366 ANALYSIS OF CONTINENTAL JOURNALS. 
length, when it may be withdrawn by seizing it at its 
smallest part and tearing it out of the cavity. This will draw 
out not only the odontoblasts but some of the dentinal fibres 
attached to them. Another very good plan for observing 
the relation of the pulp to the dentine is to soak the tooth 
for a few weeks in the carmine-staining fluid, which becomes 
sucked up through the foramen of the fang, and being ab¬ 
sorbed by the pulp, colours it completely. The tooth may 
then be decalcified by immersion in ordinary hydrochloric 
acid, which removes the lime but does not hurt the soft tis¬ 
sues. At the end of a fortnight the tooth may be cut in thin 
slices, when the pulp will be cut with the decalcified osseous 
tissue, and the relation will be well shown. I have thus, in 
these few brief remarks, which fail to do justice to my sub¬ 
ject, endeavoured to show you that that which is generally 
called the nerve of a tooth is in reality a mass of areolar or 
connective tissue, through which ramify the nerve, vein, and 
artery destined for the life of a tooth, that its function 
originally was the formation and building up of the dentine, 
that its powers in adult life remain dormant, but capable of 
being aroused under the action of a stimulating influence to 
develope dentine again, and that it performs an important 
part in ministering to the vitality of a tooth, as well as con¬ 
stituting a tooth a very delicate sensory organ. These few 
remarks, therefore, will, I hope, have the effect of inducing 
others to take up the comparative histology of the pulp, and 
lead them to investigate its tissues in some of the low r er 
animals, both in their foetal condition and at maturity, and I 
can promise them a rich reward in return for their labours in 
new fields of observation open, and fresh revelations of the 
skill of the Great Architect of All. 
Analysis of Continental Journals. 
By G. Fleming, M.R.C.V.S., Royal Engineers. 
THE GENERAL PHYSIOLOGY OF VIRUS AND OF VIRULENT 
MALADIES. 
Bv M. A. Chatjveau, Professor at the Lyons Veterinary School. 
(The havoc and alarm caused by contagious diseases in 
man and the lower animals is now more than ever attracting 
