Notes. 
181 
1884.] 
. “ Les Mondes ” recommends the leaves of rhubarb to be eaten 
in spring along with sorrel, — oxalic acid seasoned with oxalic 
acid. 
According to the “ Indiana Pharmacist ” Dr. R. R. Gre°-g, of 
asser * s that all the bacteria of disease are merely forms 
of fibrine. 
According to Dr. Sutton (“Lancet”) the majority of the 
monkeys in the Zoological Gardens die of bronchitis or of pneu- 
monia. Only about 4 per cent of the deaths are due to phthisis. 
At the January meeting of the Geological Society Mr. Blanford 
raised the question whether the Red Sea was older or newer than 
the Desert sandstone ? Mr. Doughty mentioned that volcanoes 
had been active near Medina as late as the twelfth century. 
M. Ballo (Ungar. Akad. der Wissenschaft) contends that one 
function of the roots of plants is to convert inorganic nutriment 
into the simpler organic compounds by a process of reduction. 
Chlorophyll may be regarded as a thermo-electric battery which 
converts the heat and light-rays into a galvanic current, and 
ultimately into chemical work. 
. According to a writer in “ Light ” the “ Mahdi in the Soudan 
is no false prophet, but a pure medium, and the movement he 
leads will be the means of bringing about a universal church and 
brotherhood.” 
Dr. Wyld, in the same paper, writes : — “ The rotatory force of 
our planet may be maintained, I would suggest, by the sun’s 
rays striking her at a tangent due, perhaps, in part to the planet 
being eight minutes in advance of the propulsive rays of the sun. 
On February 5th Mr. R. F. Conder read a most important 
paper, on “ Speed on Canals,” before the Institution of Civil 
Engineers. He explained the defects in the construction of the 
Suez Canal, and showed that by a scientific construction and the 
application of steam-power a normal speed of 5 miles per hour 
(equal to the through average rate of mineral trains) might be 
maintained on our inland water-ways. 
. According to O. E. Randall (“ Popular Science Monthly ») the 
birth-rate in New England families has steadily decreased since 
the extensive establishment of manufactures. 
Prof. Struve, in a conversation with Prof. Piazzi Smyth, is 
said to have maintained that “ the first boys at school disappear 
in the colleges, and those who are first in the colleges disappear 
in the world.” 
The upholders of the vested rights of syphilis have held a 
great demonstration in Exeter Hall. 
