VARIETIES. 
83 
government  of  France,  was  presented  this  morning  to  the  President, 
through  Mr.  Samuel  B.  Ruggles,  delegate  of  the  United  States  to  the  Inter- 
national Monetary  Conference,  and  who  has  just  returned  from  Paris. 
The  new  coin  is  24  millimetres  in  diameter,  or  very  slightly  larger  than 
the  present  half  eagle  of  the  United  States  or  the  sovereign  of  Great 
Britain.  It  bears  on  its  obverse  the  conjoint  inscription,  "  Five  dollars — 
twenty-five  francs,"  and  is  a  type  of  the  proposed  monentary  union 
of  the  three  nations  If  adopted  by  the  governments  of  the  United 
States  and  Great  Britain,  this  international  coinage,  bearing  the  de- 
nominations and  emblems  of  the  respective  nations,  will  circulate  with 
perfect  equality  and  without  impediment  throughout  the  world.  The 
official  report  of  Mr.  Ruggles,  fully  embodying  the  facts  needed  for  the 
careful  consideration  of  the  subject,  will  probably  be  sent  to  Congress 
during  the  present  week. — Phila.  North  American,  Nov.  27,  1867. 
Atropine  harmless  to  Rabbits. — Dr.  Ogle,  Lecturer  on  Physiology  at  St. 
George's  Hospital,  sums  up  a  valuable  paper,  in  which  is  included  a  large 
number  of  experiments,  viz. : 
1.  That  a  rabbit  of  middle  age  can  live  for,  at  any  rate,  six  days  exclu- 
sively on  belladonna  without  inconvenience. 
2.  That  a  rabbit  can  tolerate  enormous  doses  of  atropine  administered 
either  by  the  stomach  or  by  subcutaneous  injection,  and  that  this  tolerance 
is  not  due  to  non-absorption  of  the  poison. 
3.  That  this  tolerance  increases  with  the  age  of  the  rabbit. 
4.  That  dilatation  of  the  pupils  is,  however,  produced  just  as  readily,  if 
not  more  so,  in  an  old  rabbit  as  it  is  in  a  young  one. — New  York  Med. 
Journal,  Nov.,  3867.   
The  Packing  of  Bottles,  filled  or  empty,  is  now  performed  more  safely, 
closely,  and  rapidly,  than  heretofore,  by  means  of  India-rubber  rings 
slipped  over  them.  The  rings  cost  only  once,  and  can  remain  on  the 
bottle  as  long  as  it  lasts. — Bost.  Jour.  Chemistry,  Dec.  1867. 
The  new  process  of  Preserving  Human  Flesh. — Not  long  ago  I  spoke 
of  the  lost  secret  for  petrifying  human  flesh,  of  the  persevering  attempts 
made  in  Italy  to  rediscover  it,  and  of  the  discovery,  while  making  these 
researches,  of  another  method  of  preserving  flesh,  perhaps  quite  as 
valuable  as  the  last  one.  At  the  Great  Exposition,  Dr.  Burnetti,  of 
Padua,  the  finder  of  the  new  method,  was  honored  with  a  gold  medal,  and 
with  the  true  spirit  of  a  man  of  science,  he  came  forward  the  other  evening 
at  one  of  the  meetings  of  the  International  Medical  Congress,  now  in 
session  at  the  School  of  Medicine  of  Paris,  and  divulged  his  secret.  The 
great  amphitheatre  of  the  school  was  crowded  with  distinguished  medical 
men  from  all  parts  of  the  world;  and  when  the  Italian  savant  had  con- 
cluded his  speech,  he  was  rewarded  with  an  ovation  which  must  have 
been  a  full  compensation  for  any  losses  he  may  suffer  from  having  his 
