December 27, 1889.] 



SCIENCE. 



435 



found in the human voice. Consequently the faintest vocal tremor 

 imparted to the disk is immediately taken up by them, and im- 

 mensely magnified. This is done both at the transmitting and re- 

 •ceiving ends, the result being that the wire is put into intense molec- 

 ular vibration of a hitherto unappreciated character. It is evi- 

 dently not merely lateral vibration, like that of a guitar string, for 

 such motion would certainly be damped in the wire laid in the 

 lake ; it would also greatly suffer in the case of a span strung so 

 slackly that at the centre it rests for many feet on the ground, yet 

 5uch a span was shown to work reasonably well. It is evident, 

 however, that the vibration is not purely longitudinal, for if' it were 

 it should be transmitted through a coil of wire flung loosely on the 

 ground ; and this, we understand, is not the case. It would, how- 

 ever, be a waste of time to try and formulate a theory apart from 

 ■experimental investigation. What principally concerns us now is 

 the fact that a mechanical telephone has been constructed, which 

 will speak with absolute distinctness for three and a half miles, and 

 which is simple, cheap, and, most important of all, free from induc- 

 tion. It is easily conceivable that its performances may be much 

 improved ; new forms of resonators may be found that have a 

 nearer affinity to the tones of the voice than those already tried. 

 Two vocal chords form the source of all the sounds we can utter, 

 ■even if we be as gifted as Patti, and it seems possible that some 

 imaterial may be found more nearly allied to their action than wire 

 helices. Although these can vibrate in harmony with the tones of 

 human language, they have not the same quality of sound, and 

 the metallic resonance which they impart to the articulation they 

 (transmit is not altogether an improvement. • 



HEALTH MATTERS. 

 Preventive Inoculation for Yellov7-Fever. 



We are indebted to the Medical Record for the following trans- 

 lation of a report which was presented to the Academy of Sciences, 

 Paris, by Dr. Domingos Freire, professor of organic chemistry 

 and biology in the faculty of medicine of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 



The epidemic of yellow-fever that developed in Rio de Janeiro in 

 1888 and 1889, and which propagated itself in several other places 

 in the interior of Brazil, has been the means of demonstrating for 

 the fourth time the value of inoculations by means of the attenu- 

 ated microbe of yellow-fever. The maximum of the epidemic was 

 between the months of December and March, the first sporadic 

 cases having appeared about the end of the month of May, 1888, 

 and the last in June, 1889. During this period there were inocu- 

 lated 3,570 people ; to wit, 988 strangers and 2,582 Brazilians, 

 divided thus : the city of Rio, 2,138 ; city of Campinas, 651 ; town 

 of Vassouras, 199; city of Nicteroy, 166; city of Santos, 133; 

 Desengano, a village of 425 inhabitants, 102; Serraria, a small 

 town, 80 ; city of Rezende, 54 ; Cataguazes, a village of 2,000 in- 

 habitants, 50. The disease swept with great intensity in all of 

 these spots, and the vaccinations were made, for the most part, 

 during the height of the epidemic. 



Of the 2,582 Brazilians, there were 1,740 that should be added to 

 the 988 strangers, as this figure embraces not only individuals 

 ■coming from the interior and resident in the city of Rio for less 

 than six years, — that is to say, non-acclimated, — but also children, 

 who, according to our experience, are just as susceptible as the 

 strangers themselves. 



The rate per hundred of mortality among the vaccinated was 

 0.078 : at Santos, at Rezende, at Serraria, and at Cataguazes, the 

 immunity from the disease was absolute. Here is the rate per cent 

 from each locality : Rio, 0.98 ; Campinas, 0.46 ; Vassouras, 0.05 ; 

 Nicteroy, 0.75; Santos, 0.00; Desengano, 0.09; Serraria, 0.00; 

 Rezende, 0.00 ; Cataguazes, 0.00. The mortality from yellow- 

 fever among the non-vaccinated was 4,135, divided thus : city of 

 Rio de Janeiro, 2,407 (this includes the dead from the Marine Hos- 

 pital) ; Campinas, 812; Vassouras, 15; Nicteroy, 177; Santos, 

 650; Desengano, 221 ; Serraria, 21 ; Rezende, 11 ; Cataguazes, 20. 

