IS79-] 
513 
Notes. 
r ' 
the different functions of the nervous system are affected in a 
progression very similar to that traced among the Crustaceans. 
According to “ Le Journal d’Hygiene” the heron has on its 
breast large greasy tufts, which secrete a whitish unctuous 
matter of a disgusting odour, but which has a remarkable power 
of attracting trout, and probably other fishes. M. Noury, on 
placing the breast of a heron in a net, has invariably found it 
filled with trout. 
With regard to the chemical structure of bones, Dr. Carl Aeby 
points out that the hygroscopic properties and the relations of 
density and volume, both among the different bones of a skeleton 
and among the strata of one and the same bone, show greater 
discrepancies among themselves than is often the case with the 
bones of entire genera. He considers these differences as points 
of departure for further research, the significance of which ex- 
tends far beyond the sphere of physiology. 
The larva of a Dipterous insect, probably belonging to the 
genus Syrphus, has been observed to devour the Phylloxera with 
great eagerness. 
M. Ch. Chamberland shows that the germs or spores of 
Bacillus subtilis in neutral liquids resist a temperature of ioo°C. 
for several hours, and multiply rapidly at 50°. 
The idea prevails in various parts of France that it is imprac- 
ticable to strip the bark of trees if a flock of sheep is passing to 
the windward. 
According to M. J. G. Lemmon the age of the Sequoias of 
California has been greatly over-rated, none of them, according 
to the number of their annual rings, exceeding fifteen hundred 
years. 
Prof. Gunning declares that recent experiments have much 
shaken his faith in the supposed destructive action of alcohol 
upon low forms of organic life. There is further no a priori 
reason to be urged in favour of the assumption that alcohol is 
fatal to bacteria and their germs. Its dehydrating power cannot 
have such an effect, since such low organisms are merely thrown 
into a latent condition when temporarily deprived of water. 
M. Coursserrant, in a communication made to the Academy 
of Sciences, recommends the systematic use of coloured glasses 
in cases of colour-blindness. In experiments which he has un- 
dertaken he finds that on looking through a green glass at a 
sheet of white paper, upon which was pasted a narrow stripe of 
cherry-red paper, the latter not merely appeared more brilliant, 
but a rose tint was spread over the whole white surface. Ac- 
cording to certain experiments made upon himself, the luminous 
sensation is still further heightened if a feeble constant current 
— say of 2 or 3 Gaiffe’s elements — is passed through the retina 
at the moment of the production of the phenomenon. 
