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SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



[Oct. 5 i£83 



England and Wales corresponded to an annual rate of 

 i8 - o per 1,000 of their aggregate population, which is 

 estimated at 9,398,273 persons in themiddle of this year. 

 The six healthiest places were Bristol, Huddersfield, 

 Oldham, Brighton, Nottingham, and Wolverhampton. In 

 London 2,463 births and 1,298 deaths were registered. 

 Allowance made for increase of population, the births 

 were 248 and the deaths 109 below the average numbers 

 in the corresponding weeks for the last ten years. The 

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

 been i6'o and 16*2 in the two preceding weeks, declined 

 last week to i5"8, a lower rate than has prevailed in any 

 week since the 3rd of July last. During the 12 weeks 

 ending on Saturday last the death-rate averaged 16-2 per 

 1,000, and was 3 - 6 below the mean rate in the corres- 

 ponding periods of the ten years 1878-87. The 1,298 

 deaths included 32 from measles, 20 from scarlet fever, 

 24 from diphtheria, 22 from whooping-cough, 11 from 

 enteric fever, 78 from diarrhoea and dysentery, and 4 

 from cholera and choleraic diarrhoea. Thus 191 deaths 

 were referred to these diseases, being 39 below the 

 corrected average weekly number. No death from small- 

 pox was registered, the corrected average being 5. In 

 Greater London 3,247 births and 1,629 deaths were regis- 

 tered, corresponding to annual rates of 30-6 and 15-4 per 

 1,000 of the estimated population. In the Outer Ring 

 30 deaths from diarrhoea, 8 from diphtheria, and 7 from 

 whooping-cough were registered. The deaths from 

 diarrhoea included 4 in West Ham, 3 in Croydon, 3 in 

 Brentford, and 3 in Walthamstow sub-districts. Of the 

 8 fatal cases of diphtheria 3 occurred in Edmonton and 

 2 in West Ham registration districts. 



Effects of certain Gases and Vapours upon 

 Health. — In a communication to the Bavarian Academy 

 of Sciences Professor von Pettenkofer expounded the 

 results of some recent investigations on this subject. It 

 appears that the current views as to the quantity of 

 certain gases and vapours which may be safely inhaled 

 are very remote from the truth, and stand in need of 

 rectification. (1) Hydrochloric acid gas. — Even o'i per 

 thousand of this gas excites in rabbits, cats, etc., great 

 restlessness and increased secretion of saliva, etc. ; at r/5 

 to 2 parts per thousand difficulty of breathing sets in, 

 with conjunctivitis and opacity of the cornea, and 

 catarrhal pneumonia, which is often fatal. Man is more 

 sensitive to this gas than the lower animals. (2) Am- 

 monia. — The action of this gas is similar to that of 

 hydrochloric acid, but less intense. 0-3 per thousand is 

 the point at which injurious action begins, and 0*5 per 

 thousand is the utmost limit which men can bear after 

 long practice. From 2 - 5 to 4 parts per thousand produce 

 dangerous inflammation of the lungs on exposure for a 

 few hours. (3) Chlorine. — Very small quantities (o'oi 

 per thousand) produce irritation in the respiratory 

 organs; 0-015 to C03 per thousand produce bronchitis 

 and catarrhal pneumon : a. Doses of 0-04 to o'o6 per 

 thousand are dangerous, and o 6 per thousand is rapidly 

 fatal. (4) Bromine acts exactly like chlorine. The 

 statements in books exaggerate the bearable quantities 

 of ammonia, chlorine, and bromine at least one thousand- 

 fold. (5) Sulphuretted hydrogen. — The poisonous nature 

 of this gas is well known, but it is commonly supposed 

 more dangerous than chlorine or bromine, which does 

 not hold good. (6) Sulphuret of carbon. — Different 

 qualities of this compound vary greatly in their poisonous 

 action; some have very little action. (7) Aniline and 



nitrobcnzol. — Aniline in the proportion of o'i per thou- 

 sand is dangerous ; cats and men are almost equally 

 susceptible ; rabbits and guinea-pigs are little affected. 

 Nitrobenzol is not readily introduced into the system 

 through the lungs. Pettenkofer is of opinion that the 

 injurious influence of the above gases and vapours does 

 not depend merely upon local changes in the blood, but 

 upon morbific effects upon the nervous system, and 

 especially the nerve centres. It seems also established 

 that the higher the development of an organism the more 

 susceptible it is to pernicious gases and vapours. 

 Bacteria can tolerate poisonous gases in the air in pro- 

 portions and for lengths of time which would be in- 

 stantly fatal to men or to other warm-blooded animals. 

 This is perhaps the reason why man requires in his 

 dwellings a purer air than do the domestic animals. 



The "Plastering" of Wines. — Mr. Griffin, United 

 States Consul at Limoges, in a recent report states that 

 since the great reduction in the amount of wines pro- 

 duced in the Bordeaux and Burgundy districts, the in- 

 ferior wines of the central departments of France are 

 being substituted for them, and chemistry is called in to 

 increase their market value. " Plastering " consists in 

 adding sulphate of lime after the first fermentation or 

 while the wine is in the vat ; it is also mixed with the 

 grape-must. The general rule is to give 500 grammes 

 of the '' plaster " to the hectolitre of wine, but more 

 usually it is thrown in without weighing. The advan- 

 tages of the sulphate of lime are said to be increased 

 fermentation and a brighter and more permanent colour 

 in the wines, which will also keep much longer. The 

 objections are that the chemical changes render the wine 

 injurious to health, for it is said that the b:-tartrate of 

 potash contained in wine in its normal state, when 

 brought in contact with the " plaster," forms an acid 

 sulphate of potash, and there is precipitated an insoluble 

 bi-tartrate of lime, varying according to the degree of 

 alcohol. The quantity of sulphate of potash in the wine 

 is increased from five to ten fold by the action of the 

 "plaster." Moreover, in wine treated in this way sul- 

 phuric acid is found in a free state, as well as sulphate 

 of magnesia. The effects of the practice on the health of 

 the consumers of the wine so treated were discussed in 

 the Academy of Medicine, and one of the members, M. 

 Marty, has made a report on the subject. As far back 

 as 1857 the doctors in the department of Aveyron I 

 found that persons drinking "plastered" wines had 

 an unquenchable thirst and an insupportable dryness ' 

 of the throat; but different authorities gave different 

 estimates of the effect on health of the consumption 

 of these wines. Hygienic committees reported they 

 were harmless ; chemists said they were injurious to 

 health ; but M. Marty appears to settle the question 

 from a hygienic point of view. It is an incontestable 

 fact, he says, that " plastered " wines occasion functional 

 troubles and organic injuries ; they act as purgatives and 

 caustics in certain cases ; but it appears that moderate 

 " plastering" is necessary to the utilisation, preservation, 

 and transportation of certain of the poorer grades of wine, 

 and in such cases it is recommended that the proportion 

 of acid sulphate should not exceed two grammes per 

 litre. As a general conclusion, the Academy is of the 

 unanimous opinion that "plastering" wine is a custom 

 detrimental to health, and advises that the laws against 

 it be rigorously enforced. 



