SKELETON MAKING.

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 182, 11 December 1886, Page 7

SKELETON MAKING.

A Visit to a Curious Manufactory in tho Paris Suburbs. The other day, beit>g in Paris, it occurred to mo f,h,i< if-, would ba an excellent oppor tunity of obtaining some reilly good osteolo^ioil piepara'iomi, which I bad heard to be h,>d <.>,t a more reasonable figure than the lancy pi ice', asked for them in England. One (\d\ while acting at the oifnio of a veil k-itw- yhydcian, on 3 of the ] -u'onts on boii •/ r.-koi her profe-tion said -ho dcpiolad lc\ s(/v>J?tle\, which on inquiry I ascertained to liO.u a " bono pooler." I ."•t nncc in^er^cd m;y.<=f>if in her conr'irion, 'vhifh n-a? one rj eHorosis, and ingr'itiited iiiYs<='t: v UK Kf>. so tl-.ri, c. week or fcv.o later ~«hp r.occrior) r)io'7^h rolnctanily, to my re-qui;-.t, to t-ike n>o to tho fabiiquo where U'o s-rifcimem \»uo pixjpared. It was u lonu"- jv..ur: cv, li^hr awoy info one -'i ws_ (le-ed p't'ina lulling vs ith chimney ■• ' auk j viich b- ■iscl P.'ivio o?i the north side. Tho nirk'n.; to wh-cL the conducted me 0 ') construction, sub(Vid* .1 3Mtn n man arolier and outhouses, i no ', , t or , ooi.i m as (.couu>-a Dy a fceriss of LtUjM (m!iJ)ot >, Iho emanations from ■Ahifh %vcve, b\ on to one accustomed to the .'"ri»'«: ',uOi vi it 'it; die tuiciiuL' -loooi, rmu-eat-in^jn tno t^c-'- 1 n • »nd Mio blond formed v. it!i tlicLr.j > ' iuu=i cifdc antiaoT^tic^ wa-^ v^ ;- ( ---- rr-| r r-| ;■ n.iting Tho dlsariicuiatiun of f-kulls i 1i 1 - carried on separately, . • ' ' X "-" q : create, eklll «nd nc^yuiitfc ,iia jipol.-^ jop, le is effected on Jv< ou.ulL-3 of voun-i adults or children by iho ih o v i_ohs pan of {illiuo; the omptied ciaui '. o.tvii^ ->,-*-h -lii^d peas, which are then -tv fKd in vafer, oi.d in sv. eliing comjK<l Vi o ai^iunr txon more delicately than coul'.' oe dune in any other way. i-orr.'-i oi ! ho onidr')n« concained the bodies cf i, i: i ; h ~\i ho q j-k^ciczis, if not as valus>U" ,? • j-v,r.=o -•* !<ini! in beings, arc still inJi>uuu UJ ''!. fo» c. i .Hi.tij of natural hictory, jnd o.e tor , r-nfod in largo numbers to the ,u.il i. -, i^^l , t ri coJ.Auij.-haienta in France and abroad. Ait'jr a prolonged boiling the liuib^ aro plac 7 '•n a table and the adhering nwuos cn~i iuliy removed, each workmin v•, -nrk>\ oni n h.jvjnj? hi? or hnr own c/ L-la'uy. Ig. < .v. v.v uiuii at a\ oik on frogs, H/.Ucls, e'e, iv obtain a tatisfactory prepinnion of vVoh lcnuiroa a special and highly rcrnuneriitivo riuxteiity. The grease A'.'ch colipp -m i' tJ the iop of fcho vats was "CO! jvd cti friii consign d to a loccptaclo in lint c >tvg\ (n tho iooiii, but its ultimatedescmi'jon I \*va=i uroblo to a^cevlain. T'.e boaoc aio •ho i b'j^chbd, the chcapar v,uietiG3 simply by moina of chloride of line, tl-.e setter onc^ \n tho eun, and they ultini. t-fiy y-i(^ ;tno t.i? fiuioning room, ■\\heie they are titi\ated, assorted and converted, a^ La- a? may bo, into " articulated tkele'ona"' *.t vequue^ no small amount of ingenuity and knowledge of this particulai clepaitmer.t to bo able to choose out of tho mitucll vicous collection of bones wheien'ithal tv construcb a skeleton which shall pa? 3 ma=lyr ior that; of a single indivirlv\a!, unJ only the best bones ara so adapted, the remainder going to mako up the disuetieuiattMl and half skeletons which have to answer the purposes of study for the more e^ono nically disposed students. Curiously enough, the sex appeared to have a, distinct iniiue.noo on the value of the skeleton, a Teina'fa skeleton possessing a value many francs higbor than that of the corresponding mule. In anothovtank, awiitins: treatment, ■wore a number of infant bodies, varying from minus four months to plus several daya. la tho show room? they were arranged in a graduated scale {echclie inon.tante), from the diminutive liUlo ex-moital, whose heighfi did not exceed four inches, to the adult baby, measmiing from eiehtteon to twenty, all being in the attitude known in tho military world as that of "attention" Theea have a special value of their own, far greater in proportion io their size than that of their bigger brethren. I naturally wondered where all the bodies came from. I was told that the dissecting rooms and hospitals furnished a large proportion, and that the proprietor of the establishment took care to monopolise tho supply, which was always short of the demand. Tho convict establishments also contribute a aharo, and my guide told me that on one occa&ion, during the very hot weather, a cargo of those ghaetly debris was loffc an the station by mistake until, warned by the smell, the porters fetched the comuiksairo of police, who opined for a wholesale butchery and commenced an inquest. It turned up right in Iho end, moyciinanf Jlnance, but this untoward occurrence hampered the pupply for a while, The relative eht i aptjo t s and abundance of tho supply from Vienna since the Russo-Tmkish war had somewhat r epressed tho trado, but it teemed to fiourieh all the same, unaffected by tho crisc commercicde, which had brought so many other neighbouring industries almost to a standstill. I obtained what I wiehed in the way of specimens, and this at an extremely moderate rate, but 1 could not forbear the remark on leaving, "im drole da mtticr tout de meme." — "London Medical Press."

Thie^ splendid soams o£ coal have been discovered on the island of M-itensina in Japan. The sxipply is practically iive thaustible. The Grand Lama of an aboriginal tribe, who inhabit a large tract of cquntry ia the provinco of 1111, has a.rivod at Tientsin, and complains* that bis country has been. seized by the Russians, who state that ifc had beon ceded to them by the Emperor of China. The Lama now claims that hie country 01 other territory of equal extent, shall bo restored to him, otherwise ha will drivo the Russians out