264 



NATURE 



{July 12, 18S3 



try M. E. Houdart. By this process all danger of fermentation 

 is avoided, while the quality and appearance of the wines so 

 treated remain unimpaired. 



Berlin 

 Physiological Society, June 15. — In continuation of the 

 experiments upon the influence of temperature upon the time 

 occupied by reflex actions, which Prof. Kronecker described at 

 the last meeting, Prof. Ewald communicated observations which 

 he had made upon patients who were suffering from rabies. 

 These patients responded with a reflex jerk quicker in a tem- 

 perature between 0° C. and 5° C. than in temperatures between 

 40° — 50°, and at higher temperatures the times occupied by a 

 reflex action again became shorter. — Dr. B. Baginsky spoke 

 about the results of experiments which he had instituted in order 

 to determin; the function of the cochlea. It is well known that 

 anatomical research has determined that the membrana basilaris 

 of the cochlea, in which the terminal filaments of the auditory 

 nerve are distributed, increases in breadth from the bottom 

 towards the upper part ; and Herr von Helmholtz had founded 

 an hypothesis upon this to explain the differentiating perception 

 of certain higher tones, viz. that the sound-waves that penetrate 

 into the cochlea occasion a synchronous vibration either in the 

 broader upper half or in the narrower lower half of the mem- 

 brana basilaris, so that the higher tones would lexcite the fibres 

 of the auditory nerve distributed in the lower part, and the 

 deeper notes the fibres distributed in the upper part. In 

 animals which are low in the scale of development there is a 

 similar arrangement, which consists of auditory cilia of different 

 lengths, which have the same function, as the shorter ones are 

 intended for the higher notes, and the longer ones for the deeper 

 notes and noises, and are set into synchronous vibration by 

 thetn. This hypothesis has been experimentally confirmed in 

 the case of the auditory cilia of the lower animals, and it had 

 actually turned out true that deep notes produced vibrations in 

 the long hairs, and high notes in the short ones. Herr Baginsky 

 now undertook to test the hypothesis of Herr von Helmholtz 

 experimentally on the cochlea of higher animals. After he had 

 succeeded in overcoming the great practical difficulties, he 

 wounded the top of the cochlea of the healthy ear in dogs which 

 had been made absolutely deaf of their ether ear, and then 

 observed their hearing powers by means of the different notes of 

 organ-pipes between c and ("'". On the third day after the 

 immediate consequences of the operative interference had dis- 

 appeared, it was found that the dogs responded perfectly to the 

 notes e"", d"", c", c", but were deaf to the deeper notes. This 

 condition remained unaltered for weeks, and when the animal 

 that had been the subject of experiment was killed, the post- 

 mortem examination showed that the top only of the cochlea had 

 been wounded, and that the filaments of the auditory nerve that 

 were distributed to that portion were destroyed. Less precise 

 were the results of the experiments in which the lower 1 art of 

 the cochlea was destroyed ; ill these cases absolute deafness 

 occurred in a succession of cases ; in other cases, again, the dogs 

 responded to high as well as to low notes, to the latter, perhaps, 

 a little better ; and again, in other cases, on the other hand, the 

 dogs only responded to the notes c, <-', c", while they were deaf to 

 the higher notes. But this condition only lasted some fourteen days ; 

