208 



SCIENTIFIC NE\VS. 



[Nov. 1st, iS 



Fig. 5. Another view of the Middlesburgh 

 Meteorite. 



Middlesburgh meteorite, which has corrugations showing 

 how its melted matter has been scoured oif from the front 

 part of its surface in its final rush through the earth's 

 atmosphere when it was seen to fall on 14th March, 1881. 



FUNCTIONAL ACTIVITY. 



DOES life in one or other of its functional manifes- 

 tations immediately cease after decapitation, or is 

 it prolonged for ever so short a time, reckoned by seconds ? 

 Is the brain capable of preserving some of its faculties 

 for a short period after the head has been separated by 

 violence ? Hundreds of experiments have been made 

 to find the solution of this problem by different savants, 

 but not one was conclusive, nor even significant. The 

 learned Professor Velpeau, however (as related by M. 

 de Villiers in his new work, Amour Supreme), would seem 

 to have obtained certain results apropos of the execution of 

 a Dr. la Pommerais for having poisoned Madame de Pauw. 

 At the time the trial excited the greatest interest in the 

 capital ; it was one of the causes celcbres which are con- 

 signed to the pages of history. The eminent Professor 

 went to see La Pommerais in prison a few days before his 

 execution, and addressed him as follows : " I do not know 

 if your appeal for a reprieve will be favourably received, 

 but if rejected I have a proposition to make to you as a 

 confrere, and in the interest of the profession to which we 

 both belong. You are aware that one of the most interesting 

 questions of modern physiology is to know if the slightest 

 shade of sensation persists in the brain after decapitation. 

 It depends on you to enlighten humanity on the subject. 

 In the name of science listen to me. At the moment the 

 knife falls I will be standing opposite you, and your head 

 will be put into my hands by the executioner, and I will say 

 distinctly at your ear, ' M. de la Pommerais, can you close 

 three times successively the lid of the right eye, keeping 

 the left widely open ? ' If you can by this sign prove that 

 you have heard me, you will have cleared up an important 

 scientific question, and you will leave behind you the 

 souvenir, not of a criminal, but of a hero." La Pommerais 

 asked a few days' reflection before answering this cold- 

 blooded proposition. However, on the morning of the 

 execution he informed Velpeau that he was ready. The 

 head fell, and immediately the illustrious surgeon had it in 

 his hands and pronounced the words agreed upon. To his 

 great astonishment the right eyelid closed, while the left 

 remained widely open. A visible effort was made to raise 

 it again, but it remained closed, and the face became cold 

 and motionless.- — The Medical Press. 



THE PREPARATION OF ARROWROOT. 



ACCORDING to the last report of the United States Com- 

 missioner of Agriculture, it appears that of late years 

 a considerable impetus has been given to the cultivation and 

 preparation of arrowroot in Bermuda, and large quantities are 

 annually exported from the island. The cultivation is very 

 similar to that of the common potato. The plants require 

 at least a year to mature, and economical planters introduce 

 intermediate rows of potato, the crop of which is ready for 

 removal before it can injure the arrowroot. The mode of 

 preparing the fecula from the roots greatly influences its 

 value, and the superiority of the Bermuda arrowroot is 

 attributed to the extreme care and cleanliness exercised in 

 the different processes of manufacture. The roots, after 

 being collected, are washed, and their outer skin completely 

 removed. This operation has to be performed with great 

 nicety, as the cuticle contains a resinous matter which im- 

 parts colour and a disagreeable flavour to the starch which 

 no subsequent treatment can remove. After this process 

 the roots are again carefully washed, and then crushed 

 between powerful rollers, which reduce the whole mass to 

 a pulp. This is thrown into large perforated cylinders, 

 where it is beaten by revolving wooden paddles, while a 

 stream of pure water carries off the fecula from the fibres 

 and parenchyma of the pulp, and discharges it in the form 

 of milk, through the perforated bottom of the cylinder, whence 

 it is conveyed in pipes and passed through fine muslin 

 strainers into large reservoirs. There it is allowed to settle, 

 and the water is drawn off. After being repeatedly washed 

 it is allowed to settle for some time, when the surface is 

 skimmed with palette-knives of German silver in order to 

 remove any slightly discoloured particles which may appear 

 on the top, only the lower, purer, and denser portion being 

 retained for sale. The drying process is conducted also with 

 great care and cleanliness. The substance is spread in flat 

 copper pans, and immediately covered with white gauze to 

 exclude dust and insects. These pans are placed on rollers 

 and run under glass-covered sheds when there is any dan- 

 ger from rain or dews. When thoroughly dry it is packed 

 with German silver shovels into new barrels, these being 

 first lined with paper gummed with arrowroot paste. 



WORK OF ART BY A BLACKSMITH. 



IN mediaeval times the blacksmith was the artist amongst 

 craftsmen, as well as the one who, by making their 

 tools and implements, made work by the others possible. 

 The steel goblet represented on next page is presented as a 

 work of art by a blacksmith of the present day. While we 

 generally confine ourselves to the illustration of things 

 having value in an economical sense, we have departed 

 from usual custom for once, because it seems that such a 

 piece of work has value in showing that craftsmen have not 

 lost their skill, as is sometimes asserted. The following, 

 which we extract from a letter written us by the Simonds 

 RolHng Machine Company, of Fitchburg, Mass., tells what 

 needs to be told about the steel goblet : — 



" We send you to-day by express, a steel drinking 

 goblet, hand-forged by our blacksmith, Mr. Fred. Searle, 

 from a solid piece of i^-inch round steel, with no tools 

 whatever but regular forging tools ; that is to say, without 

 any drills or boring tools." 



To this may be added that the piece was put into the 

 hands of the engraver, with instructions to represent it ac- 

 tual size, with all its imperfections, which has been very 

 faithfully done. The hammer marks are slightly exag- 



