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At the present moment cholera has not ceased in the suburbsof Brest, and it is spreading in various districts of the Depart-ments of Finisterre, Morbihan, and Cotes du Nord. From

Saxony there is no recent news of the disease; but it stillexists, and extends slowly, in the south-western provinces ofRussia.

It is thus seen that foci of the pestilence remain in Easternand Western, and not improbably also in Central, Europe.The recent activity of the malady in the western departmentsof France indicates the probability of its resuming a migratorycourse as the year rolls on, and the necessity of a careful watchbeing kept on its progress.

, In the more recent extensions of the disease, although itmay have shown itself over a wide area, and been as fatal asheretofore, the number of persons attacked has been compara-tively small.

THE LANCET RECORDOF

THE PROGRESS OF MEDICINE AND THECOLLATERAL SCIENCES.

THE POISONOUS ACTION OF NERIUM OLEANDER.

PROFESSOR PELiKAN, of St. Petersburg, recently presenteda paper on the above subject to the French Academy ofSciences. He thinks that the researches of Orfila upon the

poisonous action of Nerium are not sufficiently satisfactory.From his own observations he is led to believe that the yellowresinous substance which the plant produces is the true poi-sonous principle. The experiments which he conducted uponfrogs with this substance, as well as with the alcoholico-aqueousextract, have led him to the following conclusions :-1. Whenfirst administered it produces an acceleration of the heart’saction. 2. After a few minutes the beats of the heart becomeless frequent. 3. The pulsations in diminishing become irregu-lar, and then cease entirely. 4. The ventricles are at this

period empty and inactive, but the auricles still continue tocontract. 5. Finally the heart becomes completely paralysed.From the results of some experiments on dogs ProfessorPelikan is disposed to think that the poison of Nerium oleandervery much resembles that of digitalis, and therefore he thinksthat it may advantageously be employed in therapeutics.

AMYLOID DEGENERATION OF THE DIGESTIVE TUBE.

In a paper published in the last volume of the Proceedingsof the Société de Biologie M. G. Hayem gives an account of aninteresting case of this kind of degeneration. The microscopicexamination of the intestinal mucous membrane showed thatthe deposition of amyloid matter took place in the cellularspaces of the arterioles and in the inner surface of the capil-laries. A section made perpendicularly to the surface of thetumefied follicles showed around them a great quantity ofaltered capillaries, which gave off finer transparent branchesthat travelled into the interior of the follicle. The follicleitself was filled with small granulations and particles of amyloidmatter. The two characters, therefore, which characteriseamyloid degeneration of the intestine are : 1, degeneration ofthe arterioles and capillaries, especially those in the neigh-bourhood of the follicles; and 2, tumefaction with amyloiddegeneration of the follicles themselves.REMOVAL OF THE SUPERIOR CERVICAL GANGLION IN BIRDS.

M. Joseph Michon records an experiment which producedresults different from those heretofore recorded. He removedthe superior cervical ganglion of the sympathetic in the com-mon cock, and found that there resulted no increased vascular ’,supply, no elevation of temperature, and no contraction of thepupil. He thinks that the phenomenon of increased vascularsupply, which is supposed to follow removal of the cervicalganglion, may be produced as the result of injury to the vascu-lar network which surrounds the ganglion.

NATURE OF COLOUR-BLINDNESS.

In very curious essay on this subject, which has been published I

in "Poggendorjf’s Annalen," Herr Dr. E. Rose, of Berlin, de-scribes a new instrument for determining the degrees of colour-blindness. From numerous inquiries he concludes :—1. Thatwith the colour-blind it is always light of the greatest or of I

the least refrangibility that first becomes imperceptible. 2.That invariably, as the disease increases, the patient ceases toperceive only that light which had previously the greatest orsmallest refrangibility among the rays visible to him. 3. Thatcolour-blindness is always characterised by a shortening of thespectrum and never by an interruption. A complete and accu-rately defined spectrum thus forms by its extent a measure ofthe degree of colour-blindness. Herr Rose’s instrument consistsof a mirror, condensing lens, and prism, by which a well-marked solar spectrum is produced, and therefore accuratelydetermines the extent of the affection.