 then hearing power for the higher notes set in again, and soon 

 reached the same sensitiveness as that for the deep notes. Post- 

 mortem examination showed in these various cases different 

 degrees of distinction occasioned by the operation. Herr 

 Baginsky believes that he has by his experiments, in particular 

 by the results of lesion of the top of the cochlea, verified ex- 

 perimentally for the mammalian cochlea the hypothesis of von 

 Helmholtz. — Dr. B. Frankel S| oke concerning the different 

 views of authors as to the behaviour of the pharyngo-nasal 

 isthmus during the phonation of vowels, and about the attempts 

 which have been made, up to the present inconclusive, to prove 

 the closure or the patency of the isthmus. He himself has be- 

 come convinced by his observations that in the phonation of all 

 vowels the communication between the pharynx and nasal cavity 

 remains patent, although more or less narrowed, and he demon- 

 strated this partly by means of a spirit-manometer, one of whose 

 limbs was brought into connection with one nostril, at the same 

 time closing the other nostril while he was sounding the letter, 

 or by means of a flame towards which he directed an elastic tufe 

 which was in connection with both nostrils. Not only on pro- 

 nouncing A, but also with E, O, I, and U, a current of air was 

 seen to issue from the nose. Dr. Frankel then discussed the 

 various varieties of nasal speech, of which he distinguishes three 



anatomical varieties, and finally gave his view as to the functio.i 

 of the uvula, which occurs only in man and in some of the 

 higher apes, viz. that it has got nothing to do with the shutting 

 off the isthmus nasopharyngeus or any connection at all with 

 speech ; it serves rather to protect the larynx in swallowing by 

 dividing mouthfuls of solid food and drink into two portions, 

 and thus compelling them to slip down on either side of the 

 larynx ; it likewise forms an elongation of the epiglottis. — Prof. 

 Kronecker gave a short exposition of a demonstration which 

 Dr. Openschewsky gave to the Society. In experimenting on 

 the influence of the vagus and upon the gastric movements, it 

 was observed that when the peripheral end of the gastric branch 

 of the vagus is stimulated by single currents, the contraction of 

 the cardia does not occur until after the cessation of the stimu- 

 lations, although during the continuance of these no contraction 

 of the stomach is observed, when a certain frequency of repe- 

 tition of the stimuli has been attained. This induced Dr. 

 Openschewsky to examine more closely the inhibitory action of 

 the vagus. It has now been known for a good many years that 

 in high degrees of anaemia the cardia executes spontaneous 

 rhythmical contractions ; by ligature of the coronary artery this 

 ansemia could be artificially produced |and the rhythmical |c IB- 

 tractions could be produced in the cardia. If the peripheral 

 ends of the gastric branches of the vagus were now stimulated, 

 an inhibition of these movements of the cardia regularly occurred, 

 which lasted as long as the stimulation of the vagus. It is thus 

 proved that the gastric branches of the vagus contain inhibitory 

 as well as excitant fibres, exactly as its cardiac branches ; and 

 Dr. Openschewsky proposes to work out this part of the physio- 

 logy of the vagus still further. 



Vienna 

 Imperial Academy of Sciences, April 12. — M. Abeles, 

 on secretion from the living kidney if floated through with 

 blood. — E. Hussak, on cordierite in volcanic outcasts. — 

 E. Zuckerkandl, on the communications between the arteries 

 of the human lung. — J. Wroblewski and K. Olszewski, on 

 the liquefaction of oxygen and solidification of carbon di- 

 sulphide and alcohol. — G. Goldschmidt, on pyrene-quinone. — 

 T. von Oppolzer, tables to determine eclipses of the moon. — J. 

 Liznar, a note on the theory of Lamart's variation apparatus for 

 horizontal intensity. 



CONTENTS Page 



Hydraulic Manual. By Major Allan Cunningham, 

 R.E 241 



Origines Celticae. By Rev. A. H. Sayce .... 

 Our Book Shelf:— 



Martin and Moale's "Handbook of Vertebrate Dissec- 

 tion " 



" An Easy Introduction to Chemistry " 



Holmes's " Practical Electric Lighting " . 

 Letters to the Editor : — 



Geology of the Congo. — S. R. Pattison .... 



Intelligence in Animals. — G. Bidie 



The Mealy Odorous Spot in Lepidoptera. — Dr. H. A. 



Hagen 



Causes of Glacier Motion. — Dr. John Rae, F.R.S. 



{With Diagram) 



Sand. — James Melvin 



Garfish— Wild Fowl.— Robert S. Goodsir . . . 



Glowworms. — W. J. Stillman 



Mimicry. — A. Hale 



Indian Numeration. — Frederic Drew 



Funeral of Mr. Spottiswoode 



The Eclipse Party 



The Archaeology of Southern California. By L. P. 



Gratacap 



The Size of Atoms, II. By Sir William Thomson, 



F.R.S {With Diagrams) 



Stellar Photography at Harvard 



Notes 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



The Constant of Aberration 



On the Function of the Sound-Post, and on the 

 Proportional Thickness of the Strings of the 

 Violin. By Dr. William Huggins, F.R.S. (With 



Diagrams) 



University and Educational Intelligence .... 



Scientific Serials 



Societies and Academies 



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