April 1. 1887.] 



SCIENCE. 



311 



Hindoo girls are married much earlier, in their 

 seventh or eighth year, and once married, there is 

 no escape possible for them. Wifedom may be a 

 revolting servitude, but widowhood is a living 

 death. The widow is an outcast, with no civil 

 rights and no social standing. Her proper place 

 would have been on her husband's funeral pile, 

 but since futtee has been forbidden, a fate more 

 cruel, an agony more prolonged, has been the ap- 

 pointed lot of the woman who survives her lord. 

 Now, whatever we may think of this system, it 

 is quite certain that it commends itself to Hindoo 

 feeling. So strong is the sentiment in favor of it 

 that Lord Dvitferin has not ventured to attempt a 

 change in the law. He has sounded native opinion 

 on the subject ; he has consulted the local admin- 

 istrations,, and the replies he has received have 

 been unanimous against any legislative interfer- 

 ence. Rukmihhai is, therefore, a wife in the eye 

 of the law, and a wife she must remain. 



" The present feehng of the Hindoo community 

 in favor of the existing marriage-law has been 

 signified in a variety of ways. When there was 

 talk of the possibility that the government might 

 interfere to change the law, a large meeting was 

 held at Bomba.\ to protest against such a course. 

 It was not unanimous, but the voice of the ma- 

 jority was given, not only against a compulsory 

 change in the law, but in support of the law, 

 which they cherished as being of social and re- 

 ligious importance. The daily conduct of the 

 people is in agreement with this declaration. They 

 inflict the social penalties "which are the main 

 sanction of the law, and without which the law 

 would speedily fall into disute. But as long as 

 there is a minority of dissentients, social penalties 

 are not very dreadful to those who can dare to 

 face theui. The meeting at Bombay shows Ug 

 only what the men think, and it shows us that 

 even they are not entirely of one mind. It tells 

 us nothing about the women. We know from 

 Rukniibhai's case that there is one woman, at 

 least, who has cut herself free from the supersti- 

 tions and prejudices of her country. As educa^ 

 tion spreads, and as the medical missions to woaien 

 begin to bear the full fruit w^hich we may expect 

 from them, the number of the emancipated will 

 grow. Hindoo women will learn the rights of 

 their sex elsewhere, and will demand a share in 

 them for themselves. It is the women who suffer 

 under the present Hindoo marriage-law, and it is 

 from one of their number that the first act of 

 open rebellion has come. We trust that the ex- 

 ample will be of service towards a general enfran- 

 chisement of the sex. When the day comes at 

 which the women refuse to be bound by the ty- 

 rannical rule imposed upon them, the men may 



resolve as they will, but they will be forced to 

 yield nevertheless ; and we are quite sure that the 

 sacred books will be found quite elastic enough to 

 justify both parties, the rebels and the consenters 

 to the rebellion. The process of change may be 

 slow. The customs of thirty centuries are n(.t to 

 be uprooted at a stroke. It will be enough if 

 there is some progress made. If Rukmibhai finds 

 even a few who will support her in her stand, she 

 wall have dealt no light blow at the law which has 

 driven her to revolt." 



PARIS LETTER. 



The sugar-beet industry in northern Germany 

 is in great apprehension, owing to the destructive 

 effects of a newly described parasite, a nematoid 

 worm, which, according to M. A. Girard's recent 

 paper read before the Academy of sciences, is 

 doing great damage in the beet-fields. This worm 

 is found at the end of the roots, in the so-called 

 ' suckers' oP the smaller radicules, and uses for its 

 own benefit all the alimentary matters absorbed 

 by the roots. The consequence is, that the plant 

 soon withers and dies. But not so the animal. 

 It is ploughed out of ground to be swallowed by 

 any chance animal. It is finally expelled, in good 

 order, perhaps in a beet-field, where it immediate- 

 ly begins again its depredations. No method is 

 yet known for the destruction of this parasite. It 

 is, however, of some value to know how it lives. 



An interesting paper on therapeutics has been 

 published by M. Jacobelli, who is trying to cure 

 pulmonary tuberculosis by means of inhalation of 

 caustic vapors, believing they will cause the ulcers 

 on the lungs to heal. No good results have yet 

 been detected, and it does not seem likely that any 

 will be obtained. Unless the vapors kill the bacil- 

 lus, there does not seem to be any possibility of a 

 useful influence. Tiiberculosis is the result of the 

 presence of the bacillus ; and so long as this nii- 

 crobe remains in the body, tubercular symp- 

 toms must be present. As the old saying goes, 

 ' Suhlata causa, tollitur effechis,' and in this case 

 it is not the cause, but a symptom only, that, very 

 uselessly it seems, is being combated. 



The French government has recently obtained 

 from Greece permission to prosecute archeologi- 

 cal investiajations in what remains of Delphi. 

 This city was, except Olympia. the most impor- 

 tant sanctuary of ancient Greece, and it contained 

 an abundance of art-specimens, which made it 

 quite a magnificent gallery. It is generally be- 

 lieved that the remains of the temple of Delphi^ 

 at present covered by a small fort, contain many 

 specimens of gi'eat interest for archeology and 

 art. The American government petitioned for 



