May 11. 1883.] 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



283 



Little encouragement is given to tlio hope entertained by 

 many, that certain substances — such as (lotassiuni per- 

 manganate — wliich deprive snake-poison of its powers, 

 may save life when injected after an animal has been 

 poisoned in the natural way. If cobra poison is injected, 

 and presently along the same cannula one of these dis- 

 infectants is injected, the action of the poison may be 

 checked ; but even that is not certain ; and in ordinary 

 snake-poisoning no effect whatever is produced. The reason 

 is tolerably clear. "It is quite true," says Dr. Wall, "that 

 potassium permanganate destroys the active agent of 

 cobra-venom by oxidising it ; but when introduced into 

 the blood it, of course, commences o.xidising indifferently 

 all the organic matters witli which it comes in contact, but 

 it has no power of selecting one organic substance for 

 oxidation rather than another. The oxidising power of 

 the permanganate is, therefore, exerted on the constituents 

 of the blood generally, instead of being reserved for the 

 cobra-poison in it alone." That this is so, is shown by the 

 fact that, if cobra-poison is dissolved in an organic solu- 

 tion, and the periiiangaiiate is added, the poison suffers 

 little, if any, diminution of strength, for the oxidation has 

 taken place, in that case, chieffy at the expense of the 

 other organic matter. 



The lirst point to be attended to in a case of snake-bite 

 is to prevent at once, if possible, the absorption of the 

 poison, by withdrawing the bitten part from the circu- 

 lation. "There is only one way of doing this elTec- 

 tually," says our author ; " at once let a thick india- 

 rubber band — sucli as is used in Esmarch's bandage for 

 bloodless operations — be firmly bound on the limb above 

 the part bitten. No circulation, and therefore no absorp- 

 tion, can go on after this, and time can be taken to 

 consider what further proceedings are necessary. An ordi- 

 nary cord, or string, or bandage, is nearly useless compared 

 with the india rublier band. I have known fatal absorp- 

 tion take place when a string has been applied so tightly 

 as actually to cut the flesh, and apparently strangulate the 

 limb completely, causing acute suffering, evidently from 

 the cord not accommodating itself accurately to the form 

 of the member, and thus leaving a small channel for circu- 

 lation. The india-rubber band is nearly painless, and, 

 properly applied, is an absolute safeguard against further 

 absorption." 



After this, so soon as it has been ascertained that 

 poison has really been injected, care must be taken " to 

 remove by careful dissection out with a knife every part 

 likely to contain the poison." Then, and then only, the 

 india-rubber band may be removed, the part having first 

 been freely washed with a solution of caustic potash or 

 potassic permanganate. 



Dr. Wall's book is full of highly interesting particulars ; 

 it is a most valuable contribution to science, and also to 

 the literature of snake-poisoning. 



Killed by Stays. — It seems as though, aitn all, some 

 men even are unwise enough to try waist-squeezing of 

 mischievous severity. In the Yorkshire GazrMe of the .5th 

 inst. there is an account of an inquest on a young man, 

 one F. W. Calvert, aged 23, only son of his mother, who 

 died owing to the sudden failure of the heart's action. " It 

 transpired that the deceased had been in the habit of wear- 

 ing stays, and had them on on the day of his death." 

 The post-mortem examination showed that the heart was 

 diseased and enlarged, " its cavities being all empty." 



Lic.iiTiN-G THE Suez Canal by Gas. — After a trial of 

 some months, says the Engiwer, the Suez Canal Company 

 has finally decided upon an extensive application of 



Pintsch's system of lighting harbours and rivers by means 

 of gas-containing buoys and fixed lights, given by com- 

 pressed oil gas. The Pintsch Patent Lighting Company 

 has received instructions to erect a gasworks for the 

 purpose at Port Said, and eight spherical buoys 9 ft. in 

 diameter, and to burn for two months without re-filling, 

 are at once to be sent out for lighting the canal approaches. 

 Three fixed lights to burn two months are also to be 

 erected, and three large holders for storing the gas are to 

 be erected on suitable sites. The system will probably be 

 used throughout the canal. The same system is also to be 

 adopted at Port Philip, Victoria. 



At the International Fisheries Exhibition, which will 

 be opened to-morrow, Jlessrs. Siemens Brothers are getting 

 on with the preparations for lighting the southern arcade 

 by means of 1,000 Swan lamps. 



The re-opening of the Parkes Museum of Hygiene by 

 the Duke of Albany takes place on Saturday, May 2 6, in 

 new premises, 74a, Margaret-street, W. 



SiN'CE the 23rd instant, the current at the Edison Cen- 

 tral Station, Ilolborn Viaduct, has been on the mains 

 throughout the twenty-four hours, and will continue to be 

 so in future. 



On Sunday week a cyclone passed over Beauregard and 

 Wesson, Blississippi. In Wesson, 200 dwellings, mostly 

 inhabited by factory operatives, were wrecked, 12 persons 

 were killed, 75 were injured, and three children are missing. 

 Beauregard was entirely destroyed ; not one building 

 remains standing; 23 persons were killed outright, 17 were 

 mortally wounded, and 00 more seriously hurt. Tillman 

 was also destroyed, and West Point much damaged, several 

 persons being killed and injured. Medical assistance was 

 sent from the neighbouring towns. 



The work of altering French lighthouses for the adop- 

 tion of the electric light has been begun with those which 

 guide into the principal ports, and those which give 

 warning of the most dangerous rocks. 



A TENDER, which will be a landmark in the history of 

 electric lighting, has been made by the Telegraph Con- 

 struction and Maintenance Company, to carry out an in- 

 stallation in Nottingham of 60,000 Swan lamps of 

 20-candle power. Five dynamos are proposed to be fitted, 

 each weighing 4.") tons, and each capable of maintaining 

 1.1,000 lamps. The total power employed or available will 

 be 6,360 indicated horse-power. The cost of the installa- 

 tion will be £220,000, and the annual cost for maintaining 

 the system is estimated at .£42,608. Compared with gas 

 at 2s. 6d. per 1,000 feet consumed at 60,000 burners, each 

 giving a light of 12 to 14-candIe power, a saving of 

 X93,750 per annum will be efliected, or sufficient to pay a 

 dividend of 23y\- per cent. The stability of the Mainten- 

 ance Company is sufficient to warrant us in believing that 

 the above estimate is calculated on fair bases. 



The metrical system is made compulsory in Havanna 

 from July next. 



At Cobham Hall, near Rochester, workmen, a few days 

 ago, came upon a large earthenware jar, which was found 

 to contain between 800 and 900 Roman coins in bronze, 

 mostly of the fourth century, or about 100 years before the 

 Romans left Britain, and are chiefly of the reigns of the 

 Emperors Constantine, Constans, and Constantius. The 

 spot where the coins were discovered was near the old 

 Roman Watling-street, which ran through Cobham Wood 

 towards London and the interior of the island. 



EiiRATL'51.— In the article on the Crystal Palace Exhibition, page 

 264, tirst col., eleventh line from bottom, for " Bower-Griscom," 

 read " Bower-Grimaton." 



