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SCIUJ^CU. 



[Vol. IX., No. 205 



same manner, left the animals in perfect health. 

 This certainly would demonstrate toxic qualities 

 for the dead bacilli when absorbed by the living 

 body. 



— Dr. McEachran, live-stock inspector for Can- 

 ada, is opposed to the inoculation of cattle for 

 the prevention of pleuro-pneumonia. He believes, 

 that, in every country in the world where it has 

 been impartially tried and reported on, the report 

 has been unfavorable. He regards it as a danger- 

 ous operation, and not warranted by any known 

 benefits. Many die from the operation itself, and 

 wherever it is practised it has to be kept up. 

 Thus in Scotland, where inoculation is practised, 

 there is a constant supply of the virus ; and the 

 cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh are active centres 

 of the disease. 



— The recently held meeting of the French 

 congress of surgeons was a very notable one. M. 

 Oilier of Lyons, well known for his experiments 

 in bone-grafting, presided at the meeting, which 

 was attended by many of the most eminent sur- 

 geons of France, as well as by other men of note, 

 among whom were the president of the senate and 

 the rector of the university. The most interesting 

 discussion was that in regard to tetanus, or, as it 

 is commonly called, lockjaw. It was opened by 

 M. Vaslin of Angers. He regards it as a purely 

 nervous disease, and, in support of his views, nar- 

 rated a case which had come imder his own ob- 

 servation, in which the disease was due solely to 

 emotional causes, and which was cured by chloral 

 and morphine. Professor Balestreri of Genoa 

 concurred with M. Vaslin, and related several 

 cases which he had treated, and which were suc- 

 cessful. Professor Thirier of Brussels, on the 

 other hand, believed tetanus to be contagious and 

 of a parasitic nature. M. Mannoury of Chartres 

 denied its contagiousness, . and said, that, after 

 conferring with a good many veterinarians, he 

 was unable to learn of a single case in which the 

 disease was communicated from one animal to an- 

 other. Professor Verneuil of Paris is a firm be- 

 liever in the contagiousness of tetanus, and thinks 

 that it can be contracted by man from the horse. 

 He said that human beings are often attacked with 

 tetanus when living with or near animals affected 

 with the disease, and that it often follows horse- 

 bites. Wounds which have in any way come in 

 contact with earth or straw soiled by horses are 

 more liable to be accompanied by tetanus than 

 others ; and the disease is most frequent among 

 stable-boys, horse-dealers, and, in general, those 

 whose duties bring them in contact with horses. 

 Notwithstanding all these arguments, it was gen- 

 erally admitted that all attempts to convey the 



disease experimentally from an affected animal 

 to a healthy one had failed. lil. Blanc of Bom- 

 bay thought the disease to be contagious, and 

 communicated sometimes through infected water. 

 Interesting papers were read on bone-grafting, and 

 the uniting of divided nerves by suturing. The 

 author of the latter paper believed that severed 

 nerves may be made to unite in a few hours. 



— The sermons and autobiography of Mark 

 Pattison, late master of Lincoln college, Oxford, 

 excited such general interest, that arrangements 

 are making to publish a volume of selections 

 from Mr. Pattison's miscellaneous writings. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



*t* Correspondents are requested to be as brief as possible. The 

 writer's name is in all cases required as proof of good faith. 



Polarization of resistance coils. 



In August last Professor Mendenhall, in conversa- 

 tion with the writer, alluded to his observation of 

 the polarization of certain resistance coils, and sug- 

 gested an examination of the coils in this laboratory. 

 The examination was made, and the results stated in 

 remarks upon Professor Meudenhall's paper at the 

 Buffalo meeting of the American association. A brief 

 account may not be without interest and value. 



The idea entertained by Professor Mendenhall at 

 the time seemed to be that the polarization was of a 

 ' statical ' nature ; the deflection obtained on connect- 

 ing the coil, through which a current had been 

 passed, with a galvanometer, being produced by the 

 ' residual charge.' The examination of our coils was 

 undertaken with the same idea, the ' condenser dis- 

 charge ' method being made use of, substituting the 

 coil under trial for the condenser. The galvanometer 

 was a 6,000 ohm astatic Thomson, by Elliott Brothers, 

 its needle making a vibration in about ten seconds. 

 A Fuller cell and Sabine discharge key were used. 

 Polarization was found in every coil in the laboratory, 

 except in a standard B.A. unit from Elliott Brothers. 

 It was also found in a Hartmann box loaned for ex- 

 amination by Messrs. Queen & Co. The effect was 

 found to vary widely in different coils in the same 

 box, particularly so in a box of 100,000 units from 

 Elliott's, whose 40,000 coil gave 40 degrees deflection 

 against 6 or 7 degrees for any other coil in the box. 

 On opening the box, it was found that the 40,000 coil 

 had been heated till the paraffine had melted and 

 some of it had run off, while the other coils were well 

 covered, as usual in Elliott coils. The Hartmann box, 

 whose coils were not paraffined, showed the effect 

 more strongly than any except the 40,000 Elliott. It 

 was observed that the coil terminal connected to the 

 positive pole of the battery in charging, was itself 

 positive in discharging ; that reversing the battery 

 reversed the discharge deflection ; that the deflection 

 was not momentary, as with condensers, but that it 

 indicated a steady current, diminishing slowly, but 

 not ceasing in some instances after eight or ten hours ; 

 that when the coil was charged by battery for several 

 minutes, and then the current reversed and allowed 

 to flow a few minutes longer, the discharge current 

 was at first due to the last charging current, but 

 after a time it ceased, and was followed by another 



