28o 



NATURE 



[January 19, 1893 



basking in the sun. Mr. Dennis notes that while in this posi- 

 tion it lifted up its head four or five inches and gaped. Its 

 mouth opened very wide ; and when the mouth was closing, 

 the nervous spasm, only half expended, again seized upon the 

 jaws, whereupon they went wider than before, the spasm ex- 

 hausting itself at last in a parting wriggle or two to the head. 

 " So natural," says Mr. Dennis, "was this novel performance, 

 that I involuntarily listened for that characteristic accompani- 

 ment, the little agonizing whine so common with the dog, and 

 and not uncommon with us." 



Few things are more freq^uently said than that diseases of 

 the nervous system, especially those of a hysterical character, 

 have increased with the growth of civilization. Dr. de la 

 Tourette has been trying to show, in the yotirnal de Medecine, 

 that this is an error, and Dr. D. G. Brinton, in Science, ex- 

 presses cordial agreement with him. Travellers who give the 

 soundest information on the subject, says Dr. Brinton, report 

 that in uncultivated nations violent and epidemic nervous 

 seizures are very common. Castren describes them among the 

 Sibiric tribes. An unexpected blow on the outside of a tent 

 will throw its occupants into spasms. The early Jesuit mission- 

 aries paint extraordinary pictures of epidemic nervous maladies 

 among the Iroquois and Hurons. During the Middle Ages 

 there were scenes of this kind which are impossible to-day. 



The question as to whether electrification is produced by the 

 friction of gases has been exhaustively dealt with by Mr. 

 Wesendonck, who gives an account of his results in Wiedemann^ s 

 Annalen. The apparatus resembled that employed by Faraday 

 with negative results, inthecaseof dry air. Mr. Wesendonck used 

 air compressed to loo atmospheres in Elkan steel bombs of 

 1000 litre capacity. This was passed through a brass tube 

 widening out into a cone into which a similar cone could be 

 screwed from the opposite direction, so as to leave a conical path 

 for the air issuing from the bomb. The second cone was con- 

 nected to a delicate electrometer, which indicated any electrifi- 

 cation produced by the impact of the air. Ordinary air was 

 thus found to give considerable negative charges, up to i^ volt, 

 if the cones were far apart, and positive charges if they were 

 screwed up close. But no electrification was produced when the 

 air had been previously freed from dust and moisture. Oxygen 

 behaved in the same way. Carbonic acid, evaporated from the 

 liquid state, imparted a strong positive charge to the brass, 

 which was, however, reversed as soon as the cold led to the 

 precipitation of water vapour. Ordinary atmospheric dust was 

 found to electrify the brass negatively, the charge being in- 

 creased by previous drying. It seems, therefore, that pure gases 

 are incapable of producing electrification by friction, and that 

 the effects observed are conditioned by the presence of minute 

 solid or liquid particles. 



Fishes in badly-ventilated aquaria give various signs of op- 

 pression, such as restlessness, frequent gasping, mounting to the 

 surface, leaping into the air, &c. Experiments have been recently 

 made by Messrs. Duncan and Hoppe-Seyler {Zeitschrift fiir 

 Phys. Chemie) to ascertain to what point the oxygen-content of 

 the water may be lowered before fishes indicate uneasiness. 

 They were made with tench, trout, and crayfish in an elliptical 

 glass vessel, with pipes for injecting and removing water and 

 air, &c., in one case a pipe communicating with a chamber in 

 which was a live rabbit, conveyed to the fishes air impoverished 

 by the latter's breathing, while the behaviour of rabbits and 

 fishes in the same air could be compared. With 4 to 3 

 cubic centimetres O in the litre of water, the fishes seemed well 

 and content, and with the corresponding O tension in the air 

 (8 to II volume-percentage) the rabbit was in no difficulty. 

 With 1 7 to o'8 cubic centimetres O in the water, the trout were 

 evidently ill at ease, and, if it continued, they died. The tench 

 NO. I2I2, VOL. 47] 



and crayfish, however, stood still further reductions, the former 

 finding relief at the surface. Reduction of the O to zero soon 

 produced the worst symptoms. 



It was long ago shown by Sir J. B. Lawes that plants on 

 ground that has been long without manure evaporate more water 

 than those on good ground. Further research has proved that 

 transpiration is not proportional to leafy development, for it 

 largely depends on the activity of the roots, as well as evapor- 

 ative surface. M. Deherain has lately {Ann. Agr.) been led to 

 investigate the influence of manure on the development of roots ; 

 and he finds that roots ia unmanured ground have a much larger 

 growth than in manured, having to spread more in search of 

 the scanty nutriment. If, then, a plant with small leafy 

 growth, evaporates more water relatively than one with large, 

 it is probably due to large root-growth procuring more water. 

 The observation of Volkens is cited, that desert plants have 

 extraordinarily long roots. Further, M. Deherain points out, 

 the solar rays falling on a plant have a twofold work to do, viz. 

 assimilation and transpiration. And these are complementary. 

 In strong leafy plants there is vigorous assimilation, so that 

 transpiration is limited ; while in the leaves (with little chloro- 

 phyll) of an "anaemic" plant a larger fraction of the solar 

 energy is given to transpiration. 



In the American Geologist an account is given of a pre- 

 liminary examination of some specimens of a coaly mineral, 

 having the general properties of a cannel, from the Kootanie 

 and Lower Cretaceous of British Columbia. Their examina- 

 tion was of more than ordinary interest on account of their 

 peculiar physical constitution and the great difficulty of ascer- 

 taining their connection with any of the materials ordinarily 

 known to contribute to coal formation. The main characteristics 

 of the mineral are the total absence of structure, and the presence 

 of tubular ramuli resembling fungus mycelia, as well as rounded 

 cavities. Angular fragments of material of the same nature as 

 the larger rod-like bodies appear in the sections, and an 

 amorphous substance either occurring in distinct flakes or act- 

 ing as a cement to unite the rods. Mr. Penhallow's examina- 

 tion has made it probable that the origin of these coals must be 

 sought in some other direction than modified vegetable struc- 

 ture. It is suggested that they represent a form of fossil resin 

 accumulated during a period when resin -bearing trees were very 

 abundant, and possessed a structure favouring the rapid dis- 

 integration of organic tissue. 



A YOUNG lady in America seems to have the power of 

 awakening not only the intelligence but the affections of insects. 

 Her experiences are recorded in Science by a friend of hers, 

 who signs himself " B." In September some one gave her a 

 beetle, which is described as a specimen of Pelidnota punctata 

 Linn. At first she kept it in a small box, feeding it with grass, 

 leaves, and small pieces of fruits, such as peaches, pears, &c. 

 Occasionally she would give it a drop of water to sip. It would 

 sometimes bite a little out of a leaf, would eat the fruits, and 

 would take water eagerly. From the first she would take the 

 insect in her fingers several times a day and stroke or caress it, 

 also putting it to her lips and talking to it all the while she 

 handled it. When she put it to her lips it would brush its 

 antennae over them with a gentle, caressing motion. When she 

 left her room she would shut it up in its box. One day, about 

 two weeks after she received it, she was called out suddenly 

 and neglected this precaution. She was absent for some time, 

 and when she returned the insect was not in its box nor any- 

 where to be seen. Fearing that she might injure it, she stood 

 still and called " Buggie, buggie," when it came crawling from 

 its retreat towards her. " After this," says " B.," " she would 

 frequently leave it free in the room when she went out, and 

 when she returned, if the insect was not in sight, she would 



