6 34 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



than usual — larger even than the basilar. 

 In these unusually-arranged arteries were 

 very important changes. Commencing at 

 an inch below the anterior edge of the pons 

 Varolii and extending downward, the walls 

 of the left vertebral artery were stiff, in 

 part calcified, and its linings loose. At 

 half an inch from the point just mentioned, 

 immediately over the left olivary body, was 

 a reddish - yellow, opaque, friable plug 

 (thrombus), completely obstructing the ves- 

 sel ; still lower was another more recent, 

 but probably ante-mortem plug. The first 

 was one quarter of an inch long, the second 

 four inches long. A third plug, an inch 

 long, was above the first, and touching it. 

 Opposite the middle of the pons there was 

 atheromatous degeneration of the basilar 

 artery. The walls of the internal carotids 

 were also in part calcified. The posterior 

 part of the right cerebellar lobe (the side 

 on which the vertebral artery was exceed- 

 ingly small) was softer than usual, the cor- 

 responding foliations" swollen and indis- 

 tinctly defined, indicating disease of this 

 part, probably consequences of the changes 

 in the arteries. 



The weight of the entire brain was 53.4 

 avoirdupois ounces == 1,495 grammes; al- 

 lowing a diminution in the weight of the 

 brain, from the age of thirty-five or forty 

 years, at the rate of one ounce avoirdupois 

 for each ten years elapsed, the greatest 

 weight of the brain may be estimated at 

 56.5 avoirdupois ounces. 



Weight of right anterior lobe (separated 

 with the fissure of Kolando for a guide), 

 234 grammes ; weight of left anterior lobe, 

 233 grammes. Heart large, muscular fibre 

 firm and of good color. The attached por- 

 tion of the aortic valves rigid, the mitral 

 opening large. In the left ventricle, at the 

 lower third, a firm, organized clot of the 

 size of a peach-stone, attached to the wall 

 at the anterior portion near the septum ; 

 around this clot a more recent one had 

 formed, its centre softened and granular. 

 From this, probably, some small portions 

 had been carried by the blood to the ar- 

 teries in the base of the brain, doing their 

 part in obstructing them and causing the 

 fatal changes above described. The lining 

 membrane of the heart, where the clot was 

 attached, was much thickened, and the 



muscular layer at the same part very thin, 

 near the apex not visible to the naked eye. 

 The lungs were adherent to the ribs on 

 both sides of the chest — the evidence of old 

 inflammations. The other organs were 

 healthy. — New York Tribune, December 16, 

 1873. 



A Good Hedge-Plant.— The Gardener's 

 Monthly thinks that the white-thorn (Elce- 

 agnus parvifolius) complies with all the 

 conditions of a good hedge-plant, much bet- 

 ter than the Osage orange or any of the 

 other plants employed for that purpose in 

 this country. This plant does not grow 

 more than a few inches high the first year 

 from seed, and is then thornless ; but there 

 are large numbers of short branches from 

 a quarter of an inch to two inches in length, 

 and these become sharp spines the next 

 year. The older the plants the spinier they 

 become — an excellent feature in a hedge- 

 plant. The second and third years branches 

 are produced from three to five feet long, 

 thus soon reaching a good height for a 

 hedge. When the plants are massed to- 

 gether, they rarely show any disposition to 

 exceed the height of six or eight feet. 

 When they reach that height, they grow by 

 sending strong shoots out from the stems 

 near the ground; and thus the hedge is 

 ever growing thicker — another excellent 

 feature. If pruned, they make a first-class 

 hedge ; if totally neglected, they are still 

 protective. Plants three or four years old 

 seed, so that in a few years, with moderate 

 encouragement, plants in abundance could 

 be obtained. 



Besides its protective value, the plant 

 has a very beautiful appearance. The un- 

 der side of the leaf, as well as the young 

 growing branches, are silvery ; and hence 

 its common name. South of the Potomac 

 it would probably be an evergreen. In 

 Pennsylvania it holds its leaves to Christ- 

 mas. The flowers are greenish white, not 

 showy, but resemble in fragrance the Eng- 

 lish hawthorn. The berries which succeed 

 are of a mottled red. The writer in the 

 Gardener's Monthly is unable to determine 

 what is the extreme degree of cold to which 

 the plant may be exposed without injury. 

 He states, however, that it has remained 

 entirely uninjured in one situation when 



