.August 27, 1886.] 



SCIENCE. 



185 



— The Brazilian government has appointed a 

 commission of physicians, from Rio, Bahia, 

 Maranhao, and Para, to study the beri-beri. This 

 disease is particularly prevalent through tlie lit- 

 toral provinces of the north, and has been grad- 

 ually gaining ground of late. 



— An examination, by an oculist, of the eyes of 

 one thousand one hundred persons who work 

 by the incandescent electric light, fails to show 

 any injurious effects produced by that light. The 

 arc-light may cause eye-trouble if in too close 

 proximity. 



— That human hair retains its characteristics 

 for long periods of time, and, indeed, is well-nigh 

 indestructible, is a fact of common observation. 

 A remarkable instance of this is found in a wig 

 which has recently been discovered in an Egyptian 

 temple at Thebes, and is now dej)0sited in the 

 British museum. It is supposed to have been part 

 of the attire of an Egyptain priest, and from the 

 circumstances of its discovery is regarded as being 

 at least 3,400 years old. 



— Food given when cold is more likely to be 

 retained by a sensitive stomach than in any other 

 condition, and ice will not be rejected when all 

 other substances are thrown off ; acting upon this 

 fact, frozen mUk is now given in cases of sickness 

 attended with irritable stomach, especially in 

 fevers. 



— London consumes daily two million eggs, 

 and the rest of England an equal number. Of 

 these one-half comes from Italy via the St. Goth- 

 ard tunnel, and the others are brought from Den- 

 mark, Germany, Belgium, and France. 



— At the Michigan state sanitary convention, 

 to be held at Big Rapids in November next, the 

 following topics will be discussed : The hygiene of 



-schools ; Pasteur and protective medicine ; public - 

 health laws ; alcoholic drinks, — are they foods or 

 are they poisons ? the injuries of e very-day drug- 

 taking ; what to eat, when, and how ; and, the 

 prevention of communicable diseases. 



— La graphologie, a French journal, describes 

 a new method of reading character, known as 

 ' scarpalogy.' It consists in a study of the heels 

 and soles of shoes. If these are worn down even- 

 ly, the wearer is a good business man, energetic 

 and quick in decision ; if the outer side is worn 

 more than the inner, he is of an adventvu-ous 

 turn of mind. Weakness of character is indi- 

 cated by a heel and sole worn most on the inner 

 side. 



— Prof. C. L. Ford, of the L. I. college hospital' 

 called attention, in 1862, to the fact that the lower 

 limbs were not always of the same length in the 



human subject. This statement induced anato- 

 mists and surgeons to make an extended series of 

 measurments, and the results confirm the opinion 

 expressed by Professor Ford. Garson, in the 

 Journal of anatomy and physiology, sums up 

 these observations. In seventy skeletons ex- 

 amined, he found the lower limbs equal in but 

 seven. His measurements show that in 54.3 per 

 cent the left limb was longer than the right ; in 

 58.5 per cent the left thigh-bone was longer than 

 the right. The right tibia was longer than the 

 left in 41.4 per cent, and the two bones were found 

 equal in but 10 per cent. The difference in the 

 length of the lower limbs varies from one-eight of 

 an inch to one inch and five-eights, without any 

 deformity being recognizable. In a series of 

 measurements of the collar-bones, only six, in 

 twenty-two cases examined, were found to be 

 equal. 



— The scientific writings of Henry James 

 Clark have received careful attention from Prof. 

 Fred. Tuckerman, in his biographical notice for 

 the catalogue of the Massachussetts agricultural 

 college (1886). The bibliographical list contains 

 twenty-six titles, — three new ones being added 

 to the national academy list. Professor Tucker- 

 man has also improved the national academy list 

 by references to numerous English reprints of 

 Professor Clark's papers. British students will 

 find these of use. The third title, of some in- 

 terest in the history of American zoology, reads 

 as follows : ' Contributions to the natural history 

 of the United States, 1857-62 (conjointly with 

 Prof. Louis Agassiz).' 



— The practice of medicine in Russia is exceed- 

 ingly onerous and unremunerative. A physician 

 who fails to respond to the summons of a patient 

 is punished by a fine of from five to one hundred 

 roubles. If the case was a dangerous one, and 

 the physician knew it, he may be imprisoned in 

 the jail for three months. The legal fee for an 

 ordinary visit is from seven and a half to fifteen 

 cents ; for an accouchement, seventy-five cents. 

 These laws are strictly enforced. An elderly Ger- 

 man physician, an invalid, was called, on a 

 stormy winter night, to attend a case seven miles 

 distant. He objected to go unless he was reason- 

 ably remunerated, naming his fee. The mes- 

 senger left to ascertain whether this amount 

 would be paid, but did not return. The physician 

 was subsequently arrested, tried, and condemned 

 to eight days imprisonment. Besides, he had to 

 pay his lawyer two hundred and fifty dollars in 

 advance. 



— A few weeks since, some members of the 

 Davenport (Iowa) academy of sciences explored 



