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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW. 
but upon the cord itself. The salts of zinc have a similar action. He con- 
siders the acetate might properly be regarded as a narcotic. Chloral hydrate 
lowers the reflex activity, and its action is also central. Experiments with 
strychnia brought out the curious fact that whilst the nerves and muscles 
become highly sensitive to mechanical there is no material increase 
in their reaction upon the application of chemical stimuli. Quinine, even in 
moderate doses, rapidly diminishes, and ultimately extinguishes, the reflex 
activity of the cord ; but this action is apparently not direct, but in great 
measure indirect, through disturbance of the circulation and an’est of the 
heart’s action. Alcohol (ten per cent.) first and for a long time greatly 
lowered and then exalted the irritabilit}’- of the spinal cord. Caffdn 
rapidly lowered it (| c. c. of 10 per cent.), almost entirely abolishing it in 
four hours. Morphia first depressed, then exalted, and finally abolished the 
excitability of the cord. Digitalis has no influence on the spinal cord as a 
centre, but it acts as a depressant upon it, through its action on the vaso- 
motor system. 
Inquiry into the Antecedents of Scientific Men. — The “ Medical Record,” 
which continues to supply most interesting information, says that following 
out a line of inquiry suggested by the remarkably interesting recent work of 
M. Decandolle, Mr. Francis, F.A.S., has issued a schedule of minute and 
searching questions as to their personal and family antecedents to about 250 
of the most eminent scientific men in the United Kingdom. The object is 
to set forth the influence through which the dispositions of original 
workers in science have most commonly been formed, and have afterwards 
been trained and confirmed. The inquiry is one of much interest, and a 
considerable amount of curious information is sure to be obtained in this 
way. 
fhe Nerve Supply of the Lachrymal Gland. — It appears that in his ex- 
periments in this direction Dr. Demtschenko (Pfliiger’s ^‘Archiv,” Sept. 
1872) has operated on animals narcotised by means of morphia. The sub- 
jects were dogs, cats, and rabbits. The electric stimulus was applied by 
means of DuBois Reymond’s apparatus. The quantity of fluid discharged 
by the lachrymal glands was estimated by the number of square centimetres 
of blotting-paper that were moistened. In the dog and cat the lachrymal 
nerve could be reached from the orbit ; but in the rabbit the skull had to 
be opened. The chief results obtained by Demtschenko (vide ‘‘ Lancet ”) 
were that the temporo-malar nerve exercises no influence on the lachry- 
mal gland. Excitation of the great sympathetic augments the secretion ; 
it augments also the quantity of fluid secreted by the conjunctiva, even 
when the nerve is irritated after ablation of the gland. The augmented flow 
of tears which follows irritation of a large number of cranial nerves (as the 
frontal, infra-orbital, nasal, lingual glosso-pharyngeal, and pneumogastric) 
is not interfered with by section of the sympathetic, but is stopped directly 
by section of the lachrymal. This reflex action is not wholly abolished 
during the sleep induced by chloroform. The author proceeds to compare 
the results of irritation of the sympathetic and of the fifth on the quantity 
and quality of the tears. The great violence requisite to expose the fifth 
throws a doubt upon the value of these experiments. The tears, however, 
were clear and limpid when the fifth was irritated, but cloudy when the 
