OLLA PODRIDA.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 956, 27 June 1890, Page 5

OLLA PODRIDA.

DIAMONDSM, Daubree, the distinguished French mineralogist, has presented to the Paris Academy of Sciences a suggestive paper on the conditions under which diamonds appear to have been formed in nature. He shows that the South African diamonds, occurring in a serpentinous breccia, have probably been brought up from a deep-seated basic magma, rich in olivine, which underlies the granitio crust. He then calls attention to the recent discovery of diamonds in meteorites, and points out the analogy between these bodies and the materials of the earth’s interior. It seems probable, according to Daubree, that diamonds are abundant in the profound regions of the earth, and are only accidentally aßd occasionally brought op to the surface. THE ELECTRIC LIGHT IN MILITARY OPERATIONS. In a recent paper, read before the Sooidtd d’Encouragement, Mr Lemonnier stated that when beams of light from the Mangin projectors on the top of the Eiffel Tower were thrown in the direction of the Sevres Valley, observers placed at a distance of 2000 metres from the spots illuminated by the rays were able to clearly distinguish Bmall objects, such as animals and human beings ; even when the illuminated region was 10,000 to 11,000 metres (6£ to 6f miles) from the source of the light. M. Lemonnier then pointed out the importance of these facts in connection with the defence of entrenched positions and fortified towns, and said it was the opinion of many military officers that the use of noiseless and smoko less powders would increase the tendency to night attacks. The Parsons turbo-dynamo had, he said, made available a very suitable means of generating electricity for military purposes.—Electrician. ELECTRICITY AND THE MARINER’S COMPASS. Lieutenant W. H. Sohuote, the superintendent of compasses of the United States navy, is led to believe from observations on board steel vessels that no reliable compass data can be gathered unless the vessel is in dry dock. It has been the practice to undertake these ob-ervations while the vessel is in the water ; but, under these circumstances, it always has more or less motion, which serioasly affects the results. The deflections produced on compass needles by the dynamos used for electric lighting are, he reports, in some cases, as much as 2 deg.; and the superintendent recommends that the positinu of the dynamos should be a secondary consideration to that of the compasses. About 40 feet has been considered a safe distance between dynamos aud compasses; but in determining this question the injunction of magnetism ii uuitbeuda and other vertical as well as horizontal st< el and iron mait not, Lieutenant Sohuetze remarks, be overlooked.— Electrician. CRANIAL CAPACITY. Examination of the cranial capacit3’, irom which a fairly accurate approximation of the size of the brain may be drawn, has shown that in the civilised European the size of the brain is considerably hither than in the savage races, not only as an average but in individual cases, and that the variations in the former races are much greater than in the latter. A series of observations on the sizs of head of students at Cambridge University recently published are of great iote'est, aud f.how that the size of hea i of those who oldain high honoens i.s consider- i ably larger than that of the ordinary students. • at the same age, while the remainder of the < honours men occupy an intemediate position ; as regards size of head. M. Le Bon, in a - very valuable paper, has been able by means 1 of examinations of the registers of a hatter to : ascertain the size of the head for hats of a large number of persons in various social 1 positions in Franca. These he divided into < five classes, and found that the relative 1 position occupied by each class with respect f to size of head was as follows, beginning 1 with the largest;—l, men of science and I

