230 



SCIENCE, 



[Vol. Vm., No. 188 



ship scraping a pebbly bottom, and the vibration 

 of the ship was very great. 



— A very interesting account of an epidemic of 

 malaria in eastern Massachusetts is given by Dr. 

 L. B. Adams in the Boston medical and surgical 

 journal. Tliis epidemic of intermittent fever oc- 

 curred in the summer of 1885, and its chief force 

 was felt at South Framingham. The infected dis- 

 trict contains one-third of the area and one-fifth 

 of the population of the village. Five-sevenths of 

 the houses had cases in them. In some instances 

 every occupant was attacked. A few scattered 

 cases were seen in June and July. At the close 

 of July there was a change of weather and a 

 heavy fall of rain. This was immediately followed 

 by the appearance of many cases. August was 

 colder than it had been for fifteen years, and the 

 rainfall great, more than seven inches. Between 

 the end of July and the latter part of September, 

 when the disease began to decline, more than two 

 hundred cases were seen and reported by the 

 physicians. It was thought by some that the dis- 

 ease was attributable to the drinking-water. The 

 full history of this epidemic, and the view^s of Dr. 

 Adams, will doubtless be given in the future, and 

 we shall then refer to this subject again. 



— Special attention should be paid by bathers 

 to the exclusion of salt water from the mouth and 

 ears. Many cases of inflammation of the ear, fol- 

 lowed by severe and lasting trouble, even to deaf- 

 ness, are chargeable to the neglect of this precau- 

 tion. Incoming waves should never be received 

 in the face or the ears, and the sea-water which 

 enters the ears when floating or diving should be 

 wiped out by soft cotton : indeed, the best plan is 

 to plug the openings of the ears with cotton, which 

 is to be kept there during the bath. 



— The new State board of health of Massa- 

 chusetts is composed of seven gentlemen, two of 

 whom are physicians, — one a regular, Dr. H. P. 

 Walcott, who is president of the board ; and the 

 other. Dr. E. U. Jones, a homoeopathist. Dr. 

 S. W. Abbott, a well-known sanitarian, has been 

 appointed secretary. 



— Profs, von Frisch and Ullman of Vienna, 

 after careful and exhaustive study, confirm the 

 views of Pasteur as to the possibility of prevent- 

 ing the development of rabies by inoculations with 

 the virus obtained from rabbits, and are now pre- 

 pared to treat the victims of rabid dogs. 



— Sea-bathing is now so generally pi-actised, 

 and death by drowning so common, that every 

 person should familiarize himself with some 

 method of resuscitation ; and if each community 

 living upon the seashore or upon the banks of 



rivers or bays would organize a life-saving service, 

 or obtain instruction in this important subject, 

 many lives which are now sacrificed would un- 

 doubtedly be saved. One of the simplest methods 

 of artificial respiration is that which Mr. J. A. 

 Francis has described in the British medical jour- 

 nal. The body of the patient is laid on the back, 

 with clothes loosened, and the mouth and nose 

 wiped ; two bystanders pass their right hands 

 under the body at the level of the waist, and 

 grasp each other's hand, then raise the body until 

 the tips of the fingers and the toes of the subject 

 alone touch the ground ; count fifteen rapidly ; 

 then lower the body flat to the ground, and press 

 the elbows to the side hard ; count fifteen again ; 

 then raise the body again for the same length of 

 time ; and so on, alternately raising and lowering. 

 The head, arms, and legs are to be allowed to 

 dangle down freely when the body is raised. 



— Two more persons inoculated by Pasteur for 

 the prevention of rabies, after having been bitten 

 by rabid dogs, have died. Of fifty-four persons 

 bitten by mad wolves, fourteen have died. 



— One of the leading men of Edgefield county, 

 S.C, is reported to have died this week from 

 rabies, after an illness of but twelve hours. The 

 bite was received in May from a rabid dog, and 

 produced no trouble until the day before his death. 



— In a little pamphlet, under date of Aug. 22, 

 the Hon. W. E. Gladstone has given his views on 

 ' The Irish question ' as it now stands, with a his- 

 tory of the movement for self-government and an 

 indication of the lessons taught by the recent 

 election. This has been liublished on this side by 

 Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. 



— ' A catalogue of minerals,' by Albert H. 

 Chester (New York, Wiley, 1886), is intended to 

 embrace all English names now in use in the 

 nomenclature of mineralogy. It includes species, 

 varieties, and synonymes. Dead and useless 

 names have been omitted, so that the catalogue 

 can be conveniently used as a check-list and in 

 cataloguing collections. 



— The weather report for August, from obser- 

 vations taken at. Lawrence, Kan., shows that the 

 month was one of the three hottest Augusts on 

 record. There were eleven days with temperature 

 below the average for the season, but the remaining 

 twenty days were excessively hot ; and the week 

 from the 11th to the 17th surpassed any week 

 since August, 1874. The July drought was broken 

 on the 1st by a copious shower. There were seven 

 other serviceable rains during the month, but no 

 rain sufiiciently heavy to wet the ground to a 

 greater depth than two inches. 



