POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



573 



feet. It is necessary to proceed with the 

 utmost caution in order not to lose one's 

 way ; for there is nothing to serve as a 

 sign-post, except occasional sticks placed 

 by passing caravans ; and the wind blows 

 them down and the sand covers them. Each 

 successive caravan replaces them in the 

 most convenient spot. These sticks have 

 to be followed on the march, for, when the 

 least wind is blowing, only the most skillful 

 and experienced guides can trace the direc- 

 tion of the road. The barkhans shift from 

 place to place ; and plain evidence of their 

 drifting nature appears before the eyes of 

 every traveler between Merv and Bokhara. 

 When they move, it is usually without un- 

 dergoing any change of shape. Besides the 

 sands in the Kara-Kum, M. Lessar describes 

 the Icjrs, iaJcirs, and shors. The ki/rs are 

 firm surfaces of clay mixed with sand, only 

 occasionally covered with sand-hillocks, and 

 hardened by vegetation. They usually con- 

 sist of a row of valleys alternating with 

 eminences not exceeding from one hundred 

 and forty to two hundred and ten feet in 

 height, and are always passable. The (akir 

 is a very hard surface devoid of vegetation, 

 surrounded on all sides by sands almost 

 horizontal or sloping but slightly. The 

 clayey soil is impervious to water, but pre- 

 sents a very slippery surface in rainy 

 weather. Shors are similar in appearance 

 to takirs, but distinguished from them by 

 their soil, which is a ferruginous sand, with 

 gypsum protruding in many places on the 

 surface. They are sometimes dry and some- 

 times boggy ; but in any case not difficult 

 of passage. 



Ancient Ansesthctics. — A recently dis- 

 covered manuscript by Abelard gives some 

 curious information concerning the means 

 employed by the surgeons of his time to 

 produce insensibility during their operations. 

 Pliny mentions a stone of Memphis which, 

 brayed and applied with vinegar, was put 

 on particular parts of the body to ana3Sthe- 

 tize them. He, Dioscorides, and Mattheo- 

 lus speak of putting patients to sleep pre- 

 vious to operations by causing them to take, 

 in bread or some other food, the juice of the 

 leaves or a decoction of the roots of man- 

 dragora, or a dose of the plant called mori- 

 on. Opium and ;hemp were used by the 



Chinese In the poly-composite pharmacy 

 of the thirteenth century a preparation was 

 made of opium, the juices of henbane, man- 

 dragora, hemlock, and other plants, with 

 which sponges were charged. Having been 

 dried in the sun, the sponges were moist- 

 ened when it was^desired to use them, and 

 then applied under the noses of the patients 

 as chloroform sponges are now applied. 



A Cliinese Dinner in High Life. — A 



member of a Bremen trading-house lately 

 had the honor of taking dinner with a Chi- 

 nese magnate in Pekin, and has given an 

 appetizing description of the feast. The 

 table was set with twenty-two dishes, and 

 was lit with ten large lanterns, the light of 

 which shone clear through brightly colored 

 shades and ornaments. Instead of being 

 served in courses, the dishes were brought 

 in one at a time and passed to the guests 

 severally, beginning with the most distin- 

 guished or with the oldest. The merchant 

 has given a list of them, with his comments, 

 as follows : 1. Doves with mushrooms and 

 split bamboo-sprouts — delicious. 2. Fat- 

 pork fritters (or something like fritters) — 

 splendid. 3. Pigeon's-eggs in meat-broth, 

 the whites hard but transparent — very good. 

 4. Chinese bird's-nests with ham-chips and 

 bamboo-sprouts (a mucilaginous dish) — ex- 

 cellent. 5. Poultry, different kinds, cooked 

 with mushrooms and bamboo-sprouts — very 

 agreeable. 6. Duck, with bamboo and lotus 

 fruits, the fruits tasting and looking like an 

 acorn without its cup — tolerably good. 7. 

 Hog's liver fried in castor-oil — bad. 8. A 

 Japanese dish of mussels with malodorous 

 codfish and bacon — horrible. 9. Sea-crabs' 

 tails cooked in castor-oil, with bits of bam- 

 boo and ham — would have been palatable 

 but for the wretched oil. 10. A star made 

 of pieces of fowl, bacon, and dove, covered 

 with white of egg — very juicy. 11. Slices 

 of sea-fish and shark's fins, with bamboo 

 and mushrooms — it was hard to tell what 

 kind of a dish it was, but it was rather bad 

 than good. 12. Giblets of poultry with 

 morels — the morels helped the giblets 

 down. 13. Ham and cabbage — not particu- 

 larly good. 14. Hams of sucking pigs 

 cooked in their own juice. A pause now 

 ensued, during which pipes and tobacco 

 were brought in. The pipes held about, a 



