NOTES. 



655 



It notes and defines law ; has nothing to do 

 with the creator of the laws. Science, 

 therefore, cannot take the place of religion. 

 And when the man of science passes from 

 the law to the author of law, he drops the 

 character of scientist and assumes to teach 

 religion. The scientist is not, therefore, 

 censurable for restricting himself exclusive- 

 ly to the phenomena, making no reference 

 to the power lying behind phenomena." 



A Hoarding Bird. A writer in Hard- 

 wicke has discovered in the nuthatch, or nut- 

 pecker, the habit of laying up in its har- 

 vest-season a store of nuts for a winter pro- 

 vision, a characteristic which has been 

 hitherto observed, as the writer remarks, in 

 no other birds save tame individuals of the 

 family Corvidce. One day last September 

 a nuthatch was seen to light upon a pota- 

 to-hill, and there to drop something, which 

 it drove into the earth with repeated taps 

 of its beak. On investigation a nut was 

 discovered there, and soon after six other 

 nuts were found buried in close proximity 

 to it. Again, so late as November 1st, the 

 same bird was seen to bury a nut in a flow- 

 er-bed, and, in the depth of winter, if 

 watched, he will be found to visit frequently 

 his hoards, taking with him, from time to 

 time, so much as he needs for his present 

 wants. 



Artificial Respiration in Snake-Poison- 

 ing.. The publication of Dr. Fayrer's work 

 on the Thanatophidia of India has led to 

 a very active investigation of the subject 

 of snake-poisoning. The author himself 

 has made several experiments on the effi- 

 cacy of artificial respiration as a means of 

 counteracting the venom. In one of these 

 he kept the heart beating for nine hours 

 after the development of fatal symptoms. 

 The heart then failed only from imperfect 

 respiration carried on in the cold. If there 

 is an analogy, as Dr. Fayrer supposes, be- 

 tween snake-venom and curare, there is 

 every reason to expect that the remedy 

 (respiration) which is effectual in antago- 

 nizing the latter will be equally effectual 

 against the former. 



Dr. Richards, of Balasore, thus details 

 an experiment, made by himself, where the 

 heart's action was kept up for 24 hours and 

 85 minutes: "This is, perhaps, the most 



remarkable case of its kind on record. The 

 dog was, to all appearances, dead when the 

 artificial respiration was commenced. Two 

 hours and a half later convulsive movements 

 were excited by the application of the gal- 

 vanic current, but at seven o'clock there was 

 no response, and the body of the dog was 

 cold. At this time the eyes presented a 

 glazed appearance, being perfectly dry. The 

 pupils were dilated, and the heart was beat- 

 ing feebly. Had artificial respiration been 

 now stopped the heart would have ceased 

 to beat almost at once." 



At noon the next day the dog appeared 

 as if it would recover. " The eyes had lost 

 the glazed appearance, lachrymation was 

 restored, and there were winking of the lids 

 on dropping water into the eye, attempts at 

 deglutition when water was put into the 

 mouth, and the heart was beating vigor- 

 ously." 



As artificial respiration must be kept up 

 for hours, or even for days, Dr. Fayrer rec- 

 ommends the use of a special apparatus 

 for this purpose, to be worked by steam. 



NOTES. 



One of the chief attractions of this year's 

 International Exhibition in London is Mr. 

 Buckmaster's School of Cookery, where lect- 

 ures are given twice a day on culinary pro- 

 cesses, fully illustrated by practical experi- 

 ments. It is found impossible, with the 

 present arrangements, to acconnnodate all 

 who apply for admission to the lectures. 

 Special attention is given to the best modes 

 of preparing canned meat, a valuable food- 

 stuff, against which Britons have very strong 

 prejudices. There is certainly room for im- 

 provement in the popular culinary pro- 

 cesses in vogue the world over, but no- 

 where perhaps is this improvement more 

 needed than in English-speaking countries. 

 We waste an enormous amount of good pro- 

 visions. 



The sound of the salutes fired by the 

 British iron-clad fleet at Spithead on Mon- 

 day, June 23d, in honor of the Shah's 

 visit, was heard at Tedstoue, Worcester- 

 shire, distant from Spithead 100 miles. A 

 correspondent of the Times, writing from 

 Tedstone on the 23d, says : " We have all 

 heard a long continuous series of sounds, 

 shaking the windows on the south side of 

 the house, and resembling exactly the effect 

 of a distant salute. My gardener states 

 that he heard similar sounds between 11 

 and 12. My house is on a hill, from 400 to 



