106 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. V. No. 107. 



1896 have beeu issued nearly simultaneously, 

 and it is proposed not only to continue their 

 publication, but also to cover preceding years. 

 Prof. Richet is a zealous advocate of the Dewey 

 decimal system of classification and applies it 

 systematically in the new bibliography. It is 

 printed on one side of the paper only, and the 

 index numbers, sometimes extending to six 

 decimals, are prefixed to each entry. A special 

 volume has been issued giving the classification 

 for physiology, which is somewhat bewildering, 

 as the fifteen hundred publications indexed for 

 a year may be divided among one million 

 classes. When the entries are cut up and made 

 into a card catalogue different years may be 

 combined conveniently, but the separate vol- 

 umes lose half of their usefulness in that they 

 have no alphabetical index of authors' names. 

 The Bibliography is confined to physiology in its 

 narrower sense, excluding subjects such as 

 embryology, histology and bacteriology. There 

 are naturally omissions and errors, but the 

 Bibliography will serve a most useful purpose 

 pending the establishment of an international 

 bibliography of the sciences. 



At a meeting of the Boston Society for Med- 

 ical Sciences on December 15th Dr. C. S. Minot 

 described an improved microtome, made for him 

 bythe Bausch and Lomb Optical Company, which 

 is entirely novel in its construction and works 

 with great precision. The model adopted has 

 been chosen: 1st. To secure the utmost steadi- 

 ness and precision of movement, together with 

 the minimum of errors. To this end, the knife 

 is rigidly clamped at both ends upon a heavy 

 metal frame above the object, and it can be 

 placed in any position and at any desired an- 

 gle. The object holder is supported under the 

 the knife in such a way that the knife exerts 

 no leverage upon the object. Every part is 

 heavily built and the ways are planed and 

 ground to the greatest possible accuracy. 2d. 

 To secure convenience of use, the micrometer 

 screw bears two toothed wheels, one for auto- 

 matic movement, each tooth equaling five mi- 

 crons, and one for hand movement by lever, 

 with automatic adjustment, each tooth equal- 

 ing two microns. The object holder is adjust- 

 able by rack and pinion in three places, and has 

 clamping devices for clamping each of the axes 



and is adjustable for height also. 3d. To make 

 a microtome to work equally well for either 

 parafiine cutting or with alcohol (celloidin, etc.). 

 By a simple device, alcohol falling on the ob- 

 ject is drained off without coming in contact 

 with the ways or micrometer screw. The knife 

 possesses the following advantages due to the 

 handles, being of the same cross-section as the 

 blade ; the edge is true and, being made by 

 polishing and not by grinding, is much finer 

 than can be ordinarily produced. Every part 

 of the edge can be actually used for cutting in 

 the microtome. The edge may be kept always 

 perfect by rubbing the blade on a piece of plate- 

 glass with Diamatine powder. 



At the annual public meeting of the Paris 

 Academie de M^decine held on December 15, 

 1896, the prizes offered for competition during 

 the past year were awarded. The Saint Paul 

 prize ($5,000), as we have already stated, was 

 divided between Drs. Roux and Behring. The 

 British Medical Journal states further that the 

 Academy prize (£40) for an essay on the part 

 played by heredity and contagion respectively 

 in the propagation of tuberculosis was divided 

 between M. Georges Kuss and Dr. Aussett. 

 The Capuron prize (£56) for an essay on the in- 

 fluence of diseases of the lungs in the mother 

 upon the health of the foetus was awarded to 

 Dr. Chambrelent, of Bordeaux ; the Civrieux 

 prize (£40) for an essay on hallucination in men- 

 tal diseases to Dr. Paul Serieux ; the Daudet 

 prize (£40) for an essay on membranous non- 

 diphtheritic anginas to Dr. Jacquemart. The 

 Falret prize (£36) for an essay on morphinism 

 and morphinomania was divided between MM. 

 Jacquemart, Paul Rodet, Andre Antheaume 

 and R. Leroy. The Orttla Prize (£80) for a 

 paper on the etiology of dysentery was awarded 

 to Surgeon-Major M. O. Arnaud. The Portal 

 prize (£30) for an essay on the lymphatic system 

 in its relation to malignant neoplasms was di- 

 vided between M. et Mme. Christiani, of 

 Geneva, and MM. F. Barjon and C. Regaud, 

 of Lyons. The Pourat prize (£40) for an essay 

 on the relations between thermogeuesis and the 

 respiratory exchanges was awarded to M. F. 

 Laulanie. The Laborie prize (£200) was di- 

 vided between MM. Delorme, Mignon and 

 Mauclaire. Other prizes, to the amount of 



