SCIENCE LETTER FROM TAR IS. 41 



inject thus the morphine. The use soon becomes an abuse, for the opiate trans- 

 forms character ; the afflicted become gay ; the debilitated re-find their strength ; 

 the silent become loquacious, and the timid bold. But once the morphine is elimi- 

 nated from the economy, profound depression ensues. Relief can be only obtained 

 by stronger doses, and the vicious circle around the unfortunate narrows day by day. 

 The evils are precisely those that follow from alcoholic poisonings. Many recur to 

 the injections to benumb griefs, others to enjoy an agreeable excitement. 

 Strange, indulgence in the passion produces exactly the sufferings, that when first 

 taken the drug was intended to alleviate. The afflicted, when they do not ter- 

 minate their lives by suicide, perish from delirium t?-emens. Dr. Levinstein, who 

 has treated several cases can suggest no cure ; as a preventive, never allow other 

 than a doctor to effect the injection from the first. 



Up to the present, nothing satisfactory was known of the manner in which 

 the caseum of milk was transformed into cheese. In other words, chemistry sup- 

 plied no theory ; the observations of Payen remained exact, that the fatty matter 

 of the milk played no part in the change, as its percentage was found to be the 

 same in the cheese. The French Government has deputed M. Duclaux to study 

 the question, and that chemistry finds, that while the fatty matter undergoes no 

 alteration as to proportion, it experiences a kind of saponification and a slight 

 change in taste. In respect to the caseum, it is gradually converted into two 

 albumens; one, soluble in hot water and the other coagulable therein like the 

 white of an egg. In dissolving and replacing the caseum, the albumens impart 

 to the cheese a semi-transparent and soft character, and the quality of melting in 

 the mouth. The changes demand time to be brought about, hence, why cheese 

 requires months to ripen. 



M. Corenuinder, of Lille, continues his researches on the chemical composi- 

 tion and the functions of leaves. He has already shown, that during their young 

 age, leaves exhale day and night, carbonic acid ; but that this exhalation dimin- 

 ishes as the leaves increase, ceasing completely when mature. A corresponding 

 diminution occurs with respect to the saline and nitrogenous matters. In the 

 case of permanent leaves, the new leaves give off carbonic acid during the day, 

 while the ancient leaves do not possess this property. It is concluded from the 

 predominance of nitrogenous substances in the new leaf, that such serve the 

 functions of respiration, while the role of the green matter is limited to the office 

 of assimilation. 



Since a dozen of years, in many railway termini, hotels, factories and cities, 

 electric clocks have been employed. These were merely dials, on which the 

 hours and minutes were repeated by means of electric conductors communicating 

 with the type or mother clock. This plan had many drawbacks, owing to the 

 perturbations caused by atmospheric influences. The problem then still remained 

 to be solved, how to distribute in different parts of a city or a building, the excct 



