May 20, 1892.] 



SCIENCE. 



285 



character of this merciful torpor. According to Professor Heim 

 •of Zurich, who has devoted much time and thought to the investi- 

 gation of the subject, the sensations at such a titne of the sufferer, 

 if so he can be termed, resemble somewhat those of drowning 

 persons. In place of pain there is a process of rapid and involun- 

 tary mental activity, succeeded by stupor; series of old memories 

 fly past the mind like scenes in some rapid vision, and life is re- 

 vised, as it were, on the threshold of death. One is naturally 

 tempted to inquire what is the explanation of this extraordinary 

 state, in which the final catastrophe appears to be lost in the 

 dream-slumber preceding it. The preoccupation of rapid cerebra- 

 tion, a species of shock in itself, might furnish a clue to the mys- 

 tery — at all events, as regards the abolition of pain and fear. 

 We cannot help thinking, however, that other causes must be 

 operating along with this, which at first presents itself as the most 

 ■obvious. The analogy afforded by drowning is, to our mind, es- 

 pecially suggestive. We may remark that here we have to do 

 with a highly probable alterative of normal brain function in the 

 stimulant-sedative influence of a disturbed circulation. The ad- 

 vent of asphyxia implies the turgescence of all venous channels 

 and capillaries, and the increasing accumulation in these of car- 

 bonic acid. It appears to us that the same process must occur in 

 falling. As a rule the fall takes place with head downwards. At 

 the same time there is exerted upon the respiratory passages the 

 suction force of the outer air in rapid transit, acting, we may con- 

 clude, in much the same manner as water in a large tube, which 

 draws into its own volume the fluid contents of any small com- 

 municating channel. Thus it would seem at least a reasonable 

 hypothesis that the coma of death in the circumstances referred 

 to, like the same condition in various forms of disease, is essen- 

 tially a process of deoxidation of tissue with accumulation of car- 

 bonic acid." 



— A preliminary paper " On Drift or Pleistocene Formations of 

 New Jersey," by Professor E. D, Salisbury, has been issued by 

 the Geological Survey of that State. The detailed survey of the 

 Pleistocene (drift) formations of New Jersey was begun about the 

 first of July of last summer. It is the purpose of this survey to 

 prepare maps which shall represent the distribution and the rela- 

 tion of the various types of drift formed by the ice, and by the 

 waters emanating from it, during the glacial or Pleistocene period. 

 It is also the purpose of the survey to prepare maps showing the 

 distribution and relations of such other formations as shall be 

 found to exist within the State, which were made contemporane- 

 ously with the drift, or during any part of the Pleistocene period. 

 With each sectional map of the Pleistocene formations it is pro- 

 posed to publish a descriptive text, explaining and describing the 

 nature of the various formations mapped, the method by which 

 they originated, their relations to each other and to underlying 

 formations, and the notable changes which they have undergone 

 since their formation. Along with such descriptions, which will 

 be adequate to the understanding of the maps, and of the surface 

 formations of the areas represented on the maps, there may be 

 suggestions concerning the economic significance of the forma- 

 tions. Obligations contracted before this work was undertaken 

 have limited the time which has thus far been devoted to it. Of 

 the two months spent in the field, a considerable part was given 

 to a general reconnoissance of that part of the drift-bearing area 

 adjacent to the terminal moraine. Some of the general results of 

 this reconnoissance are embodied in the report. In addition to 

 the work of reconnoissance, the detailed study and mapping of the 

 surface formations has been begun, and has covered that part of 

 Middlesex County, which lies north of the Raritan, most of Union 

 •County, and the south-eastern portion of Essex County. Under 

 the circumstances it was deemed advisable to make this report no 

 more than a general discussion of the drift and of the Pleistocene 

 formations in general, with especial reference to the phenomena 

 in New Jersey. This report may therefore be regarded as in some 

 sense a preface to the more detailed reports which will follow 

 when the work which must form their basis is completed. 



— The eighth annual meeting of the Conference of State Boards 

 of Health will be held in Lansing. Mich , June 6, 1893. The meet- 

 ing will convene at 10 a.m., in the Senate Chamber of the State 



Capitol. Governor Winans will informally receive the members 

 of the Conference in the Executive Rooms in the State Capitol 

 during the day or evening of June 6. The local committee has 

 expressed the hope that the time of the members of the Confer- 

 ence will permit of their visiting the three other State institutions 

 located at Lansing. Headquarters will be at the Hotel Downey, 

 where special rates have been secured. The following questions 

 for the consideration of the Conference have been received by the 

 Secretary: Proposed by the State Board of Health of Connecti- 

 cut, (a) What is the most practicable way of providing a hospital 

 for contagious diseases for a town or community of a population 

 of 5,000, the same to be always ready for the reception of patients? 

