Therapeutique de 

 Paris, gives the following as the result of 

 his employment of this salt : Case 1, quo- 



tidian ague. Daily dose one to two centi- 

 grammes in pills. Recovery in 4 days. Case 



2, quotidian ague. Complete recovery in 5 

 days five pills used. Here sulphate of 

 quinine had been used without effect. Case 



3, tertian. Recovery after 8 days two 

 pills a day. Case 4, quotidian. Recovery 

 after 8 days. Case 5, facial neuralgia. 

 Speedy recovery. Case 6, tertian, recov- 

 ery in 2 days. Dose about one grain (6 

 centigrammes). Sulphate of quinine had 

 been given for 17 days, without effect. Dr. 

 Beaumetz hence draws these conclusions : 

 the carbazotate is very efficacious in inter- 

 mittent fever, and the paroxysms may be 

 suppressed by the use of 2 to 4 centigram- 

 mes (^ to grain) daily. In these doses the 

 drug appears to be innocuous. Its physio- 

 logical action resembles that of sulphate of 

 quinine. 



NOTES. 



There is in Cayenne a fly, called the I/u- 

 cilia hominivorax (man-eater), which com- 

 mits great havoc among the convicts sent 

 out to that colony by the French Govern- 

 ment. M. Charles Coquerel says that this 

 fly lays its eggs in the mouth or nostrils of 

 a sleeping convict, especially a drunken 

 one, and that the offspring in their larval 

 state usually bring about the death of their 

 victim. 



The following curious statement comes 

 to us on reliable authority : A vicious horse 

 (gelding) that had the singular habit of 

 striking violently with his fore-feet, espe- 

 cially when being shod, was for several years 

 worked with a mare that during the time 

 bore a colt. This colt, when quite young, 

 developed the habit peculiar to its mother's 

 mate, becoming violent when any attempt 

 was made to handle its fore-limbs. The 

 habit increased with the colt's age, and, on 

 being shod the first time, its manner of 

 striking was observed to be precisely like 

 that of the horse. The mother of the colt 

 was unusually kind and gentle. 



A statement of some interest occurs in 

 Scribner's Monthly, showing the increasing 

 demand, among the reading-classes of New 

 York, for works of a scientific character. 

 The writer compares the number of books 

 called for at the Astor Library, in the literary 

 and scientific departments respectively, dur- 

 ing the three years 1865, 1871, and 1872. 

 In the first of these years, 18,896 scientific 

 works were called for by readers, and 26,070 

 literary ; in the second, 33,428 scientific, 

 58,595 literary ; in the third, 55,660 scien- 

 tific, 55,657 literary. 



