I04 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



[Feb. 3, lE 



On the 9th, a severe earthquake shock at Forli and Imola. 

 On the 1 ith, great fall of barometer at Prague and storms 

 in Istria. On the 12th, the inundation of the Hoang-Ho, 

 heavy snow-storms in mountains of Austria, Italy, and 

 Switzerland. On the 14th, earthquakes at Florence, on 

 the Durance, and at Klagenfurt ; the same day, fearful 

 explosions of fire-damp in the mines of Dortmund, and a 

 strong magnetic perturbation in Styria. On the 15th, 

 shipwrecks in the Adriatic. 



The Occurrence of Arsenic in Human Remains. — 

 With reference to certain recent events, the following 

 facts, taken from the Chemikcr Zeitwtg, are not unim- 

 portant : — " In districts where arsenic-eating is practised 

 the new-born children of women who take arsenic are 

 distinctly larger than children whose mothers do not in- 

 dulge in this habit. If a woman has produced children, 

 and afterwards becomes an arsenic-eater, her subsequent 

 children are larger than the former, and grow more 

 rapidly during the first months of life. Children whose 

 bones have not yet ceased growing, if they receive small 

 and frequently-repeated doses of arsenic, grow with un- 

 usual rapidity, and generally attain an exceptional 

 stature. Hence we may conclude that the children of 

 arsenic-eaters owe their rapid growth to small quantities 

 of arsenic derived from the blood of the mother, and con- 

 veyed through the placenta or the milk. Traces of 

 arsenic may be and have been found in human remains 

 without arsenical poisoning and without any impurity in 

 the reagents. Arsenic is sometimes found in potatoes, 

 in turnips, and in the exterior leaves of cabbage. Copper 

 occurs in wheat and in the livers of swine and oxen. 



Geological Discovery. — The Elgin sandstone, so 

 unique and so prolific in the domain of palaeontology, 

 has just yielded two more fossils, one of which, if pos- 

 sible, deepens the mystery which hangs around this 

 formation. This discovery was made at Cutties Hillock 

 quarry, the spot which was the immediate cause of the 

 great discussion at the meeting of the British Association 

 at Aberdeen in 1885. Since then a number of specimens 

 have been found which have aroused the keenest interest 

 among scientific men. Hitherto the upper beds have 

 yielded purely reptilian remains, the most remarkable of 

 which has been Dicynodon, a fossil which, as far as is yet 

 known has been found only in African strata. One of the 

 fossils just discovered appears to be another specimen of 

 that creature, but until parts of the sandstone are cleared 

 away, which at present hide considerable portions of the 

 remains, it would be impossible definitely to say what 

 the fossil is. The other is more extraordinary, and may 

 turn out to be as rare in the British Islands as Dicynodon. 

 Had it occurred in a different horizon or in strata 

 admitted by all to be of old red age, what appears to be 

 a large fish plate would have been without much hesita- 

 tion described as belonging to Pterichthys. As it is, 

 those most opposed to the theory that the upper beds are 

 of Triassic age would scarcely dare to expect to find the 

 remains of so characteristic an old red fish associated 

 with reptilian remains. Whatever the fossil may turn out 

 to be, it is a fresh link in the wonderful chain of 

 palaeontological evidence which the Elgin sandstones 

 have afforded and which enrich the museums of London, 

 Edinburgh, and Elgin. — Times. 



HoMffiopATHic Medicines.— In connection with the 

 controversy now raging in the columns of the Times on 



the relative merits of Allopathy and Homoeopathy, Dr. 

 Dupre gives the following analyses of some homoeopathic 

 pills he examined some years ago : — 



Sulphate of copper pilules, second dil. — First sample — 

 No copper could be detected in 100 pilules. Second 

 sample— -No copper could be detected in 200 pilules. If 

 in the second case as little as 1-2, 000,000th of a grain of 

 sulphate of copper per pilule had been present it would 

 have been detected. 



Corrosive sublimate pilules, second dil. — Two samples. 

 — It was just possible to detect mercury when 200 pilules 

 were taken for analysis. Less than i-400,oooth part of 

 a grain of corrosive sublimate per pilule was present. 



Nux vomica pilules, second dil. — No strychnine could 

 be detected, even when 300 pilules were taken. 



Belladonna pilules, second dil. — No atropine could be 

 detected in 300 pilules. If as little as i-2,ooo,oooth of a 

 grain per pilule of either strychnine or atropine had been 

 present it would have been detected. 



Aconitum napellus pilules, first dil. — First sample — 

 No aconite could be detected in 100 pilules. Second 

 sample — No aconite could be detected in 100 pilules. If 

 as little as 1-800, 000th part of a grain of aconite per pilule 

 had been present it would have been detected. 



Belladonna pilules, first dil. — First sample — No atro- 

 pine could be detected in ico pilules by chemical means. 

 Second sample — No atropine could be detected in 100 

 pilules by chemical means. If as little as i-6oo,oooth 

 part of a grain of atropine per pilule had been present it 

 would have been detected. 



The Manufacture of Aluminium. — Works for the 

 manufacture of sodium by the Castner process, and the 

 production of aluminium under the process of Mr. 

 James Webster, are now being erected by the Aluminium 

 Company, at Oldbury, near Birmingham, which, it is 

 expected, will bring an important trade to the district. By 

 the Castner process the cost of sodium is reduced from 

 4s. to IS. per lb., and of aluminium from 60s. to less than 

 20s. per lb. The aluminium is produced in pigs of 4 lb. 

 weight. The same-sized pig of the alloy known as 

 aluminium bronze, copper and aluminium, weighs 12 lb., 

 a fact which strongly illustrates the relative lightness ot 

 aluminium. Its value is further increased by its tensile 

 strength and its non-liability to oxidise. It is obvious 

 that the manufacture of this reliable metal upon an 

 extensive commercial scale, and at much lower cost than 

 hitherto, involve important consequences to English 

 metallurgical industry. Its employment must at once be 

 greatly extended. The new works at Oldbury occupy 

 4| acres of ground, and they will be capable of producing 

 ;^300 worth of aluminium per day. The number of 

 men to be employed is not yet definitely decided upon, 

 and in aluminium manufacture extent of production is in- 

 dicated more by the amount of machinery and plant than 

 the number of workmen engaged. At Oldbury there 

 will be four furnaces, each with five chambers, for the 

 manufacture of sodium, and a number of other furnaces 

 which have yet to be erected will be used for making 

 chloride of aluminium and the aluminium itself. At the 

 Solihull works of the company aluminium alloy is already 

 being turned out, and is being received with considerable 

 favour. Many metal-working firms are using an alloy of 

 aluminium and copper — 90 per cent, of the latter to 

 10 per cent, of the former — and express much satisfac- 

 tion with .its qualities. — Iron. 



