ii 
Notes  and  News. 
/Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\    January,  1899. 
that  particles  of  brass  or  copper  have  fallen  on  the  paper  pulp  and  have  been 
partly  dissolved  in  the  chemicals.  The  lapse  of  years  permits  crystallization. 
Twenty  years  is  supposed  to  be  required,  as  also  a  certain  amount  of  dampness  in 
the  paper.  The  star-like  cluster  has  a  width  of  about  i  millimetre,  and  may  be 
examined  with  a  small  lense  or  a  low-power  objective.  Dr.  Shanks  has  recently 
found  three  of  these  forms  upon  linen  paper,  whose  age  was  not  known.  Thick 
and  rather  soft  papers  are  most  likely  to  contain  them. —  The  Am.  Month. 
Microsc.  Jour.,  October,  1898. 
Annual  Excursion  and  Dinner. — The  employes  of  Burroughs,  Wellcome 
&  Co.,  of  London,  spent  a  day  recently  in  an  excursion  to  Dover.  The  Town 
Hall,  where  the  dinner  was  given,  had  been  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  firm 
by  the  local  authorities.  Suitable  toasts  were  proposed  and  responded  to  by  the 
members  of  the  firm,  employes  and  press  and  visitors.  Mr.  Wellcome  stated, 
among  other  things  in  his  toast  to  the  employes,  that  the  firm  always  endeavored 
to  encourage  technical  education  and  general  development  of  the  minds  of  those 
associated  with  them,  and  when  adding  to  their  staff  they  tried  to  secure  the 
services  of  the  very  best  men. 
College  Graduates  in  Business.— Professor  Schwab,  of  Yale,  says  that  the 
learned  professions  absorb  62  per  cent,  of  the  college  graduates  nowadays, 
whereas  they  formerly  absorbed  92  per  cent.  On  the  other  hand,  business 
pursuits  now  take  31  per  cent.,  against  6  per  cent,  in  the  old  days. 
The  Color  of  Negro  Children  When  Born. — An  eminent  French  physi- 
cian having  had  opportunity  of  making  observations  bearing  on  this  subject, 
reports  that  the  negro  baby  comes  into  the  world  a  tender  pink  color  ;  the  sec- 
ond day  it  is  lilac  ;  ten  days  afterward  it  is  the  color  of  tanned  leather,  and  at 
fifteen  days  it  is  chocolate.  The  coloring  matter  in  the  case  of  the  negro  lies 
between  the  layers  of  the  epidermis.  The  pigment  is  semi-fluid,  or  in  the 
form  of  fine  granulations  ;  in  the  Indian  it  is  red,  and  in  the  Mongolian  yel- 
low. It  is  influenced  not  only  by  sun  and  by  climate,  but  by  certain  maladies 
and  the  negro  changes  in  tint  just  as  the  white  person  does. — Pediatrics,  Vol. 
VI,  p.  40. 
Traction  on  the  Tongue  in  Apparent  Drowning. — A  report  was  recently 
published  in  La  Tribune  Medicate,  which  appears  to  illustrate  the  value  of 
traction  of  the  tongue  in  the  restoration  of  the  apparently  drowned.  The 
author  considers  that  recovery  was  mainly  due  to  the  traction  on  the  tongue 
and  with  Dr.  Gilchrist,  of  Nice,  suggests  that  it  should  be  made  widely  known 
throughout  the  lay  press  that  traction  on  the  tongue,  repeated  regularly  fifteen 
times  a  minute,  is  a  highly  efficacious  treatment  in  many  cases  of  apparent  death 
from  asphyxia. — Brit.  Med.  Jour,  through  the  Lancet  (Winnipeg)  Vol.  VI,  p. 
68. 
Brazilian  Evidence  on  the  Genesis  of  the  Diamond.— Orville  A. 
Derby  (/.  Geol.  6,  121-146)  gives  a  very  complete  summary  of  the  facts  afforded 
by  the  diamond  washings  of  Brazil,  that  have  a  bearing  upon  the  origin  of  this 
gem  ;  and  a  comparison  with  the  evidence  from  the  "dry  diggings"  of  South 
Africa.  The  conclusion  is  that  the  diamond  is  to  be  regarded  as  of  metamor- 
phic,  and  not  of  truly  igneous  origin. —  Technology  Quarterly,  Vol.  XT,  p.  106. 
