PHYSIOLOGY. 



765 



sleep substances which act on the muscular 

 substance, producing contraction on waking. 

 Further, the one kind of poison is antagonistic 

 to the other, so that if the urine is mixed in 

 quantity proportionate to the amount elimi- 

 nated, the product is not the mean between 

 the two, but is considerably less. The toxity 

 is two thirds the sum of the separate toxities. 



R. Norris Wolf en den, from an investigation 

 of the venom of the Indian cobra, concludes 

 that its toxity is not due to any bacillus, bac- 

 terium, or living organism, or to any alkaloid, 

 or to any hypothetical u cobric acid," but sole- 

 ly and wholly to proteid constituents. These 

 proteids are globulin, which probably kills by 

 interference with the respiratory mechanism 

 and without paralysis, causing local inflamma- 

 tion; albumen resembling acid albumen, which 

 is precipitated along with globulin by satura- 

 tion, and is supposed to exert an action, on the 

 respiratory apparatus chiefly, like globulin, but 

 less intensely; a serum albumen, which pro- 

 duces a kind of ascending paralysis with fatal 

 termination, by suppression of the respiratory 

 function from probable paralysis of the muscles 

 concerned in respiration ; and traces in some 

 specimens of hemi-albumose and questionable 

 traces of peptome, both of which are regarded 

 as accidental. The venom of the Indian viper 

 (Daboia Emsellii) is much like that of the 

 cobra in constitution and action, but contains 

 a proteid nearly allied to the acid albumen of 

 the cobra venom, which the author regards as 

 an albumose. The nature of the proteid mole- 

 cule and the mode of its toxic action are pre- 

 sented by the author as subjects on which con- 

 tinued investigation is desirable. 



Miscellaneous. A discussion has been had be- 

 tween Prof. Virchow and Dr. Weismann con- 

 cerning the origin and the transmission of vari- 

 ations from the animal type. Prof. Virchow 

 holds that they are largely brought about by 

 deviations in structure strictly speaking patho- 

 logical. Dr. Weismann contends that they are 

 the result of the law of adaptation. Prof. 

 Virchow, replying to some of Dr. Weismann's 

 remarks at the Strasburg Conference of Ger- 

 man Naturalists and Physicians, points out that 

 Darwin, though not a pathologist, recognized 

 the want of a clear line of distinction between 

 monstrosities and mere variations. Weismann 

 having denied the inheritance of acquired 

 properties, Virchow adduced the facts of ac- 

 climatization, and showed that colonies could 

 not be founded if the powers so acquired were 

 not transmissible to posterity. Weismann re- 

 gards acclimatization rather as the product of 

 selection, such individuals surviving as by the 

 possession of inherent qualities are able to live 

 under the changed conditions, while their sur- 

 vival is not due to the acquisition of new pow- 

 ers. In this discussion much turns on what 

 is meant by an acquired quality. Weismann 

 means by it all that is imparted by some exter- 

 nal agency, and he would limit the influence of 

 external causes to unicellular organisms, where- 



as variation occurs through sexual reproduc- 

 tion. Virchow points out that external agen- 

 cies ought not to be limited to those which 

 operate outside the organism. In a multicellu- 

 lar organism variation may occur in some cells 

 through the operation of other cells, or strict- 

 ly within the body. Indeed, the influence of 

 the sperm-cell upon the germ-cell is an exter- 

 nal influence, and therefore, although we com- 

 monly speak of inherited qualities as being in- 

 ternal or predisposing, in strictness the quali- 

 ties transmitted from the male parent are the 

 result of an external agency when contrasted 

 with those derived from the germ-cell. Ap- 

 plying these considerations to the pathological 

 processes, Virchow shows that these are the 

 result of external agents, and that they pro- 

 duce a change in the typical organization, and 

 thus by mere analogy the conclusion is ar- 

 rived at that many racial even specific and 

 generic differences have been brought about 

 by processes which may be deemed patho- 

 logical. The general factors which deter- 

 mine the persistence of such deviations, and 

 their transmission by inheritance, are not fully 

 known ; use and disuse explain some, adapta- 

 tion accounts for others ; but, however ex- 

 plained, the fact that acquired qualities are in- 

 heritable remains assured. 



Dr. Gopadge, of Russia, has made special 

 experiments on the physiological effects of 

 massage, particularly with respect to the power 

 of assimilation. He was assisted by four medi- 

 cal students, who submitted to all the opera- 

 tions of the process, to diet, and physiological 

 examinations. In all four cases the appetite 

 was decidedly increased during the week in 

 which the massage was practiced, and after it 

 had stopped. Similarly, the amount of nitro- 

 genous transformation was augmented. The 

 augmentation persisted in two of the cases, 

 but in the other two the transformation was 

 less during the third than during the first week. 

 The quantity of nitrogen assimilated increased 

 in all the four cases, independently of the 

 amount of food ingested. During massage two 

 of the subjects gained and two lost slightly in 

 weight, but during the week following all four 

 gained. The axillary temperature decreased 

 for about an hour after the operation, after 

 which it began to rise. The effect on the pulse 

 varied with the character of the massage ; when 

 this was carried on slightly, the pulse became 

 more frequent, but, when the manipulation was 

 more forcible, the pulse became slower. The 

 effects in both cases persisted for an hour or 

 more after the termination of the operation. 

 The author suggests that massage may prove 

 useful in chronic gastro-intestinal catarrh, in 

 chronic constipation due to an atonic condition 

 of the intestines, and in cases where there is a 

 lack of tone in the abdominal muscles. 



Prof. Ehrlich has obtained some physiologi- 

 cally important results from his investigations 

 into the susceptibility of the different tissues 

 to coloring-matters. If coloring solutions are 



