October ig, 1888.] 



SCIENCE. 



185 



for references to the peculiarity mentionetl. In the English books 

 there is only a single incidental reference to it, and in that case the 

 author does not say that he has ever seen a specimen. In German 

 books there are two references, one of them being the one already 

 mentioned by the English authority. The French anatomists do 

 not mention it at all ; and only one American, Allen, makes any 

 reference to it. Among the anatomists attending the Medical 

 Congress only two or three had seen specimens. 



Dr. Billings, in a circular he has sent out to anatomists and 

 others, has requested that information on the subject be sent to the 

 Army Medical Museum. 



The ethnological importance of Dr. Lamb's discovery has not 

 yet been determined. If the eighth rib is found to occur more 

 frequently in one race than in others, as the Washington specimens 

 seem to point to the negro, the students of comparative anatomy 

 may yet draw interesting deductions from that fact. 



Measurements of Crania. 



Under the direction of Dr. Matthews and Mr. Tracey, of the 

 Army Medical Museum, a series of measurements of skulls is being 

 made. About one hundred skulls, representing different nation- 

 alities, were selected from the three thousand which constitute the 

 museum's collection, and a series of sixty linear measurements are 

 made upon these in addition to measurements of certain angles and 

 the ascertainment of the capacity of each skull. These measure- 

 ments are mostly made upon lines of former ones, in order to pre- 

 serve a uniformity of data, although many of them are considered 

 of little or no value. A few new measurements are made, which, 

 it is believed, will prove important. The measurements, together 

 with descriptions of the skulls, will be published as a part of the 

 catalogue of the Army Medical Museum which is contemplated. 



It is not expected that any important conclusions will be reached 

 as a result of the work above described. No fact has been better 

 established than that the size of the brain or the shape of the skull 

 has nothing to do with the mental capacity of the person. The 

 causes of difference of intelligence must be sought elsewhere. It 

 is possible that the measurements, if carried far enough, may tend 

 to the establishment of distinct types of crania, and aid in their 

 ciassitication. 



The Army Medical Museum collection of crania is in many re- 

 spects a very interesting one. The number of Eskimo skulls is 

 the largest yet made, and the department is especially rich in other 

 aboriginal American crania. A recent accession of Peruvian skulls 

 contains some curious specimens, especially of deformities. These 

 were generally caused by bandaging and the binding of boards to 

 the head, and a great variety of shapes was produced. Nothing is 

 known as to the significance of these deformities. Whether they 

 were distinguishing marks of different ranks in society or of the 

 special rank of the individual, or were simply a custom, is a mys- 

 tery. 



Adulteration of Condiments. 



The microscopist of the Department of Agriculture, Prof. 

 Thomas Taylor, has begun an examination of the condiments of 

 commerce for the purpose of ascertaining which of them are adul- 

 terated, the methods and extent of the adulteration, and of dis- 

 covering methods by which the consumer may detect impure 

 articles. 



The first article treated w-as pepper, and the method of the in- 

 vestigation is here briefly described. A section of a pepper-corn is 

 placed under a microscope, and magnified one hundred and fifty 

 diameters. Its appearance is carefully noted and photographed, 

 and a drawing in colors is made, showing exactly how it looks. 

 The pure powder of pepper-corns is then treated in the same way, 

 and, from a comparison of the image of this with that of the sec- 

 tion, the changes caused by grinding may be noted. The next 

 step was to examine specimens of the pepper of commerce to as- 

 certain if it presented the same appearance as the pure pepper 

 already photographed and drawn. In a majority of cases it did 

 not, the differences being so striking as to mark it as an entirely 

 different article. 



Professor Taylor has ascertained that the substance used in 

 adulterating pepper is the seed or stone of the olive. These are 

 obtained in large quantities from the olive-oil factories, and ground 



up with the pepper-corns, the extent of the adulteration being in 

 some cases as great as fifty per cent. 



No method of popularly detecting adulteration of pepper has yet 

 been found. In bulk the pure pepper is darker in color than that 

 to which olive-seeds have been added ; but the difference is so 

 slight that no person, unless possessed of a sample to compare 

 with, would be able to discover any difference. 



A New Fibre from the Stalk of the Cotton-Plant. 



A manufacturing firm in New York has sent to the Department 

 of Agriculture specimens of a new fibre they are making from the 

 stalk of the cotton-plant. The samples received strongly resemble 

 hemp, and seem to be adapted to all the uses that hemp is put to. 

 A few fibres of it twisted together in the hand show remarkable 

 tensile strength, although no exact comparative tests with other 

 fibres have yet been made. A collection of the fibres of hemp, 

 flax, jute, ramie, etc., from all parts of the world is being made by 

 the department, and a new instrument has been invented by which 

 it is expected that the tensile strength of each will be ascertained 

 with great accuracy. 



If the cotton-plant turns out to furnish as valuable a fibre as now 

 seems possible, an important new source of profit will be afforded 

 the cotton-planters of the Southern States upon their crops. 



HEALTH MATTERS. 

 Corrosive Sublimate as a Disinfectant. 



An exceedingly valuable contribution to the subject of disinfec- 

 tion has been made by Dr. W. B. Hills of Cambridge, Mass., in a 

 paper presented by him to the Massachusetts Medical Society. His 

 paper is entitled ' The Value of Corrosive Sublimate as a Practical 

 Disinfectant.' 



He criticises the work and report of the committee on disinfec- 

 tants of the American Public Health Association, which, since its 

 publication in 1885, has been the guide of most of the boards of 

 health in the United States. He says of it, " An examination of 

 the report of this committee fails, however, to bring to light the 

 slightest particle of evidence upon which such a recommendation 

 could have been based. The statements made relative to corrosive 

 sublirnate are very contradictory and confusing; the biological 

 tests recorded are few in number and very unsatisfactory ; and the 

 report, as a whole, shows evidence of hasty preparation, and is not 

 at all creditable to the committee." 



He reviews that portion of the committee's report which treats of 

 corrosive sublimate and its action, and puts the committee on its 

 defence. He does not deal in generalities which cannot be met, 

 but particularizes in such a manner, that, if wrong, his mistakes 

 can and should be pointed out ; while if, on the other hand, he is 

 correct, his conclusion should be accepted, and those of the com- 

 mittee should be changed to be in accord therewith. The general 

 result of his observations and experiments is summed up in the fol- 

 lowing paragraphs : — 



" Corrosive sublimate, in a word, though a very elficient disinfec- 

 tant as meaured by its power to destroy germs, is limited in its ap- 

 plications. It can be used for the disinfection of furniture and 

 other articles made of wood or porcelain, or even metal, if var- 

 nished, the floors and walls of rooms, such parts of ships as can be 

 reached with solutions, the hands and the surface of the body, and 

 clothmg and bed-linen if not soiled with discharges ; in other words, 

 for the disinfection of surfaces which are not themselves injured by 

 contact with it, or surfaces which do not contain material of such a 

 character as to destroy its efficiency. Its use for these purposes is, 

 however, very much restricted, because we have no means of dis- 

 posing of it, except through lead pipes. 



"Objections have been made to it because of its poisonous char- 

 acter. The danger of poisoning, however, is ven- slight. The 

 solutions employed are very dilute, and its taste is sufficiently dis- 

 agreeable to attract attention before an amount sufficient to do any 

 injury has been taken. If the solutions are colored, the danger of 

 mistakes is much lessened. The same objection may be made 

 with equal reason against all substances which we now recognize as 

 disinfectants. Care is necessary in the employment of all of them. 



