SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XVIII. No. 459 



station farm are given, the generaljoulcome being' thnt in most 

 cases the use of manure or fertilizers caused an absolute decrease 

 in the product of grain, an immense growth of straw having been 

 produced at the expense of the grain. In sujuming up the results 

 of this experiment, it was said: "It is expected that this 3'ear's 

 results of the duplicate experiment in Columbiana County will 

 show better returns from the use of fertilizers than those of the 

 station test, but it has not been possible to thresh out that experi- 

 ment in season to publish its results ;:i :liis bulletin." The wheat 

 was threshed on Oct. 17, and the re?:.' i- i'ccw no increase to justify 

 the expenditure on fertilizers. 



— At the recent Congress of Tuberculosis, M. Poirier {British 

 Medical Journal) read a paper on the surgical treatment of pul- 

 monary cavities. He said the first case on record was accidental. 

 In a duel fought in 1679, the sword of one of the combatants 

 passed through his antagonist's lung and opened a pulmonary 

 cavity. The surgeon utihzed the wound for the direct treatment 

 of the ca\ity, and the patient recovered. In conjunction with M. 

 Jonnesco, M. Poirier has collected all the available statistics, of 

 which the following is a summary. Of twenty-nine cases of in- 

 cision of tuberculous cavities with resection of ribs, improvement 

 took place in fifteen, cure resulted in four (these cases must, ac- 

 cording to M. Poirier, be taken " with every possible reserve"), 

 in nine the result was negative, in one it was unknown. In nine- 

 teen of the cases the disease was situated near the apex. M. 

 Poirier, still with the co-operation of M. Jonnesco, has endeavored 

 to simplify the method of operation so as to minimize the amount 

 of traumatism. The following, according to them, is the best 

 way of reaching the upper part of the lung. An incision is made 

 with the Ihei mo-cautery four centimetres below the sterno-costal 

 notch from the middle line of the sternum outwards for nine cen- 

 timetres in a direction parallel to the first intercostal space; in 

 this way the pectoralis major, which is usually much thinned, is 

 reached, and by enlarging one of the spaces between the fasciculi 

 the plane of t'le intercostal muscles is reached. This is divided 

 and the pleura expo-ed. If there are no adhesions it is better to 

 establish them before proceeding further; but if there is a cavity 

 adhesions are always present. It is easy to " strike " the cavity 

 through these adhesions, though a certain thickness of pulmonary 

 tissue has often to be traversed for the purpose. As cavities are 

 generally situated quite in the upper part of the lung, the first in- 

 tercostal space is at a distinctly lower level than the cavity; the 

 point of the instrument must therefore be carried from below up- 

 wards and from before backwards. When the cavity lies towards 

 the back, the spinous process of the seventh cervical vertebra 

 should besought for; an incision is made outwards from this 

 point towards the scapula; the trapezius and rhomboideus are di- 

 vided, and the first intercostal space, which is much less wide 

 than it is in front, is reached. Resection of rib may be necessary, 

 but M. Poirier does not advise this. From experiments made on 

 twenty dead bodies, he holds that in front resection of ribs is 

 never called for. 



— The Italian Society of the Red Cross has recently been con- 

 ducting some elaborate experiments to test the working of float- 

 ing hospitals. In countries where water communication is com- 

 plete, vpell equipped hospitah on barges might be of very great 

 service, especially in time of war. The presidents of the Eed 

 Cross and Italian Rowing Club, with Captain Olivari of the Ital- 

 ian navy, set themselves to the task, first by forming a floating 

 hospital out of the barges employed on the main water-ways for 

 for the transport of combustibles; then, having got their flotilla 

 in working order, they launched it on the LagoMaggiore {Lancet, 

 Sept. 19). Passing thence by canal to Mdan, it anchored at the 

 Porta Ticinese, and was there visited by a large number of citi- 

 zens. It is composed of three barges, two of them fitted up for 

 the accommodation of the wounded, and the third for a phar- 

 macy, a kitchen, and the necessary stores. Of the two hospital 

 barges, one is set apart for wounded offioers, the other for wounded 

 soldiers of the line — the two containing twenty-four beds each 

 at present, but capable of including comfortably thirty-six each. 

