766 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



folding of the leaf, as well as the intrusion 

 of the glands, was discovered by Roth in 

 1779. The only real addition to our knowl- 

 edge^ — thi3 old knowledge, recently repro- 

 duced — is that contained in the latter part 

 of Mr. Bennett's communication, which is 

 to the effect that Drosera acts upon bits of 

 raw meat just as upon a living insect, but 

 is motionless toward inorganic bodies, and, 

 in his experiments, to bits of wood and of 

 worsted. la the published report of the 

 communication no allusion is made to the 

 history and record of all these discoveries, 

 but Prof. Gray claims for Mr. Darwin the 

 credit of having been the first to discover 

 this difference of behavior of the drosera- 

 leaf to different substances. He says that 

 there are other still more curious observa- 

 tions and experiments of Darwin's upon 

 Drosera and Dioncea, which it is hoped will 

 soon be published. 



Ocean-Steamships. — A writer in the Even- 

 ing Post notes some of the principal short- 

 comings of the ocean-steamship of the pe- 

 riod, and offers some practical suggestions 

 as to the proper construction of a passenger- 

 steamer. The ocean-steamer of to-day is 

 simply a huge freight-boat. She is some- 

 what larger, and perhaps a trifle swifter, 

 but certainly not any safer, than when she 

 first crossed the Atlantic some thirty years 

 a^o. It would seem absurd if our railroads 

 had no passenger-cars, and we had to travel 

 about the country strapped on to the roof 

 of a freight-car. Ocean-travel is quite as 

 absurd, and even more dangerous, for our 

 tier of state-rooms is strapped to the top of 

 a heavy iron box, loaded with heavy freight, 

 which, in the event of a sudden blow, goes 

 to the bottom as if it were made of glass. 

 According to the writer in the Post, the 

 passenger-steamship should be of about the 

 same length as at present, but broader and 

 shallower, with lines adapted, not to carry- 

 ing capacity, but to speed ; the chief novel- 

 ty, however, being that the entire hull, ex- 

 cepting the spaces required for engines and 

 coal, would be filled up with very small air- 

 and water-tight compartments or cells — 

 enough to make the ship a gigantic life-pre- 

 server. All the state-rooms and quarters 

 would be on the main-deck. The cellular 

 construction of the vessel would add great- 



ly to her strength, while her lightness would 

 admit, at least in ordinary weather, of great 

 speed, and her model would greatly dimin- 

 ish the rolling so provocative of sea-sick- 

 ness. 



As regards the question of expense, 

 while the first cost and daily outlay would 

 net exceed those of the present style of 

 steamer, the passenger-steamer could make 

 twice as many trips in the year, for she 

 would not only be actually faster, but would 

 save much time between voyages which is 

 now spent in discharging and receiving 

 cargo; for the same reason, after landing 

 her passengers, she could start again in a 

 day or two on another trip. Such a vessel 

 might be disabled by collision, but it is 

 hardly possible that she could be sunk by 

 any form of accident that we are familiar 

 with. 



Tarantism. — Tarantism is the title giv- 

 en by physicians to an epidemic nervous 

 disorder which prevailed in Italy, and more 

 particularly in Apulia, during the middle 

 ages. It was supposed to be caused by the 

 bite of the tarantula, a species of spider 

 found in Southern Europe, and very plen- 

 tiful in the vicinity of the city of Taranto, 

 whence it derives its name. The disorder, 

 whether caused in the first instance by the 

 bite of this spider or not, was capable of 

 passing from subject to subject by a sort of 

 sympathy, and thus the affection would 

 spread to hundreds and thousands of the 

 population, without distinction of sex or 

 age. Analogous nervous diseases, known 

 as St. Vitus's dance, or St. Guy's dance, 

 prevailed in Germany, France, and England. 

 A recent writer on "Mental Disease," W. A. 

 F. Browne, gives the following account of 

 these singular affections : 



" In all these affections," says he, " which 

 spread over great masses of the population, 

 Teutonic and Celtic, children and octogena- 

 rians alike, there were observed wild and 

 exuberant excitement, delusion, and antipa- 

 thies, with uncontrollable impulses to run 

 or leap, all such movements ultimately pass- 

 ing into dancing, which was generally aggra- 

 vated, though sometimes mitigated, by mu- 

 sic. These dancers were impelled some- 

 times by imitation, sometimes by fanatical 

 exaltation, sometimes by terror and the fear 



