Dbcembeb 3, 1886.] 



SCIENCE. 



505 



are now six lodging-houses, and they have shel- 

 tered during the year over 11,000 children at an 

 average cost per capita of $47.65. 



A SIGNIFICANT ILLUSTRATION of the interest 

 taken by Russians in anthropological research and 

 the zeal and activity of Russian scientific bodies is 

 furnished by the annual report of the Society of 

 lovers of natural science anthropology and eth- 

 nology, read at its annual meeting in Moscow on 

 the 37th ult. In the course of the past year the 

 society has held fifty meetings, at which there 

 were read one hundred and thirty papers /and 

 reports ; it has organized and sent into the field 

 seventeen scientific expeditions, including one to 

 the Black Sea, one to the valley of the Ob in 

 western Siberia, and one to the Caucasus ; it has 

 made valuable collections in all parts of the em- 

 pire ; and, finally, it has published eight volumes 

 of memoirs embodying the scientific work of its 

 members. Six medals of gold and six of silver 

 were awarded at the annual meeting to members 

 of the society who had especially distinguished 

 themselves during the year in scientific research. 



Opinions seem to differ as to the dangers 

 connected with the use of cocaine. Dr. "William 

 A. Hammond does not believe that there is any 

 danger of a person becoming so addicted to its 

 use that he cannot discontinue it at any time. 

 Dr. J. B. Mattison, on the other hand, looks upon 

 it as a drug which already has entangled within 

 its toils a number of persons, who are as unable 

 to stop its use as if the drug were opium instead 

 of cocaine, and for whose relief a proper course of 

 treatment is necessary. The statistics thus far 

 seem to indicate that physicians and apothecaries 

 are especially prone to its unrestricted use, as, up 

 to the present time, they form the larger part of 

 its victims. 



The discovery of petroleum in Scotland, as 

 mentioned in the Glasgow herald, is interesting in 

 connectiort with the discoveries made many years 

 ago of petroleum in small quantity in English 

 coal-measures ; but it is very probable that this 

 locality, like those in England, will not yield oil 

 in commercial quantity. It is worth while, how- 

 ever, to call attention to the fact that the distilla- 

 tion of oil from 'bog-head' coal and the Mid- 

 lothian shales, with which this new pit is probably 

 connected, led eventually to the production of 

 petroleum in the United States. 



The Lancet records the case of a young girl 

 who had attacks exactly resembling delirium 

 tremens from the effect of tea-leaves which she 

 was in the habit of chewing. We have already 

 called attention to the many and varied disorders 

 which may occur as the result of the excessive use of 

 strong tea, and have no doubt that many persons 

 suffering from dyspepsia and palpitation of the 

 heart would find these symptoms to disappear, or 

 at least be markedly diminished, if they would 

 discontinue the excessive use of tea as a beverage. 



In commenting upon the extraordinary effi- 

 ciency claimed for the Marchant steam-engine, 

 which has been attracting considerable attention 

 in England of late, Science of Oct. 29 intimated 

 that in the tests made there might possibly have 

 been some source of error, which would be re- 

 vealed by further trials under more satisfactory 

 conditions. Conclusive tests recently made in the 

 presence of representatives of Engineering, the 

 Electrical review, and other technical journals, 

 prove that the amount of coal consumed for each 

 horse-power per hour, as shown by the brake, was 

 four pounds, instead of eight-tenths of a pound, as 

 shown at previous trials. 



Measles appears to be very prevalent in New 

 York City. For the week ending Nov. 30, there 

 were 253 cases reported, of which 38 were fatal. 

 During the first two years of the war of the re- 

 bellion there were 38,031 cases of this disease in 

 the army, of which 1,864, or about 1 in 31, were 

 fatal. Bartholow regards this as an underesti- 

 mate. He thinks, that, if all the complications 

 and sequels were taken into account, the mortality 

 would be at least 1 to 5. The number of deaths 

 in Brooklyn for the same period was but 4. It is 

 difficult to estimate the probable number of cases 

 of this disease in either city, the mortality varying 

 so much at different times, and for reasons which 

 are not ascertainable, although it is doubtless 

 true that only a very small proportion of the cases 

 are reported to the health authorities in any of 

 our cities While New York is nearly free from 

 small-pox, and has been for a long time, — but one 

 casein many months, — Brooklyn appears to have 

 the disease to a considerable extent, some forty or 

 more cases having been reported within the past 

 month. With so much of this disease in a neigh- 

 boring city, it will be very strange if New York 

 continues to be exempt. 



