410 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. VIII., No. 196 



vided an early intimation is received of their 

 intention to come. Letters may be addressed to 

 the registrar of the university. 



— Since Koch devised his now well - known 

 method of cultivating micro-organisms on plates 

 coated with gelatine, great advances have been 

 made in bacteriological research. Especially is 

 this true of that branch which deals with bacteria 

 in drinking-water. Dr. Frankland has found, 

 that, in the storage and filtration to which London 

 water is subjected, the number of micro-organisms 

 is reduced ninety-five per cent. Dr. Bolton has 

 shown that the spores of anthrax remain alive in 

 distilled water for ninety days, and in polluted 

 well-water for a year, while the bacilli themselves 

 were very short-lived. The comma bacillus of Koch, 

 as is known, will reproduce itself in water. The 

 importance of these observations is evident when 

 it is considered, that, regarding the germ theory 

 as true, zymotic diseases may be spread by means 

 of water t lus impregnated with their germs. 



— Hydrophobia is said not to be known in Lap- 

 land. To detennine whether this was due to any 

 peculiarity in the dogs of that country, or to some 

 other cause, two dogs were brought to Paris, and 

 inoculated by Pasteur. They both contracted the 

 disease. 



— The state boards of health in convention at 

 Toronto passed a resolution to the effect that it is 

 the duty of boards of health to notify the boards 

 of neighboring states of the existence of conta- 

 gious diseases within their borders, and they also 

 pledged themselves to issue such notiBcation. 



— Mrs. Woerishoffer of New York has just 

 donated twenty-five thousand dollars to the New 

 York academy of medicine, in memory of her hus- 

 band, recently deceased. 



— The theory which has recently been advanced 

 by M. Verneuil, that tetanus had its origin in the 

 horse, is being strongly combated by a number of 

 medical authorities. In support of his theory, 

 Yerneuil directs attention to the rarity of this 

 disease at sea. M. Saint-Yel, among others who 

 do not accept this explanation of its origin, states 

 that tetanus is quite frequent in Oceanica, although 

 on many of the islands there are no horses. He 

 also gives a number of instances where the disease 

 developed on shipboard after the receipt of injuries. 

 Altogether, we fear that M. Verneuil will have con- 

 siderable difficulty in demonstrating the equine 

 origin of tetanus. 



— That training-schools for nurses are growing 

 in popularity is shown by the fact that they are 

 being established all over the country, and are 

 largely attended. The authorities of the school 



on Blackwell's Island have just awarded diplomas 

 to twenty-four women who have completed the 

 prescribed course of instruction, and passed satis- 

 factory examinations. 



— A restrictive policy in professional and edu- 

 cational matters is never wise. Tulane university, 

 the medical school of Louisiana, is largely depend- 

 ent for its medical students upon other states, and 

 one inducement offered to its graduates has been 

 the opportunity of obtaining positions on the staff 

 of Charity hospital in New Orleans. In making 

 an appropriation of ninety thousand dollars to 

 this hospital, the legislature provided that only 

 Louisianians should be permitted to compete for 

 these positions. Such a measure can have but 

 one effect ; that is, to reduce the number of stu- 

 dents at the university. 



— In order to prevent the chafing of those 

 portions of the body on which bed-ridden patients 

 rest, and thus to prevent bed-sores, various methods 

 have been devised. The air-bed and the water-bed 

 are well adapted to this purpose, but are expensive, 

 and not always to be obtained. Dr. Smith of 

 Indianapolis recommends the employment of 

 rubber tubing of about tlu-ee-quarters of an inch 

 in diameter. This can be coiled into any desirable 

 size, and, if soiled by the discharges, can readily 

 be cleansed. Should the parts be inflamed, cold 

 water could be passed through the tube, and thus 

 the heat be reduced. As rubber tubing is cheap 

 and easily procurable, the suggestion is an admir- 

 able one. 



— A correspondent of the Medical record writes 

 that suicides are greatly on the increase in France, 

 and that the Paris morgue is filled with them. 

 In one day seven persons who had taken their own 

 lives were received at this depository for the un- 

 known dead. In 1884 the number of suicides in 

 France was 7,572. Hanging seems to be the 

 favorite method of self-destruction : next in order 

 come drowning, shooting, suffocation by coal-gas, 

 and poisoning. 1,394 suicides were of persons 

 aged from forty to fifty years ; 1,508, from fifty 

 to sixty years ; and 2,255, from sixty years on- 

 ward. 



— The results of the exploration of the North Sea 

 by the Prussian vessel Drache in 1881, 1882, and 

 1884, are summarized from the official mono- 

 graphic report in the July number of the Annalen 

 der hydrographie , with the reproduction of sev- 

 eral charts. The salinity at the surface shows the 

 highest percentages (3.50 + ) in the central area, 

 and a belt of lower values (under 3.00) leading 

 out from the Baltic, around the southern end of 

 Norway. The surface chart of absolute specific 