AN AMMONIACAL DEPOSIT FORMED BY DRYING BLOOD.

In the Journal of the Chemical Society Mr. J. A. R. New-lands describes a curious deposit which he found upon the roofof a shed in which blood was being boiled and dried. It wascomposed of silica, peroxide of iron, and sulphate of calciumin small proportions, but nearly ninety-seven per cent. of itconsisted of sulphate of ammonia.

THE ACTION OF THE BROMIDE OF POTASSIUM.

In the November number of the Ci2ciranati Lancet there is avaluable paper on the action of bromide of potassium by Dr.R. Bartholow. Regarding the physiological action of this saltwhen taken into the stomach, the writer observes :—1. Itproves irritant in large doses to the mucous membrane of thestomach. 2. It is rapidly absorbed into the blood and mayvery quickly be detected in the urine. 3. Its action is uponthe nervous system and its effects are sedative; it producessleep, reduces the action of the heart and arteries, lowers thegeneral temperature, and diminishes the waste of tissue.When its administration has been prolonged the bromide actsas follows :-1. It lessens and finally entirely removes sexualdesire. 2. It diminishes muscular power. 3. It retardssecondary assimilation, thus preventing the progressive de.velopment of tissue.CHLOROFORM AS A MEANS OF DETECTING BILE IN THE URINE.

A new method for the detection of bile in urine is proposedby M. Cunisset, and is given fully in the January number ofthe JOlLrnal de C7tMmM Médicale. He places in a test-tube fortyor fifty grammes of the urine to be examined, and adds to itfour or five grammes of chloroform, and then shakes the mix-ture. If the urine contains bile it immediately assumes a fineyellow colour, and on allowing it to rest, the chloroform fallsto the bottom of the tube, drawing with it the fatty matters ofthe urine coloured by the yellow biliary substance.

HOW TO DETECT THE A1SULTERATION OF ARROWROOT.

To those who are familiar with microscopic research, thereis no very great difficulty in discovering whether the granulesof arrowroot are mixed with those of the starch of potato; butto those who are not microscopists the detection of the adul-teration is not easy. The method suggested by M. Albers is,therefore, useful. To one part of the arrowroot he adds threeparts of a test-liquid, which consists of two parts of hydro-chloric acid of 1 ’120 density and one part of water. The mix-ture is now shaken at the ordinary temperature for about threeminutes. if the arrowroot be pure it will undergo no altera-tion, but if it contain potato-starch this will be converted intoa gelatinous substance.

UREA IN THE MILK OF HERBIVOROUS MAMMALS.

A note in the Comptes Rendus (lxii., No. 4) tells us thatM. J. Lefort has succeeded in finding urea in the milk of thecow. From ten litres of milk this chemist obtained one grammeand a half of nitrate of urea, which was easily recognised bythe form of its crystals and by its insoluble combination withthe nitrate of peroxide of mercury.

THE COMMON INTERCOSTAL MUSCLE OF ANIMALS.

In the last number of M. Robin’s Journal cle I’A7iaton?ie isan able paper upon the function of the common intercostalmuscle of domestic animals. The writer, M. A. Goubaux,considers that the office of this muscle has not been properlyunderstood by veterinarians. He states that by reason of itsattachment to the transverse process of the seventh cervicalvertebra, this muscle has as much action upon the region ofthe neck as it has on that of the back. He concludes-1. Thatthe common intercostal muscle is an expiratory muscle. 2. Thatit is an extensor or flexor of the vertebral column (neck andback) according as that of the left side acts independently ofthat of the right, or according as the muscles of the two sidesact simultaneously.

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1, UREA FORMED BY THE KIDNEYS?

