October 4, 1889.] 



SCIENCE. 



233 



good conduct. Arrangements have accordingly been made, says 

 the Hospital Gazette, to facilitate these unions ; but physiologists 

 and pathologists must feel sundry qualms as to the expediency of 

 such a course. The physical and moral degradation of many of 

 these social waifs is distinctly hereditary ; and a careful moral train- 

 ing (which is not provided for) would, at the most, only modify the 

 tendencies which have brought them within the clutches of the 

 criminal law. The son of a poet is not of necessity a poet, but the 

 offspring of a bawd or an assassin is extremely likely to develop 

 the same proclivities. If even one of the parties to the transaction 

 were worthy of respect, some regeneration might be hoped for ; 

 but the association of two hopelessly abandoned bodies and souls 

 is not calculated to improve matters in any respect whatever. 



A Centenarian Surgeon. — The Patria of Buenos Ayres 

 affirms that there is now in Bolivia a surgeon, Luca Silva by name, 

 whose age is not less than one hundred and twenty-nine years. 

 He was born in Cochabamba in 1760, and devoted himself, after 

 graduating in medicine, to the practice of surgery. He rendered 

 important service to his country, when, after the famous manifesto 

 of June 16, 1809, she entered on her struggle for independence. 

 His treatment of the wounded, particularly his operations on the 

 field of battle, won him high distinction. He also earned signal 

 honor in the combatant ranks. This parallels the case of Dr. 

 Holyoke of Salem, Mass., who practised his profession for upward 

 of eighty years, his visit-books being still extant showing the rec- 

 ord from beginning to end. 



Bacilli on a Bald Head. — Dr. Saymonne claims to have 

 isolated a bacillus, called by him " bacillus crinivorax," which is 

 the cause of alopecia. It is, he says, found only on the scalp of 

 man, other hirsute parts of the body and also the fur of animals 

 being free from it. The bacilli invade the hair-follicles, and make 

 the hair very brittle, so that they break off to the skin. Then the 

 roots themselves are attacked. If the microbes can be destroyed 

 early in the disease, the vitality of the hairs may be preserved ; but 

 after the follicles are invaded, and all their structures injured, the 

 baldness is incurable. The following is Dr. Saymonne's rerriedy 

 to prevent baldness : Ten parts crude cod-liver oil, ten parts of 

 the expressed juice of onions, and five parts of mucilage or the 

 yolk of an egg, are thoroughly shaken together, and the mixture 

 applied to the scalp, and well rubbed in, once a week. This, he 

 asserts, will certainly bring back the hair if the roots are not al- 

 ready destroyed ; but the application of the remedy, as T/ie Medical 

 Record well observes, must be very distressing to the patient's 

 friends and neighbors. 



ELECTRICAL NEWS. 



Electric Lighting from Primary Batteries. — The 

 chromic chloride primary batteries of Commandant Renard seem 

 to be enjoying some success abroad. Thirty-six cells of this bat- 

 tery are deemed sufficient to run a 300-candle-power arc-lamp, and 

 it is claimed that a goo-candle-power arc -lamp can be run from 42 

 of these cells. The cost per candle-power hour is estimated to be 

 about one-fifth of a penny. A number of primary batteries have 

 been introduced in this country for tTie purpose of electric lighting, 

 and much money has been spent in patenting and placing them 

 upon the market. As far as we know, they have never realized an 

 approach to commercial success. 



St. Louis Electrical Exposition. — This exposition is 

 being held at St. Louis, and is certainly a very attractive feature in 

 that city just now. A number of prominent exhibiters are repre- 

 sented. Among the miscellaneous exhibits are those of the Writ- 

 ing Telegraph Company of New York, the Electric Date and Time 

 Stamp Company of St. Louis, the Graphophone-Phonograph Com- 

 pany of New York, and the American Waltham Watch Company 

 of Boston, Mass., to say nothing of other companies manufacturing 

 miscellaneous devices. The parent electric manufacturing compa- 

 nies are well represented, both as to personnel and machinery. 

