November 22, 1889.] 



SCIENCE. 



347 



cific virus which makes the latter gradually lose its pathogenic 

 properties. This very supposition of adaptation underlies protec- 

 tive inoculation with attenuated specific fungi, as well as with dis- 

 solved specific products of decomposition. 



Inoculation against Inflammation of the Lungs in 

 Cattle. — At the end of last year the Prussian minister of agri- 

 culture ordered experiments to be made on cattle, in order to de- 

 cide the extremely important question whether inoculation affords 

 protection against infectious inflammation of the lungs in cattle or 

 not. These experiments, according to the Lancet, were carried 

 out under the superintendence of Professor Schiitz and the depart- 

 mental veterinary surgeon Steffen, in the government district of 

 Magdeburg, and have recently been finished. On Oct. 8 last, 

 twelve young bulls were inoculated with fluid and particles from 

 diseased lungs, — three with warm and three with cold fluid, three 

 with warm and three with cold particles. Those inoculated with 

 warm fluid contracted the disease most severely. On Oct. 26 all 

 twelve, along with four uninoculated animals of the same age and 

 breed, were placed among cattle suffering from infectious inflam- 

 mation of the lungs, and their noses were repeatedly brought into 

 the closest contact with those of the diseased animals for hours to- 

 gether. In December and in January all the animals were killed, 

 and the post-mortem showed that the twelve inoculated animals 

 had remained healthy, and that three of the four uninoculated ones 

 had contracted the disease. The experiments were now repeated, 

 special care being taken that all the animals (inoculated and unin- 

 oculated) were exposed to as nearly as possible equal degrees of 

 infection, and that the fluid used for inoculation was taken warm 

 from the lungs which had proved most effective. On Nov. 9 twelve 

 young bulls were inoculated with different quantities (0.05 to i.o 

 cubic centimetre) of warm lymph. The quantity of the fluid used 

 did not affect the intensity of the local process. One bull died on 

 the thirty-fifth day after inoculation, of peritonitis, caused by the 

 spread of the inoculation process. On Dec. i the inoculated bulls 

 were placed among bulls suffering from infectious inflammation of 

 the lungs, but did not contract the disease. On Jan. 27 they 

 were taken to another, stall, and again placed among bulls 

 suffering from the disease in question. On April 12 the eleven 

 inoculated and two uninoculated bulls were inoculated with 

 warm lymph between the neck and the breast, after which 

 the two latter became severely ill, and one of them died. The 

 previously inoculated animals, on the other hand, showed only 

 slight symptoms at the place of inoculation. On April 12, twenty 

 grams of warm lymph were mixed with 2,000 of warm sterilized 

 flesh-broth, and sprayed before the nostrils of the inoculated ani- 

 mals. They remained healthy. On May 13 they were again 

 placed among others which were suffering severely from the disease 

 in question. After this, no morbid symptoms were observed in 

 them. On June 26 one cubic centimetre of warm lymph was in- 

 jected into the lungs of each of the inoculated and of two uninocu- 

 lated bulls. The inoculated animals remained healthy, while the 

 two uninoculated ones contracted the disease in a very severe form, 

 and one of them died. At the end of July the inoculated animals 

 were killed and dissected, and no abnormal developments were 

 found. It therefore now seems to be proved that cattle inoculated 

 with fresh warm lymph are protected against infectious inflamma- 

 tion of the lungs. 



The Hearing OF School-Children. — Over nine thousand 

 children have been examined in the schools of the following cities, 

 — New York, Stuttgart, Bordeaux, Munich, and Glasgow, — and 

 the average of defectively hearing pupils is 26 per cent plus. As a 

 comparison test between children who were regarded as bright 

 and those considered backward and dull scholars, teachers were 

 requested to make a selection of seventy of each group. The re- 

 sults of the e.xamination of the two sets, says the British Medical 

 Journal, show twice as many with defective hearing among back- 

 ward children as among the forward children. Some of the advice 

 given to teachers would be, keep in mind the liability of existing 

 impairment of hearing in the backward children. Children known 

 to be suffering from defective hearing should be given seats nearer 

 the teachers, and with their best ear towards the desk. When the 

 defect is considerable or extreme, they should be taught in separate 



classes. All boxing of the ears of children should be stringently 

 prohibited. 



