154 
POPULAR SCIENCE NEWS. 
[October, 1891. 
dren, born from tuberculous mothers or parents, 
and whose weight is so small that they cannot be 
expected to live, and the result has been very sat- 
isfactory, many of these weak and feebly consti- 
tuted children having been much improved. M. 
I'inard considers the use of hemocyne as deserv- 
ing to be advised in such conditions. Ilemocyne 
seems to act as a general tonic, so that it may be 
used in a hirge number of diseases or unsatisfac- 
tory physiological conditions. It is given in 
quantities which vary from twenty to fifty cubic 
centimeters, and one or two cubic centimeters are 
given every two or three days. No local reaction 
of any importance is observed, generally, save 
some pain and swelling, and a slight eruption of 
urticaria. Similar results have been obtained 
with goafs blood, according to MM. IJertin and 
Picq, of Nantes, and the prospect of hematothera- 
pia seems a vary good one, when we also consider 
that the subcutaneous injection of blood of ani- 
mals which, as a rule, do not suffer from some 
virulent diseases, confers immunity against them 
to species which are commonly victims of them. 
At the same meeting an important discussion 
was held on the relationship between bird tuber- 
culosis and human tuberculosis ; and, while some 
persons believe both diseases to be the same, most 
have considered the proofs as unsatisfactory, and 
keep to the notion that they are two diseases. 
Lastly, the question of the heredity of tubercu- 
losis has been discussed, with the result that chil- 
dren of tuberculous parents are not necessarily 
tuberculous from their birth, and that they may 
escape the disease if the causes of contagion are 
reduced to the minimum. This is a very impor- 
tant fact, and one which will be welcome to the 
numerous tuberculous patients who may be con- 
sidered as cured, and do not know whether it is 
right for them to marry. But where one of the 
parents is still tul)erculous the right thing to do 
is to keep the child out of the atmosphere where 
the diseased parent lives ; it is one of the condi- 
tions of the former's life. No doubt is enter- 
tained as to the identity of bovine and human 
tuberculosis, so that more care than ever must be 
taken to destroy all meat and milk yielded by 
diseased cows and oxen. As to the identity of 
human and bird tuberculosis, I have already said 
that in the opinion of many these two diseases are 
different; but it should be noticed that some ex- 
periments seem to show that in fact there are but 
slight, and racial, non-specific differences between 
both bacilli ; so that it is better to consider, foi- 
practical purposes, the two diseases as one and 
the same, slightly modified by the differences 
which obtain in the environment the bacilli live 
in. The question can only be settled by experi- 
ment, of course, but there is some reason to sup- 
pose that experiment will show that the one dis- 
ease is but a form of the otlier. 
An interesting ethnographical exhibition has 
been going on in the Paris Museum of Natural 
History. M. Ph. Francois, who has spent some 
time in the New Hebrides group for zoological 
investigations, has brought back an important 
ethnographical collection, with a large number of 
photographs. Weapons are very numerous, and 
many of them had not been seen before in the 
Paris museums. These weapons are generally 
rendered poisonous by means of a mixture of 
earth taken from the holes made by sea-crabs, 
with the juice of some euphorb plant. The inju- 
ries made by these weapons are generally very 
dangerous, and death is soon the result. It would 
seem that tetanic symptoms are predominant 
among those which the poisoned arrows or spears 
induce. Is it the euphorb juice or the earth 
which is the cause of such ? We can hardly tell, 
as we know that earth seems to be a vehicle of 
tetanus ; but, then, what is the effect of euphorb? 
Dr. Le Dantec"s investigations on this point have 
not yet solved the question. It is to be remarked 
that the poisonous mixture does not keep long^ 
it must be fresh in order to be really efficient; 
and this fact is in contradiction with what is 
known concerning the long duration of virulence 
of earth supposed to be tetanogen. 
Tlie Paris Jardin d' Acdimatation is busy get- 
ting up a museuni of all implements used in all 
countries and at all times for hunting and fishing 
purposes, from the implements of pre-historic 
man and present savages, down to the perfected 
tools and methods of the modern angler and 
hunter. Such collections are always interesting, 
as showing the progress and lines of evolution of 
human mind and discovery ; and this new feature 
will doubtless attract many visitors. But why 
does this iustitution not confine itself more to its 
original purpose, and why does it not aim more 
sincerely at the acclimatization of new animals 
and plants? There is much to be done in this 
line, and of more practical use than exhibitions 
whose place is more in the Ethnographical Mu- 
seum than in the so-called Jardin (TAcclimatation. 
H. 
Paris, August 25, 1891. 
<♦+ ■ ■ 
[Specially Observed for Popdlak Sciencb Nkws.] 
METEOROLOGY FOR AUGUST, 1891, WITH 
REVIEW OF THE SUMMER. 
TEMPERATURE. 
Average Thermometer. 
Lowest. 
Highest. 
Range. 
At7A. M 
At2P. M 
At9P. M 
Whole month .... 
Second average . . . 
65.97° 
75.55° 
67.81° 
69.77° 
69.28° 
56° 
59° 
59° 
56° 
56° 
76° 
87° 
79° 
87° 
87° 
20° 
28° 
20° 
31° 
31° 
Last 21 Augusts . . . 
