SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY. 
371 
THE MEDICAL SCIENCES. 
Microscopic Plants the Cause of Ague. — Owing to the prevalence of ague 
in the malarial district of Ohio and Mississippi, Dr. Salisbury undertook a 
series of experiments in 1862, with a view to determine the microscopic 
characters of the expectorations of his patients. He commenced his ex- 
periments by examining the mucous secretions of those patients who had 
been most submitted to the malaria, and in these he detected a large amount 
of low forms of life, such as Algae, Fungi, Diatomacese, and Desmidise. At 
first he imagined that the presence of these organisms might be accidental, 
but repeated experiments convinced him that some of them were inva- 
riably associated with ague. The bodies which are constantly present in such 
cases, he describes as being “ minute oblong cells, either single or aggre- 
gated, consisting of a distinct nucleus, surrounded with a smooth cell- wall, 
with a highly clear, apparently empty space between the outer cell-wall and 
the nucleus.” From these characters Dr. Salisbury concludes that' the bodies 
are not fungi, but belong properly to the algae, in all probability being species 
of the genus Pcdmella. Whilst the Diatomacese and other organisms were 
found to be generally present, the bodies just described were not found above 
the level at which the ague was observed. In order to ascertain exactly their 
source, he suspended plates of glass over the water in a certain marsh which 
was regarded as unhealthy. In the water w T hich condensed upon the under 
surface of these plates, he found numerous palmella-like structures, and on 
examining the mould of the bog, he found it full of similar organisms. From 
repeated researches Dr. Salisbury concludes (1.) Cryptogamic spores are 
carried aloft above the surface at night, in the damp exhalations which appear 
after sunset. (2.) These bodies rise from 30 to 60 feet, never above the 
summit of the damp night-exhalations, and ague is similarly limited. (3.) 
The day air of ague districts is free from these bodies. 
Relative Values of Ether and Chloroform.- — This question is still the subject 
of controversy in France. Some time since an essay appeared upon the 
subject in the Comptes Rendus. This, which was written by M. B. de Buisson, 
contends for the superiority of ether, and asserts that when good ether is em- 
ployed by those who understand how to use it, it is more certain in its action 
and less dangerous in its effects than chloroform. M. Buisson alleges that “with 
ether of the strength of 62°, we have generally produced sleep and insensibility 
in from four to seven minutes ; eight to ten minutes have been rare exceptions. 
The sleep thus obtained is a deep one, and we have often prolonged it for 
more than an hour without the least inconvenience.” M. Buisson enters into 
details to show that several ordinarily extremely painful operations were very 
satisfactorily performed by him on patients who were under the influence of 
ether ; in these cases no pain was complained of during the operation. 
The Temperature of the Body. — The subject of the heat of the body — how 
and where it is maintained — has been very fully investigated by MM. Estor 
and Saint-Pierre, who have published the results of their inquiries in Kobins’s 
