SCIENTIFIC SUilMAEY. 
249 
liansen, one removes a thin piece of the healthy cornea of the frog, putting it 
with some aqueous humour under the microscope, so that the membrane of 
Descemet is uppermost, so that the aqueous humour cannot evaporate, and 
so that the preparation is not pressed upon, then, after a few minutes, the 
movement of corpuscles can be perceived, Avhich appear identical with the 
pus-corpuscles which change their shape. The mode in which these corpuscles 
move in the cornea shows that spaces exist in the latter, with fluid contents, 
in which the corpuscles move about. These spaces cannot be produced by 
the action of the corpuscles, since their movements are too quick, and they 
must therefore have existed before. We cannot directly perceive these 
spaces on account of the index of refraction of the fluid contained in them 
being the same with that of the substance of the cornea. These spaces seem 
to be cylindrical when they are narrowest, since the corpuscles possess nearly 
ecj[ual thickness and width. But at some places these invisible canals must 
be either very elastic or change into wider spaces, since the moving corpuscles 
ui some instances change into soinewhat opaque broad masses. The system 
of canals and large spaces, not visible when the cornea is fresh, seems, 
according to present observation, to communicate with the lauun^e in the 
substance of the cornea, which lacunae are occupied by the peculiar star- 
shaped movable corpuscles. — Yide Medico-Chirurgical Bevieiv, No. LXVIII. ; 
and Schmidf’s Jalirhiicher, 1864, No. II. 
Poisonous Action of Calabar Beans. — The following tabular results are 
those obtained by the careful inquiries of Mr. Baker Edwards, and published 
by him in a late number of the Pharmaceutical J ournal :■ — ■ 
1st. The bean is edible in poisonous quantities, and although slightly rough 
in its flavour does not appear to excite disgust or alarm when eaten alone, 
and would be undiscovered when mixed with food. 
2nd. The symptoms are not always immediate, nor is vomiting induced 
except when the dose is excessive ; nor would the secondary symptoms — viz., 
dizziness, faintness, and loss of power in the limbs — excite sufficient alarm 
to call for medical assistance until life was really in immediate danger. 
3rd. The symptoms would scarcely be distinguished from sudden indiges- 
tion or English cholera in time to save the life of the patient. 
4th. In criminal cases nothing might be detected by the post-mortem 
examination or by chemical analysis to reveal the cause of death. 
5th. So insidious a poison should not only be stored, but also handled with 
great caution, its alcoholic solution or extraction, when introduced into the 
chculation, acting as a slow but certam poison, and leaving no trace in the 
body which can be identified by chemical tests in our present knowledge of 
the drug. 
Effects of Aniline on Workmen employed in its Manufacture. — It would 
appear that the basis of the new tar dyes has a very injurious action on the 
bodies of those who are constantly engaged in preparing and handling it. 
Accordmg to the statements of Dr. Kreuser, of Stuttgard, the workmen 
employed in aniluie factories are subject to intense bronchitis, which is 
characterized by violent dry spasmodic cough, and is accompanied by ulcers 
seated prmcipally on the lower extremities and the scrotum. These ulcers 
are round, ha.ve Vv^ell-defined and often callous edges, and are covered with 
thick blackish crusts, while the surrounding parts are swollen and pamful. 