letters; 2, merchants ;3, nobles of ancient family ; 4, domestic servants ; 5, peasants. These various and independent observations show that there is a direct relation between the size of head and brain on the one hand and intellectual ability on the other when applied to a number of persons collectively, but in the present state of our knowledge ' trustworthy deductions cannot be arrived at with respect to individuals. British Medical Journal. j THE NATIVE EGYPTIAN AS A SUBJECT FOR SURGICAL OPERATION. The native Egyptian is an extremely good subject for surgical operation. Clot Bey, the founder of modern medicine in Egypt, has it that * it requires as much surgery to kill one Egyptian as seven Europeans. In the native hospitals, the man whose thigh has been amputated at two o’clock is sitting i up and lively at six.’ Shock is almost entirely unknown, and dread of an impending operation entirely au exception. In explanation may be noted the resignation inculcated by thslr religion ; the very small proportion of meat in and the total absence of alcohol from their dieji ; and in general their regular, abstemious, out-of-door life. — Medical and Surgical Reporter. THE CAUSE OF LEPROSY. A notable contribution to the discussion as to the cause of leprosy is that by Mr Jonathan Hutchinson, in the Friends’ Quarterly Examiner. Noting the parts of the globe ’* where leprosy is still indigenous, Mr Hutchinson points out that these are either on the sea-coast or in proximity to rivers or lakes, whilst climatic and racial conditions are extremely varied. . He considers the evidence certain that the poison producing the disease gains access to the body in the > form of food, and that this must be through ‘fish,’ including ‘edible molluscs, crustaceans, and all living denizens of water both salt and fresh,’ *lt may be,’ he adds, ‘ that the poison is wholLy absent from fish under most conditions, and present only under exceptional ones. It seems very probable that fish caught in the warm waters of the 1 tropics are more dangerous than those from s northern seas, and that all kinds of preserved 1 or salted fish, or fish in a state of partial r decomposition, are more risky than s those which are fresh and sound. Lastly, it ? is possible .that raw fish may contain a 7 poison which is destroyed by cooking.’ 3 There is, however, very little doubt that 3 leprosy is a contagious disease. j i THE USE OF ALCOHL IN. [ HOSPITALS. , A very interesting report has been pre--3 seated to the British Medical Temperance a Association by Drs. Morton, Moir, and 1 Pearce, on the administration of alcohol in hospitals. The committee have drawn up a series of tables full of instructive figures, instituting a eomparision between the amount expended under this head in 1863 and 1888. The remarkable fact is noted 5 that in these twenty-five years there has 1 been, from the returns of 113 hospitals, an i increase of 300 per cent, in the charge for r milk and a decrease of 47 per cent, in the 3 charge for alcohol. A second table gives f returns from 60 hospitals of which no pre- ’ vious reoord could be found. On the basis t adopted by Dr Fleetwood Buokle, in his i report of 1863, these 60 hospitals showed a i decrease of 39 per cent, in the expenditure I for alcohol per bed. A third table shows the comparative alcoholic charges per bed in 1863 and 1888 respectively. In 73 hospitals there had been an increase of 210 S beds, and a decrease of average total cost per bed of £7B iis sd. Beds have thus increased at the rate of 25 per cent, while the amount expended on alcohol has decreased at the rate of 47 per cent. Only eight of this group of hospitals showed an increase in the quantity of alcohol consumed. In the remaining 65 the decrease ranged rem 30 to 83 per cent. In the London Fever Hospital, while milk has risen fron £l5O to £650 per annum, the disbursements for alcohol were at the rate of only 15s 2d per bed in 1888, as compared with £3 4s per bed in 1563. In St. Bartholomew’s Hospital the milk bill had gone up from £6OO to over £2OOO, while the alcohol bill had gone down from £1446 to £953. These statistics prove that tfiere has been a gradually increasing rational medical administration of alcohol, the credit of which mast be awarded to the medical staffs of the hospitals, a fact which affords yet another proof', of the lively interest in the promotion of temperance taken by the medical profession.—British Medical Journal. WAGES AND COST OF LIVING IN CANADA. At a time when the labour quest'nn has assumed euoh an acute form in this country a great amount of interest ought to concentrate on a series of returns just collected bv the Government of Ontario, and which relate to the amount of wapes paid in the various trades and the cost of living in that province. Of the returns on which ■ the tables are based 23,006 wore furnished by employers, and 2752 by employes. The first thing shown is that there has been a gradual shortening of the hours of labour, the average number of hours per week being 58'24. as compared with 59‘10 in 1884, and the average of 58 '6O hours for the five years 1884 88. There is greater steadiness of employment, the average last year having been 270 07 days, against 265T7 days in ISS4, and the average of 268 03 days for the fivo years ISB4 88. Famines also show an increase, these now averaging 420101 l 7 cent-, as compared with 333<i01s 31 cents in 1884 and 39odois 41 cents as the average of the previous five years. But with all this increase the cost Gf living has kept pace, and the surplus of wages over cost of living now averages oOdols 45 cents, against 48dols 84 cents in 18S4, aud an average of 49d01s 76 cents for the five years previous. A curious feature of the return is that it shows clearly that the cities are not the most desirable places for workmen, It is true that the wages are higher, but the cost of living is higher in proportion, and there is a smaller surplus in

