SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



[Sept. 14, 1? 



either worked up or sold in its rough state. There are 

 extensive establishments in Leghorn for working coral, 

 the greater part of it being sent to India by way of Mar- 

 seilles. The export to Europe is inconsiderable, except 

 to Russia and Germany, where some articles in coral are 

 much sought after. The principal markets are Torre- 

 del- Greco, Messina, Naples, and Genoa, in Italy, Bona 

 and La Calle, in Algeria, and Marseilles ; but this latter 

 has been shorn of much of its importance by the closing 

 of the factories. But Europe takes an insignificant part 

 of the coral produced ; the most important markets are 

 in Central Africa, the East Indies, Japan, and South 

 America. The debris of coral after working and setting, 

 beaten to powder and scented, makes a tooth powder 

 which is sold at a considerable price by perfumers. The 

 best rose coral has been sold in Naples at ^18 10s. per 

 ounce ; but in the rough state, good and bad mixed, it 

 may be obtained from 18s. to 40s. a pound, while choice 

 coral is worth about ^12 a pound. But the price 

 naturally varies with the quantity obtained and with the 

 fluctuations of taste. 



The Public Health. — The Registrar-General reports 

 that the deaths registered last week in twenty-eight great 

 towns of England and Wales corresponded to an annual 

 rate of 17-5 per 1,000 of their aggregate population. In 

 London 2,508 births and 1,342 deaths were registered. 

 Allowing for increase of population, the births were 135, 

 and the deaths 143 below the average numbers in the 

 corresponding weeks of the last ten years. The annual 

 death-rate per 1,000 from all causes, which had been 

 i8'o, 1 6' 2, and 17 '5 in the three preceding weeks, declined 

 again last week to i6'4. During the first nine weeks of 

 the current quarter the death-rate averaged i6 - 2 per 

 1,000, and was 4^4 below the mean rate in the corre- 

 sponding periods of the ten years 1878-87. The 1,342 

 deaths included 39 from measles, 15 from scarlet fever, 

 23 from diphtheria, 24 from whooping-cough, 10 from 

 enteric fever, 1 from an undefined form of continued 

 fever, 144 from diarrhoea and dysentery, 2 from cholera 

 and choleraic diarrhcea, and not one from small-pox or 

 typhus; thus 258 deaths were referred to these diseases, 

 being 58 below the corrected average weekly number. 

 No death from small-pox was registered, the corrected 

 average being 7 ; only 2 small-pox patients were under 

 treatment in the Metropolitan Asylum Hospitals, and 1 

 in the Highgate Small-pox Hospital, on Saturday last. 

 The 15 deaths from scarlet fever showed a decline of 6 

 from the number in the previous week, and were 23 be- 

 low the corrected average ; 3 belonged to St. Luke, 3 to 

 Bethnal Green, and 2 to Lambeth sanitary areas. At 

 the end of the week the Metropolitan Asylum and Lon- 

 don Fever Hospitals contained 793 scarlet fever patients, 

 against 774 and 783 in the two preceding weeks ; 93 

 cases were admitted during the week, against 66 and 83 

 in the two previous weeks. The deaths referred to en- 

 teric fever, which had been but 2 and 7 in the two pre- 

 ceding weeks, further rose last week to 10, but were 6 

 below the corrected average ; 2 belonged to Islington 

 sanitary area. The Metropolitan Asylum Hospitals con- 

 tained 73 cases of enteric fever, but none of typhus, on 

 Saturday last; 7 casrs of enteric fever were admitted 

 during the week, against 7 and 10 in the two previous 

 weeks. The deaths referred to diseases of the respi- 

 ratory organs, which had been 167 and 172 in the two 

 preceding weeks, declined last week to 130, and were 

 45 below the corrected average. Different forms of 



violence caused 53 deaths ; 48 were the result of negli- 

 gence or accident, among which were 29 from fractures 

 and contusions, 2 from burns and scalds, 8 from drown- 

 ing, and four of infants under one year of age from suffo- 

 cation. In Greater London 3,241 births and 1,644 deaths 

 were registered, corresponding to annual rates of 30-6 

 and 15-5 per 1,000 of the estimated population. 



The Effects Produced by Earthquakes upon the 

 Lower Animals. — In the last issue of the " Transactions 

 of the Seismological Society of Japan," Professor Milne, 

 the well-known student of volcanic phenomena, dis- 

 cusses the effects of earthquakes on animals. The 

 records of most great earthquakes refer to the consterna- 

 tion of dogs, horses, cattle, and other domestic animals. 

 Fish also are frequently affected. In the London earth- 

 quake of 1749 roach and other fish in a canal showed 

 evident signs of confusion and fright, and sometimes 

 after an earthquake fish rise to the surface dead and 

 dying. During the Tokio earthquake of 1880 cats in- 

 side a house ran about trying to escape, foxes barked, 

 and horses tried to kick down the boards confining them 

 to their stables. There can, therefore, be no doubt that 

 animals know something unusual and terrifying is 

 taking place. More interesting than these are the 

 observations showing that animals are agitated just 

 before an earthquake. Ponies have been known to 

 prance about their stalls, pheasants to scream, and frogs 

 to cease croaking suddenly a little time before a shock, 

 as if aware of its coming. The Japanese say that moles 

 show their agitation by burrowing. Geese, pigs, and 

 dogs appear more sensitive in this respect than other 

 animals. After the great Calabrian earthquake it is said 

 that the neighing of a horse, the braying of an ass, or 

 the cackle of a goose, was sufficient to cause the inhabit- 

 ants to fly from their houses in expectation of a shock. 

 Many birds are said to show their uneasiness before an 

 earthquake by hiding their heads under their wings and 

 behaving in an unusual manner. At the time of the 

 Calabrian shock little fish like sand-eels (cirricelli), which 

 are usually buried in the sand, came to the top and were 

 caught in multitudes. In South America certain quad- 

 rupeds, such as dogs, cats, and jerboas, are believed by 

 the people to give warning of coming danger by their 

 restlessness ; sometimes immense flocks of sea-birds fly 

 inland before an earthquake, as if alarmed by the com- 

 mencement of some sub-oceanic disturbance. Beiore 

 the shock of 1835 in Chili all the dogs are said to have 

 escaped from the city of Talcahuano. The explanation 

 offered by Professor Milne of this apparent prescience is 

 that some animals are sensitive to the small tremors 

 which precede nearly all earthquakes. He has himself 

 felt them some seconds before the actual earthquake 

 came. The alarm of intelligent animals would then be 

 the result of their own experience, which has taught 

 them that small tremors are premonitory of movements 

 more alarming. Signs of alarm days before an earth- 

 quake are probably accidental ; but sometimes in vol- 

 canic districts gases have emanated from the ground 

 prior to earthquakes, and have poisoned animals. In one 

 case large numbers of fish were killed in this way in the 

 Tiber, and at Follonica on the morning of April 6, 

 1874, " the streets and roads were covered with dead 

 rats and mice. In fact, it seemed as if it had rained rats. 

 The only explanation of the phenomena was that these 

 animals had been destroyed by emanations of carbon 

 dioxide." 