Confectioners' Disease. — A disease peculiar to confec- 

 tioners has been recently observed in France. It occurs princi- 

 pally in persons engaged in the manufacture of candied fruits and 

 maron glaces or candied chestnuts. Five cases observed by Dr. 

 Albertin of Lyons, described in the Gazette Hebdomadaire, March 

 19, 1889, well illustrate the nature of the disease. The affection is 

 restricted to the nails of the hands, and usually first makes its 

 appearance at the sides of the nails, the periungual portion becom- 

 ing loosened and raised up, the nail losing its polish and becoming 

 black. In more advanced cases an inflamed swelling appears at 

 the base of the nail. The nail is rough, scaly, and in some cases 

 broken in several fragments, but is never cast off in its entirety. 

 Finally the terminal phalanx also undergoes a change in form, and 

 becomes flat and widened. In the earlier forms of the disease very 

 little pain is experienced, and the patient is able to go on with his 

 work. The disease disappears as soon as the work is discontinued, 

 although a deformed nail and a flat or bent terminal phalanx are 

 apt to remain. Albertin states that among the large number of 

 candy-factories which he has visited, he has not found one in which 

 from one to three workmen were not suffering with the disease. 

 The Medical and Surgical Reporter suggests that the affection is 

 caused by handling and working in the various substances employed 

 in the manufacture of candies, among which are mallic, tartaric, 

 and citric acids. The hands are also alternately in cold and hot 

 liquids ; and this, as well as the manipulation of the preparations, 

 by means of which the irritating substances find their way under 

 the nails, may be regarded as causative factors. It would be in- 

 teresting to know whether this disease exists in this country, where 

 the manufacture of candies is so extensive. 



Curious Transmission of Scarlet-Fever. — The Boston 

 Post is responsible for the story that in 1846 a boy eight years old 

 was taken down with scarlet-fever, and died. One of the principal 

 amusements of his illness had been looking over a large picture- 

 book. After his death, this, with several other useful playthings, 

 was packed away in a trunk. Twenty- six years later, in 1872, the 

 trunk was taken to England. The trunk was opened the second 

 day after its arrival, and the picture-book was taken out and pre- 

 sented to a boy two years old. During the next fortnight the little 

 fellow was attacked with scarlet-fever. It was a wonder to the 

 doctors who were called in consultation how the disease had been 

 contracted, as there had been no scarlet-fever in the town for years. 

 At last it was suggested that the picture-book might have trans- 

 mitted the disease ; and the medical men in attendance, on being 

 told the facts connected with it, agreed that it had retained the 

 poison for twenty-six years, and then communicated it to the child. 

 This appears, says The Medical and Surgical Reporter, to be one 

 of the instances in which scarlet-fever from some unknown source 

 developed coincidently with the handling of articles used by a 

 patient who had the disease many years before. 



MENTAL SCIENCE. 



Mental Activity in Relation to Pulse and Respiration. 



That the blood circulation in the brain is an important factor 

 in its healthy activity, and that the intermittent supply of the same 

 recorded by the pulse, and the intermittent purification of the blood 

 by the lungs in breathing, must also play important parts in the 

 maintenance of mental action, are admitted by all physiologists, 

 though our knowledge of the precise nature of these influences is 

 very limited. Professor Leumann of Strassburg {Philosophische 

 Studien, v. No. 4) calls attention to the necessity of noting the 

 pulse and respiration rates in psychological experiments ; and, 

 though he gives but few positive results, his treatment of the topic 

 is highly suggestive. 



Such general observations as that when out of breath, owing to 

 running or severe exertion, not only articulation but the words 

 themselves fail one ; that in drowsiness or sleep both pulse and 

 respiration are slackened, — indicate the connections of the two 

 functions. Again, these rhythms make themselves felt in such ac- 