In a memoir recently published by Herr Dr. Zalesky, thisphysiologist records some experiments which seem to provethat urea is found in the kidneys, and not in the blood. Heremoved the kidneys from various animals, and examined theblood subsequently for urea, but without finding larger tracesthan usual. In animals, however, in which (without removingthe kidneys) he placed a ligature upon the ureters, he foundthe proportion of urea in the blood largely increased. As the

consequence of several experiments upon birds, reptiles, andmammals, he concludes that the kidneys do not simply allowuric acid to filter through them, but that they form it, andthat urea is equally formed in great part in the kidneys. Hedoes not believe that uraemic accidents are due to the accumu-lation in the blood of either urea or ammonia, but is more dis-posed to attribute them to defective elimination of other ex-tractive principles and of water.

DAILY EXCRETION OF UREA IN TYPI3US FEVER.

In the present number of the Edinbw’uh l1IedicCll JOIl1’llal,Dr. Keith Anderson has a paper in which the statements ofParkes and other writers relative to the excretion of urea infevers are denied. Dr. Anderson has constructed an ingeniouschart, showing the relative quantities of urea formed duringthe successive stages of fever. The general result of hisinquiries is to the effect that the quantity of urea excreteddaily during the second week was decidedly below the standardof health, notwithstanding that the patients were in a state of ’,high fever, with the temperature and the pulse much abovethe normal state. I

PROFESSOR HUXLEY’S LECTURES AT THEROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS.

PROFESSOR HuxLEY commenced his fourth lecture by enu-merating the common characters of the order Sirenia, thosewhich constitute its definition-namely, 1, head small; 2, anictitating membrane; 3, nostrils valvular; 4, no concha;5, only two limbs, and these formed like paddles ; 6, a rudi-mentary pelvis ; 7, a horizontal caudal fin; 8, sparse hairs onbody and large bristles on muzzle; 9, parietals united togetherin the middle line ; 10, nasals small and commonly separatedfrom each other by an interspace; 11, zygomatic process ofsquamosal large and swollen; 12, tympanic and periotic bonesunited together, but not anchylosed to the skull; 13, mandiblewith a large ascending ramus and coronoid process; 14, anodontoid process to the axis vertebra; 15, cervical vertebraenot normally anchylosed together; 16, anterior articular pro-cesses wanting in the lumbar and caudal regions; 17, ribsunited to both the bodies and the transverse processes of the

vertebrx; 18, scapula with a large supra-spinatus fossa; 19,carpals slightly mobile, phalanges never more than three toone digit; 20, horny plates within the mouth; 21, teeth pre-sent or absent; 22, stomach constricted and having a largecardiac gland; 23, heart divided at its apex; 24, larynx with-out cetacean modifications ; 25, no third bronchus; 26, lungsextending back over the whole of the abdominal viscera ; 27,brain subcylindrical; 28, no os penis; 29, testes abdominal;30, uterus two-horned; 31, mammae pectoral.These characters strongly separate the <S’M’eMm from the

Cetctcea, the resemblance between the two groups being mostlysuperficial and analogical, such as might be expected a priorifrom the similarity of their mode of life; while the generalplan of their structure is very different indeed.The lecturer proposed to dwell at some length on the Ce-

tacean order because it is the most modified mammalian group,and that the structure of which it is most difficult to under-stand ; also because it is an order little known or studied here ’

at present; and finally, because of the important and highlyinteresting additions lately made to the Hunterian Museumthrough its zealous and able curator, Mr. W. H. Flower, whoserecent investigations with regard to this group Prof. Huxleyannounced his intention largely to profit by.The whales are broadly distinguished from the Sirenia as

carniVOr01l8 animals; some, as the porpoises, sperm-whales,&c., have teeth when adult; others have no teeth, but theirmouths are furnished with plates of baleen, or what is com-

monly called whalebone-most improperly so, however, as it ismerely the modified epithelium of the mouth. This distinc-tion of the members of the order into " toothed" and "whale-bone" whales is convenient, but not absolute. The latter are

again divided into such as have no dorsal fin-the " right"whales,-and such as are provided with such a structure, asthe "humpbacked" and fin whales: these latter are not so