Second average . . . 
68.98° 
68.31° 
( 65.83° 
i In 1874. 
65.17° 
71.76° 1 
in 1872. i 
70.99° 
6.93° 
5.82° 
Summer of 1891 . . . 
Last 21 Summers . . . 
68.06° 
69.00° 
47° 
( 67.19° 
i in 1888. 
92° 
71.67° ) 
in 1876. i 
45° 
4.48° 
The lowest point reached by the mercury was 
■56°, on the mornings of the first and last days of 
the month. The highest point was 87°, on the 
11th. The 30th was the coolest, and the 11th the 
warmest days in the month, averaging 58.66° and 
79.33°, respectively,— a range of 20.66°. The en- 
tire month was .79° above the mean of the last 
twenty-one Augusts. ■ There were two warm 
waves during the month of six days each, and 
oue cool wave of three days. The first warm 
wave commenced on the 7th, and the average of 
the six days was 74.39°, ranging from 64° to 87°. 
The second commenced on the 20th, and averaged 
74.94°, ranging from 62° to 84° ; the latter wave 
thus having a higher temperature, though on a 
lower range, the mornings and evenings averag- 
ing 21° higher, and the midday 11° lower, than in 
the former wave. The cool wave was during the 
last three days of the month, and had a daily 
mean of only 60.22°, with the small range of 56° 
to 62°. The range on the 30th was only 1°. The 
most sudden change was a rise of 17° in seven 
hours on the morning of the 1st, 
The temperature of the present summer was 
.94 below the mean of the last twenty-one years. 
The extremes and range are given in the above 
table. 
SKT. 
The face of the sky, in 93 observations, gave 39 
fair, 19 cloudy, 29 overcast, and 6 rainy, — a per- 
centage of 41.9 fair. The average fair for the last 
twenty-one Augusts has been 60.6, with extremes 
of 86 in 1876, and 41.9 in 1891,— showing the pres- 
ent August to have been the most cloudy in 
twenty-one years. On the 12th we had a shower, 
with lightning, thunder, and a strong wind. I do 
not find a single day noted "fine" during the 
month, though a few, peihaps, might have been 
so noted with some degree of propriety. 
The average percentage fair the past summer 
was 48.5, and the last twenty-one summers 59.3, 
with extremes of 45.6 in 1889, and 71.4 in 1876. 
But a single summer — that of 1889 — has been less 
fair than the present. 
PRECIPITATION. 
The amount of rainfall the last month was 5.51 
inches, of which 2.70 fell on the 28th, chiefly in a 
very short time. The remainder was well dis- 
tributed, principally on six days. The average 
amount the last twenty-three Augusts has been 
4.11 inches, with extremes of .48 inch in 1883, and 
10.03 in 1872. The amount since .lanuary 1 has 
been 41.27 inches, and the average of these eight 
inonths in twenty-three years 32.36 inches, — mak- 
ing the present surplus 8.91 inches. 
The amount of rainfall the present summer has 
been 11.92 inches, while the average for the last 
twenty-three summers has been 10.03, with ex- 
tremes of 4.39 in 1883, and 18.13 in 1872. While 
the present summer's heat has been about one 
degree below the mean, the rainfall has been 
nearly- two inches above the mean, thus equaliz- 
ing the season's need. 
PRESSURE. 
The average pressure the past month was 29.984 
inches, with extremes of 29.74 on the 1st, and 
30.20 on the 26th,— a low range of only .40 inch. 
The mean for the last eighteen Augusts has been 
29.967 inches, with extremes of 29.868 in 1878, and 
30.041 in 1889,— a range of .173 inch. The mean 
daily change of the pressure the last month was 
.081 inch, while this average the last eighteen 
Augusts has been .087, with extremes of .051 and 
.125. The largest daily movements were only .22 
inch on the 3d, and .19 on the 28th, and the ba- 
rometer was noted stationary nearly one-third of 
the observations— showing a very quiet state of 
the atmosphere. 
The average pressure during the summer months 
was 29.971 inches, and the daily movement .085 
inch. The average the last eighteen summers has 
been 29.945 inches, and the daily movement .098 
inch. The variations of the barometer in .Inly 
and August are the least in the year. 
WINDS. 
The average direction of the wind the past 
month was W. 13° 14' S., which was a near mean 
of the last twenty-two Augusts, being W. 13° 
50' S. The extremes have been E. 78° 40' N. in 
1873, and W. 84° 15' S. in 1874,— a range of sixteen 
and a half points of the compass, or 5° 35' over a 
full semi-circle. The relative progressive distance 
travelled by the wind the past month was 34.92 
units, and during the last twenty-two Augusts 
765.2 such units, an average of 36.15,— showing a 
near average. 
The mean direction of the wind during the pres- 
ent summer was W. 7° 20' S., and the last twenty- 
two summers W. 18° 59' S.,— showing less south- 
erly winds than usual. The distance travelled the 
present summer was 101.8 units, and during the 
last twenty-two summers 2,552 such units, an 
average of 116,— showing more easterly winds 
than usual. 