 (6) What will be the average cost of maintaining it, per annum; 

 the probable number of patients it would be called upon to receive 

 being regarded in the estimate ? Discussion opened by Dr. L. F. 

 Salomon of New Orleans, La., and Dr. Louis Balch, Albany, N. 

 Y. Proposed by the State Board of Health of Indiana, How 

 strict should the quarantine be in cases of diphtheria and scarlet- 

 fever ? Discussion opened by Dr. Thos. J. Dills, Ft. Wayne. Ind., 

 and a member of the Iowa Board of Health. The Michigan Plan 

 of Sanitary Conventions, by Professor Delos Fall, Albion, Mich. 

 Proposed by the State Board of Health of Louisiana, (a) What 

 should be the relations of State and County Boards of Health ? 

 (6) What should be the relation of State Boards of Health to Na- 

 tional Authorities ? (c) What should be the relation of State 

 Boards of Health to the State? Discussion opened by Dr. C. P. 

 Wilkinson, New Orleans, La. Proposed by the State Board of 

 Health of Pennsylvania, In view of the increasing frequency of 

 communication between the Republic of Mexico and the United 

 States, and of the constant prevalence of typhus fever in the for- 

 mer country, is there such probability of the introduction of that 

 disease into the United States as to make it important for health 

 officers along the southern frontier to use especial vigilance on 

 that account? Discussion opened by Dr. Robert Rutherford, 

 Houston, Tex., and Dr. L. F. Salomon, New Orleans, La. Pro- 

 posed by the State Board of Health of Ohio, What measures can 

 be enforced to prevent the spread of infectious diseases in rural 

 districts? Discussion opened by Dr. J. T. Reeve, Appleton, Wis., 

 and Dr. J. Berrien Lindsley, Nashville, Tenn. The relation of 

 the Laboratory of Hygiene to the work of the State Board of 

 Health, by Professor Victor C. Vaughan, Director of the State 

 Laboratory of Hygiene, Ann Arbor, Mich. Proposed by the State 

 Board of Health of Kentucky, Should State Boards of Health be 

 charged with the administration of medical practice laws ? Dis- 

 cussion opened by Dr. Henry B. Baker, Lansing, Mich. , and Dr. 

 Jerome Cochran, Montgomery, Ala. Proposed by the Provincial 

 Board of Health of Ontario, (a) Has intra-State, inter-State, and 

 International action to prevent the sewage pollution of streams 

 become a necessity ? (fi) If so, what steps are practicable for 

 bringing about conjoint action ? (c) What practical methods are 

 available for preventing such pollution? Discussion opened by 

 Dr. Benjamin Lee, Philadelphia, Pa., and Dr. P. H. Bryce, To- 

 ronto, Ont. The public health work in Michigan, by Dr. Henry B. 

 Baker, Secretary of State Board of Health, Lansing, Mich. Pro- 

 posed by the State Board of Health of Tennessee, The practical 

 working of inter-State notification. Discussion opened by Dr. P. 

 H. Bryce, Toronto, Ont., and Dr. J. Berrien Lindsley, Nashville, 

 Tenn. Proposed by the State Board of Health of Vermont, The 

 part played in the spread of tuberculosis by the flesh and milk of 

 tuberculous cattle. Discussion opened by Dr. C. H. Fischer, 

 Providence, R. I., and Dr. Victor C. Vaughan, Ann Arbor, Mich. 

 Proposed by the State Board of Health of Pennsylvania, Is the 

 disinfection of baggage essential to effective quarantine ? Dis- 

 cussion opened by Dr. C. H. Hewitt, Red Wing, Minn., and Dr. 

 S. R. Olliphant, New Orleans, La. The "unfinished business" 

 includes, report of the committee to formulate a plan for the crea- 

 tion and organization of county and other local Boards of Health, 

 report of the committee to make a Codification of the Health Laws 

 of the different States and Provinces, report of the committee on 

 the Collective Investigation of Diseases, report of the committee 

 on Vital Statistics, report of the committee on the Prevention of 

 Consumption, report of the committee on the Pollution of Streams, 

 and the Formation of River-Conservancy Commissions. 