 Besides apparatus of a strictly electrical character, one finds leather 

 belting, steam-engines, feed-water heaters, water-wheels, wire, etc., 

 which all are day by day assuming a closer relation to the electric- 

 lighting industry. One of the most interesting exhibits is the elec- 



tric welding apparatus shown by the Thomson Electric Welding 

 Company of Boston. It is not generally known just how complete 

 and satisfactory this process is, and the company are taking advan- 

 tage of the splendid opportunity now offered them in St. Louis to 

 show and do all varieties of welding-work in the exposition build- 

 ing. Another device that seems to be appreciated by ladies and 

 practical-minded husbands is the electric heater of the Burton 

 Electric Heater Company of Richmond, Va. This heater is in 

 actual use. cooking beefsteak, eggs, etc. ; the inventor taking this 

 opportunity of showing just what electricity is destined to do in the 

 way of culinary and general heating attainment. Almost every 

 thing and every body electrical are represented, notwithstanding 

 which fact the exposition cannot be said to equal that in Chicago 

 on the occasion of the annual meeting of the National Electric 

 Light Association last February. 



Volatilization of Metals. — A correspondent of the Revue 

 Internationale de rElectricite writes, " We have received from 

 M. Gaston Seguy, who is not only a clever glass-blower, but also 

 an intelligent observer, two samples of tubes in which the volatiliza- 

 tion of metals in a vacuum by the passing of the electric current 

 has given rise to some curious phenomena, which we are unable to 

 explain satisfactorily. We therefore confine ourselves to submit- 

 ting to our readers the result of these experiments, hoping that 

 perhaps one of them will be able to indicate on what theory we can 



base our facts. A glass tube three centimetres in diameter is 

 closed at the two extremities, and to each end is soldered an elec- 

 trode of platinum or copper of the form shown in the adjoining 

 figure. Through a nipple on the side of the tube a vacuum equal to 

 that of the Geissler tubes is produced by means of a mercury-pump ; 

 then the current of a powerful induction-coil (three-tenths of a 

 metre spark at least) is passed through. The metal is then vola- 

 tilized at the negative pole, and is deposited on the sides of the 

 glass, producing a black discoloration for platinum, and yellow for 

 copper. The metallization of the sides of the tube is more rapid 

 in proportion as the diameter is smaller ; but in any case it pro- 

 duces this curious phenomenon, to which we wish to call attention : 

 it does not take place at all on either side on that part of the tube 

 placed directly opposite the plane of the electrode, as we can easily 

 see by placing the tube before a sheet of white paper. The reserva- 

 tion thus obtained exactly reproduces the external form of the 

 electrode ; but what is still more curious is, that the angles of this 

 outline do not correspond to the angles of the electrode, but come 

 opposite the straight lines, as shown in the accompanying figure. 

 These are phenomena similar to those observed by Crookes, Jamin, 

 and Goltein ; and we think, that, in order to facilitate an explana- 

 tion of them, it is better not to pass them by in silence, but, on the 

 contrary, to note them with all their peculiarities every time we 

 observe them." 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



On Friday evening, Sept. 6, the Nevada Academy of Sciences 

 held its first working meeting, upon which occasion Gen. C. W. 

 Irish read a very interesting paper on " The Air-Currents of West- 

 ern Nevada." The officers of this new scientific society are, presi- 

 dent. Gen. C. W. Irish, surveyor-general of Nevada ; vice-president, 

 C. W. Friend, director Nevada State Weather Service ; secretary. 

 Professor R. D. Jackson, State University ; treasurer, J. Rankin ; 

 executive committee, the president, secretary, and the follow- 

 ing. — Dr. LeRoy D. Brown, State University ; Professor W. McN. 

 Miller, State University ; and E. M. Van Harlengen. 



