BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 549 
ensued, in which Professor Huxley and others agreed in the views of 
the author. 
“ A paper was then read by Dr. Edward Smith, in which the action 
of tea and that of alcohol was contrasted, embodying the results of 
various researches he had made on the subject. He proved that the 
consumption of tea is increasing in all parts of the world, that it is 
beneficial and nutritive, and that the consumption of alcohol is decreas¬ 
ing. He gave the effects of each on the system, and showed the 
difference between the two; also the conditions in which tea was appli¬ 
cable and inapplicable. He showed the essential differences between the 
effects of coffee and tea on the system, and all the highly interesting 
experiments referred to were chiefly performed upon himself and another 
person. An animated discussion took place, in the course of which 
I\ir. W. Milner, surgeon to the Wakefield Prison, detailed a series of 
experiments, made with permission on the prisoners, concerning the 
use of tea and other substances. His observations went to prove the 
correctness of l)r. Smith’s statement, that tea does diminish the weight 
of the body, unless given with solid food. Dr. Smith asserts that the 
use of tea increases the waste of the tissues. 
“ A paper by Sir Charles Grey * On Asiatic Cholera 5 was read by the 
secretary, in which the question was submitted whether diluted nitro- 
muriatic acid applied externally would not he a suitable remedy for the 
disease, introducing chlorine in this way more readily into the blood, 
and more speedily exerting its influence upon that fluid than calomel. 
Sir Charles is not a medical man, although he has seen much cholera 
abroad. 
“ Mr. Gardner read a paper * On Certain Alterations in the Medulla 
Oblongata in Cases of Paralysis. 5 The author showed that atrophy of 
the columns of the medulla oblongata, in cases of continued paralysis, 
is not rare; and touched upon the probability of an arrangement in the 
spinal cord hv which the separate action of the extensor and flexor 
muscles in tetanus, &c., is caused. He illustrated the intimate con¬ 
nexion of tlie olivary bodies with the posterior part of the medulla 
oblongata ity tearing it down longitudinally, when they will always be 
drawn out backwards with that part. The author connected the olivaries 
with speech and respiration. The paper also described the vaiied 
insertion of the optic and olfactory nerves into various parts of the 
encephalon, according as they were associated with the intellectual or 
locomotive functions. He did not believe in any distinct separation 
of the upper and lower columns in the invertebrata. 
“ A novel and striking discovery was brought before the Zoological 
Section by Mr. J. O. Westwood, on the existence of a lepidopterous 
parasite in the Fuigora cundelarra. This latter is a luminous insect, 
well known in Eastern Asia and China. The surface of its body secretes 
an abundance of white wax, which forms the food of numerous parasites, 
and in which they change into pupae, and subsequently a perfect lepidop¬ 
terous insect. Specimens of both were shown, and much interest was 
manifested in the discovery. Although the fact is well known that 
many insects are infested by parasites, yet here would seem to he a 
wonderful provision of Nature, in one insect secreting a certain sub¬ 
stance to form both the food and bed of another. 
“ Dr. Lewis exhibited a new hydrospirometer, which would answer 
where extreme accuracy was not required. Its cost would not exceed 
15 ^. 
“‘On the Development of Buccinum,’ by Mr. John Lubbock, and 
‘ On the Development of Pyroscina,’ by Professor Huxley, were two 
