April 4, 1890.] 



SCIENCE. 



219 



distance varying by 10 millimetres, from 10 to 200 millimetres, 

 and the attempt is then made to set another pair of squares at an 

 equal distance apart under tlie most varying conditions, the aver- 

 ■age constant error and the average variable errors being carefully 

 calculated in each case. Of the very many points arising from 

 the 20.000 Observations thus made, only a few can be here 

 noticed. A striking result is, that no difference, hovrever slight, 

 in the method of viewing the lengths, is without its effect upon 

 •the accuracy with which a distance can be reproduced All the 

 variations above noticed were tried, and showed a difference in 

 the accuracy of reproduction, though of course some of the varia- 

 tions have much less effect than others. Quite a constant result 

 with Dr. Miinsterberg is an overestimation of distances on the 

 left, and an unllere^timation of distances on the right. This he 

 explains as due lo the constant practice, in reading and writing, 

 of moving the eyes from left to right. This results in making 

 this movement easier, and, according to the general law, the 

 movement made with more effort will seem the longer. If, then, 

 the eye is forced to start at the middle of the length, and move 

 towards each side, the space on the left will seem larger than that 

 on the right. When the distances are reproduced by each eye 

 •separately, distances on the right are overestimated by the right 

 -eye, and on the left by the left eye. This is probably due to the 

 greater ea.se of each eye to direct the gaze towards the common 

 field of vision. If an interval elapses between the sight of the 

 standard length and its reproduction, the accuracy is muchdimin 

 ished, and the lengths are generally overestimated, especially the 

 smaller ones. If the original and the reproduced lines occupy 

 the same positions, the error is least. Broken lines seem too 

 long, as is the usual illusion. Vertical distances are overestimated 

 as compared with horizontal ones ; but this only when the verti- 

 cal is above the horizontal, and the eye is free to move. All this 

 xefers to the constant error. Regarding the variable erroi', which 

 measures the uniformity of the reproductions, it is very much 

 larger when the eyes are fixed than when they move freely. This 

 is due to the increased accuracy of the muscle-sense over the ret- 

 •inal sense of space, as well as to other causes. The law holding 

 in many other kinds of sensations, that the error depends for its 

 absolute size upon the length reproduced, seems to hold of space- 

 •"Sensations, but is probably a law of the motor adjustments rather 

 than of the retinal sensibility. These selected points must suffice 

 •to indicate the scope of this very extended and critical research. 



HEALTH MATTERS. 



Insanity in Australian Aborigines. 



In a paper read before the Intercolonial Medical Congress of 

 -Australasia, Dr. Morton Manning, the inspector-general of the 

 insane in New South "Wales, gave a most interesting account of 

 the cases of insanity found to have occurred among the abori- 

 gines of Australia. Mental disease would appear to have been 

 a very rare affection while they were in their primitive and 

 .uncivilized condition, and the manner in which they dealt with 

 -the few cases which did arise was of the most drastic nature. 

 "If the lunatic was violent or aggressive, he was promptly 

 ^slaughtered ; if melancholy, he was allowed, if so disposed, to 

 (Commit suicide; if demented and helpless, he was allowed to 

 die; and only when quiet and peaceable, and when his errone- 

 ■ous ideas did net result in offensive acts, was he allowed to 

 •■continue in the tribe." In the course of time, as the abori- 

 gines were brought more into contact with civilization and its 

 ■attendant vices, insanity increased rapidly in proportion to the 

 number of the population ; and Dr. Manning states that since 

 1868, 18 aborigines had been admitt^ed into the asylums of New 

 South Wales, from a population which has never during that 

 •time exceeded 2,. 500, and is now less thap half that number. 

