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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



human system from without, and mostly 

 through the inbreathed air, the author advo- 

 cates the charging the mouth and nostrils 

 with antiseptic substances so as to render 

 the breath and the tissues more immediately 

 exposed unfriendly to the development of 

 the contagium. When the floating infective 

 particle presents itself either for local mani- 

 festation or for absorption, it may require 

 " but slight unfriendliness of reception to 

 prevent morbid result." In diseases like 

 diphtheria and scarlet fever, which at the 

 outset have such marked local manifesta- 

 tion as to lead us to believe that they are 

 local before they are constitutional, topical 

 application of remedies seems to be clearly 

 indicated. But the author thinks that the 

 introduction of certain substances into the 

 blood is a still more effectual mode of com- 

 bating contagia. In this way not only are 

 the portals of entrance protected, but the 

 fluids, glands, etc., of the system are so per- 

 meated with the antiseptic or antifermen- 

 tative agent as to be able to withstand the 

 action of the disease-germ. How much may 

 be due to the local hinderance to fertilization, 

 and how much to the constitutional resist- 

 ance established, may not in each case be 

 easy to determine. But when we consider 

 how readily chlorate of potassium, after be- 

 ing administered, is found in the secretions, 

 how soon a few grains of pure protochloride 

 of iron increase the number of the red glob- 

 ules of the blood, how defibrination of the 

 blood is retarded by certain agents, we are 

 justified in the hope that our power to sus- 

 pend the action of disease-poisons will yet 

 be greatly augmented. 



Creosote as a Timber-Preserver. Rail- 

 way-ties, dried, and saturated with creo- 

 sote, will last, according to Mr. E. R. An- 

 drews, for twenty years or more in good 

 condition. In ties so treated the spikes in- 

 tended to hold the rail do not corrode nor 

 work loose. Then, too, the surface of the 

 tie under the rail does not decay nor wear, 

 because it is not affected by alternate dryness 

 and moisture. In the construction of wharves 

 and in ship-building, creosoted timber is also 

 of great advantage. It is proof against the 

 ravages of the Teredo navalis and other mol- 

 lusks which cause such destruction of tim- 

 bers submerged in sea-water. The woods 

 best adapted for the crcosoting process are 



those which are light and porous, as these 

 most readily absorb the creosote ; so treated 

 they become more solid and enduring than 

 the most costly species of timber. " The 

 cottonwood of the Southwest," writes Mr. 

 Andrews, in the American Gaslight Jour- 

 nal, " can be made as useful as oak for ties. 

 White pine absorbs creosote like a sponge, 

 and the yellow pine of the South takes it 

 readily also. In England fir from the Baltic 

 is used altogether for ties, and I do not see 

 why the despised fir from our forests may 

 not be used for the same purpose here. 

 Hemlock is good also ; spruce is a firm, 

 compact wood, and absorbs oil with more 

 difficulty ; neither does it require so much 

 to preserve it. Oak has a coarse fibre, and 

 is easily treated." 



The Eyes of Deep-Sea Animals. In giv- 

 ing to the National Academy of Sciences 

 an account of recent dredging and sound- 

 ing in the Gulf of Mexico, Prof. Alexander 

 Agassiz referred to the question of sight in 

 marine animals living at great depths. He 

 said that the crustaceans and fishes taken 

 from depths of from 1,500 to 1,900 fathoms 

 or more present conditions diametrically op- 

 posite to one another with respect to vision, 

 some of these creatures being eyeless or 

 nearly so, others having eyes enormously 

 developed, as if to enable them to see with 

 the faintest glimmer of light. In the former 

 class many very curious modifications of 

 structure are to be seen taking the place of 

 the eyes. The existence of these very wide 

 differences of structure under identical con- 

 ditions he regarded as strange, but, in the 

 discussion which followed the reading of 

 the paper, Profs. Cope and Gill held that 

 this difference was precisely what we might 

 expect, according to the evolution hypothe- 

 sis. There is nothing surprising in the fact 

 that in one set of animals " survival of the 

 fittest" should work obliteration, and in an- 

 other class abnormal development of the vis- 

 ual organs. 



Studies of Embryo Life. On opening 

 the shell of a hen's-egg in the third day 

 of incubation, Harvey noticed the heart- 

 beats of the embryo, which, however, soon 

 ceased. He then placed the egg in warm 

 water, and the heart commenced to beat 

 again. The same experiment, but with im- 



