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formed upon Professor Fleischl, of Vienna. His right hand, which 
was poisoned 16 years ago, and which from successive operations 
had lost the use of two fingers, has had transplanted into it ‘‘ as 
long a piece as possible of the sciatic nerve of a dead but still warm 
rabbit,’ and it is affirmed that the result is most satisfactory. 
An interesting demonstration of the power of the retina to absorb 
light has been made by directing the eye for some time on a bright 
light, and then turning the eye to a camera, when an accurate 
photograph of the object gazed at was obtained. The phosphore- 
sent gleam of a cat’s eye in the dark is probably due to the same 
cause, 7.e., the light absorbed and stored up in the retina. 
A valuable anesthetic is likely to be obtained from the ancient 
mandrake, the ‘‘mandragora”’ of Shakespeare. Dr. Richardson 
procured with some difficulty a root, from which he prepared 
a wine according to the old recipe. The effects were so potent 
that his lips to which he touched it, retained insensibility for an 
hour after. If the alkaloid or active principle were separated, it 
would doubtless prove a valuable anesthetic from the long duration 
it causes of local insensibility. 
From time to time we hear of the establishment of the new lan- 
guage of ‘ Volapuk.” which from its having the merit of being a 
phonetic language is destined (so we are told) to become the 
universal tongue. If, however, a thorough spelling reform such as 
Ellis’s or Melville Bell’s, could be made in our own language, there 
is no doubt that English would in time become the medium of com- 
munication between all nations. 
Among the scientifie discoveries of the future, none will be a 
greater boon to mankind than the proper ventilation of the crowded 
alleys and courts of our great cities. A plan has been suggested 
by that ‘‘ veteran guardian of the public health,” Sir Edwin Chad- 
wick, to erect in densely populated parts huge towers which should 
bring down a continuous stream of pure air into the noxious atmos- 
phere of our streets and alleys. Whether this plan will ever be 
carried out, or whether it will share the fate of a former scheme of 
the ‘‘ veteran knight ’’ remains to be proved. I allude to his idea 
some years ago of inventing a hygienic hat, as a substitute for the 
regulation “ tall hat’? and which ‘should combine the comfort of 
a night cap with the functions of an umbrella.” 
Undoubtedly the most interesting and even sensational event has 
been Mr. Norman Lockyer’s bold and ingenious theory of th e con- 
stitution of the Heavenly Bodies, a theory which, if finally acce pted, 
must profoundly modify our views of the structure and evolution of 
the Universe Briefly stated his theory is that ‘ All self-luminous 
bodies in the celestial spaces are composed of meteorites or masses 
of yapour produced by heat brought about by condensation of 
