Vol. XXIV. No. 9.] 
POPULAE SCIENCE NEWS. 
137 
Slje Popular Science I^ews. 
BOSTON, SEPTEMBER i, 1890. 
AUSTIN P. NICHOLS, S.B Editor. 
WILLIAM J. ROLFE, Litt.D., . Atsodate Editor. 
Certain foolish enthusiasts have recently 
attempted to inaugurate another crusade 
against the practice of vivisection, or, to 
define it more truthfully, the performance 
of physiological experiments upon living 
animals. An appeal has been made to the 
public, and the old familiar lies regarding 
the " unmentionable cruelties" performed by 
students of physiology, who are described as 
little better than fiends incarnate, are once 
more paraded beforfe the readers of such 
periodicals as have admitted them into their 
columns for the sake of filling space during a 
dull season for news. As is doubtless well 
known to all the readers of the Science 
News, living animals are almost always put 
under the influence of ether before such 
experiments are performed, and instantane- 
ously and painlessly killed upon their com- 
pletion. The value of these experiments to 
the human race is beyond computation, and 
pne c*n hardly undergo the simplest form 
of medical or surgical treatment without 
reaping the benefits of the knowledge thus 
obtained. A single human life, even that of 
a President of a Society for the Prevention 
of Cruelty to Animals, is of more importance 
■ than that of all the dogs, rabbits, and frogs 
that have ever come under the hands of the 
vivisectionists. Humanity to animals is a 
commendable and noble trait, and it is most 
unfortunate that the organizations for its 
encour9gen)ent should be controlled by igno- 
rant fanatics, and cranky old women of both 
'sexes. 
Professors Langlev and Very have 
published {American Journal of Science) 
some very interesting investigations upon the 
light emitted by the firefly and similar ani- 
mals. Briefly stated, they may be said to 
tliave proved that the light of the firefly is not 
raccompanied by any appreciable amount of 
heat ; that is, the entire energy produced by 
the organism of the animal is converted into 
light, while in the flame of an Argand gas- 
burner much more than 99 per cent, of the 
total energy producetl by the burning of the 
gas is transformed into heat only, and is thus 
wasted. So if we could transform the whole 
'energy of the gas flame into light, our gas 
LJbills would be reduced to an inappreciable 
annual amount. Inasmuch as Nature has, in 
the case of the firefly, produced a light at an 
expenditure of energy of about one four- 
hundredth part of that expended in a candle 
flame, it is not unreasonable to hope that a 
^method may yet be discovered by which we 
talso may obtain an enormously greatsr amount 
of light by our present methods, without any 
corresponding increase in the expense. 
A NOVELTY in New England meteorology 
was a typical western cyclone which passed 
over a portion of the city of Lawrence, Mass., 
on the morning of July 26th, causing great 
destiiuction of life and property. The weather 
was warm and rainy, and about nine o'clock 
dark clouds appeared in the southwest, and 
shortly a terrific blast of wind occurred, 
which completely devastated a tract of coun- 
try several rods wide for a distance of about 
a mile. Every house on one street suflered 
more or less, some being unroofed, others 
losing their side walls, while one building 
was turned completely over. One large, 
well-built house was completely transformed 
into kindling-wood in an instant, while another 
one not ten feet away suflered no injury beyond 
the loss of a chimney-top. Another house 
was lifted oft' of its foundations, and set down 
again overhanging the cellar walls, without 
further damage, many of the panes of glass 
in the windows, even, remaining unbroken. 
A fine plantation of trees was utterly ruined, 
the large trunks and branches being tangled 
and twisted together like a skein of thread. 
Occasional gales of wind have been noted 
in New England before, but this exceeded all 
previous ones in force and dcstructiveness, 
travelling, as it did, through a thickly inhab- 
ited section of country. 
The execution of the murderer Kemmler 
by electricity, at Auburn, New York, was 
successful from a scientific point of view, 
although from the published reports it would 
appear that certain changes should be made 
if this method of execution is to be used 
on future occasions. It is beyond question 
that the criminal suflered no pain whatever, 
and that death was practically instantaneous, 
although a second application of the current 
was necessary to suppress certain involuntary 
movements of the body, which might or 
might not have resulted in a return of anima- 
tion. The sensational accounts in the daily 
papers are unworthy of the slightest consider- 
ation, and, in fact, many of them show from 
internal evidence that they were prepared 
beforehand to be used in any case. Even 
under the conditions necessarily present in a 
novel and previously untried experiment, we 
think that the execution was less revolting 
than an old-fashioned hanging. The taking 
of human life is a terrible necessity ; but 
it Is a necessity, if society is to be pro- 
tected from those who would destroy it, and 
the instinct and right of self-preservation is 
paramount above everything else. 
<♦♦ 
A WESTERN correspondent, writing in 
regard to the use of salicylic acid as an agent 
for preser'ving food, says that it is extensively 
used in his section, and, speaking of the pro- 
hibition of its use for such purposes by the 
French government, inquires as to whether 
any injurious eft'ect upon the health is likely 
to occur from its use. The question is an 
important one, and does not seem to have 
ever been fully settled. Salicylic acid is cer- 
tainly not a poison, and it is doubtful if the 
small amount used in preserving food would 
do any particular harm. Still, the substance 
has well-marked medicinal qualities, and the 
continued daily consumption of even small 
quantities is not to be recommended. We 
do not attach much weight to the prohibition 
of the French government, — sanitary matters 
are becoming a fruitful field for the profes- 
sional politician, — but the subject is a most 
important one, and worthy of a careful and 
impartial scientific investigation. 
A MUCH more dangerous adulteration of 
food is found in a baking-powder sold under 
the name of " French Tartar," which, accord- 
ing to the American Analyst., contains vary- 
ing amounts of oxalic acid as one of its 
ingredients, some samples showing as much 
as 40 per cent, of this extremely poisonous 
substance. If these statements are correct, 
no punishment would be too severe for such 
criminal ignorance or recklessness . as has 
been shown by the manufacturers. In any 
case there is nothing to be gained by buying 
cheap baking-powder, and the only safe way 
is to use that prepared by firms of well- 
known reliability, even if the cost of such 
powder is slightly higher than that of unknown 
strength and composition. It is, however, 
only fair to say that the powder above referred 
to has been certified by a firm of New York 
chemists to be "free from adulterants." 
The probable future pollution of the water- 
supply of many New England cities threatens 
to become a very serious matter. The whole 
country is dotted over with lakes and ponds 
of the purest water, many of which have 
been utilized to furnish a supply to the neigh- 
boring communities. But, as the population 
has increased, the watersheds of these bodies 
of water have become more thickly settled, 
and, with utter recklessness and disregard for 
the rights of others, the drainage of houses, 
barns, pig-pens, and manufactories is allowed 
to flow unchecked into them, rendering the 
water both distasteful and dangerous to health. 
The water-supply of the city of Boston has 
been seriously aflected from this cause, and, 
with the increasing growth of the smaller 
cities and towns, the evil bids fair to be an 
increasing one. All legal measures have 
hitherto proved ineffective to stop this pollu- 
tion, and every year renders a solution of the 
water-supply problem a more difticult one. 
A preliminary announcement of what 
may prove to be a most remarkable medical 
