SCIENCE 



FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1887. 



The United States Hvdrographic Office has already 

 received about three hundred reports from vessels which encoun- 

 tered the violent hurricanes which swept the Atlantic during the 

 last two weeks of August and the first week of the present month. 

 Many vessels which were in the greatest danger attribute their 

 safety to the use of oil in the manner so persistently urged by 

 Commander Bartlett in various editions of the ' Pilot Chart of the 

 North Atlantic Ocean,' and such incidents will be among the most 

 interesting facts brought out by the published report. Were it 

 not for the conclusive testimony received from masters of vessels 

 of all kinds, from the little fishing-schooner to the great trans- 

 atlantic liner, the idea that a vessel could escape shipwreck in a 

 hurricane by allowing a few gallons of oil to trickle overboard 

 would be regarded as worthy of Baron Munchausen ; but " truth is 

 stranger than fiction." These hurricanes seem to have moved 

 along the usual parabolic track, with the vertex of the curve off 

 Hatteras and the upper branch stretching across the Atlantic to- 

 wards the British Isles. Every effort is being made to collect full re- 

 ports from vessels as soon as they reach port, and to compare their 

 barometers with standards at the branch hydrographic offices. One 

 vessel reports a barometer reading as low as 27 inches ; but it 

 was an aneroid barometer, and the reading was not recorded at 

 the time. The most reliable report thus far received makes the 

 lowest reading 27.91 (aneroid compared with standard, and reading 

 corrected), on board the American steamship ' El Dorado,' Aug. 23, 

 4 P.M.. in latitude 29° north, longitude 78° west (about 140 miles 

 east-north-east from Cape Canaveral). With our present knowl- 

 edge of the character and usual path of these terrific cyclones, and 

 the destruction wrought in their track along our coast, on the 

 fishing-banks, and along the great highway of transatlantic travel, 

 it seems almost criminal carelessness for Congress not to allow 

 greater use to be made of the telegraph cable through the West 

 Indies and Windward Islands, by means of which several days' 

 warning of their approach could generally be obtained, and an 

 accurate forecast published for the benefit of commerce. The com- 

 pletion of the report now in preparation will be looked forward to 

 with interest not only by mariners, but by the public generally. 



THE INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CONGRESS. 



The variety of subjects discussed in the section of special and 

 general medicine at the recent International Medical Congress was 

 very great. Many of the papers read were of purely professional 

 interest, and not such as to be of any value to our readers : others, 

 on the contrary, were of general interest, and, although read and 

 discussed by medical men alone, still they contained much of in- 

 struction for all thoughtful minds. We shall endeavor to give a 

 brief ri'siime of those which seem to us of greatest importance. 



Dr.William Welch read a paper on vaccination during the incuba- 

 tion period of small-pox. His experience in one hundred and forty- 

 four cases has been such as to prove that vaccination at this time 

 will either prevent the attack of small-pox or so modify it as to in- 

 sure the recovery of the patient. The discussion which followed 

 brought out the statement from Dr. Parker of England, that in the 

 large cities of that countiy human lymph was generally employed. 

 Parents are recjuired to bring their children at certain times to pub- 

 lic stations for vaccination. Although revaccination is performed 

 upon school-children at the age of fourteen years, this is not com- 

 pulsory. 



A paper on the pathogenesis of yellow-fever was read by Dr. 

 Alvara of Mexico, in which he expressed the opinion that yellow- 

 fever is an auto-blood-poisoning, either by the acid phosphate of 

 soda of the same blood or by the phospho-glyceric acid set free 

 from the lecithina as a result of the action of microbes on the 

 blood. 



Dr. Lester of Missouri regards pneumonia as an infectious 

 disease, influenced by malaria and improper hygienic surroundings. 

 Dr. Didamore of Syracuse referred to the discovery of the micro- 

 coccus of pneumonia and to the experiments which showed that 

 when this is inoculated pneumonia will result. 



Dr. Gihon, United States Navy, read a paper on the domain of 

 climatology and demography as dependencies of medicine. He 

 claimed a place for climatology as one of the sisterhood of medical 

 sciences. CHmatology and demography are contributory sciences 

 to preventive medicine, and this is more important than curative 

 medicine. The diseases which are truly climatic are but few. 

 Malaria is not one of these. The reduction of the death-rate of the 

 Italian army to one-third what it formerly was, is due to the drain- 

 age of the Roman marshes. Local unsanitary conditions cause 

 more disease than the climate. He criticised vital statistics as 

 usually prepared and published, stating that more facts are needed 

 than the simple number of births, deaths, and marriages. Records, 

 if they are to be accurate and of value, must not be voluntary, but 

 under governmental direction. 



Dr. Rohe of Baltimore, in a paper on the meteorological elements 

 of climate and their effects upon the human organism, said that 

 climatologists do not at the present time believe that ozone has any 

 influence either in preventing or causing disease. Some believe 

 that peroxide of hydrogen is an important antiseptic element in the 

 atmosphere, but further investigation in this direction is needed. 



Dr. Parker of Newport spoke of a number of health-resorts which 

 he regarded as adapted for the stay of the sick. He recommended 

 a wagon-trip across the plains as one of the best means of obtain- 

 ing the advantages of a health-resort. 



Dr. Taylor, United States Army, presented a paper on the neces- 

 sity for a more careful examination of the water-supply of military 

 posts, where an unusual amount of sickness prevails, and ex- 

 amination of hygienic surroundings. At some of the military posts 

 the death-rate is great, owing to enteric and malarial fevers, which 

 would be much reduced if proper attention were paid to the water- 

 supply and to the general sanitation of these posts. Dr. Marston 

 of England had no doubt but that certain epidemics of disease 

 which he had observed among soldiers, were caused by impure 

 water. While malaria might be in some instances due to the same 

 cause, the influence of freshly disturbed soil was a most important 

 one. It was believed in China that the simple scratching of the 

 soil by chickens resulted in the production of malaria in those 

 persons who lived near by. He had also witnessed an epidemic 

 of goitre, which was directly traced to the use of drinking-water 

 which contained lime salts. 



Dr. Thomas of Baltimore read a paper on the causes of so-called 

 hay-fever. The exciting causes he classified as follows: i. Inert 

 substances floating in air, dust, pollen, etc. ; 3. Psychical impres- 

 sions ; 3. Meteorological changes, sunlight, wind, etc. ; 4. Morbid 

 changes or growths ; 5. Irritation reflected from distant parts of 

 the body. In speaking of the treatment, he said that the use of 

 cocaine gives temporary relief, but there is danger to tissues from 

 protracted use. 



Dr. ColHns of Philadelphia described the construction of field- 

 hospitals, mentioning more particularly the depot field-hospital of 

 the army of the Potomac at City Point, Va., in 1S64-65. This hos- 

 pital occupied two hundred acres of land, and could accommodate 

 ten thousand patients. During the war, 71,223 soldiers were treated 

 there. Dr. Varian of Titusville, Penn., recommended tents for hos- 



