March 14, 1890.] 



SCIENCE. 



177 



regards as important enough to warrant the reference of the 

 latter to a different stratum of the personality, a different ego. 

 The reason of this is, that in the case of the voluntary move- 

 ments we have a mental representation of the act about to be 

 'done, and we unite its elements into a single idea. As this 

 becomes difficult by reason of the disparity of the various 

 acts, the evidences of mental conflict become prominent. On 

 the other hand, in the automatic acts no mental representation 

 is present to the mind, and therefore no conflict arises. In 

 brief, we can do two things at a time with advantage in two 

 quite different ways. The first is when they contribute to the 

 same end, such as the different movements of the two hands of 

 the pianist or the violinist, and so on ; the second, when the one 

 is done automatically and unconsciously; and both of these 

 capabilities will vary very considerably in different persons. 



M. Binet has reduced to experiment a further class of 

 automatic reproductions. We all appreciate the tendency to 

 beat time when listening to a lively musical production, or the 

 unconscious adaptation of our gait to the selection of a band on 

 the street. The same fact is shown in the case of an byster- 



cal subject in whose hands is placed a recording dynamometer 

 while a metronome is beating in the room. The result is an 

 unconscious series of pressures to the time of the metronome 

 beats. 



Thought ajstd Resphiation. — The experiments of Professor 

 Leumann indicating the adaptation of the rate of reading, and 

 possibly of other mental work, to such physiological rhythms 

 as the respiration (v. Science, Nov. 33, 1889), have called forth 

 some interesting comments upon his thesis. Attention has 

 been directed to the analogy between this and the methods 

 adopted by the Yogi to reach the condition of abstract contem- 

 plation and rapt ecstasy. Professor Max Miiller contributes 

 some extracts from the Sanscrit Yoga-sutras describing this 

 prdndydma, or expulsion and retention of the breath for the 

 purpose of steadying the mind. The Yogi must assume a firm 

 and easy position, and then begin to regulate his breath. He 

 draws it in through one nostril, pressing his finger on the 

 •other, and then, after retaining it some time, emits it through 

 the other nostril. "All the functions of the organs being 

 preceded by that of the breath, — there being always a correla- 

 tion between breath and mind in their respective functions, — 

 the breath, when overcome by stopping all the functions of the 

 organs, effects the concentration of the thinliing principle to one 

 object." The time devoted to each of the three factors is 

 regulated by so many repetitions of the syllable om or other 

 mystic formula, or by turning the left hand round the left knee 

 a given number of times. The time devoted to inspiration is 

 the shortest, and that to the retention of the breath the longest. 

 The operation is performed as a preparation for an abnormal 

 mental state in which incredible powers are exemplified. The 

 theory of the process is thus given in a commentary. "By 

 the motion of the breatli the thinking principle moves; when 

 that motion is stopped, it becomes motionless, and the Yogi 

 become firm as the trunk of a tree: therefore the wind should 

 be stopped. As long as the breath remains in the body, so 

 long it is called living. Death is the exit of that breath: 



therefore it should be stopped." Another writer, Mr. Ley, 

 notices the use of deep and rapid respiration as an anaesthetic. 



Some dentists ask their patients to breathe quickly and fully 

 some four or six minutes, at the end of which the patient 

 becomes giddy, to some extent loses consciousness, and a short 

 operation may be painlessly performed. While in this condi- 

 tion, the patient has no power to move his arms, but svill open 



his mouth at the bidding of the dentist (v. Nature, Feb. 6, 



1890). 



HEALTH MATTERS. 



The Origin of Fever. — M. Roussy, in a paper read before the 

 French Academy of Medicine by M. Schutzemberger, states that 

 fever is often the result of soluble non-organic principles, but 

 of microbian origin, being introduced into the animal economy. 

