500 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. V., No. 124. 



ments d'anthropologie generate' (Paris, 1885), states 

 that the chief difficulties with water are: first, that 

 the water, wetting the sides of the measuring-glass, 

 rises on it, and makes it impossible for the observer 

 to read correctly ; and, second, that the water pene- 

 trates to the sinuses and vacuoles of the skull, and 

 returns, when the skull is drained, to augment unduly 

 the water belonging to the cavity proper. The ex- 

 periments of Dr. Matthews indicated that the great- 



ELEVATING-TABLE, CRANIOPHORE, AND CROSS-LINE FRAME FOR 

 ADJUSTING SKULLS IN COMPOSITE PHOTOGRAPHY. 



est source of uncertainty lay in the fact that the skull, 

 when moistened, increases rapidly in cubic capacity. 

 His method is as follows: — 



After recording the weight of the skull, it is var- 

 nished inside with thin shellac varnish, applied by 

 means of a reversible spray apparatus. Artificial 

 or accidental orifices are closed with India-rubber 

 adhesive plaster. The foramina and fossae are filled 

 with putty. The skull is wrapped in a coating of 

 putty an inch or more in thickness, which renders 

 it water-tight. It is filled with water by special appa- 

 ratus in forty-five seconds, and emptied in fifteen 



seconds. The rapidity of this manipulation, in con- 

 junction with the varnishing, prevents soaking into 

 the sinuses, and the undue measurement of water 

 which does not pertain to the cranial cavity. The 

 water is poured into a measuring-glass of two thou- 

 sand cubic centimetres capacity, and lycopodium is 

 scattered on the water to define the true surface. 

 The putty is taken from the skull : the latter is cleaned, 

 and placed in a dry, warm apartment, until by slow 

 evaporation it has been reduced to its former weight, 

 and consequently to its former capacity. Then it is 

 measured a second time to verify the results of the 

 first measurement. The author did not claim rapidity 

 as an advantage of the system, but believed that it 

 removed to a great extent the effect of varying mus- 

 cular effort, which was such a disturbing factor in 

 other methods. "With the most important opera- 

 tions, the unchangeable element of time takes the 

 place of the fickle element of vital force." 



Although the method is new, and still susceptible 

 of improvement, it is thought that the results as 

 shown in the following table have not been excelled. 



Comparative measurements of varnished and 

 unvarnished skulls. 





o 



u 

 0> 

 ,3 



a • 



Unvarnished. 



Varnished. 









j 



• 





-1-3 



_^ 









3=5 



a 



DO 



3 



s 



9} 



CS 



o 



3 



"* 3 

 3 ? 

 O £ 



« 



3 



i> 



1 



s 



3 



00 v 



£ 3 



3 



la 

 °° a 



a 



3 



o 



1 



5 



Date of 

 measurement. 







S 



2 



S 





a 



a ' 









c.c. 



c.c. 





c.c. 



c.c. 







1 



199 



1,400 



1,390 



10 



1,400 



1,400 - 



March 26 April 2 



2 



359 



1,450 



1,445 







1,450 



1,450 j - 



" 23 



3 



3 



362 



1,275 



1,270 



5 



1,270 



1,265 ; 5 



" 26 



2 



4 



373 



1,455 



1,455 



- 



1,450 



1,450 - 



" 24 " 



2 



5 



375 



1,305 



1,305 



- 



1,300 



1,300 - 



" 24 



3 



6 



481 



1,455 



1,455 



- 



1,445 



1,445 | - 



« 24 " 



2 



7 



1,516 



1,160 



1,155 



5 



1,160 



1,160 - 



« 23 



3 



8 



1,914 



1,285 



1,280 



5 



1,285 



1,285 



- 



« 27 



3 



y 



1,915 



1,450 



1,440 



10 



1,440 



1,435 



5 



" 21 " 



2 



10 



2,034 



1,200 



1,195 



5 



1,190 



1,190 



- 



" 26 



2 



S.um of 



differ 



ence. 



45 







10 





Average variation in unvarnished skulls 4.5 c.c. 



Average variation in varnished skulls 1.0 c.c. 



THE CULTIVATION OF MICROBES. 1 



It is possible to obtain a perfectly sterile liquid 

 (that is to say, one deprived of all living germs) by 

 one of four methods : — 



1. Filtering through some material whose meshes 

 are sufficiently fine to arrest the smallest organisms. 

 The only material really practicable for this purpose 

 is the unglazed porcelain used by Pasteur and Cham- 

 berland. 



2. Obtaining the liquid directly from the internal 

 organs of one of the superior animals ; the digestive 

 tract being considered, for this purpose, an external 

 organ. Pasteur's experiments have shown that the 



1 Abridged from an article by Dr. Hermann Fol of the 



University of Geneva, in La Nature. 



