102 
POPULAR SCIENCE REYIEW. 
paper, Dr. Pavy stated, what we think will he admitted hy all physiologists, 
that in these observations Dr. Dobell has been anticipated by the researches 
of Claude Bernard, published many years since, and described in most 
treatises on physiology. We may add, that the function of the pancreas is 
a much higher one than even Bernard thought it to be. The researches 
recently made by Herr Ktihne, and published in a paper read before the Boyal 
Academy of Berlin, are evidence of this. They prove that the pancreas not 
only emulsifies fatty matter, but that it is capable of promoting the digestion 
of albuminous matters. The pancreatic juice acts as a ferment, converting 
(when the process is continued for any length of time) albumen into pep- 
tone, and this again into leucine and tyrosine. 
The Exaction of Nitrogen. — The Vienna Academy has received from 
Herr Seegen a very important communication concerning the question of 
the exaction of nitrogen in the animal body. The following are the re- 
sults arrived at : — 1. Besides the alimentary canal and kidneys, there are 
other channels through which the nitrogen contained in the transposed 
nitrogenous tissues may be expelled. 2. Under certain undefined conditions 
the whole of the transposed nitrogen is contained in the solid and liquid 
excrementitious matters. 3. Under other circumstances a portion of the 
nitrogen is excreted through other channels (probably the skin and lungs). 
4. It is therefore incorrect to regard the difference between the nitrogen in- 
gested and that excreted by the solid and liquid excrements as an addition 
to the tissues of an animal. 
Amaurosis from Tobacco- smohing. — Mr. Hutchinson has reported thirty- 
seven cases of amaurosis, of which he says thirty-one were among tobacco- 
smokers. — Mr. Hutchinson concludes : — 1. Amongst men, this peculiar form 
of amaurosis (primary white atrophy of the optic nerve) is rarely met, ex- 
cept among smokers. 2. Most of its subjects have been heavy smokers — 
half an ounce to an ounce a day. 3. It is not associated with any other 
affection of the nervous system. 4. Amongst the measures of treatment, 
the prohibition of tobacco ranks first in importance. 5. The circumstantial 
evidence tending to connect the affection with the habit of tobacco-smoking 
is sufi&cient to warrant further inquiry into the matter on the part of the 
profession. 
A Deaf and Dumb Bachelor of Sfiience. — According to a staten\ent in 
the Journal of the Society of Arts for Nov. 22, a pupil of the Deaf and Dumb 
Asylum of Paris has received the degree of Bachelor of Science. This is 
the first bachelorship of the kind on record. 
The Unstriped Muscles of the Eye form the subject of a paper by M. 
Sappey in the Comptes Bendus for October. The author has dealt somewhat 
fully with the muscle of the eyelid, and he proposes to describe also the 
ciliary muscle. 
Effect of Electricity on the White Blood Corpuscles. — This subject has 
lately received some attention from Professor Neumann, of Konigsberg, who 
has pointed out some remarkable facts. He finds that under the influence 
of strong induced currents the white corpuscles of the frog swell out, their 
walls become quite smooth, and a clear space is left between the wall and 
the granular nucleus in the interior. The molecules in the cell commence, 
too, to exhibit rapid movements. 
