Scientific In telligen ce — Zoology . 



(3.) Artificial local anaesthesia, from any known anaesthetic agent, 

 seems objectionable in any part intended to be operated upon, in con- 

 sequence of the vascular congestion and injection which attend upon 

 and accompany this local ansesthesia. 



(4.) There are few operations in which there is not previously a 

 local broken surface; and the application of chloroform, &c., to such 

 a surface, would be far too painful to be endured ; no small degree of 

 suffering sometimes arising from even the exposure of the unbroken 

 skin to their action. — {From Notes on Local AncBsthesia^ by Dr 

 J. Y. Simpson. 



12. Effect of Low Temperature on Raw Flesh as an article of 

 Food. — The fishmarket, says M. Erman, was plentifully supplied. 

 We particularly remarked a species of salmon, unknown in Europe, 

 and called here the Nelma (Salmo Leucichthys, Giildenstadt ; S. nel- 

 may Pallas), and great quantities of the roe in wooden vessels. This 

 is white and small in grain, and sold fresh ; it is not salted till re- 

 quired for use. These roes and thin slices of the flesh are deemed 

 by the Russians more delicious when raw than cooked, and are eaten 

 as provocatives of appetite. Later experience taught us how much 

 the influence of the cold tends to favour the adoption of raw animal 

 food ; so much so, that it hardly requires the addition of salt — in 

 fact, during the intense frost, the raw flesh even of warm-blooded 

 animals loses its repulsive qualities. — (Erman s Travels in Siberia, 

 vol. i., p. 309.) 



13. The Prevention of the Bed Bug (Cimex lectularius). — Mr 

 Thomas Stratton, in reference to letters on the prevention of the 

 bed bug (Cimex lectularius), says, — "I have used Sir W. Burnett's 

 disinfecting fluid, the solution of the chloride of zinc ; it was applied 

 by means of a feather, to all the joints and crevices in the bedstead, 

 and with complete success. The solution entering the wood rendered 

 it an unfit, and probably a poisonous habitation for the Cimex. 



The prevention of these animals is of more importance than some 

 may at first suppose it be : In some severe diseases the disturbance 

 they give the patient may greatly impede recovery, and I have heard 

 of instances where soldiers in barracks, finding sleep impossible in 

 bed, have gone out of doors, and, sleeping there, have been seized 

 with inflammation of the lungs, or other diseases, dangerous, and 

 sometimes fatal. — Annals of Natural History, Ser. 2, vol. iii., p. 78. 



14. Supposed Boring Powers of the Echinus lividus. — Having 

 lately had an opportunity of inspecting in situ at Kilkee, on the 

 coast of Clare (Ireland), the curious Echinus lividus of Lamarck, 

 about whose boring powers much has been said and written, I have, 

 after many observations, come to the conclusion that the animal does 

 not possess any power, chemical or mechanical, of boring into rocks. 

 This Echinus instinctively seeks for the most sheltered situations, 

 either in an angle between two rocks, or in depressions resulting 

 from the disintegration of the rock, which in limestone are often 



