572 



TEE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTELY. 



short, erect mane, with no forelock. Its 

 general color is a whitish-gray, paler and 

 whiter beneath, and reddish ou the head. 

 The legs are reddish to the knees, and thence 

 blackish down to the hoofs, and very thick 

 and strong. The head is large and heavy, 

 and the stature of the animal is small. This 

 horse inhabits the great Soongarian Desert, 

 between the Altai and Thian-shan Mountains, 

 and goes in troops of from five to fifteen 

 mares, led by an old stallion. The animals 

 are shy, and of keen senses. It was only 

 possible to secure one specimen, which has 

 been placed in a museum at St. Petersburg. 



Evils of Children's Parties.— Dr. Culli- 

 more, of London, has published a protest 

 against children's parties in Minter. His 

 objections apply to the collection of children 

 under seven years of age on such occasions. 

 The " Lancet " would extend them to chil- 

 dren under twelve. They apply principally 

 to the general effects upon the health of the 

 children, among which are those to which 

 the excitement they have to endure before 

 and after the event renders them liable, the 

 exposure to the danger of chill, and to im- 

 proper food and drink, and other influences 

 that wear upon the organism at this most 

 tender period of life. Besides these are in- 

 juries to the mind and nerves : " A perfect 

 storm of excitement rages in the little brain 

 from the moment the invitation has been 

 received, and the affair is talked about in 

 the nursery until after the evening. Sleep 

 is disturbed by dreams, or, in some cases, 

 prevented by thinking of the occasion, and 

 afterward the excitement does not subside 

 until days have elapsed, perhaps not before 

 another invitation is received." The amuse- 

 ments of young children ought to be simple, 

 unexciting, and free from artificiality. " Par- 

 ties " are in no way necessary to the happi- 

 ness of child-life. 



Increase of Cancer. — If the data of the 

 registrar-general's reports are correct, can- 

 cer is steadily increasing in England, and 

 the rate of increase is augmenting. Thus, 

 during the ten years 1850-1859, the increase 

 in the number of deaths from this disease 

 was 2,000, showing an average increase of 

 about 200; from 1860 to 1869, the number 

 of deaths was 80,049, and the average an- 



nual increase 248 ; and from 18*70 to 1879, 

 111,301 deaths occurred, with an annual in- 

 crease of 320. Dr. Charles Moore attempt- 

 ed to show, in a book published in 1865, that 

 cancer thrives with good living, and that its 

 increase was an accompaniment of the im- 

 proved economical condition and vitality of 

 the British people. It abounds where the 

 conditions are ordinarily most favorable to 

 health, and more among the rich than among 

 the poor. According to a French observer, 

 about ten per cent of the wealthy classes 

 and seven per cent of the poorer classes ar6 

 afflicted with cancer. The disease, accord- 

 ing to Dr. Crisp, also prevails among ani- 

 mals, more frequently among flesh-eaters 

 than among herb-eaters, and among domes- 

 ticated than among wild animals. It is 

 not zymotic or infectious, or conveyed in 

 any way, nor is it transmissible, though the 

 predisposition to it may be inherited ; but 

 it begins dc novo in each individual whom 

 it attacks. The only cfBcient remedy for it 

 is the surgical one, and that should be ap- 

 plied at the earlier stages of the disease, 

 while the affection is still local. 



International Medical Investigation. — 



Dr. Sir William Gull presented before the 

 recent International Medical Congress at 

 Copenhagen a scheme for an International 

 Collective Investigation of Disease, which is 

 in effect an enlargement of the plan of or- 

 ganized research already in operation with 

 the British Medical Association. The Brit- 

 ish organization has allotted its work among 

 some fifty sub-committees, in which are in- 

 cluded in all some thousand members. One 

 of its methods of work is by the formation 

 of life-histories and family histories of dis- 

 ease, the materials for which are obtained 

 through the family physicians. If such his- 

 tories could be widely and accurately re- 

 corded, the natural associations of different 

 forms of disease in individuals and fami- 

 lies would be made evident, and might af- 

 ford suggestions as to pathological relations 

 not now suspected. In such family histories 

 we might also hope to have elucidated the 

 difficulties of correlated pathologies — " why, 

 for instance, in a numerous family whose 

 members are living under the same condi- 

 tions, one or two should become the sub- 

 jects of pulmonary phthisis, one or two the 



