292 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
Influence of Chemical and Luminous Stimuli on Red Blood-Cor- 
puscles.* — Prof. H. Kronecker and Dr. H. Marti have experimented 
■with rats, and reach the following conclusions. 
(1) Slight chemical irritations of the skin promote the formation 
of red blood-corpuscles, but have a variable effect on the formation of 
haemoglobin. 
(2) Strong chemical irritations of the skin diminish the number of 
red blood-corpuscles, and in a less degree the content of haemoglobin. 
(3) Darkness lessens the number of blood-cells, which in about two 
weeks sinks to a minimum. 
(4) Exposure to intense and persistent light stimulates the formation 
of red blood-corpuscles, and in less degree that of haemoglobin. 
Variations in Spinal Plexus and Sacrum of Newt.j — Dr. H. 
Adolphi, continuing his studies on this subject, finds that in Triton 
tseniatus , the sacral and the brachial plexus tend to be shifted in the 
same (a proximal) direction. The sacrum also moves towards the head. 
Cholesterin and Bile-Salts as Vaccines against Viper’s Venom.i — 
Dr. C. Phisalix calls attention to Prof. Fraser’s discovery that minimal 
doses of bile, whether of snake or mammal, can neutralise a fatal dose 
of venom. For some years Phisalix has studied the subject, and has 
obtained the same results as Fraser. Moreover, he has shown that the 
biliary salts and cholesterin have, like the intact bile, a neutralising or 
immunising effect. 
Tyrosin as a Vaccine for Snake-Bite.§ — Dr. C. Phisalix has already 
showrn that cholesterin, whether animal or vegetable, makes animals 
immune to the viper’s venom. He now shows that tyrosin, abundant 
in the tubers of the dahlia and in the genus of Fungi Russula , may also 
be considered as a vaccine against the same poison. This is the first case 
in which a vegetable juice (freshly squeezed from the dahlia) has been 
shown to have immunising properties. 
Function of the Liver in Relation to Iron.|] — M. — Dastre gives 
an account of observations, made along with M. Floresco, on the livers 
of many different animals, Invertebrates as w r ell as Vertebrates, in 
regard to what he calls their “ martial function,” i.e. their relation to 
the iron in the organism. 
The quantity of iron fixed by the liver is greater than in other parts 
of the body, sometimes, as in Ceplialopods, twenty-five times greater. 
This elective fixation is peculiar to iron ; it is not true of copper, which 
is common in the blood of many Invertebrates. The quantity of iron 
present in the liver varies within narrow limits. In Mammals the blood 
and spleen are more ferruginous than the liver. The author regards 
the store of hepatic iron as a reserve on which the organism can draw. 
Criticism of Chemical Theory of Life.^T — Dr. E. Baur draws a dis- 
tinction — surely a legitimate one — between what is at present chemically 
explicable and what may be at some future time chemically explicable. 
* Atti ft. Accad. Lincei, vi. (1897) pp. 315-20. 
t Morphol. Jahrb., xxv. (1898) pp. 544-54 (8 figs.).’ 
X Comptes Rendus, cxxv. (1897) pp. 1053-5. 
§ Op. cit. cxxvi. (1898) pp. 431-3. || Tom. cit, pp. 37G-9. 
T[ Biol. Centralbl., xviii. (1898) pp. 239-40. 
