June 5, 1891.] 



SCIENCE. 



3'7 



The appearance and consequent value of the fibre depends 

 mainly upon the care taken in drying it, as should it be exposed 

 to rain and not completely dried, it becomes discolored, assumes a 

 brownish tint, and loses its strength to a considerable extent. The 

 outside layer produces a reddish-colored fibre, which is quite 

 sound, and easily distinguishable from spoiled hemp, but fetches 

 a lower price ui the market. 



The cost of preparing and planting a quinon (about seven 

 acres), and keeping it clean up to the time of the first crop, is esti- 

 mated at from two to three hundred dollars, not including the 

 first cost of the land ; and afterwards an annual outlay of about 

 sixty dollars would be required to keep the soil free from weeds, 

 etc. The extent of land mentioned, after the plantation is three 

 years old, would produce from sixteen to twenty bales per annum, 

 according to the quality of the soil. 



Almost without exception, landowners who devote themselves 

 to the production of hemp in the Philippine Islands are European 

 Spaniards, or natives of the islands, and a foreigner would 

 have considerable difficulty in establishing liimself, and would 

 meet with many obstacles before he found himself in touch 

 with his surroundings. Foreigners can only own land in 

 the Philippine Islands under the following conditions, which are 

 strictly enforced : (1) Tliat they reside in the Philippine Islands, 

 and are duly registered in the books of their respective consul- 

 ates and of the government. (3) That their lands be sold, should 

 they leave the islands and establish their domicile elsewhere. 

 (3) That, in the event of the death of a landed proprietor, his 

 heirs be compelled to reside within the territory of the Philippine 

 Islands, or sell the property. The acquisition of land by foreign 

 companies or associations is absolutely prohibited. 



The cost of native labor is about twenty or twenty-five cents a 

 day; but the principle upon which the hemp plantations are 

 worked is, that the laborer gets one half of the result of his work, 

 the other half going to the proprietor. A laborer, under pressure, 

 can clean about twenty pounds of hemp per day; but, as a rule, 

 the quantity cleaned by one man, working steadily day by day, 

 averages about twelve pounds. Many unsuccessful attempts have 

 been made to improve upon the primitive knife and board, which 

 are, up to the present, tlie only means used for cleaning the fibre. 

 The great faults of the new inventions have been the weight of the 

 machine, and the additional liability to break the fibre. A neces- 

 sary requirement for any new machine which would replace the 

 present method is, that it should be light enough to be easily car- 

 ried about by the workmen from place to place on the plantation. 

 The exports of hemp from the Philippine Islands, in 1890, 

 amounted to 63,370 tons, which, at the average price for the year, 

 realized about ten and a half million dollars. 



THE ELECTROLYSIS OF ANIMAL TISSUES. 



The first number of " Studies from a Physiological Laboratory, 

 Owen's College, Manchester," contains a paper by G. N. Stewart, 

 which is an interesting contribution to our limited knowledge of 

 the action of electricity in relation to animal tissues. From an 

 abstract of this paper, which we find in a recent number of tlie 

 London Electrical Review, it seems that practically the whole of 

 the conduction in animal tissues is electrolytic, and the electro- 

 lytes are principally the mineral salts, changes in the proteids being 

 produced by secondary electrolytic actions. 



In simple proteid f=olutions, conduction occurs with great diffi- 

 culty if mineral salts are absent, or if they are present only in 

 small proportions. The effects on the proteids themselves in saline 

 solutions vary somewhat with the current density. Alkali-albu- 

 min is formed at the cathode, and acid-albumin at the anode; 

 while in solutions of coagulable proteids there is also coagulation 

 at the latter pole. With a strong current, the proportion of coagu- 

 lated proteid to acid-albumin is greater than with a weak current. 

