June 17, 1887.] 



8CIENCJE. 



579 



from their state of mental lethargy, their marking 

 in school rose to 74 per cent, and their demeanor 

 proportionately improved. From November, 1886, 

 to April, 1887, inclusive, the men being employed 

 as laborers and at various industries, as brush- 

 drawing, their average marking was as follows : 

 demeanor, 2i ; labor, 2j\ ; school, 2^, or 71 per 

 cent, — a great improvement as compared with 

 their record from December, 1885, to May, 1886, 

 inclusive, as given above. The record of these 

 eleven men for corresponding periods before and 

 after their course of physical training presents a 

 marked contrast. 



If the improvement noted in these dullards 

 during the time they were receiving their athletic 

 training was the result of better spirits, arising 

 from the novelty of their position, and pride that 

 they were singled out from their fellows for cer- 

 tain work, and removed in a measure from prison 

 monotony, it would be reasonable to expect that 

 with the removal of the stimulus, and the return 

 of all to the routine prison-life, with the conse- 

 quent loss of the individuality they might have 

 enjoyed, there would come sooner or later a 

 falling-back and lapsing into their previous state 

 of mental inertia. But, returned to the regime 

 and discipline observed with other prisoners, they 

 maintained their good record ; and, six months 

 after the termination of the experiment, the 

 mental power revealed by their physical-culture 

 course has continued to develop, and the former 

 shuffling gait and stooping shoulders which char- 

 acterized them as a class have been replaced by an 

 alertness and promptitude of action, 



I do not think the improved mental condition 

 of these men can be attributed to other than the 

 strengthening of the brain-centres by the cultiva- 

 tion and development of muscle and muscles 

 under the control of these same nervous centres, 

 the one participating and taking part in the im- 

 provement of the other. From the words of 

 commendation I have received, and noting the 

 progress of the men under conditions that once 

 seemed to promise so little to them by reason of 

 their stupidity and obtuseness, I regard my class 

 in physical culture as more than an experiment, 

 — a success, — as showing that something more 

 than mere brawn can be accomplished by mus- 

 cular exercise when properly selected, guided, 

 and governed. H. D. Wey, M.D. 



DISTILLERY-MILK REPORT.' — IL 



In response to the question, What is your opinion 

 as to the wholesomeness of distillery swill as food 

 for cows ? the following were received : — 

 1 Continued from p. 553. 



[D. W. Hand, M.D.] 

 I do not believe it to be a wholesome food. 



[L. McLean, M.E.C.V.S.] 

 Detrimental to the general health of any ru- 

 minating animal. As such food does not require 

 to be masticated, or remastlcated, hence a per- 

 verted condition of the ruminating apparatus. 



[Edward Plattek, M.D., editor of the Canadian Health 

 journal.'] 

 I have observed a number of items in medical 

 journals (of which I, as editor for twelve years of 

 the Canadian Health journal, have received many), 

 referring to the injurious effects of the swill upon 

 the milk of milch-cows fed with it, but I cannot 

 call to mind any facts. Knowing well the effects 

 of dirt upon the organs and secretions of both 

 man and animals, I am convinced that distillery 

 swill, which must constitute a very imperfect 

 food, would furnish but a very inferior milk, and 

 that cows fed chiefly or largely upon such swill 

 give a milk of inferior quality, and not fit for 

 habitual use, especially as food for infants. Ani- 

 mal chemistry and physiology would seem to ren- 

 der this impossible. 



[Chakles Schaeffer, M.D., Philadelphia, Penn.] 

 Upon general principles, I judge that food 

 which breaks down the cow's constitution, very 

 much as chronic alcoholism (which does not result 

 in fatty degeneration) destroys the human con- 

 stitution, producing diarrhoea and muscular 

 atrophy, is not likely to give a very healthy secre- 

 tion of milk, but, on the contrary, a poisonous 

 one. 



[Oscar C. DeWolf, M.D., Chicago, 111.] 

 I have been commissioner of health of the city 

 of Chicago for eleven years past, and during that 

 period, until 1885, several hundred milch-cows 

 were constantly fed in distillery sheds in this 

 city. I believe that distillery slop before it has 

 passed into the acetic acid fermentation, and fed 

 in proper quantities to cows running at large, is 

 perfectly wholesome food. I object to so-called 

 'distillery milk,' because of the close and long 

 confinement of cows, and the dirty methods of 

 gathering and storing the milk. It is probable, 

 also, that cows thus confined do not often receive 

 the quantity of hay they require for vigorous 

 health. These conditions must affect the milk, 

 whether chemists can detect the change or not. 

 Not a cow giving milk for public supply is now 

 fed and confined in a distillery shed in this city, 

 and for reasons above given I shall oppose any at- 

 tempt to do so. 



[William Oldwright, M.D.] 

 I consider distillery swill an unwholesome food 

 for cows. 



