NOTES. 



255 



escape of the hydrogen. Au ingot of co- 

 balt gave out one-tenth of its volume, elec- 

 trolytic laminae of cobalt 85 times their vol- 

 ume, and pyrophoric cobalt powder 100 

 times. It also remained pyrophoric after 

 the loss of the hydrogen. Soft iron in in- 

 gots gave off one-sixth of its volume, and 

 gray cast-iron more than half. Electrolytic 

 laminae of iron gave off 260 volumes. 



Disproportion of tbe Scses in Germany. 



The proportion of males to females in the 

 population of the German Empire appears 

 to be steadily declining. In 1855 the excess 

 of females over males in what is now the 

 German Empire was 348,631, which declined 

 in the following nine years of peace to 

 313,383 in 1864. At the end of 1866, that 

 is, after the Schleswig-Holstein and Austrian 

 "Wars, the excess was 471,885. In December, 

 1871, the effects of the war with France was 

 shown in au ascertained surplus female 

 population of 755,875. Thus in the seven 

 years, from 1864 to 1871, the excess of fe- 

 males over males in the German population 

 had increased by no less than 14 per cent. 

 Although no inconsiderable portion of this 

 loss to the German male population is due 

 to actual slaughter on the battle-field, it is 

 undoubtedly caused principally by emigra- 

 tion. Even if emigration could now be 

 checked, it would take more than one gen- 

 eration to restore the proportion between 

 the two sexes in Germany to what it was 

 ten years ago. 



Redaction of Obesity. As a means of 

 counteracting a tendency to obesity, and 

 for reducing that habit after it has been es- 

 tablished, Philbert recommends a mode of 

 treatment somewhat different from that pro- 

 posed by Banting. He interdicts the use 

 of carbonaceous food as far as possible, and 

 would augment the amount of oxygen. 

 Hence the food must be nitrogenous, varied 

 with a few vegetables containing no starch, 

 and some raw fruit. The temperament, how- 

 ever, must be taken account of; the lym- 

 phatic should have a "red" diet beef, 

 mutton, venison, pheasant, etc. ; the san- 

 guine a "white" diet veal, fowl, oysters, 

 etc. Vegetables not sweet or farinaceous 

 may be taken. Coffee without cream, and 

 tea with little sugar, may be used. Sugar, 

 butter, cheese, potatoes, beans, etc., are for- 



bidden. In addition to these dietetic pre- 

 cepts, Philbert recommends favoring the 

 action of the skin, supporting the walls of 

 the abdomen by the use of a tight roller, 

 and taking exercise freely. As a purgative, 

 intended to promote the success of the 

 treatment, the author reccommends waters 

 containing sulphate of soda. 



NOTES. 



Sir Charles Wheatstone died at Paris, 

 October 21st, at the age of seventy-three. In 

 England, he is reputed to have been the in- 

 ventor of the electric telegraph, but in this 

 country his claim is disputed, the credit of 

 that momentous invention being assigned 

 to Morse and Henry. By general consent, 

 he is esteemed one of the most eminent of 

 electricians. He also gained distinction by 

 scientific researches in various other direc- 

 tions, especially in acoustics and optics. At 

 the time of his death. Prof. Wheatstone 

 was Vice-President of the London Royal 

 Society, corresponding member of the Aca- 

 demie des Sciences, Knight of the Legion 

 of Honor, etc. 



In the article entitled " A Home-made 

 Microscope," published last month, regret 

 was expressed that the objectives of Gund- 

 lach, of Berlin, had not been introduced 

 into this country. Since the appearance of 

 the article, we have received a note from 

 Mr. James Colegrove, of Kendallville, Ind., * 

 stating that Gundlach, of Berlin, has for the 

 past two years resided in Jersey City, where 

 he continues the manufacture of his ob- 

 jectives 



Died, in Jersey City, September 4th, 

 Prof. Samuel D. Tillman, for many years 

 Corresponding Secretary of the American 

 Institute, and editor of its annual " Transac- 

 tions." He was anativeofUtica ; graduated 

 from Union College at the age of twenty ; 

 studied law, and for some time was engaged 

 in legal practice at Seneca Falls. About 

 twenty years ago he quitted the legal pro- 

 fession and devoted himself to the study of 

 science. He was an active and prominent 

 member of the American Association. He 

 was familiar with almost every department 

 of science, and, in addition, possessed a 

 great fund of general knowledge. He was 

 the author of a treatise on the theory of 

 music, originated a very ingenious chemical 

 nomenclature, and proposed a new theory 

 of atoms. At the time of his death he was 

 in his sixty-third year. 



In an ancient mound recently opened 

 near Detroit there were found a number of 

 human skulls, unaccompanied by any other 

 bones. Dr. Dalrymple, who described this 



