Vol. XXIV. No. ii.] 
POPULAR SCIENCE NEWS. 
175 
it to be so — as in the second dog operated on the 
heart ceased beating instantly, but attempts at 
respiration were made. This is why I disagree with 
Dr. Shrady as to the possibility of resuscitation 
of Kemmler at that time. There is plenty of evi- 
dence to show that respiration following heart 
arrest has been kept up for some time in individuals 
subjected to powerful electric stroke, where resusci- 
tation was impossible and the heart had ceased to 
beat. As might be expected, when its influence 
reached the muscular coats of the stomach, a con- 
traction took place, causing a small amount of 
mucus to ooze forth from the mouth (not fly all 
over the room, as one paper puts it). This is a 
good indication of death also. Kemmler was dead 
at'the first application of the current, and with not 
one iota of feeling. This first electro-execution has 
demonstrated the positive truthfulness of all that 
has been claimed by its advocates. ■ Under a voltage 
much below that recommended, the culprit has been 
instantly ushered into eternity. 
THE NEW YORK PASTEUR INSTI- 
TUTE. 
Our readers are probably aware that a 
laborator}' has recently been established in 
New York City, under the direction of Dr. 
Paul Gibier, for the preventive treatment 
of hydrophobia by Pastein-'s method of inoc- 
ulation, and for the general study of conta- 
gious diseases. We have received a report 
of the work of the Institute since its opening 
in February last, and think the facts therein 
contained may be of interest. 
To date 6io persons, having been bitten by dogs 
or cats, came to be treated. These patients may be 
divided in two categories : 
For 480 of these persons it was demonstrated that 
the animals which attacked them were not mad. 
Consequently the patients were sent back after hav- 
ing had their wounds attended, during the proper 
length of time, when it was necessary. Four hun- 
dred patients of this series were consulted or treated 
gratis. 
In 130 cases the anti-hydrophobic treatment was 
applied, hydrophobia having been demonstrated by 
veterinary examination of the animals which in- 
flicted bites, or by the inoculation in the laboratory, 
and in many cases by the death of some other per- 
sons or animals bitten by the same dogs. All these 
persons are today enjoying good health. In 80 
cases the patients received the treatment free of 
charge. 
Among the persons treated were 64 from New 
York, 12 from New Jersey, 12 from Massachusetts, 
8 from Connecticut, and 9 from Illinois. The re- 
mainder of the patients were mainly from Western 
and Southern States, including nearly every section 
of the country. 
Although we think the theories of Pasteur 
can hardly be said to be absolutely proved, 
yet they are strongly confirmed by the above 
statistics and those of the Paris Institute, and 
there seems to be a very good prospect that 
the terrible disease of hydrophobia may be 
brought as fully under control as is the small- 
pox at the present time. 
Surgical Geniuses. — Prof. Hebra, of Vienna, 
used often to express himself in this wise: "It is 
necessary that there should be surgical geniuses, 
but don't ever let a surgical genius operate on you." 
I Specially Compiled for Popular Science Neios.l 
MONTHLY SUMMARY OF MEDICAL 
PROGRESS. 
BY MAURICE D. CLARKE, M. D. 
Cerebral Localization. — Dr. Ferrier, the well- 
known writer upon cerebral anatomy and physi- 
ology, took cerebral localization for the subject of a 
recent course of lectures. In the first lecture he 
refers to the results of experimentation on fishes, 
frogs, and birds. He reports two recent experiments 
of Schader which seem to show that removal of the 
hemispheres of a frog does not deprive the animal 
of either spontaneity, or of special instincts, or 
of the ability to feed itself, as has been stated by 
others. If this is so, it would appear that the prin- 
cipal point of distinction between the brainless and 
normal frog cannot be upheld. In relation to the 
result of experiments on birds, he mentions Monk's 
recent investigations which show that complete 
extirpation of the hemispheres produced complete 
and absolute blindness. He, however, quotes 
Schader as stating that in his experiments complete 
extirpation of the cerebral hemispheres in birds did 
not produce blindness. Ferrier seems to incline to 
the view of Schader, and says that we must there- 
fore " class birds with fishes and frogs, which with- 
out doubt retain their sense of sight and guide their 
movements accordingly, notwithstanding the com- 
plete removal of their cerebral hemispheres." Be- 
ginning with mammals. Dr. Ferrier reviews the 
chief experiments that have been made up to date. 
He gives a brief summary of the phenomena of 
electrical irritation of the difTerent regions of the 
cerebral cortex, and says that this method of experi- 
mentation indicates some form of functional dift'er- 
entiation. This method will not show the existing 
boundaries of different centers, because contiguous 
regions with different functions are apt to be dis- 
charged together. The individual movements of a 
limb, which are dependent upon a certain center, 
may be produced when a contiguous center is stimu- 
lated. "This may be interpreted either on the 
supposition that the particular movements (say 
of the thumb) are represented throughout the whole 
of the arm area, or that it is only a case of the 
diffusion of the stimulus from one part to another." 
