October 7, 1887.] 



SCIENCE. 



173 



a really ' good ' boy is morally precocious or diseased. This view 

 does not lower one's estimate of a boy's virtues, but accents those 

 that are suited to his years, as well as the importance of the grad- 

 ual and timely appearance of the several instincts and emotions 

 without which civilization would be impossible. 



HEALTH MATTERS. 



Chest-Expansion and Consumption. 



In Science, ix. No. 22 r, we gave a r^sumi of the views held by 

 G. W. Hambleton, licentiate of the King's and Queen's College of 

 Physicians, Ireland, on the origin and prevention of consumption. 

 These views were presented last year at a meeting of the British 

 Association for the Advancement of Science. Since then Mr. Ham- 

 bleton has been engaged in certain experiments upon this impor- 

 tant subject, and during this research his attention has been drawn 

 to the fact that the size and shape of the human chest vary ac- 

 cording as he varied its conditions. So constant was this variation 

 as to make him doubt the present accepted theory of the inheritance 

 of chest-types. 



Taking a well-marked example of the so-called inherited con- 

 sumptive chest, he subjected it to conditions that tend to develop 

 the lungs, till it corresponded in size and shape, first with the town 

 artisan, then with that of a man of the privileged class, and finally 

 with that of a man of the best class of insurable lives in America. 

 By subjecting the same chest to conditions that tend to reduce the 

 breathing capacity, he brought it back through the same types to 

 nearly that with which he commenced ; and he claims to have pro- 

 duced similar results in other chests within a period measured by 

 months. At birth the average male child of all classes has the 

 same type of chest, but at maturity he has that of the class to 

 which he belongs. The types of chest, Mr. Hambleton claims, 

 vary with the conditions to which these types are subjected. Thus 

 we have the type of chest of those who use wind-instruments, and 

 another type of those who compress their chests in their work or 

 by a corset. In these no one raised the question of inheritance. 

 This variation of the chest is not peculiar to it : it is true of all other 

 parts of the body. The shape of the head may be altered by direct 

 pressure, and the shape and size of the feet in the same way. 



According to this theory of Mr. Hambleton, the type of man after 

 birth is solely produced by the conditions to which he is subject : 

 hence the formation of race by man's continuance under the same 

 conditions, and its subsequent divisions into sub-races and families 

 by his migrations into new conditions and the minor differences 

 therein. The field which is opened up for investigation by these 

 views is, as Mr. Hambleton states, a wide and important one. 

 When we have ascertained what the conditions are that produce 

 these differences in man that together make a class or type, we 

 shall be able to produce that class or type ; and we shall also be 

 able to tell what type of body is best suited for a given occupation, 

 and for residence in a given country. " Then we shall train men so 

 that we shall no longer send them into occupations with types of 

 body unfitted for the conditions of that occupation, and conse- 

 quently we shall be spared the misery and loss of those numerous 

 breakdowns from unsuitability of type that are now daily brought 

 before us." 



These views have been referred to a committee of the associa- 

 tion, with instructions to investigate them ; and in a letter which 

 we have received from Mr. Hambleton, he recjuests that they be 

 thoroughly tested by scientific men in this country. It will, we are 

 sure, be apparent to our readers, that, if all that is claimed for these 

 opinions is true, a most important and valuable contribution to 

 human knowledge has been made ; and, if the practical results 

 which are stated to have been obtained in isolated instances can be 

 made general, the improvement in the human race which is certain 

 to follow will be beyond all computation. We shall be glad to 

 open our columns to those who desire to discuss the question, or 

 have any facts bearing tipon it. 



Foods consumed in Winter. — In no particular does the dif- 

 ference between the customs of the people of the present day and 

 those of their forefathers show itself more distinctly than in the 

 amount and character of the food which they consume during the 

 winter months. The diet of fifty years ago was characterized by 



simplicity, and want of variety : that of to-day is just the opposite. 

