December 10, 1886.] 



SCIENCE. 



533 



his laboratory after having been bitten by rabid 

 or presumably rabid animals. Of this number, 

 1,700 were natives of France, among whom the 

 resulting deatlis were ten, — 1 in 170. The num- 

 ber of cases of hydrophobia recorded in the Paris 

 hospitals is usually ten or twelve per annum ; 

 during the year ending November, 1885, it was 

 twenty-one. Since that date, only three cases 

 have occurred. One was a person who had been 

 treated by M. Pasteur, while two were persons 

 who had not been so treated. Upon the whole, 

 the mortality among those treated was shown to 

 be much less than among those not treated. The 

 most important point in M. Pasteur's paper is, 

 that the treatment must not be the same in all 

 cases ; that where the wounds inflicted are of a 

 serious nature, in the face especially, stronger 

 doses are required. Such was the treatment in 

 the case of the nineteen Russians, who, it will be 

 remembered, w^ere sent here from Smolensk after 

 having been severely bitten by a rabid wolf. One 

 died during treatment, and two others a few days 

 afterward. Pasteur, fearing for the safety of the 

 others, treated them anew, ending with very 

 strong closes, which he believes is the reason for 

 their survival. In cases where there are severe 

 wounds of the head or face, he now proceeds as 

 follows : on the first day he uses medulla virus 12 

 days old at 11 o'clock, 10 days old at 4, and 8 days 

 old at 9 ; on the second day, at the same hours, 

 he uses medulla virus of 6, 4, and 2 days respec- 

 tively ; on the third day, medulla virus of 1 day. 

 The treatment on the fourth day is the same as 

 on the first, that on the fifth the same as on the 

 second, and the sixth as on the third ; on the sev- 

 enth he uses a 4-day medulla, on the eighth a 3- 

 day, on the ninth a 2-day, and on the tenth a 1- 

 day medulla. The process may be repeated two 

 or three times. M. Pasteur has used this method 

 some two months in cases such as those men- 

 tioned, with good results. Part of the paper was 

 devoted to the effect of anti-hydrophobic treat- 

 ment of dogs after inoculation, the results in dogs 

 being exactly the same as in man, experiments 

 having shown that prompt action and high doses 

 are necessary, just as in the case of hydrophobia 

 among human beings. The paper was heartily 

 applauded by the members of the academy. 



M. Loret of Lyons, in the course of his studies 

 on ancient Egyptian funeral rites, has given some 

 attention to the perfumes then in use ; and by means 

 of his botanical knowledge, aided by some inscrip- 

 tions in ancient laboratories, he has been able to 

 discover the ingredients composing some of them, 

 such as ' kyphi ' and ' tasi,' which were used in 

 Greece and Rome after the conquest of Egypt. 

 These he has reproduced from the old Egyptian 



formulas, 'tasi' being compounded of storax, 

 benzoin, myrrh, and other resins, while 'kyphi' 

 is made from roots, leaves, and seeds of different 

 plants. 



A new treatment of phthisis is proposed by Dr. 

 Berjon of Lyons, entirely different from the 

 bacteriological treatment recently proposed by 

 Cantani, and unsuccessfully tried by several Ital- 

 ian and Spanish physicians. The new treatment 

 is based on the fact, demonstrated by 01. Bernard, 

 that some gases, such as sulphuretted hydrogen,, 

 which cannot be inhaled without danger, can be 

 introduced into the digestive tract through the 

 rectum, passing off through the lungs without in- 

 convenience after being absorbed by the mucous 

 membrane of the rectum and passed through the 

 circulatory system. Dr. Berjon uses carbonic 

 acid mixed with sulphydric acid. Tuberculous 

 patients have shown much improvement under 

 this treatment, though the reason for it is not ob- 

 vious, and M. Berjon does not explain why he 

 uses the gases named rather than others. Under 

 this new treatment, it seems that after a time the 

 purulent discharge ceases, nocturnal sweating 

 disappears, there is a marked increase in weight, 

 but the bacilli are still present. Dr. Berjon's ex- 

 periments are so very recent, that their results 

 cannot yet be judged. Those who desire full in- 

 formation upon this subject are referred to the 

 Semaine medicale of July 14 and Oct. 20, 1886. 

 The same method has been tried in cases of 

 asthma, and with good results. The reason for 

 this is enigmatical, but the subject is well worth 

 investigation. 



Dr. Guilbeau, a blind professor in the Institut 

 national for the blind, has conceived and put into 

 execution the excellent idea of establishing a 

 museum to contain samples or specimens of all 

 articles specially devised for the use of the blind. 

 He has already made quite a collection. This 

 museum will contain much to interest not only 

 those deprived of sight, but the general public as 

 well, as it will present in a graphic manner a his- 

 tory of the efforts made to increase the comfort 

 and the knowledge of the blind. The display of 

 the different kinds of letters invented for reading 

 by touch is very complete, containing all varieties 

 introduced since Hatiy's first large letters in relief 

 and Braille's improvement, up to the latest 

 methods. 



Some time ago, M. Moissan, a young chemist, 

 had a letter read before the Academy of sciences, 

 announcing that he had been able to isolate from 

 hydrofluoric acid a new substance possessing very 

 peculiar qualities, and which he believed to be 

 fluor. A committee was appointed, and at the 

 meeting of the academy, on Monday last, I heard 