 Jn the census year 1881 the proportion of the aboriginal in- 

 sane to the aboriginal population of New South Wales was 2.83 

 per thousand, a proportion in excess of that for the general 

 population; and at the close of 1887 it was upwards of 5 per 

 thousand. Tlie causes of insanity in the 32 cases of aborigines 

 admitted into the asylums of Queensland and New South 



Wales were in a considerable proportion of the cases due to 

 drink. The prevailing type of the malady was mania, passing 

 rapidly into dementia. All the melancholic cases originated 

 in jail. Three were epileptics. No case of general paralysis, 

 or any thing like it, was seen-. There were 20 deaths; and in 

 several cases the only cause which could 'be assigned was 

 marasmus, — a gradual wasting without tubercular or other 

 manifest ailment. The average duration of life was much 

 shorter than in Europeans; the confinement, though tempered 

 by many unaccustomed comforts, being apparently the great 

 factor in shortening life. 



Dietary for the Nervous System. 



The nervous tissue requires for its constitution, says the 

 Dietetic Gazette lor January, the chemical constituents of the 

 albuminoids and fats, together with phosphorus: hence the 

 chief alimentary substance is the albuminoids (provisional 

 formula C;2Hiij022Ni6S) contained in milk, eggs, cereals, 

 the juices of vegetables, and the muscular substance of meat. 

 Water should be freely indulged in by neurotic types of consti- 

 tution almost ad libitum. Among the meats most suitable are, 

 in their order, beef, mutton, lamb, and pork, and the brains of 

 animals. Fish is not so valuable as reputed, but may be em- 

 ployed to vary the diet. Oysters, on the other hand, are ex- 

 tremely useful as nerve reconstructives. Among vegetables, 

 wheat stands at the head of the list, containing, as it does, 

 fatty matters and phosphoric acid. Rice, corn, oat-meal, 

 barley, and sweet-potatoes are better than onions, carrots, beets, 

 turnips, etc. Fruits are useful as adjuvants because of the 

 sugars they contain. 



Removal of Warts by Electrolysis. 



Dr.Patrzek of Oppeln describes, according to the Weekly Medical 

 Review, his method for removing warts by electricity. The 

 wart is first thoroughly moistened with a warm solution of salt. 

 Both needles are then thrust through it just above the surface of 

 the skin, and the current turned on, one element after another 

 being added until pain is felt. Five- cells are sufficient. With 

 most cases two sittings of five minutes each are sufficient to destroy 

 the growth, which gradually dries up and falls away, leaving, a 

 surface at first slightly reddened, but which later assumes the 

 appearance of normal skin. 



The Dangers of Hypnotism. 



At Nuremberg a case of some public interest was ti'ied in the 

 police court, says the London Lancet. A commercial traveller 

 while in a restaurant told the waitress to look steadily at the 

 white of his eye, and hypnotized her. On a second occasion he 

 repeated the experiment ; but this time the sleep was so profound 

 that a medical man had to be called, who had the utmost diffi- 

 culty in rousing the girl. The commercial ti-aveller was accord- 

 ingly summoned to appear before the magistrates, and the severe 

 sentence of eight days' imprisonment was passed on him, which 

 will probably be efficient in checking similar performances in 

 that region. In France the practice of hypnotizing people for 

 amusement seems to be very common, and unpleasant conse- 

 quences are frequently reported. At a supper-party in Paris one 

 of the company hyiinotized a girl, and was unable to rouse her. 

 She was consequently taken to the house of a medical man, and 

 after a time she recovered consciousness. The whole party were 

 taken into custody by the police, and were not released until 

 next day. Even when hypnotism has beeu practised by com- 

 petent medical men for remedial purposes, unpleasant accidents 

 and ulterior consequences have again and again occurred; so 

 much so, that an order has been issued by the French Govern- 

 ment, prohibiting surgeons in the army and navy from practising 

 it. It ought to be distinctly understood, both by the profession 

 and the public, that hypnotism is not devoid of danger at the 

 time, and not infrequently has permanently impaired the moral 

 and emotional control of patients. A medical man is bound, 

 before recommending hypnotism for a patient, to weigh the 

 question as carefully as he would that of the advisability of ad- 

 ministering an ansesthetic. 