 Among the 4,135 there were about 2,800 strangers, of whom, 1,176 

 died in Rio (and 750 of these in the Marine Hospital), 63 at Nic- 

 teroy, 500 (about) at Santos, 300 (about) at Campinas, 7 at Desen- 

 gano; 3 at Rezende, 3 at Vassouras. 



Thus one-fourth of the deaths were among Brazilians who were 



unaccustomed to the poison, inasmuch as they resided in localities 

 where the epidemic appeared for the first time this year. In order 

 to make the efficacy of the inoculations more marked, it suffices to 

 remember the proportion established by M. Jemble in Senegal ; 

 narnely, that among the strangers who had been there from one to 

 three years, 75 per 100 were attacked by yellow-fever, and 68.06 

 per hundred died. 



Applying these facts to the vaccinated strangers, or the provin- 

 cials who had from a few days' to three years' residence in the in- 

 fected locality, the following results were obtained. At Rio were 

 vaccinated 1,183 people under the above conditions, of whom at 

 least 591 should have succumbed to the disease, but only 18 died. 

 Thus 573 lives were saved. At Campinas, a city that never before 

 had an epidemic of yellow-fever, and where the 651 inoculated 

 might be considered as new arrivals, of whom 325 should have 

 died, the unsuccessful inoculations were but 3. At Vassouras, 5 

 should have died; one only died, who was not a recent arrival. 

 At Nicteroy the 1 1 strangers, under the conditions cited above, 

 should have furnished five deaths ; one only was a victim. At 

 Santos, of 57 persons under the same conditions, 28 should have 

 died, but the immunity from disease was absolute. At Desengano, 

 the two unsuccessful inoculations were among strangers who had 

 lived from six to eight years in the country. But in view of the 

 fact that the disease obtained for the first time, all of the 102 per- 

 sons inoculated were as susceptible as strangers who had just ar- 

 rived. Among them 51 should have died. At Serraria, according 

 to the main calculation, 39 should have died, whereas the immunity 

 from the disease was absolute. The same reflections apply to 

 Rezende, where the 54 vaccinated should have furnished 27 deaths, 

 and at Cataguazes, where the 50 vaccinated should have furnished 

 25 deaths, in view of the fact that the epidemic made its first ap- 

 pearance in these two localities ; still the immunity was perfect, 

 without exception. 



There were vaccinated, between 1883 and i88g, 10,524 people, 

 with a mortality of 0.04 per hundred. 



Vaccinations made i 



1884-8S 3,051 



1885-86 3,473 



Dr. Freire ceased vaccinating in 1887, owing to his trip to Europe 

 and in the United States. The mortality from yellow-fever among 

 the non- vaccinated, during the four epidemics mentioned above, 

 was close on to seven thousand. It may be added, in closing, that 

 all the results given have been authenticated by a large number of 

 medical men, and municipal and police authorities. The vaccina- 

 tions were made without fee. This succinct statement proves, 

 without question, the truth of all the doctrines founded by the 

 eminent master, M. Pasteur. 



Antipyrine Habit. — To the already long list of drugs the 

 use of which, under proper restrictions, is both beneficial and 

 proper in combating the various ills to which flesh is heir, but 

 whose abuse becomes a curse to humanity, another has recently 

 been added. Scarcely have we learned to properly use antipyrine, 

 says the Iniernaiioiial Dental Journal, than the tocsin of alarm 

 must be sounded against its abuse. The recent discovery of its 

 value as a nerve- tonic places it on the list with morphine, chloral, 

 cocaine, etc., so seductive is its gentle, soothing influence upon the 

 overstrained nerves. Its victims are already found, especially 

 among society women, whose nerves, strung up to a high pitch by 

 the overwhelming demands of a winter season of gayety, seize 

 eagerly upon any thing that will afford relief from the headaches 

 and other disorders arising from prolonged fatigue and overtired 

 nerves. So pleasing is the effect, that it is soon used for every 

 trifling ill feeling, until the patient finds herself unable to live with- 

 out it, and the fascinating " antipyrine habit " is formed. Properly 

 used as a nerve-tonic, its effects are admirable, but abused, the 

 victim becomes even more hopelessly entangled than the morphine 

 or cocaine victim. The effects vary with the dose. In large doses 

 it produces complete relaxation with loss of reflex action. In 

 moderate doses, continued, it induces convulsions. As a stimulant 

 its effect is much like that of qumine. 



