302 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



suit of spasmodic breathing caused by its presence. The mar- 

 mot, another rodent, has been known to produce biniiiar miusical 

 sounds. 



Organ of Hearing in Molhtscs. — la a coninumication to the 

 French Academy, M. Lacaze Duthicrs has shown that the nerve 

 to the otolitliic sac of molluscs is not derived iVom the pedal 

 ganirlion, but from the supra-CEso])ha.u:eal or brain ganirlion, from 

 ■whiih all the or<rans of sense in this branch of the animal kini^dom 

 are derived. 



Scctio7i of Pheinno-gasti-ic nerves vs. Respiration. — It has been 

 g(>nerally admitted by physiologists that, alter section of this 

 nerve, the amount of carbonic acid exhaled is unaflected. Drs. 

 Voit and Raber, of Munich, from recent experiments, find that 

 this is true only for a few hours after the section ; afterward, when 

 the tissue of the lungs has begun to undergo a change, the quan- 

 tity of carbonic acid diminishes rapidly, while that of oxygen is 

 increased. 



Composition of the Milk of Different Animals. — 1,000 parts con- 

 tain : — 



Cheesoy Mineral 



Water. Butter. Matter. Sugar. Matter. 



Woman .... 88'J.08 2G.t)6 3'J.30 4:}. 08 ].30 



Cow 864.20 31.30 48.80 47.70 COO 



• Goat 844.90 GG.87 35.14 30.91 6.18 



Ewe 832.32 51.37 C9.78 39.43 7.16 



Mare 904.30 24.30 33.35 32.76 5.23 



Asa 890.12 18. .')3 35. G5 60.4G 6.24 



Sow 818.00 GO.OO 53.00 G0.70 8.30 



Proportions of solids and water in different kinds of milk: — 



Woman. Cow. Goat. Ewe. Mare. As.g. Sow. 



Water . . 889.08 8G4.20 844.!t0 832.32 904.30 890.12 818.00 

 Solids . . 110.92 135.80 155.10 1G7.G8 95.70 109.88 182.00 



1,000.00 1,000.00 1,000.00 1,000.00 1,000.00 1,000.00 1,000.00 



Pig's milk is extremely rich, containing, as it does, nearly oO 

 per cent, more nutritive matter than is found in that of th(; cow. 

 It is not unlikely that in certain forms of disease where a milk 

 diet is prescribed the use of .so concentrated a liquid food might 

 prove serviceable. — Chemical News. 



Simple Method of Ascertaining Death. — Dr. Carriere, of St. 

 Jean du Gard, in reply to an offi'r of a premium of twenty thou- 

 sand francs for a practical method of determining death, fur- 

 nished the following, which he says he has practised for forty 

 years: Place the liand, with the fingers closely pressed one 

 against the other, close to a lighted lamp or candle; if alive, the 

 tissues will be observed to l)e of a transj)arent, ro.sy hue, and the 

 capillary circulation in full phu' ; if, on the C(jntrary, the hand of 

 a dead i^erson be placed in the same relation to light, none of the 

 phenomena are observed — we see a hand as of marble, without 

 circulation, without life. — Jour, de Med. etde dliintrg. 



Pepsin. — The strongest pepsin is obt;iincd from young healthy 