every oase, In the case of the larger cities there is for 1 males with dependents, tenants’—i.e., who do not own their houses —so close a margin that in London the wages do not come up to the average cost of living by 6dols 68 cents, and in Hamilton by 3dols 2 cents. In Toronto they show a surplus of 23d01s 90 cents.—Times. THE AMERICAN FIELD FOR EMIGRATION. The area in the United States suitable for farming is usually estimated at 1,500,000 square miles, or 960,000,000 of acres. In ISSO the area in farms was 536,081,835 acres. At the same rate of increase the area in farms must, in 1889, have been over 700,000,000 aores, leaving unoccupied 260,000,000 acres, a large part of which is in the hands of railway corporations. If there should be no increase in the rate o| demand the supply will be exhausted in twenty years.—Chambers’ Journal. THE NEW BAYONET. The appearance of the Guards’ sentries, in London, armed with the new magazine rifle and short sword-bayonet;; excites much conversation among military men. Why, men generally ask, was such a ridiculously, small bayonet stuck on top of the rifle? Then the old hands shake their heads and say such a miserable toothpick would never keep off a charge of cavalry.. The younger officers declare that if the 'contents of the magazine rifles do not keep off cavalry, nothing will. It does not, however, require a bayonet a yard long to let the life out of a man. —Broad Arrow. x FENCING THE NEWEST FAD. It is said that fencing is destined to be the fad in England this winter. It has already been taken up by a number of ladies, whose graceful figures are never seen to greater advantage than when practicing the art of Bwordsmanship. The prince of Wales’ daughters are all expert with the foil, and many of these ladies who weary themselves with every variety of exercise in the summer are takiDg to fencing as a substitute in the winter. Fencing parties will take the place of afternoon * tea-fights,’ and even the masher ' will have to learn the art or suffer exclusion from these festive gatherings. DIXEY AND THE DENTIST. Henry Dixey says that he was once playing in a small Texan town, daring his early stage days, and, having suffered tortures with an aching tooth, at last decided to have it out. On inquiry he learned that the only dentist there was an alleged Indian doctor, whose office was located in a tent on the outskirts of the town. The fellow was an Indian only in dress, however, for in reality he was a type of the untamed cowboy of the plains. * My tooth has been paining me dreadfully,’ began Dixey, as he seated himself on the only camp-stool in the tent, * and I want you to give me ether, doctor.' ‘ Ether,’ roared the cowboy dentist, as he swung a huge wooden mallet around his head. 1 4 Ether be blowed ; we stun ’em here,’ THE VITAL SPARK. What is the vital spark which animates organic life? The origin of vitality is as truly one of Nature’3 dark secrets, utterly hidden from the eye of thß scientific man of to-day a 3 from the perceptions of the earnest inquirers of 4000 years ago. There is more known of the method of its manifestations and growth than they knew, but whether correlative, or a substantive of heat, light, or electricity—whether measurable or immeasur. able—there is one thing pretty well ascertained, and that is that there is a fixed quantity apportioned to things and to mankind, and that vitality is an individual allot, ment, a separate characteristic, so to speak, bestowed upon each individual member of the organic creation, no two things of the same variety and genus receiving the same quantity.—M. J. Gaston. THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF TISMLet one think and say what one will about the crudity and intellectual barbarism of much of the philosophising of our contemporary nerve-dootors ; let one dislike as much as one may please the thoroughly materialistic attitude of mind which many of them show ; still, their work, as a whole, is sanctified by its positive, practical fertility. Theorems about the unity of the thinking principle will always be, as they always have been, barren ; bat observations of fact lead to new issues in infinitum. And when one reflects that nothing less .than the cure of insanity—that direst of human afflictions — lies po -sibly at the end of such inquiries as those which M. Janet and his conf; dres are beginning, one feels as if the disdain which some spiritualistic psychologists exhibit for such researches were very poorly placed. The way to redeem people from barbarism is not to stand aloof and sneer at their awkward attempts, bnt to Bhow them how to do the same things better. Ordinary hypnotic suggestion is proving itself immensely fertile in tlis therapeutic field ; and the subtler knowledge of subconscious states which we are now gaining will certainly increase our powers in thi3 direction many fold.— Scribner’s Magazine. REPUBLICANISM IN EUROPE. The fifty years in the future which, according to Bonaparte’s prediction, would sea Europe Republican or Cenacle arrived and went by two or three decades ago, yet the political transformation in neither of its features has taken place. A glance over the situation, however, will indicate the probability of the verification of the prediction at an earlier date than was deemed likely by the great majority of thinkers at the time when that utterance was madp. It is true, to he sure, that the area of influence of the Cossack has not been materially broadened since the great Corsican’s days. The sphere of activity of the Muscovite has not sensibly enlarged in Europe since the early years of the century, nor has bis patency or prestige increased in any marked or considerable degree relatively to that of the Teuton or the Gaul. The same barrier, broadly speaking, to Russia’s expansion southward and east-*

ward which existed when the Russian hosts were hurled back at Borodino- when they encountered Bonaparte’s legions interposes to-day. Royalty has not become wholly discredited or extinct in the past threequarters of a century, but it is threatened, nevertheless, with one of the forces whose potency and activity Napoleon foretold. In the interval sinoe his prognostication was made, France, after trying several forms of government, has permanently adopted the republican system, while the basis of the little Republic of Switzerland has been broadened and strengthened. Spain has tried the republican experiment, to be sure, and failed in it; yet the party pledged to its restoration, when the favourable moment comes, i 3 stronger than ever. Premier Salisbury has been appealed to by Bismarck to relax his demands on Portugal lest a revolution should come in that country and the monarchical system be subverted. The Emperor of Austria and the King of Greece, finding the outlook unfavourable, are talking about abdicating ; the Emperor of Germany and the King of Italy are compelled to grant concessions yearly to their subjects, while the death .of Queen Victoria and the Prince of Wales and the accession of the latter s son to the throne will undoubtedly endanger the maintenance of royalty in Great Britain. Throughout the whole of Europe republican sentiment is on the increase. In every country, from the Atlantic to the Carpathian Mountains, and from the Arctic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea, the hold of princes on the affections and fears the people is steadily and rapidly weakening.—St. Louis Globe-Democrat.