104 
POPULAK SCIENCE REVIEW. 
scorl)utic patients. Experiments on dogs and other animals appeared to give 
the same results. Of course these facts require confirmation before they are 
accepted as the basis of an explanation of scurvy, but in the meantime they 
tend to show the nature of the injurious effects produced by an excess 
of sodic chloride as an article of diet. It remains, too, to be shown on what 
physical law the production of the ecchymoses depend. — Vide L'Institut,, 
October. 
Effect of Boric Acid on Albuminous Matters. — Continuing his inquiries 
upon the action of boric acid on flesh and albumen, Herr Briicke has dis- 
covered one or two important points. He finds that the boric differs from 
all other mineral acids, save carbonic in its action on albumen. A solution 
of boric acid containing only 2 per cent, does not coagulate blood or milk, 
and does not produce syntonine by its action on albumen. On the contrary, 
borate of soda, like carbonate, transforms ordinary albumen into precipitable 
albumen. 
Researches on Santonine . — Santonine, when given internally, soon affects 
vision in such a manner as to give everything seen by the eye a yellow 
tinge. That it has, however, further properties would seem from the 
inquiries of M. Pelican, of St. Petersburgh, who concludes : — 1. That san- 
tonine produces a sort of paralysis, accompanied by rigidity of the muscles. 
2. In the way in which it produces these effects it shows an analogy to 
atropine and physostigmine. 3. It entirely destroys the irritability of 
muscles, rendering them completely rigid. 4. It is a substance whose the- 
rapeutical action should be more thoroughly investigated. 
Preparation of Sections of the Brain . — There is no more difiicult substance 
to examine satisfactorily with the microscope than the brain, and as the 
methods hitherto employed in preparing sections have been both trouble- 
some and tedious, we are glad to be able to lay before our readers a mode 
recently suggested by Dr. Bastian, Professor of Pathology in University Col- 
lege, which we think is at once simple and expeditious : — The tinted section 
is placed for four or five minutes in a watch-glass with pure spirits of wine, 
then removed on a scalpel — the superfluous spirit being got rid of by bringing 
the dependent edge of the section in contact with blotting-paper, and after- 
wards placed on a drop of carbolic acid in the centre of a glass-slip. In less 
than two minutes the section is rendered transparent ; and when this is accom- 
plished (having got rid of any excess of carbolic acid), three or four drops of 
chloroform are poured over it, in which the specimen is allowed to remain 
for two minutes. The superfluous chloroform is then poured off, whilst one 
or two drops of a solution of Canada balsam in chloroform are dropped over 
the specimen, and the covering-glass is then quickly applied. The whole 
process is therefore simple, and extends over ten minutes, even for moderately 
thick sections, instead of hours. — Vide Journal of Anatomy, November. 
Organisms in Respired Air . — The researches of M. Lemaire are being con- 
tinued on this point, and a paper lately published reports their results. M. 
Lemaire states that not only in the air which passes from the lungs, but also 
in the perspiratory fluid, he finds abundant indications of animal and vege- 
table life. The organisms discovered by him include various species of 
Bacterium, Vibrio, and fungoid plants. Besides these he has noticed peculiar 
spherical or ovoid diaphanous bodies, which he is unable to assign to any 
particular group. — Vide Comptes Rendus, Oct. 14. 
