302 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



the histoiy of such cases has been investif^ated, their dependence 

 on the abuse of tobacco has been I'endeved ol)vious. In contrast 

 with this is the rarity with which tiiis form of the disease is met with 

 in female lunatics. Among these jjaralytic lunatics, soldiers and 

 sailors, who so much abuse tobacco, are found occupying tiie lirst 

 rank. M. Jolly's investigations have led him to the conclusion 

 that this abuse of tobacco is far more operative in the induction of 

 this paralysis than alcohol or absinthe.. 



CAUSE OF INTERMITTENT AND REMITTENT FEVER. • 



Prof. J. II. Salisbur}' communicates to the " American Journal 

 of Medical Sciences" an elaborate article, giving an account of 

 numerous observations and investigations regarding the origin 

 and cause of intermittent fever. Dr. Salisbury found, on micro- 

 scoi)ical examination of the salivary secretion and expectoration 

 of those laboring under intermittent fever, and who resided upon 

 ague levels, and were exposed to the evening, night, and morning 

 exhalations and vapors arising from stagnant })Ools, swamps, and 

 humid low grounds, that there oeeurrcd in these secretions a great 

 variet}' of zobsporoid cells, animalcular bodies, diatoms, desmidiae, 

 algoid cells and filaments, and fungoid spores. Constantly and 

 uniformly found in all cases, and usually in great abundance, were 

 minute ol)lon<' cells, either simple or aggregated, consisting of a 

 distinct nucleus, surrounded by a smooth cell-wall, Avith a highly 

 clear, apparently empty space between the outside cell-wall and 

 the nucleus. They were not fungoid, but cells of an algoid type, 

 resembling strongly those of the palmellaj. In persons residing 

 above the summit plane of ague, these bodies were invariably absent. 



By a sei-ies of carefully conducted experiments and observations 

 the following facts were ascertained : — 



1. That cryptogamic spores and other minute bodies are mainly 

 elevated above the surface during the night. That they rise and 

 are suspended in the cold, ilamj) exhalations from the soil, after 

 the sun has set, and fall again to the earth soon after the sun rises. 



2. Tilat in the latitude of Ohio, these bodies seldom rise above 

 from thirty-five to sixty feet above the low levels. In the north- 

 ern and central portions of the State, they rise from thirty-five to 

 forty-five feet; in the southern, fi'om forty to sixty feet. 



S.'^hat at Xashville and Memphis they rise from sixty to one 

 hundred feet and more above the surface. 



4. That above the summit-plane of the cool night exhalations, 

 these bodies do not rise, and intermittents do not extend. 



5. That the day air of malarial disti'icts is quite free from these 

 palmelloid sj^ores, and from causes that produce intermittents. 



PalmellJB belong to the lowest known vegetable organisms. 

 The several forms of this type, which are constantly attendant on 

 intermittent malarial disease, have received the generic name 

 gemiasma (eaith miasm), of which Dr. Salisbury enumerates six 

 species. 



In another series of extended observations, the local effects pro- 

 duced in the mouth and air-passages by inhaling these cells are 