extremely modified in their structure as are the right whales.The lecturer selected for description, as types, j8coBKOpi!e?’(X(the piked whale), and Physalu8. The head is of enormoussize (in the piked whale two-sevenths of the total length).There are but two limbs, which are complete fins, the bonesbeing so invested by a continuous mass of fibrous tissue as toprevent the digits being felt as they can be in the Sirenia. Thetail is horizontal, and medianly insected, as in the dugong.The skin is very thick, and absolutely devoid of hairs except afew on the lower jaw. Beneath the throat are many longi-tudinal ridges of unknown function. The mouth is enormous,the margin of the lower lip convex upwards. The eye isplaced very low down, near the angle of the mouth ; it isvery small, and destitute of a nictitating eyelid. There aretwo valvular nostrils on the top of the head. The ear is hardlyvisible, placed far back, and without a concha. The mammaeare inguinal, one being placed on each side of the vulva. The

structure of the thick integument much resembles that of themonducatory plates of the Sirenia for the true dermis is pro-duced into very long columnar papillas, between which theskin readily splits, as was the case in Rhytina. Beneath theskin is the blubber, which is much less in quantity in theseanimals than in the right whales, on which account, as well asbecause they possess much less baleen and are smaller, swifter,and more dangerous, they are much less an object of pursuit.The anterior vertebrae are very much flattened antero-poste-riorly, and their epiphyses remain perfectly distinct for a verylong time. In the middle region of the body the vertebras arelonger, but most so in the anterior caudal region. In theanterior vertebrae there are both fore and hind articular pro-cesses ; further back the latter disappear, while the formerdwindle and are replaced by successively larger metapophyses,or mamillary processes, which lightly embrace the spines of thevertebras in front of them. In the tail all the processes dimin-ish till they finally disappear, only the quadrilateral bodies ofthe vertebrae being left. The cervical vertebras in Physalus andother fin-backs do not coalesce, and the axis has a slight rudimentof an odontoid process. Its transverse processes project back-wards over the ends of those of the other cervical vertebras, andalmost meet the extremities of the forwardly projecting trans-verse processes of the first dorsal. The caudal vertebrae have theusual chevron bones, but their transverse processes, or bodies,have characteristic notches, or foramina, for branches of thecaudal artery. The first rib has a small head and large tu-bercle, which last is attached to the approximated ends of thetransverse processes of the axis and first dorsal -vertebra. Theheads of the ribs are scarcely, or not at all, connected withthe bodies of the vertebras, thus differing from other mammalsand resembling some reptiles. Only one pair of ribs joins themore or less cruciform sternum, but they do so directly. Theskull is much more modified than is the vertebral column,mainly by the enormous prolongation of the facial portion,and the vertical direction, of the nares, by the separation ofthe parietals (by an interparietal which connects the frontalswith the supraoccipital), and by the enormous development ofthe supraorbital process of each frontal, which carries the eyedownwards towards the angle of the mouth. The zygomaticprocess of the squamosal joins the frontal, the true zygomabeing very slender. The premaxillas and maxillas are enor-mous, the latter overlapping the orbital processes of thefrontals, as in some seals. In the forms taken as types thesmall nasals are symmetrical, as also the entire skull. The

lachrymal is always present in the Cetacea, but, as in the

Sirenia, is wedged in and destitute of any lachrymal canal.

THE WAY TO LIVE A HUNDRED YEARS.-Dr. JuliusVon Fischweilen lately died at Magdeburg at the age of 109years. He states in his will that the manner of reaching agreat age is very simple. Assume, as often as convenient, andespecially during the hours of sleep, the horizontal position,the head towards the north pole, and the rest of the body in adirection as much as possible that of the meridian. By thismeans the magnetic currents which pervade the surface of theglobe, keep up a regular and normal kind of nutrition of themass of iron contained in the economy, and hence arises an in-crease of the vital principle, which regulates all the organicphenomena having a direct action on the preservation of life.