258 General Notes. {[ March, 
South Cape, and then steamed up Storfjord and anchored on the 
17th near Genevra Bay. From a hill here they could see the sea 
to the eastward was clear of block ice, although icebergs could be 
seen floating about. From this point Wiches Land could be 
distinctly seen. Hinlopen Straits also seemed to be free of ice. 
On the 2oth they anchored at the entrance of Walter Thymen’s 
Straits—where they took in ballast—which were also clear of ice. 
On the 22d they were off Wales Point, and from there they sailed 
with a fair wind to Hammerfest, in Norway, which they reached 
on the 25th of September. 
Careful observations were taken of the temperature and other 
meteorological tests made. The dredgings secured some very in- 
teresting specimens which have been preserved, and a large num- 
ber of photographs of the places visited were obtained. 
Mr. Leigh Smith’s voyage is the most successful and important 
summer voyage that has ever been made in the Arctic Regions. 
MICROSCOPY.! 
Patuotocy oF Acute De.irium.— Dr. Theodore Deecke, 
Pathologist to the New York State Lunatic Asylum at Utica, 
publishes in the As. Fourn. of Insanity,a paper on some changes 
in the ganglion cells of the gray cortex of the brain in acute de- 
lirium. and their relation to those in acute insanity and in demen- 
tia. He disputes the opinion of some authors that the phenomena 
of delirium, as well as acute insanity itself, are merely functional, 
and, while associated with grave disturbances of nutrition, an 
perhaps material alterations in the vascular system, are not con- 
nected with any visible alterations in the structure of the nervous 
elements themselves. The first change noticed in the ganglion 
cells of the gray cortex of the brain, is the appearance over the 
body of the cell of a loose, granular covering, of a fatty nature, 
which must be attributed to a defective focal combustion or oxida- 
tion, brought about by an_insufficient supply, to the tissues in- 
volved, of arterial or oxygenated blood. These conditions occur 
so frequently in cases of acute delirium, and acute insanity, that 
there can be no doubt of their pathological character. In more 
advanced stages of the affection, the structure of the cells becomes 
involved, and finally almost entirely destroyed, as described at 
length in the paper itself. The author’s method of studying the 
objects in situ, with as little change as possible from their con- 
dition in life, is thus described: ‘“ The best results are obtained 
from the immediate examination of the fresh brain tissue. With 
a sharp knife, kept wet with water, to which a small quantity of 
glycerine has been added, or even directly in this liquid, micro- 
scopic sections can be made sufficiently thin and transparent to 
ermit the use of all the higher magnifying powers applicable in 
histological investigations. The liquid in which the sections are 
1 This department is edited by Dr. R. H. Ward, Troy, N. Y. 
