Vitality in Horses. —Some experiments have recently 
been made in France by persons skilled in the veterinary art, 
with a view of ascertaining how long horses may live without 
food in certain contingencies, as, for example, being shut up 
in besieged places. The following results have been noted. 
A horse may live for twenty-five days without solid food, and 
merely drink water. He may live seventeen days without 
eating or drinking. After taking solid aliment for the space 
of ten days, but with an insufficient quantity of drink, the 
stomach is worn out. The above facts show the importance 
of water in the sustenance of the horse, and the desire the 
animal must feel to be supplied wdth it. A horse which had 
been deprived of water for the space of three days drank 
eleven gallons in the space of three minutes. 
Murrain in Egypt. —The murrain continues to destroy 
numbers of cattle. It has appeared at Cairo, at Tourals, 
leaving two intermediate provinces untouched. Mustapha 
Pasha is reported to have lost 2000 head, worth £60,000 ; 
other large proprietors have lost in proportion. In some 
districts, for want of animals, the fellahs are to be seen har¬ 
nessed by fives and sixes to the plough. Transports have 
arrived from different places, bringing cattle, sheep, goats, 
and other provisions, for Government account, which are sold 
to the dealers at moderate rates, with the order to retail to 
the public at about half the price which has lately been paid. 
The customs’ duties have also been remitted on the chief ar¬ 
ticles of food. The viceroy is doing his best to mitigate the 
consequences of the cattle disease. 
Velocity of Nerve Force. —By the aid of a chrono- 
scope, M. Hirsch has come to the conclusion that nerves 
transmit their impressions at the rate of thirty-four metres a 
second. M. Helmholtz estimated the velocity at 190 feet per 
second ; but his experiments were performed on the motor 
nerves of frogs, and those of M. Hirsch on the sensitive 
nerves of man. 
Action of Carbolic or Piiexic Acid on Virus.— 
M. Leraaire states that vaccinations with mixture of vaccine 
matter and carbolic acid produce no pustules. He also 