It is difficult to decide which of these views is the 
correct one, and it may be that neither represents 
the whole truth. 
due to an inhibition of the perceptive centers them- 
selves, so that ordinary stimuli are not perceived. — 
Berlin Klinisch Wochenschrift. 
The Nature of Hysteria. — The basis of the 
hysterical state, according to Oppenheim, is an 
irritable weakness, so that the influence of external 
and internal stimuli is increased and made easier. 
The influence of the emotions upon the motor, 
vaso-motor, sensory and secretory functions, is phy- 
siological. In fact, certain functions — such as 
crying, laughing, or blushing — are in most persons 
purely under the control of the emotions. In 
hysteria, however, the physiological resistance is so 
reduced that slight emotions of this sort produce 
maximum effects. Reflex excitability is also in- 
creased, minimum stimuli causing maximum re- 
flexes. Hysterical paralysis is either emotional or 
reflex in its nature. As the centers are easier 
excited, they are also exhausted easier. The 
hysterical paralysis is a true paralysis in that there 
is an interruption of conduction somewhere be- 
tween the seat of the will and the motor centers, so 
that the patient is not able to bring the paralyzed 
part under the power of the will. In a case of 
hysterical aphonia, while the patient was unable to' 
talk, she could sing or give a cry of pain. In the 
first case the emotion of singing was enough to 
overcome the obstacle to will conduction ; in the 
second the cry was reflex. Hysterical ana;sthesia is 
False Sensations. — Dr. S.WeirMitchell ( Tram. 
Ass'n of Am. Physicians, Vol. 4) reports a number 
of cases of subjective false sensations of cold. This 
peculiar sensation in one case followed injury; in 
other cases the causation was obscure, but the 
doctor believed it was of neurotic origin. In one 
case the sensation was confined to one side of the 
body, in other cases to the buttocks, and in others to 
the feet and various parts of the body. In some 
cases the feeling of cold was accompanied by an 
actual rise of temperature of the part. One rather 
remarkable case he reports, was that of a lawyer, 
filty-seven years of age, who had had scarlet fever 
at seventeen, with renal complications. Albumen 
and casts have been found in his urine since that 
date, although he has enjoyed excellent health. 
During the last few years he has been annoyed 
by subjective sensations of cold, which are increased 
by mental application. To relieve these sensations 
he wears three suits of the heaviest kind of woolen 
underwear, three pairs of the heaviest woolen socks, 
felt boots of the heaviest material over his ordinary 
boots and shoes, and a flannel bandage around his 
body. At night he wears two of the above men- 
tioned suits, a flannel bandage, woolen socks, and 
sleeps under five woolen blankets on a feather mat- 
tress, with a hair one under it. He always keeps 
the night temperature of his room at 80, and after a 
hard day at court from 90 to 95. The sensation 
of cold is positively painful, though his surface 
temperature is normal. 
Functions of the Cerehelluxi. — Dr. E. D. 
Fisher (A'. Y. Med. Jour.) says in an article on the 
functions of the cerebellum as indicated by recent 
research, that the general functions of the cerebel- 
lum in animals and in man are the same, although 
they may be somewhat modified by the special 
characteristics of the mammals imder considera- 
tion. The experiments which the writer recorded 
had been carried on with every precaution against 
sepsis, following the same methods observed in 
cerebral surgery in man. The operations were 
eight in number — seven on dogs and one on a 
monkey. In summarizing the results so far ob- 
tained, one fact had stood out very clearly, namely, 
that it required a considerable lesion of the cerebel- 
lum to produce any symptoms, and that cortex 
lesions could not be localized as in the cerebrum. 
Loss of equilibrium and inco-ordination were pres- 
ent in every case, more or less markedly, but no 
sensory disturbance. Recovery always occurred 
after a certain time, the cerebrum seeming to take 
on the function of the cerebellum, although this 
was never absolute, as even in the dog, which lived 
some six months after the operation, some inco- 
ordination and loss of equilibrium were present. 
The psychical functions, so far as could be studied, 
were not affected, and the sexual desires were 
neither lessened nor increased. 
An Autopsy in Hydrophobia. — Dr. Loomis 
reports the results of an autopsy on a case of hydro- 
phobia. The autopsy was made twelve hours after 
death, and with the exception of an engorgement 
of the cerebral vessels and slight pulmonary con- 
gestion and oedema, no pathological condition could 
be found in any organ or tissue of the body. A 
microscopical examination of a section of the lower 
portion of the medulla showed congestion of the 
capillary vessels, but no structural changes. A 
portion of the spinal cord was removed, and was 
reduced by Pasteur's method to an emulsion in a 
