March 26, 1886.] 



SCIENCE. 



291 



process of digestion was less thick and less stringy ; 

 while that of the fifth hour was turbid, thin, and 

 little or not at all stringy. 



Of the hundred and forty-two specimens ex- 

 amined, one hundred and seven showed a yellow 

 or green color, more or less intense, and which 

 indicated the presence of bile. It is worthy of 

 note, that, despite the almost constant presence of 

 bile in the stomach, the digestion was not per- 

 ceptibly disturbed, and analyses of the contents of 

 the stomach during different hours of digestion 

 clearly proved that the activity of the fluids was 

 not impaired by its presence. It was also observed 

 that the entrance of bile into the stomach partook 

 of a sort of periodicity, a less quantity being found 

 during the first two hours of digestion than at the 

 time either before or after, and that the quantity 

 was still less during active digestion, when fluids, 

 especially beer, were taken in. 



The hydrochloric acid of the juices during 

 digestion was found, in a mean of eighty-seven 

 examinations, to be from 1.8 to 1.9 per cent in 

 weight of the entire quantity, — a somewhat 

 higher percentage than that given by Richet. 

 Tbe acidity gradually increased during the first 

 hours of digestion, reaching its maximum at the 

 third hour, from which time it gradually de- 

 creased. A few times the juices were found neu- 

 tral, and the highest acidity attained was 4.2 per 

 cent. 



Since Dr. Koch has shown that an acidity 

 equivalent to two per cent of the gastric juices 

 suffices to destroy the cholera microbe, it has been 

 recommended that table-salt should be employed 

 during cholera epidemics to increase the quantity 

 of acid in the gastric juice, and thus prevent the 

 entrance of these germs into the alimentary canal ; 

 but from a series of experiments it was ascer- 

 tained that the direct reverse was the result, and 

 that the larger the quantity of salt introduced, 

 the more considerable and permanent was the de- 

 crease of the acidity, so much so that at times the 

 juices were rendered entirely neutral. Contrary 

 to the opinions which have been expressed by 

 physiologists, that salt increased the activity of the 

 secretion of pepsin, experiments seemed to prove 

 that it hindered such secretion, and when large 

 quantities were taken, either into the stomach or 

 by injection, the stomach digestion was most im- 

 paired. Mr. Herzen, however, would by no means 

 deny the probability that salt injected directly 

 into the blood increases the secretion of pepsin. 

 On the other hand, it was established that the 

 introduction, either by the stomach or the rectum, 

 of some good peptogenic substance, such as broths 

 or dextrine, uniformly hastened digestion in the 

 stomach, and that this resulted independently of 



the increase of acidity, and despite the frequent 

 presence in the stomach of the contents of the 

 duodenum. In other words, the digestion may be 

 hastened, and a richer secretion of pepsin brought 

 about, by their use ; while others, such as tea, 

 wines, and grape-sugar, produce no effect what- 

 ever. Of the practical results of such observations, 

 corroborating and adding to, as they do, conclu- 

 sions previously and in other ways arrived at, 

 there can be no doubt. Those who would aid an 

 impaired digestion may seek in certain foods, 

 such as broths, stale bread, milk or coffee, taken 

 a while before regular meals, efficient helps ; while 

 alcoholic drinks, and especially the sour wines, 

 sugars, and others, may be not only of no use, but 

 even actually prejudicial. To the child and the 

 invalid the results are no less useful. 



BLINDNESS IN RUSSIA. 



At the first congress of Russian doctors, which 

 was held in January last, many important papers 

 were read, followed by discussions of considerable 

 interest, some of the most eminent members of 

 the profession from the different provinces and 

 universities of the empire taking part in them. 

 A very striking contribution to the study of social 

 and sanitary questions, says the Lancet, was 

 afforded by a paper by Dr. A. T. Skrebitski, on 

 the ' Distribution and statistics of blindness in 

 Russia.' The data employed were chiefly those 

 collected by the military authorities who have to 

 examine young men as they become liable to ser- 

 vice in the army. Taking the total for the five 

 years 1879 to 1883, the number examined was 

 1,388,761, of whom 13,686, or almost one per cent, 

 were blind in one or both eyes. In certain dis- 

 tricts the proportion was much higher than the 

 average ; and some of the largest, or rather most 

 populous, provinces seem to have presented the 

 greater proportion of the blind : thus in that of 

 Kieff, which sent up almost the largest number 

 of recruits, — namely, 43,118, — no less than 660, 

 or 1 in every 65, were found to be blind in one or 

 both eyes. The smallest proportion of blind was 

 found in Archangel, where it was 1 in 390 ; but 

 even this is far above the proportion in other 

 European countries. 



To make the comparison with the statistics of 

 other countries, it is necessary to subtract the 

 number of those blind in one eye, which in Russia 

 is found to be only a fifth of the total blind : thus, 

 we may consider that four-fifths of the 13,686 re- 

 cruits returned as blind were blind in both e\~es, 

 so that the ratio of totally blind is about 1 to 

 125. The ratio in England and Ireland is 1 to 

 1,015, and that in several other European coun- 



