Notes. 
[December, 
796 
Problem of Human Life,” aims at refuting the doctrine of Evo- 
lution, and, as a preliminary step, attempts to disprove the 
vibratory theory of sound ! 
A peculiar frog, found in the tierras templadas of Columbia, 
is said to yield a poison whose physiological adtion is similar to 
that of curare. 
A most painful scene has occurred at a session of the Paris 
Academy of Medicine. During a hot discussion on the “cholera 
of fowls ” M. Guerin addressed M. Pasteur in the following 
words: — “You are a liar, sir; I will send you my seconds.” 
The “ Medical Press and Circular ” adds that M. Guerin is an 
odtogenarian, and M. Pasteur hopelessly paralysed on the left 
side. 
It is declared by Dr. Maclaren that the types of insanity have 
changed in modern times, and that acute delirious mania is be- 
coming rarer. On the other hand, mental enfeeblement, often 
accompanied by paralysis, is more and more common, due to 
the overwork and worry of modern life. 
The “ Nineteenth Century ” speaks of Dr. Carpenter as “the 
great English physicist.” 
We learn that the London Decorating Company, Limited, has 
arranged with Mr. W. Crookes, F.R.S., to supervise the che- 
mical tests and processes employed to ensure the freedom of 
their paints, paper-hangings, &c., from poisonous and deleterious 
ingredients. 
M. A. Gaudry has communicated to the Academy of Sciences 
an account of a new and highly-developed fossil reptile found in 
the Permian strata of Igornay, and to which he has given the 
name of Stereorachis dominans. It must have been a carnivo- 
rous animal of large size, as one of its jaws, though somewhat 
broken, measures 0*18 metre. It has affinities with the Ganoce- 
phal and the Labyrinthodons, as well as with the Theriodontes 
and the Pelycosaurians described by Cope. The discovery of so 
perfect a reptile in the Permian formation renders it highly pro- 
bable that the remains of its forerunners may be found in the 
Devonian. 
M. Savage has described, in the “ Comptes Rendus/’ a fossil 
serpent from the Ostrea Columba beds of the Charentes. It has 
received the name of Sitniliophis Rochebvuni. 
According to “ Les Mondes ” a woman, named Judith Singer, 
died recently at Glowitz, in Silesia, at the age of 112 years. 
We learn that J. G. Romanes, F.R.S., will deliver two ledlures 
on “ Animal Intelligence ” before the Society of Arts. 
Prof. Max Muller, at the opening meeting of the Mason Science 
College, at Birmingham, made the following excellent remark 