 This is largely due to the improvements in the processes of food- 

 preserving, by which every form of plant and animal life is as avail- 

 able at one season of the year as at another. Some of these 

 processes are so simple that there is no reason for substituting 

 questionable methods for them, while others require so much time 

 and attention that packers are constantly on the alert to discover a 

 way to shorten the time and lessen the necessary watchfulness. 

 With this object in view, chemistry is often appealed to, to solve 

 the problems which are constantly presenting themselves. It is in 

 this way that chemical products of various kinds find their way into 

 the food-supply. The improvement which takes place in coffee when 

 it is transported in sailing-ships is, now that a quicker method of 

 transportation is employed, counterfeited by polishing and coloring ; 

 and to avoid the trouble of long treatment by heat of some vegeta- 

 bles and fruits, and their consequent deterioration in appearance, 

 preservatives of various kinds are employed. One of the most com- 

 monly used of these is salicylic acid. The effect of this acid upon 

 health has been thoroughly investigated in France, and its use in 

 foods and drinks has been prohibited in that country since 188 1. 

 Prof. E. H. Bartley, of the Long Island College Hospital, Brooklyn, 

 has recently examined this question with great care, and in an article 

 which appears in the American A)tafyst his views and those of 

 other authorities are given in full. In the use of this acid in the 

 treatment of rheumatism, clinical observation shows that it cannot 

 be continued for a long period of time without impairing digestion, 

 and in its elimination it passes out undecomposed through the kid- 

 neys. It has been recognized that under these circumstances it not 

 only irritates but inflames these organs. In preserved food we have 

 to do with smaller quantities of the acid, as a rule ; though that this 

 is not always the case is shown by Professor Bartley 's figures. He 

 says, " The quantity of salicylic acid usually employed in wines is 

 from six to eight grains per gallon, and in beer from twelve to fif- 

 teen grains per gallon ; or, in the case of beer, from one to one and 

 a half grains to the glass. As many men habitually drink twenty- 

 five glasses during the day, they take from twenty-five to thirty- 

 seven grains of the acid per day. The medicinal dose is usually 

 stated to be from ten to twenty grains." He also calls attention to 

 the fact that nursing mothers are frequently recommended to drink 

 ale, porter, or beer, with the idea that it stimulates the mammary 

 gland, and to the additional fact that temporary renal disease is 

 frequent during the first weeks of lactation. In conclusion. Pro- 

 fessor Bartley says, " I should state that another serious objection 

 to the use of salicylic acid is the fact that many samples found in 

 the market contain more or less carboUc acid. It is now almost 

 entirely manufactured from this very poisonous substance, and, un- 

 less great care is exercised, an appreciable amount of it is left in 

 the finished product. Indeed, some writers think that some of the 

 fatal accidents recorded from the use of salicylic acid have been 

 due to the presence in it of carbolic acid. If the use of this acid is 

 to be countenanced, impure articles will be used, and greater dam- 

 age may be done than could come from the pure article. From a 

 careful consideration of the whole subject, I am compelled to re- 

 gard the use of salicyUc acid in foods and drinks, and especially in 

 lager beer, as at least open to serious objections. If it be harmless 

 to healthy adults, the evidence of its deleterious action upon the 

 aged and certain other classes of the community is too strong to be 

 disregarded by sanitary authorities, and should prohibit its use for 

 this purpose." 



ETHNOLOGY. 

 Dwarfish Races. 



A. DE OUATREFAGES has recently published an historical review 

 of the ancient and modern reports on dwarfish tribes. While for- 

 merly the descriptions of ancient geographers were considered not 

 trustworthy, many of them have been confirmed by recent explora- 

 tions. Among these are the tales on the pygmies. Aristotle and 

 Pliny state that a dwarfish people lived near the swamps of the 

 upper part of the Nile. De Quatrefages considers this tribe identi- 

 cal with Schweinfurth's Akka, who at the present time live a little 

 farther south. Pomponius Mela mentions dwarfs who inhabited 

 the neighborhood of the Red Sea. This report was confirmed by 



