July 24, 1890] 



NA TURE 



<iistrict. It is a familiar experience in organic chemistry, that 

 on introduction of nitro groups (NOj) into organic bodies, by 

 action of nitric acid, a smell like that of musk is often noticed. 

 In the present case, pure butyl-toluol is treated with a mixture 

 of sulphuric and nitric acid, and the nitro-compound is purified 

 by crystallization from alcohol, the yellowish-white crystals 

 smelling strongly like musk. According to Dr. Paul {Hum- 

 boldt), the smell is not perfectly pure, and it can be distinguished 

 from that of musk by the perfumer, but not by the general public. 

 Curiously, a I per cent, alcoholic solution has not the smell of 

 musk ; only after dilution with water does this come out, and 

 the dilution may be carried far before the smell is lost ; with 

 I in 5000 it is still quite distinct. Certain properties of the new 

 product seem to render it very useful in the perfuming of soap. 



The small toe in man has recently (we learn from Hii>nbo!dl) 

 been made a subject of study by Herr Pfitzner. It is well known 

 that thumbs and great toes are two-jointed, and the other fingers 

 and toes generally three-jointed. In many human skeletons^ 

 however, the small toe is found to be two-jointed, the middle 

 and end phalanges being fused into one piece, though still dis- 

 tinguishable. This variety occurs in about 36 per cent, of cases, 

 and, as a rule, in both toes simultaneously ; and there are more 

 instances among women (41*5 per cent.) than among men (31 "O 

 per cent.). One naturally thinks ,here of shoe-pressure causing 

 union of two bones originally separate. But it appears that in 

 children, from birth to the seventh year, and in embryos from 

 the fifth month, the fusion occurs about as often as in adults. 

 Further, the material of examination was not from a class of 

 people who wear tight shoes. Herr Pfitzner concludes that the 

 small toe in man is in course of degeneration (Riickbildung), and 

 that without apparent adaptation to external mechanical influ- 

 ences. Processes of reduction are also observed in the connected 

 muscular system. The question arises, Has the tendency reached 

 its limit, or have we merely the first act of a total degeneration 

 of the fifth toe ? The author inclines to the latter view, but 

 desires an extension of these researches among peoples who do 

 not wear shoes or sandals, or have only of late begun to wear 

 them. In living persons, it is not difficult to determine, by 

 stretching and bending, whether the small toe is two- or three- 

 jointed ; and in this way adequate data might be had for deter- 

 mining any percentage differences in occurrence of the old and 

 the new form in different races ; also for investigating the 

 inheritance of acquired characters, members of several successive 

 generations being examined. 



Defective sight is becoming more general in the United 

 States, and blindness, particularly among the poor, shows a 

 steady growth. So says the British Consul at Philadelphia, 

 whose statements are advanced on the authority of oculists. 

 Purulent ophthalmia of infancy is prevalent in charitable institu- 

 tions, poor-houses, &c. The disease shows itself within a 

 fortnight after birth. A recent investigation of the blind in the 

 country almshouses and asylums of an adjoining State showed 

 that one out of every five cases of blindness was due to ophthal- 

 mia, and that the cases could have been cured if they had been 

 properly treated in time. The disease is said to be contagious, 

 and few or no special precautions have been taken in any of the 

 institutions to prevent its spreading. The increase of the blind- 

 ness throughout the country has been so marked of late years — 

 four times as great as the increase of population— that it has 

 been made the subject of special investigation by the American 

 <Jphthalmological Society, the investigation including a study of 

 the ophthalmia so prevalent in Egypt, to which the ophthalmia 

 -of infancy is closely akin. 



A VERY odd result of rivalry between two tiger-snakes is 

 recorded by Mr. D. Le Souef, Assistant Director of the Mel- 

 bourne Zoological Gardens, in the May number of the Victorian 

 NO. 1082, VOL. 42] 



Naturalist. One of the snakes was large, the other small. 

 Not long ago both happened to fasten on the same mouse, one 

 at each end. Neither would give way, and the larger snake 

 not only swallowed the mouse, but also the smaller snake. In 

 about ten minutes nothing was seen of the smaller snake but 

 about two inches of its tail, and that disappeared next day. 



In the new quarterly statement of the Palestine Exploration 

 Fund, Mr. Flinders Petrie gives a short report of his recent ex- 

 cavations at Tell Hesy, in Palestine. These have proved to be 

 remarkably interesting. The remains of Tell Hesy consist of a 

 mound which is formed of successive towns, one on the ruins of 

 another, and an enclosure taking in an area to the south and 

 west of it. The lowest wall of all — 28 feet 8 inches thick, and 

 formed of clay bricks, unburnt — is believed to be that of Lachish, 

 the ancient Amorite city, erected probably 1500 years B.C. 

 Phoenician pottery of about iioo B.C. is found above its level. 

 Later constructions are the supposed wall of Rehoboam, and 

 remains of the fortifications made in the reigns of Asa, Jeho- 

 shaphat, Uzziah, Jotham, and Manasseh. The pottery discovered 

 on the spot is very valuable. "We now know for certain,' 

 says Mr. Petrie, " the characteristics of Amorite pottery, of 

 earlier Jewish and of later Jewish influenced by Greek trade, 

 and we can trace the importation and the influence of Phoe- 

 nician pottery. In future all the tells and ruins of the country 

 will at once reveal their age by the potsherds which cover 

 them." 



M. P.- M6GNIN is engaged in an elaborate study of the 

 varieties of dogs. He has published two volumes on the sub- 

 ject, and a third is to appear shortly. The author tries to give 

 an account of the origin of the varieties at present known. 



Herr A. Hartleben, of Vienna, Pest, and Leipzig, has 

 begun the publication, in " Lieferungen," of two works which 

 promise to be very good and useful. They are " Das Luftmeer," 

 by Prof. F. Umlauft, and " Physik und Chemie," by Dr. von 

 Urbanitzky and Dr. S. Zeisel. Both works are illustrated. 

 The former will present an exposition of the principles of 

 meteorology and climatology ; the latter is to contain a general 

 account of physical and chemical phenomena in their relation to 

 practical life. 



During the last few months a fortnightly Meteorological 

 Bulletin has been published at Madrid, by a person under the 

 fwm de plume " Noherlesoom," professing to give the principal 

 features of the weather for the coming fortnight, illustrated 

 by isobaric charts for special days. Some pages of text contain 

 extracts from various orthodox works bearing upon weather pre- 

 diction. The present state of the science does not warrant pre- 

 dictions of this nature, nor is it stated upon what principles they 

 i are made ; yet the weather predicted for the first half of July 

 j corresponded in some respects to the very unseasonable conditions 

 I experienced during that period in this country. 



I The new meteorological observatory of San Jose de Costa- 

 rica is to be considered a welcome gain to science, seeing that 

 (as Dr. Hann points out) between Mexico in 19° N. lat. and 

 Rio de Janeiro and Cordoba in 22° and 35° S. lat., there has 

 been no observatory of the first rank, either in Central or South 

 America. Recent data from Prof. Pittier there, reveal a re- 

 markable daily period of rainfall. Thus in the five months 

 August to December, while only 1*5 inch of rain fell between 

 midnight and midday, 35 inches, or more than twenty times as 

 much, fell between midday and midnight. Comparing the 

 hours, 6 to II a.m., with 2 to 7 p.m., the quantities are 

 0-3 in. and 27-6 in. Nearly the whole of the rainfall occurs 

 within six hours (75^ per cent.). And the largest amount is 

 towards sunset, not (as commonly supposed about the tropics) 



1 in the early hours of the afternoon. 