 He has ascertained^ according to the British Medical Journal, 



that injecting into the blood or under the skin water in which 

 diflierent organic matter has been macerated also determines a 

 febrile condition. M. Roussy has isolated the pyrexogenic ele- 

 ment, and concludes from the results of his experiments that 

 certain diastasis or zymosis (soluble ferments) have a febrile 

 influence: the water in which the yeast of beer has been 

 macerated is an instance. M. Roussy used the same method 

 as M. Berthelot for obtaining "invertine," and it is possible 

 that the body discovered by M. Roussy is identical with the 

 invertine. 



European Infantile Mortality. — We learn from the Medical 

 Record that a comparative study of infant mortality in different 

 European countries has been made by Dr. Fodar, with the fol- 

 lowing results: of 1,000 children born alive, 106.3 die during 

 the first year in Norway, 137.1 in Sweden, 154 in England, 

 169.1 in France, 317.7 in Prussia, 320.1 in Italy, 3.54 in 

 Hungary, 258.2 in Austria, 317.1 in Bavaria, and 339.5 in 

 Wurtemburg. With regard to Bavaria, there is considerable 

 difference in the infant death-rate in different districts. Thus 

 in Suabia it readies the enormous figure of 409 (nearly four 

 times as great as that of Norway) , and in Upper Bavaria it is 

 406, while in the Bavarian palatinate it is only 187. From these 

 statistics it would appear that the hygiene of infancy is better 

 understood in Norway than elsewhere, and that German 

 nurslings are either particularly delicate or particularly unfor- 

 tunate in the mode of their bringing up. 



The Fate of Cadaveric Microbes. — It is a comfort to learn, 

 on the authority of M. Esmarch, that most pathogenic microbes 

 succumb sooner or later after their victims have died. Experi- 

 ments were carried out with nine different micro-organisms, 

 says the Medical Press, and the bodies of the animals on which 

 they had wreaked their wicked will were either buried or kept 

 under water, or exposed to the air. The bacillus of septicae- 

 mia survived ninety days, while that of anthrax disappeared 

 within a week. The bacillus of fowl cholera was seldom found 

 after three weeks, but the tubercular microbe did not lose its 

 virulence until 304 and 253 days had elapsed. All trace of 

 the other organisms was lost in from three days to a week, 

 including those of typhoid-fever, Asiatic cholera, and tetanus. 

 As a general rule, the more active the decomposition, the 

 sooner did they perish, and this is another argument in favor 

 of "earth-to-earth" burial, pending the universal adoption of 

 cremation. 



Recent Saving of Life in Michigan. — In a carefully pre- 

 pared paper read before the Sanitary Convention at Vicksburg, 

 the proceedings of which are just published. Dr. Baker gave 

 official statistics and evidence which he summarized as follows : 

 "The record of the great saving of human life and health in 

 Michigan in recent years is one to which, it seems to me, the 

 State and local boards of health in Michigan can justly 'point 

 with pride. ' It is a record of the saving of over one hundred 

 lives per year from small-pox, four hundred lives per year 

 saved from death by scarlet-fever, and nearly six hundred 

 lives per year saved from death by diphtheria, — an aggregate 

 of eleven hundred lives per year, or three lives per day, saved 

 from these three diseases. This is a record which we ask to 

 have examined, and which we are willing to have compared 

 with that of the man who 'made two blades of grass grow 

 where only one grew before. ' ' ' 



Gastric Juice as a Germicide. — Drs. Straus and Wurtz have 

 conducted a series of experiments in order to ascertain the 

 action of the gastric juice on the bacilli of tubercle, charbon, 

 typhoid, and cholera-mdrbus. The gastric juice from man, 

 dogs, and sheep was selected for the experiments. It was 

 found, as stated in the British Medical Journal, that digestion 

 for a few hours at a temperature of 100° F. destroyed all the 

 germs. The bacillus anthracis was killed in half an hour, the 

 bacillus of typhoid and cholera in under three hours, while the 

 bacillus of tubercle bore digestion for six hours, under which 

 time it was still capable of provoking general tubercular infec- 

 tion. Even when digested for from eight to twelve hours, the 



