Correspondence. 
1881.] 
623 
most ” will be able to hold such “ fretful realm in awe,” and that 
“ the kindly earth shall slumber, lapt in universal law ” ? 
* * * * 
“ Science moves but slowly, slowly, 
Creeping on from point to point.” 
Should we then endeavour to make it move more slowly because 
we dread the power it may give to the unscrupulous ? I think 
not. — I am, &c., 
Aeronon. 
THE SMELL OF THE INSANE. 
To the Editor of the Journal of Science. 
Sir, — Although you ridiculed Dr. Richardson’s opinion that the 
insane have a peculiar smell, perhaps the subject may be worthy 
of inquiry. I have been assured, by one who had means of 
observing, that nearly all the insane have a peculiar odour, which 
varies much in different patients, but which my informant thinks 
can be generally distinguished from other personal odours. May 
not disorders of the brain be associated with disorders of the 
excretions ? — ■ I am, &c., 
B. 
[We think our correspondent will find, on re-examination, that 
our ridicule extended merely to the sensational language em- 
ployed by Dr. Richardson. — E d. J. S.] 
CUCKOOS. 
To the Editor of the Journal of Science. 
Sir, — A peasant assures me that he can tell the foster-parents of 
young cuckoos by their baldness. He says that the feathers of 
the head are worn off by the cuckoo when fed taking it into its 
gape, — I am, &c., 
Hugh Browne. 
