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SCIBJS'CU. 



[Vol. IX., No. 211 



At times, apparently depending upon the meteoro- 

 logical conditions, my entire system seems to become 

 thoroughly charged with this animal electricity, and 

 most small objects crackle and snap as I handle 

 -"them, leaving, as night draws near, an uncomfort- 

 able, aching sensation in my arm, and extending 

 more or less down my side. During these same 

 times, should my wife take any small object from my 

 hand (as a draughting-pen, or the sponge-glass upon 

 which such a pen is cleansed) an electrical report 

 follows the contact, that can be distinctly heard 

 throughout a large room. On the other hand, I had 

 'Occasion to examine an injury of the back in a young 

 mulatto girl of about fifteen years of age, a few days 

 ago, when, with my right hand resting upon her 

 shoulder, and my left making the required examina- 

 tion, there instantly followed for me a sense of the 

 most profound relief, as if it were that all the elec- 

 tricity in my system had been completely withdrawn 

 by the act. This girl, during a stay of nearly three 

 years at Fort Wingate, has never been conscious of 

 .any electrical phenomena associated with herself, 

 similar to those which I have experienced. Previous 

 to coming here, I had resided about a year in Wash- 

 ington, where I had never observed such exhibitions, 

 so far as my own person was concerned, and they 

 only gradually developed at this place. 



I write a great deal, sometimes six and eight hours 

 consecutively, and I find the only kind of pen-holder 

 that I can use with comfort is a rubber one, and even 

 then the constant passage of the electricity is exceed- 

 ingly exhausting during the most of the time. Late 

 the other evening, having written about eight hours 

 during the day, I threw myself upon a thick, woolen 

 Navajo blanket which covered an iron-frame bed in 

 my study. I was tired and nervous, and having lain 

 there about half an hour I arose suddenly, and, being 

 a little dazed and drowsy, I seized hold of the iron 

 frame of the bed to steady myself : the act was fol- 

 lowed by an electrical shock that nearly threw me to 

 the floor, but it was not accompanied by any audible 

 report. E. W. Shufeldt. 



Fort Wingate, New Mexico, Feb. 8. 



Osteological notes. 



In passing through the exhibition-rooms of the 

 Museum of comparative zoology not long since, my 

 attention was called to the fact that the skeleton of 

 the Bison bonasus presented a rudimentary second 

 metacarpal, while the Bison americanus at its side 

 exhibited the customary fifth metacarpal; in other 

 words, that the single splint-bone which was present on 

 each skeleton occupied exactly opposite positions, 

 that of the American bison being on the outer, while 

 that of the auroch was on the inner side of the limb. 

 This singular difference I at once attributed to care- 

 lessness in the mounting of the preparation, without 

 giving the matter further thought. The subject, 

 however, being again incidentally brought up, I 

 thought it worthy of investigation. 



Close examination of the parts in question showed 

 satisfactorily that they occupied their normal posi- 

 tion, that the diarthrodial facet for the articulation of 

 the osseous stylet was behind and to the inside of 

 the superior extremity of the principal metacarpal, 

 and that there was no corresponding facet upon the 

 outside of the same bone. 



In the ruminating sections of the artiodactyla, as 

 is well known, the second and fifth metacarpals are 



always reduced to mere representatives of their prox- 

 imal extremities, and in some cases are entirely ab- 

 sent, as in the giraffe, prong-buck, and in some of the 

 antelojDes, as well as in the camels. In the Cervidae 

 the three phalanges of the second and fifth digits 

 are present, articulated to the distal ends of their 

 respective metacarpals, which gradually taper to a 

 point upwards. In some species, in addition, a small 

 fraction of the j)roximal extremity of the fifth meta- 

 carpal is foimd. In the wapiti (Gervus canadensis) 

 the styliform rudiments of the proximal extremities 

 of both splint-bones are present. In the Bovinae, 

 as a general rule, it is the rudimentary proximal end 

 of the fifth metacarpal that is exhibited. In looking 

 over the collection of skeletons of Bison americanus 

 in the museum, I found no exception to this condi- 

 tion. In the skeletons of Bos taurus, however, 

 although the rule held the same, there were excep- 

 tions. In one case the rudimentary proximal ends 

 of both second and fifth metacarpals were equally de- 

 veloped. In several others the stylet of the second 

 was present, but relatively very diminutive. In 

 others, in place of a distinct rudimentary ossicle, 

 there was an ossific deposit upon the canon- 

 bone, simulating by its shape and position the 

 undeveloped proximal end of the second metacarpal. 



The only other skeleton of Bison bonasus in this 

 country, to my knowledge, is in the possession of the 

 Smithsonian institution. In answer to my inquiries, 

 Mr. True, the curator, kindly wrote as follows : " I 

 have examined the skeleton of Bison bonasus, and 

 find that the metacarpals of the second and fifth 

 digits are developed about equally at the j)roximal 

 end. The largest rudiment is 55 mm. long : this is 

 on the outside of the right leg. On the left leg, how- 

 ever, the larger rudiment is the inner one." 



Upon the skeleton in the Cambridge museum the 

 rudimentary metacarpals of the second digit are 

 both equally developed, and measure 67 mm. in 

 length, while there is not a trace of the fifth. 



Owen, who is the only written authority upon the 

 anatomy of the European bison, says in his ' Anatomy 

 of vertebrates,' "In the bison the bones of the 

 spurious hoofs consist, in each, of the middle and 

 distal phalanges; and there is a styliform repre- 

 sentative of the proximal end of their respective 

 metacarpals articulated in the fore-foot, one to the 

 connate trapezoid, the other to the unciform and 

 cuneiform bones." 



The modifications which prevail in the construc- 

 tion and number of the digits of the Ungulata are 

 in many points of view extremely interesting. The 

 above data are too fragmentary upon which to draw 

 conclusions, btit possibly they have their value. 



D. D. Slade, M.D. 

 Cambridge, Mass., Feb. 7. 



Respiration and pulse-rate of foreign residents. 



I should be pleased to learn from your subscribers, 

 born in England or upon the continent of Europe, 

 whether they have observed any variation in the 

 respiration and pulse-rate since becoming citizens of 

 the United States. The reports, to be of any scien- 

 tific value, should contain full statement of any 

 change in occupation or manner of life, as well as 

 difference of latitude and elevation above the sea, 

 and the effect of such variation upon the general 

 health. Edwaed T. Nelson. 



Delaware, O., Feb. 9. 