 In bile and urine it was observed that the conduction is also chiefly 

 due to electrolysis in the mineral substances, and not in the organic 

 substances contained in these secretions. In blood, the changes 

 which take place in the proteids are similar to those which are 

 mentioned above. There is also a formation of acid-bsematine 



(mixed with or preceded by methaemoglobine with certain strengths 

 of current) and of alkali-haematine at the anode and cathode, re- 

 spectively. There is no evidence that hsemoglobine or any of its 

 derivatives can act as an ion. 



In muscle the nuclei become apparent and the sarcous sub- 

 stance granular at the anode ; this is the appearance always pro- 

 duced by a weak acid. At the cathode the fibres become more 

 homogeneous. The chief chemical changes in proteids are, an in- 

 crease in the neutralization precipitate of the aqueous extract, and 

 a corresponding decrease of the globuline. At the anode the 

 neutralization precipitate is increased, but the amoimt of globuline 

 is more than correspondingly diminished, because part of this 

 proteid is coagulated. The effects of electrolysis on the salts oE 

 the muscles were studied by estimating the ash. Striking changes 

 were found to occur, which, if produced within the living body, 

 would profoundly modify nutrition. The antiseptic action of the 

 current was studied in the case of micro-organisms, and it was 

 found to occur chiefly, if not entirely, around the anode. 



In another and later paper specially devoted to the electrolysis 

 and putrefaction of bile, Mr Stewart shows that when bile is elec- 

 trolyzed in a U tube, changes take place at the negative pole, 

 which are similar to those which occur when bile is allowed to 

 putrefy; that is, the pigment changes to brown through light 

 shades, ultimately becoming yellow. In the early stages of 

 the electrolysis a reversal of the current restores the original color. 

 The anode has an oxidizing, the cathode a reducing, action upon 

 bile. The bile salts are electrolytes, and an acid constituent of 

 these crystallizes at the anode in long needles ; but the conductivity 

 of bile salts is small as compared witli that of the inorganic con- 

 stituents of the secretion. 



With these results for bile we may compare those obtained by 

 J. B. Hayoraft and H. Scofield (Zeit. Physiol. Chem., xiv., 193). 

 In the course of their researches they showed that a play of colors 

 is obtained at the positive pole of a battery (four Grove cells) 

 placed in the bile, indicating successive stages of oxidization : if 

 the negative pole be then placed in the bile, the effects are reversed, 

 indicating reduction. 



Mr. Stewart makes some attempt to connect this knowledge of 

 the electrolysis of animal tissues with the application of electroly- 

 sis in surgery, and promises a further communication on the 

 physiological aspects of the question. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



•** Correspondents are requested to be as brief as possible. The loriter^s name 

 is in all cases required as proof of good faith. 



Tlie editor will be glad to publish any queries consonant with the character 

 of the journal. 



On request, twenty copies of the number containing his communication will 

 be furnished free to anu correspondent. 



Osteological Notes. 



In my notes published in Science, Vol XVI., p. 333, upon the 

 significance of the jugal arch, I stated that although this arch is 

 often composed of three bones, this number was sometimes reduced 

 to two, and in some cases rendered still more rudimentary, but 

 that in no case could the arch be said to be absolutely wanting. 

 Moreover, that the number of bones present, as well as the strength 

 of the arch, depended upon the extent of surface, and upon the 

 amount and form of curvature, and these, in turn, upon the ad- 

 vanced or receded position of the orbit, as also upon that of 

 the articulation of the mandible, whether above, below, or upon 

 a level with the orbital cavity. These also are correlated with the 

 extent of surface presented by the ascending process of the lower 

 jaw with the adjoining crests, processes, fossfe, with the dental 

 series, and necessarily with the muscles of mastication. 



I cited the Carnivora as presenting the most instructive example 

 of the various points to be considered in connection with the 

 morphology of the arch, every one of these having reference to 

 enormous development and implying gi-eat strength and capacity. 



I also cited certain of the Edentata as exhibiting the exactly 

 opposite condition, — a rudimentary and incomplete arch, with 

 consequent feeble muscular power, no necessity for mastication, 

 and an entire absence of teeth. 



