1830.] Varieties. 



racic vein ; in twenty seconds, at the large 

 saphena vein ; in fifteen to thirty seconds, 

 in the masseterine artery ; in ten to fifteen, 

 and in twenty to twenty-six seconds, in the 

 external maxillary artery ; and from twenty 

 to twenty-five, and from twenty-five to 

 thirty seconds, in the artery of the meta- 

 tarsus ; in each case on the side opposite to 

 that of the injection. This series of expe. 

 riments was made by M. E. Herring, of 

 Stutgard. 



Chinese Canal. A canal was opened in 

 1825 to the west of Sargan, in Cochin. 

 China, which connected that town with a 

 branch of the river Cambodja. Its length 

 was twenty-three miles, its width eighty 

 feet, and its depth twelve feet. This canal 

 was begun and finished in six weeks, 

 although it had to be carried through large 

 forests and over extensive marshes : twenty 

 thousand men were at work upon it day 

 and night, and it is said seven thousand 

 died of fatigue. The sides of the canal 

 were soon covered with palm trees, for the 

 cultivation of whicli the Chinese pursue a 

 particular method. 



Metallic Ligatures applied to Arteries. . 

 M. Lerut has lately been led to ascertain 

 the value of a suggestion thrown out some 

 years ago by Dr. Physik, of employing 

 leaden ligatures. The idea arose from con- 

 sidering that in numerous cases bullets, 

 buck shot, and lead, would remain in con- 

 tact with almost any tissue of the body 

 without producing irritation or unpleasant 

 consequences, and that for an indefinite 

 period. M. Lerut laid bare the right carotid 

 artery of a dog, and, after separating it 

 carefully from its accompanying nerve and 

 vein, passed under it a leaden wire which 

 was then firmly tied. Both ends of the 

 wire were cut off and the sharp point bent 

 down. The wound was then drawn toge- 

 ther by a few stitches and adhesive strips. 

 The animal was left at liberty, and being 

 examined after some days the stitches were 

 found ulcerated out and the wound open ; 

 it had filled up from the bottom with 

 granulations, but the edges were wide 

 apart. With tight dressing ,it healed 

 entirely in about ten weeks. A few weeks 

 after the animal was killed and examined : 

 a small cicatrix existed in the skin ; the 

 lead was found in the situation in which 

 it had been placed by the side of the 

 vein and nerve, perfectly encysted. The 

 artery had been removed entirely for the 

 space of half an inch. Not the slightest 

 trace of inflammation existed in the neigh- 

 bouring parts ; on the contrary, they appeared 

 perfectly natural. The lead was inclosed 

 in a dense cellular substance which formed 

 for it a complete cyst. In four other simi- 

 lar experiments not the slightest departure 

 from the former appearances occurred. In 

 every case the lead became inclosed in a 

 cyst and the neighbouring parts remained 

 perfectly healthy and natural. The lead 

 having answered so well, the experiments 



351 



were continued, to ascertain whether that 

 metal was peculiar in this respect, or whether 

 other metals were as innocuous in similar 

 circumstances. Trials with gold, silver, 

 and platinum had exactly the same results, 

 from which Dr. Lerut concludes that the 

 plan of tying the arteries with lead and 

 other metals is free from danger, and may 

 be productive of some peculiar advantages. 



Iron Furnaces in England and Scot' 

 land. The number of high furnaces in 

 1740 was but fifty-nine this number has 

 been increased as follows : 



Tons. 

 1740 59 furnaces, producing 17,000 



1788 85 68,000 



1706 121 125,000 



1806 250,000 



1820 400,000 



1827 284 690,000 



Of the two hundred and eighty-four fur- 

 naces, last mentioned, ninety-five are in 

 Staffordshire, and ninety in South Wales. 



Longevity in Russia. There died last 

 year, in Russia, 604 individuals, from 100 

 to 105 years of age ; 141, from 105 to 110; 

 104, from 110 to 115; 46, from 115 to 

 120; 3 J, from 120 to 125; 16, from 125 

 to 130 ; 4, from 130 to 135 ; 1, of 137 ; 

 and 1, of 160. 



Perkins's Steam Cannon The first 



experiments made with Perkins's steam 

 cannon, at Vincennes, near Paris, were not 

 attended with very brilliant results, and it 

 appears that the last have not been more 

 fortunate. The enormous apparatus of 

 which this machine is composed was placed 

 at about forty paces distant from a wooden 

 figure, formed to represent the hull of a 

 man-of-war ; the projectiles thrown were 

 about four pound calibre, and remained 

 fixed in the thickness of the wood, a four- 

 pounder was afterwards fired off at the same 

 distance, and the ball penetrated the figure. 

 Other experiments may possibly give dif- 

 ferent results ; but even allowing that the 

 superiority of Perkins's cannon becomes 

 established, the complication of the machi- 

 nery, and its enormous proportions, will ren- 

 der its application to the arming of ships 

 almost impossible. 



Quantity of Gold Coined in Mexico. 

 The report upon the finances of Mexico, 

 communicated by the minister of that de- 

 partment to Congress, has shown the quan- 

 tity of silver and gold coined in the different 

 mints of that country since their establish- 

 ment; these data may be interesting to 

 mineralogists. The mint of Mexico itself, 

 which for a long time was the only one in 

 the kingdom, coined, between 1733 arid 

 1828, 64,064,779 perosa piastres, in gold, 

 and in silver, 1,323,851,510 pesos. The 

 other mints, which have been established 

 since the revolution, have together coined 

 in gold and silver the sum of 67,662,737. 

 making a total of 1,455,582,026. pesos, 

 equal to =318,408,508. 3s. 4rf. sterling. 



