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WW U RL: 
[APRIL 22, 1897 
was almost continuous, while on some days a full hurricane was 
recorded. A few of the captains of vessels reported that they 
had never before encountered such a long period of unusually 
severe weather. A glance at the chart shows that at least three 
of the storms crossed from the American to the British coasts. 
It is interesting to note that the barometric pressure in the 
vicinity of the Azores, from February 18 to March 14, was con- 
stantly above the normal, varying from 30°3 to 30°7 inches ; 
consequently the weather during the same period for that region, 
and to the southward, was generally fine, the cyclones, or low- 
pressure areas, following the usual course of passing to the north- 
ward of the Atlantic anti-cyclone or area of high barometric 
pressure. 
Pror. H. C. Bumeus has critically examined more than 1700 
eggs of European and American sparrows, in order to determine 
the differences between them. The results of his observations 
were recently communicated to the, American Morphological 
Society. It was found that the American eggs presented a 
much greater amplitude of variation, both in shape and 
colour, than the European, that they were smaller, and 
were also of a strikingly different shape. The large pro- 
portion of extreme colour variation found to exist in the 
case of American eggs is not only interesting in itself, but 
when the figures are compared with those representing ex- 
treme variation in shape, the significance of both results is 
enhanced. Not only is the preponderance of variation among 
American eggs very obvious, but in both cases, in shape and in 
colour, it is almost precisely the same. Prof. Bumpus concluded 
that the data, whether gathered from comparisons of length, 
ratio of breadth to length, shape or colour, all point in the 
direction of a general structural modification. The observations 
have thus an important bearing upon the current theories of 
degeneration, panmixia, Kc. 
IN connection with the paragraph referring to injurious effects 
apparently produced by X-rays (p. 541), Mr. J. Lynn Thomas, 
assistant surgeon to the Cardiff Infirmary, calls our attention 
to a note he contributed on the subject to the Brétzsh Medzcal 
Fournal (March 27). He is of the opinion that these affections 
are the result of the strong currents in the vicinity of the tubes, 
and not due directly to the X-rays. Mr. Thomas also says he 
has noticed that different regions of the glass of a Rontgen lamp 
in action are under varying electrostatic stresses ; the dark half of 
the lamp, as a rule, attracts light bodies, such as pith-balls, more 
strongly than the half through which the X-rays emanate. Some- 
times the pith-balls are attracted and repelled at a great speed 
from the glass on the dark side, whilst they are attracted only 
upon the apple-green side. 
THE bacteriological diagnosis of typhoid fever, as such, has long 
been a matter of difficulty ; but since the introduction of Widal’s 
ingenious application of Pfeiffer’s sero-diagnosis of cholera, 
there seems to be a hope of obtaining some definite clue to the 
bacterial verification of this disease. Widal takes the blood of 
a patient suspected to be suffering from typhoid fever, and he 
mixes ten drops with a recent broth-typhoid-culture, and 
examines a drop of this mixture under the microscope. If the 
blood is really derived from a typhoid patient, the bacilli, in- 
stead of presenting the usual appearance, are seen to be gathering 
together in innumerable small heaps throughout the microscopic 
field. This behaviour of typhoid bacilli is claimed by Widal to 
be specific to the presence of typhoid blood, and is not exhibited 
in the presence of blood taken in other kinds of disease. The 
power of typhoid blood to produce this characteristic result on 
the bacilli is dependent upon the condition of the patient, for as 
recovery progresses it is not so marked; thus, whereas during 
the illness the reaction is visible when only one drop of blood 
is added to sixty or eighty drops of typhoid broth, at a later stage 
NO. 1434, VOL. 55 | 
of recovery it will not bear so much dilution, and the proportion 
varies from one drop of blood to twenty, ten, or even less of 
broth. Prof. Pfuhl has made many interesting control experi- 
ments in typhoid diagnosis by means of Widal’s method, and 
fully confirms his results ; he has, moreover, succeeded in still 
further simplifying the process, and describes his work in a recent 
number of the Ceztralblatt fur Bakteriologie. 
THE scientific exploration of lakes has been renewed in 
Russia by the exploration of Lake Chudskoye, or Peipus, in the 
lake district of North-west Russia; and Lake Charkhal, which 
lies in the Kirghiz Steppe, to the south-east of Uralsk, and has 
thirty-two miles of circumference. The results of both are 
given, with maps, in the last number of the /zvestza of the 
Russian Geographical Society (xxxii. 4). Lake Chudskoye was 
studied in detail, as regards the configuration of its bottom, the 
distribution of temperature in its water, and the chemical con- 
stitution of its bottom deposits. As to the exploration of Lake 
Charkhal, by several members of the Ural Naturalists’ Society, 
it may be taken asa model for similar studies. It was made 
by several persons at once, and while some of them mapped 
the lake and the surrounding country, others measured its 
depths, and others again studied its fauna and flora. The chief 
point of interest with regard to the fauna is that the herring 
which was found in the lake was not, as subsequent comparisons 
proved, the common Caspian herring (C/fea Caspia, or Cl. 
kessleré), as might have been expected, but was_nearest to the 
small herring which inhabits the northern tributaries of the 
Black Sea, and was described by Nordmann, in his Faune 
pontique, as Clupea cultriventris. A special variety is conse- 
quently established: CZ. cultréventris, var. Tscharchaliensts. 
The question now arises, how could it have penetrated into 
Lake Charkhal? Occasionally the lake is still in communica- 
tion with the Ural River: so it was in 1887; but the Czd- 
triventris herring, which is a brackish-water species, is never 
met with either in the Caspian Sea or in its tributaries. The 
most probable hypothesis would thus be that Lake Charkhal is 
a Relictensee, as German geographers say ; that is, a remainder 
from the old Ponto-Caspian Sea. The Charkhal Lezcesces 
rutilus, var. Heckeliz, is also nearer to the Black Sea variety 
than to the Caspian variety. Passing by other interesting re- 
marks about the fauna of this lake—its ice formation, the oscil- 
lations of its level, and fishing (3000 to 17,c00 cwt. every year)— 
we only remark that its flora is extremely poor ; no living algze 
could be obtained by dredging, but the bottom of the lake is 
full of decaying plants, carried thither by the rivers. 
THE influence of music upon the respiration, the heart, and 
the capillary circulation is the subject of a paper, by MM. A. 
Binet and J. Courtier, in the Revue Sczentefigue (February 27). 
Experiments were made upon a well-known musical composer, 
and the investigators endeavoured to determine effects produced 
by musical sound alone, as distinct from those due to emotions 
aroused by pieces associated with dramatic incidents or words. 
Isolated notes, chords in unison, and discords were first tried. 
Both major chords struck in a lively manner and discords 
quickened the respiration, the latter more especially. Minor 
chords tended to retard respiration. When melodies were tried 
it was found that all, whether grave or gay, produced quickened 
respiration and increased action of the heart. The lively tunes 
produced the greatest acceleration. Where the sound was 
wholly uncomplicated by emotional ideas, as in single notes or 
chords, the heart’s action was accelerated, but not in so marked 
a degree as when a melody either grave or gay was played. 
During operatic pieces, or those well known to the subject, the 
acceleration attained its maximum. The influence of music on 
the capillary circulation was tested by a plethysmograph attached 
to the right hand. The capillary tracings showed that a slight 
