96 



SCIENCE. 



Vol. XXII. No. SSO 



to prove that tliey belonged to the Rajpoot-Jat stock of 

 N. W. India. 



As to the language of the Khmers, M. Moura, judging 

 from the fact that it contains many Sanskrit or Pali words, 

 supposes it to be of Sanskrit or Pali origin, which agrees with 

 the Indian origin of Cambodian ciyilization and religious 

 ideas, but not with Mr. Keane's statement that the lan- 

 guage of the Khmers is "radically distinct from the Indie 

 (Sanscritic branch of the Aryan), but closely allied to the 

 untoned polysyllabic Malayo-Polynesian linguistic fam- 

 ily." M. Moura affirms that "one of the distinctive fea- 

 tures of the genius of the Khmer language" is its mono- 

 syllabic form. How far this is consistent with its sup- 

 posed Sanskrit or Pali affinity I am not concerned to say, 

 although it is noteworthy that words derived from Pali 

 have been reduced by shortening to the monosyllabic 

 form. From a comparison of the vocabularies given by 

 M. Moura, I much doubt whether there is so close a rela- 

 tionship between the Khmer and the Malay languages as 

 Ml-. Keane supposes. The latter is more nearly related 

 than the former to the primitive Cham, and while Malay 

 has derived certain foreign elements from the south, the 

 Khmer has obtained its foreign elements from the north. 

 On this subject I would refer to a paper by myself on "The 

 Asiatic Affinities of the Malay," published in the Proceed- 

 ings of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. XXVIIL, 

 June 3, 1890. In any case, I cannot see how the fact of 

 the Khmers having untoned polysyllabic speech could be 

 evidence, as supposed by Mr. Keane, that they were 

 aborigines, nor is this proved by the existence of allied 

 so-called wild bribes. C. Stanil-^sd Wake. 



Chicago, Aug. 12. 



Oregon Wax. 

 If Mr. C. D. Hiscox will refer to the letter of Mr. 

 James Wickersham, in Science of July 7th, he will find 

 that the wreck origin of the Oregon wax is not an "absurd- 

 ity." Having examined specimens of the wax in question 

 I beg to state that it has nothing in common with ozocer- 

 ite, with which I am perfectly familiar, but is apparently 

 beeswax, pure and simple. It is of a yellowish-brown color, 



with granular fracture, and is lustrous on cut surfaces, 

 but not resinous. Its odor is honey-like and character- 

 istic. A hasty chemical examination for cerotic acid 

 showed 6.7 per cent in a samj)le cut from near the sur- 

 face of one of the lumps, this figure being low for pure 

 wax and yet rather higher than is usually the case in the 

 impure, so-called, beeswax of commerce. Mr. Hiscox 

 will remember that ozocerite yields no free acid on treat- 

 ment with alcoholic potash. Chakles Platt. 



Buffalo, July 25. 



Bacteria in Hens' Eggs. 



In Science of August 4, Mr. Brannon asks for some in- 

 formation in regard to the decay of eggs. 



Some two years ago a student in the hygienic laboratory 

 was given the problem to determine whether the putre- 

 faction of eggs was due to bacteria entering the egg as 

 it passed through the oviduct or through the shell 

 after the- egg was laid. The results obtained were not 

 satisfactory or conclusive, but as they may throw some 

 light on the subject they are given (from memory) 

 for what they may be worth. Many cultures were made 

 from stale eggs in order to determine whether the putre- 

 faction was due to a specific germ or to a number of dif- 

 ferent germs. Several species were found. 



A healthy, laying hen was obtained and after rejoeated 

 washings in a solution of bichloride of mercury, followed 

 by sterile vvater, she was j)laced in a sterilized cage. The 

 hen continued to lay regularly every other day. The 

 eggs were obtained as soon as possible after being laid, 

 and a portion of them were placed in sterilized cotton and 

 then in an incubator. If my memory is not at fault, all 

 of those eggs decayed and swarmed with bacteria. 



The remaining eggs were taken as soon as laid, and cul- 

 tures were made from their contents. Some of these cul- 

 ture tubes developed; others remained sterile. 



After some days the hen was killed, and with jjroper 

 asej)tic precautions culture tubes were inoculated from 

 various portions of the oviduct. Most of these tubes de- 

 veloped. It would seem from this one case that the 



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