104 



scmj^cu: 



[Vol. IX., No. 209 



the putrefactive changes which take place in the 

 stomach and bowels in food not digested, which 

 changes are often begun outside the body ; 4. 

 These products may act as systemic poisons, or 

 the particles may cause local irritation and inflam- 

 mation of the intestine. In the treatment of the 

 affection, Dr. Holt believes that antiseptics are of 

 great value, especially naphthalin and the salts of 

 salicylic acid. 



There seems to be a disposition, on the part 

 of congress, to transfer the signal service bureau 

 to the new dei^artment of agriculture and labor. 

 General Sheridan approves this plan, and says, 

 that, as a school of instruction, the bureau is not 

 needed in the army, and would prove rather an 

 encumbrance than an advantage : while, so far 

 as its meteorological observations are concerned, 

 these relate wholly to the interests of agriculture 

 and commerce, and should be under the direction 

 of some civil branch officer of the government. 



Prof. William James of Harvard has a very 

 clear description of the laws of habit, in the cur- 

 rent issue of the Popular science monthly, that is 

 at once scientific and philosophical. The old- 

 fashioned literary treatment of habits is as far 

 removed as possible from the point of view and 

 method of Professor James. He shows us that 

 'habit' is a term of very wide application, and 

 that the phenomena of habit in living beings are 

 due to the plasticity — which means the posses- 

 sion of a structure weak enough to yield to an in- 

 fluence, but strong enough not to yield all at once 

 — of the organic materials of which their bodies 

 are composed. Thus a full account of habits im- 

 plies some reference to physics as well as to physi- 

 ology and psychology. Tracing briefly, then, the 

 physiological and psychological side of habits. 

 Professor James passes to the ethical and peda- 

 gogical considerations which concern them. He 

 calls habit the ' fly-wheel of society, its most pre- 

 cious conservative agent,' and claims that " it is 

 well for the world that in most of us, by the age 

 of thirty, the character has set like plaster, and 

 will never soften again." 



The decade between twenty and thirty is found 

 to be the critical one in the formation of intel- 

 lectual and professional habits, while the period of 

 life before twenty is the most important for the 

 fixing of personal habits. From this it follows 



easily that by education we must seek " to make 

 automatic and habitual, as early as possible, as 

 many useful actions as we can," and, conversely, 

 to prevent the dropping into injurious habits. Pro- 

 fessor James shows how unconsciously habits of 

 mind are formed through the process of our daily 

 routine, until some day we awake to the fact that 

 we have acquired peculiar power or skill in some 

 direction. The constant preaching of this truth 

 would infuse new hope and ambition into many 

 desponding workers. 



The excitement and alarm which prevailed 

 in this country last year and the previous one, in 

 anticipation of cholera, have entirely subsided, 

 and yet perhaps the danger of its appearance is as 

 great to-day as it has been at any time in the past 

 three years. Although frequent reference to its 

 presence in Europe has been made in the daily 

 press, its ravages have not been described as fully 

 as the facts warrant. At Budapest there have 

 been 1,339 cases with 586 deaths ; at Fiume, 260 

 cases and 161 deaths ; at Trieste, 896 cases and 

 557 deaths. In Japan during 1886 there were 

 153,930 cases, of which 100,492 were fatal. In 

 Yokohama alone the cases numbered 8,021, and 

 the deaths 2,273. In South America, cholera 

 still exists at Montevideo and Mendoza ; the U.S. 

 consul, under date of Jan. 19, reporting that it 

 has been officially declared at the former place. 

 The disease still exists at Buenos Ayres, though it 

 is said to be diminishing and of a less virulent 

 form than heretofore. The presence of cholera 

 on the west coast of South America, which has 

 been announced by the press, still lacks official 

 confirmation. • 



YOUTHFULNESS IN SCIENCE. 



Every college instructor knows only too well 

 how the more active-minded students are eager to 

 grapple with the mightiest subjects, all in the un- 

 tested pride of developing intelligence. Their 

 themes are, ' The progress of democracy,' ' The 

 comparison of French and English literature,' 

 ' Solar energy,' ' The Darwinian theory,' ' The 

 origin of mind ; ' in short, all the vastest problems, 

 such as a lifetime is inadequate for. Most of us 

 can gather from our personal recollections some 

 examples of the foible. Youth does not know its 

 measure. Only maturity, and not always even 

 maturity, realizes how tiny and feeble is the force 

 of the individual when it turns to attack the 

 world problems, which stand more mysteriously 



