VARIETIES. 
563 
houses,  frequently  dropping  down  upon  us  from  the  ceiling,  and  stinging 
us  in  bed.  It  frightens  the  women  and  children,  but  in  all  my  long  life, 
it  has  never  happened  in  the  circle  of  my  knowledge,  that  any  serious  in- 
jury resulted  from  the  sting  of  the  scorpion,  and  the  scorpion  I  speak  of 
now  is  the  true  one." — Am.  Journ.  Med.  Sci.,  Oct.,  1866. 
Formula  for  Collodion. — Dr.  J.  P.  Maynard,  who  originally  introduced 
this  article  to  the  profession,  gives  (Boston  Med.  &  Surg.  Journ.,  Aug.  9, 
1866j  the  following  formula  for  its  preparation  best  adapted  for  surgical 
purposes : — 
"  Take  two  parts  of  sulph.  acid,  sp.  gr.  1.850,  and  one  part  nitric  acid, 
sp.  gr.  1.450.  Mix  them — allow  the  temperature  to  fall  to  about  100°  Fah- 
renheit. Add  to  this,  raw  cotton,  to  point  of  saturation.  Let  it  soak 
about  one  to  two  hours.  Pour  off  the  acids.  Wash  the  cotton  till  litmus 
paper  shows  all  acidity  removed.  Dry  thoroughly.  The  cotton  will  now 
be  found  to  be  converted  into  a  gum,  completely  soluble  in  ether  of  about 
.750  sp.  gr.,  or  in  pure  ether  3  parts  and  alcohol  95  per  cent.  1  part. 
About  2  ounces  of  cotton  thus  prepared  will  make  about  1  pint  of  collo- 
dion of  proper  consistency  for  surgical  purposes.  For  photographic  ob- 
jects, a  less  amount  will  be  sufficient.  The  conditions  for  success  by  this 
formula  are  simply  precision  in  the  details  and  careful  manipulation, 
which  a  little  experience  will  perfect." — Am.  Journ.  Med.  Sci.,  Oct.,  18G6. 
Discovery  of  a  Mammoth. — At  a  late  sitting  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences 
a  letter  was  received  from  M.  de  Baer,  of  St.  Petersburg,  announcing  that 
a  mammoth,  still  covered  with  its  skin  and  hair,  had  been  discovered  in 
the  frozen  soil  of  Arctic  Siberia.  This  discovery  had  been  made  in  1864 
by  a  Samoyede  in  the  environs  of  Taz  Bay,  the  eastern  branch  of  the  Gulf 
of  Obi.  The  news  only  reached  St.  Petersburg  towards  the*  end  of  1865  ; 
but  as  the  bodies  of  large  animals  will  keep  a  long  while  in  those  regions, 
if  they  are  not  completely  uncovered,  and  as  this  mammoth  was  still  in- 
closed in  the  frozen  soil,  the  Academy  of  St.  Petersburg  has,  with  the  aid 
of  the  Russian  Government,  sent  M.  Schmidt,  a  distinguished  palaeontolo- 
gist, to  examine  the  animal  and  its  position  in  the  locality.  It  is  hoped 
M.  Schmidt  will  arrive  before  the  decomposition  is  too  far  advanced,  and 
that  a  correct  notion  may  be  obtained  of  the  outer  appearance  of  the  ani- 
mal, and  also,  from  the  contents  of  the  stomach,  of  its  natural  food.  The 
pre-historical  figure  of  the  mammoth  drawn  on  a  piece  of  ivory,  found  in 
a  cavern  of  Perigord  by  M.  Lartet,  will  then  admit  of  verification. — Med. 
News,  Aug.,  1866,  from  Med.  Times  and  Gaz.,  April  28,  1866. 
The  Great  Prize  in  Electricity. — The  French  Government  has  issued  an 
invitation  to  the  savants  of  all  nations  to  compete  for  the  prize  of  50,000 
frs.  which  will  be  decreed  five  years  hence  to  the  author  who  shall  have 
disoovered  the  means  of  rendering  Volta's  pile  economically  applicable  to 
