POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



855 



lei groups coming synchronously. And the 

 later in order may be types of a character of 

 development, or they may be specializations 

 of a group whose normal forms belonged to 

 an earlier season. In their blooming season 

 the more perfect succeed the more simple ; 

 the aberrant, the normal; the specialized, 

 the generalized. But with the general ob- 

 servation arise certain modifying conditions " 

 which are mentioned. 



Insanitary Positions. In a paper on 

 Some Derangements of the Heart and Stom- 

 ach produced by the Unusual Position of 

 Children in School, read before the Academic 

 de Medecine of Paris, Dr. Motais pointed out 

 the effects of that attitude in which the 

 pupil seats himself on the ischial tuberosity, 

 supporting himself by leaning on the left 

 elbow and stooping forward, so that the trunk 

 of the body then develops an antero-lateral 

 curvature. The result is, firstly, that by the 

 lateral inclination the border of the false 

 ribs on the left side descends until it is in 

 contact with the iliac crest. The larger 

 curvature of the stomach is thus pressed 

 upon the spleen and general mass of the in- 

 testines ; secondly, by bending the body so 

 much anteriorly a fold is formed at the upper 

 part of the abdominal wall, and the anterior 

 surface of the stomach follows the curve. 

 These conditions produce a mechanical hin- 

 drance to the movements of the cardiac 

 stomach. The function of the thoracic 

 viscera is equally interfered with by means 

 of the anterior curvature owing to the draw- 

 ing together of the ribs and also by the de- 

 scent of the left half of the diaphragm 

 toward the upper border of the stomach. 

 The difficulty thus afforded to respiration re- 

 acts on the heart, the contractions of which 

 are, moreover, mechanically hindered by the 

 distortion of the thoracic cavity. The neck 

 is nece&sarily somewhat twisted, and the 

 large vessels at the root, therefore, are sub- 

 mitted to a certain amount of torsion. The 

 effect of the attitude described above is espe- 

 cially marked when an organic affection of 

 the heart exists. Dr. Motais is also of the 

 opinion that this position is a strong patho- 

 genic element protracting the duration of 

 dyspepsia. He has found that if children 

 who suffer from this complaint are made to 

 assume a correct posture while in school the 



symptoms subside more rapidly than when 

 such a precaution is not taken. The same 

 observations are applicable to adults engaged 

 in sedentary occupations, and Dr. Motais laid 

 great stress on the point that the medical 

 man, when treating cases of chronic heart or 

 gastric disease, should give his patients di- 

 rections as to the posture to be assumed 

 when much sitting is necessary. 



Australian Dingoes. A colony of din- 

 goes or Australian wild dogs recently bred 

 in the Jardin d" 1 Acclimataiion in Paris, and 

 two of the brood of four lived. This animal 

 has very dense hair, which is thicker in 

 winter than in summer, erect and mobile 

 ears, long and pointed muzzle, and tufted 

 tail, which hangs down when the animal is 

 at rest and is carried curled over the back 

 when its attention is attracted by any noise. 

 It has well-developed senses of hearing and 

 smell. Its average height is perhaps about 

 twenty inches, but different specimens vary 

 greatly in size. Its hair is usually red on 

 the back and head, growing lighter and 

 lighter on the inside of the thighs and limbs. 

 Some individuals are of uniform color ; others 

 have white on the paws and the end of the 

 tail. The dingo inhabits the forests, heather, 

 and steppes of the whole Australian conti- 

 nent, where it lives upon kangaroos and 

 whatever other animals offer to its greedy 

 appetite ; and it plays havoc with the flocks 

 of the colonists, who war upon it without 

 mercy. Dingoes are frequently domesticated, 

 but, according to Bohm, they retain all their 

 wild instincts in that condition, and readily 

 attack any animal that comes within reach 

 of them. The two puppies in the Jardin 

 d'Acclimatation were cared for with much 

 solicitude by their mother, who did not leave 

 them, but permitted the attendants to change 

 their litter and handle them without objec- 

 tion. She refused all food but raw meat, 

 but occasionally drank milk. She played 

 freely with the other dogs around the ken- 

 nel, some of which were of fine breeds ; and 

 when any conflict arose with regard to food, 

 knew perfectly well how to defend herself. 

 When the young were a month old, the 

 mother, finding they did not require her con- 

 stant attention, gave way to her vagabond 

 habits. She made her way out of the box 

 in which the little ones were confined, and 