 These beds are partly on the fracture-board system, partly sup- 

 ported on network of metal, and are all furnished with mattresses 



and pillows =tuff°il with zostera marina (dried seaweed), which 

 has the twofold advantage of being non-combustible arid antisep- 

 tic. Every night-requisite is conveniently at hand, and ventila- 

 tion is secuied by an ingenious canvas awning which gives pas- 

 sage to a continuous circulation of air while protecting the patient 

 from draughts. The flotilla is lighted vcith oil lamps, and the 

 barge reserved for the wounded officers has accommodation at the 

 prow for the perso7inel, superior and inferior. The store barge 

 consists of a dispensary, an arinamentariiim chirurgicum, a pro- 

 vision magazine, with ice-machines, and a spacious kitchen, ca- 

 pable of supplying 250 mouihs. There is also a complete system 

 for storing and keeping cool and pure a perennial water-supply^ 

 a S}stem due t) the Cavaliere Borroni, secretary to the Milanese 

 Committee of the Red Cross. The flotilla is composed of nine 

 barges in all: the three above described having been sent down to 

 Milan for exhibition from the Lago Maggiore, while the remain- 

 ing six are in dock at Arona, on the southern extremity of the 

 lake. These barges are moved on the lakes by tugs, on the rivers 

 by the current, on the canals by towing horses. Prom Milan the 

 flotilla proceeded by canal to Pavia, and from Pavia down stream 

 to Piacenza, at every station commanding the highest admiration. 

 The experiment — the first of its kind ever made — is a worthy 

 complement to the mountain ambulance of the Italian Bed Cross 

 Association. 



— A large number of migratory birds passed over Dublin during 

 the night of May 4 last, on the way to their northern breeding- 

 haunts. An accoimt of the matter is given by Mr. AEan Ellison 

 in a recent number of the Zoologist. " While sitting in our rooms 

 in Trinity College, about 11 P.M.," he says, " we were attracted by 

 the loud call-notes of birds passing overhead. The night was calm 

 and cloudy, not very dark. We listened at the open window until 

 about 1 A.M., when they seemed to be still passing over in undi- 

 minished numbers. They were mostly golden plovers and dunlins, 

 easily recognized by their notes, but we frequently heard the cry 

 of the whimbrel, or the shrill call of the common sandpiper. It 

 was most curious to hear these notes, at first far away towards 

 the south-west, gradually becoming louder as the flocks drew 

 nearer and passed overhead, and then rapidly passing away to the 

 northward. Sometimes the whole air seemed full of their clear 

 whistling notes; in one direction the loud, short pipe of the golden 

 plover, in another the shrill wheezing cry of the dunlin, reminding 

 one of the sound made by a whistle with a pea in it. Sometimes ' 

 a bird or two would fly quite close over the house-tops, utteringits 

 loud whistle close to the open window, but they .=eemed for the 

 most part to fly at a great height." 



— The Biological Club of the Ohio State University and Ohio 

 Agricultural Experiment Station met Nov. 3, and elected the fol- 

 lowing officers to take their places at the next meeting: president, 

 Professor W. A. Kellerman; vice-president. Professor F. M. Web- 

 ster; secretary, C. M. Werner. The club is in a moi'e flourishing 

 condition and doing better work this fall than ever before. It is 

 composed of over a score of professors and advanced students, 

 mostly specialists Some idea of a part of the work and workers 

 may be gained from the following, which is the programme for 

 this term: Sept. 23, "Notes on Personal Work and Reports on 

 Recent Scientific Literature;" Oct. 7, Professor Kellicott, "On 

 Certain Crustaceous Parasites of Some of Our Fresh-Water Fish ; " 

 Oct. 20, Professor Kellerman, " Germination Tests in Connection 

 with the Use of Fungicides on Grain ; " Nov. 3, Election of Officers ; 

 Annual Address by the President, Professor W. R. Lazenby; Nov. 

 17, Dr. Orton, "Geological History of the Black Shales of Colum- 

 bus;" Dec. 1, Professor Webster, "The Relation between the In- 

 crease of certain Insects and the Overflow of Rivers;" Dec. 15, 

 Professor Selby, " Ohio Oaks " During the remainder of the year 

 the following subjects will be discussed: "Report of a Biological 

 Survey of Ohio River Waters," by Dr. Bleile; "Methods of Propa- 

 gation or Multiplication in the Lower Forms of Animal Life," by 

 Professor Kellicott; "Methods of Propagation or Multiplication 

 in the Lower Forms of Vegetable Life," by Professor Kellerman; 

 "Protective Mimicry in Insects," by Professor Webster; " Palseo- 

 zoic MoUusca, with Stages of Molluscan Development," by H. A. 

 Surface; "The Botanical Order of Violaceee," by E, E. Bogue; 



