42 2 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XIII. No. 330 



SCIENCE 



A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER OF ALL THE ARTS AND SCIENCES. 



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NEW YORK. May 31, 1SS9. 



No. 330. 



CONTENTS 



The WlDDIFlELD AND BoWMAN 



Electric Car-Erake 4: 



Cable Railways 413 



The Work of the Peabody Museum 

 OF American Archeology and 

 Ethnology 417 



Notes on ' 



Use of Gratings 



I/. A. Rowland 41S 



Sanitarj' Condition of Paris. — 

 Horse-Flesh as Food in France. 



Baking-Powders 422 



The Mineral Wealth of British 

 Columbia 426 



Among ti 

 Letters 1 



Publishers . . 429 



the Editor. 



H. A . Hazen 420 



Now THAT THE PARIS EXPOSITION is attracting a great crowd 

 of strangers to Paris, it is not without interest to note the excellent 

 sanitary condition of that city. The mortality has at no time this 

 year reached so small a figure as in the week ending May 4. The 

 average for this week in the past five years has been 1,122. This 

 year the mortality was only 984 ; and in the week following, it fell 

 to 951. Typhoid-fever especially has shown, since iSSS, a constant 

 decrease. More than all others, this affection belongs to the list 

 of diseases which may be avoided ; and it is only necessary that 

 there should be due energy on the part of the public authorities to 

 reduce its frequency in a notable proportion. While typhoid-fever 

 and varioloid have decreased, it is unfortunate to note that this is 

 not true of measles and of diphtheria. This results, no doubt, 

 from the fact that the measures which can stay the progress of 

 these diseases depend more upon individual initiative than on 

 public measures. Among the causes which may explain the im- 

 proved health of Paris may be noted the increased use of the 

 conveyances which are placed by the police at the disposal of those 

 wishing to transport persons suspected of being affected with con- 

 tagious diseases. In 1886 these carriages were called for only at 

 the rate of thirty to forty per month. In 1888, in the month of 

 April, this number had increased to 211; and in the April just 

 passed, to 231. Another cause acting beneficially is doubtless the 

 improvement in the quality of milk, — an improvement due to the 

 constant control exercised by the city laboratory. 



In 1856, Isidore Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire, in a work of 

 considerable importance on food-substances, and in particular on 

 horse-flesh, wrote, " There are millions of Frenchmen who never 

 eat meat, and each month there are millions of kilograms of good 

 meat all over France turned over for industrial uses of secondary 

 importance, or even thrown away." Since that time, and in a great 

 measure as the result of the persevering efforts of Mr. Decroix, a 

 retired military veterinarian, and to-day the honorary president of 

 the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in France, 

 horse-flesh has entered in every part of France into every-day use. 

 In Paris alone the number of horses slaughtered for food-purposes 

 has risen since 1866 from 902 to 17,256 in 1888. The greatest 

 consumption, as is well known, was during the years 1870 and 

 1871 ; but there has been a constant increase from 1872 on. In. 

 addition to the horses consumed, there are also a considerable 

 number of asses and mules. From Paris the use of horse-flesh has 

 extended into the provinces, and at this time there are in all the 

 large cities of France slaughter-houses for the purpose. The ani- 

 mals are no longer allowed to die of disease or of old age after 

 their usefulness as beasts of burden has come to an end, and it is 

 claimed that a horse twenty years old in good condition is more 

 tender than a young one if thin and hard-used. In the Depart- 

 ment of the Seine alone, on the ist of January, there were 13^ 

 establishments for the slaughter of horses. The price of horse- 

 flesh is but little more than half of that of beef for the correspond- 

 ing parts ; and it is claimed by Mr. Decroix that horse-flesh is more 

 healthy and more nourishing than that of beef, and that, in equally 

 good condition, five pounds of beef are required to give the same 

 amount of nourishment as four pounds of horse-flesh. 



BAKING-POWDERS. 



Henry B. Cornwall, Ph.D., professor of analytical chemistrjr 

 at the John C. Green School of Science, Princeton College, has, 

 during the past year, made analyses of the different brands of bak- 

 ing-powders sold in New Jersey, in order to determine their in- 

 gredients, the leavening power or strength of each, and the health- 

 fulness or otherwise of the residues left in the bread after baking.. 

 A full report of the results will be found in the " Report of the Dairy 

 Commissioner of New Jersey for 1888." Professor Mallett of the 

 University of Virginia has recently completed an investigation of 

 the baking-powders in general use, and his results are reported in 

 full in the London Chemical News of Dec. 7 and 14, 18S8. The 

 whole subject of baking-powders has therefore been very thoroughly 

 examined into by two competent and disinterested chemists ; and 

 the advantages and disadvantages of the different brands duly set 

 forth in their reports. The opinions given in the report of Pro- 

 fessor Cornwall are based on some 55 analyses of 39 brands o£ 

 baking-powders, as follows : — ^ 



Large quantities of inferior baking-powder were found to be sold 

 in bulk by manufacturers. This is put up in boxes by the retailer, 

 and a fancy, label affixed, he knowing nothing about the composi- 

 tion of the substance, its cheapness only concerning him. During: 

 the time the samples from Professor Cornwall's analysis were be- 

 ing completed, it was ascertained that some of the makers and 

 dealers in the inferior grades of baking-powders joined with their 

 business that of lottery or gift enterprise ; and plates, cups, lamps, 

 pewter casters, and other household goods, were given away with 

 a certain number of cans, or a can of baking-powder was given, 

 with a certain quantity of tea or coffee.- It was stated in one sec- 



