Science.

Wairarapa Standard, Volume XX, Issue 2029, 11 February 1887, Page 2 (Supplement)

Science.

Prehistoric Dentistry.—Dr. Martcr, of Rome, lias for some time past been devoting considerable time to examining the skuds in the various museums in Italy, and in Etruscan and Roman tombs; and lie has given an account odds investigations in the huhjinulrnt Pnti'filionrr. In the ruins of one of the Etruscan tombs, about the date .'OO li. C., ho found a partial denture. It was an arrangement for holding in position three upper artificial teeth by banding them to the natural teeth. These teetii were carved out of sonic large animal's toolh. And the denture found in an old Homan tomb consists of two natural teeth fastened by moans of soft gold hands to the contiguous teeth. The most recently opened and oldest Etruscan tomb yet discovered in Italy was recently excavated at Capadimonti; ling tomb belongs to the sixth century n. c., and amongst several articles of jcwelery a denture, very similar to those above described, was found. Mr. Martcr was unable to discover any stopped teeth, although many cases of caries and other denial diseases presented thems- lvcs. It is certain that dentistry must have been extensively practised in the early history of the world, and that gold must have been used largely; otherwise the early Greek or Homan legislators would not have mentioned the matter in the celebrated laws of the twelve tables.

A writer in the British Medical Journal, after referring to the disagreement among surgeons as tn whether smoking may bo the immediate cause of cancer, remarks that there is a condition of (he tongue which in many eases, is tho precursor of epithelioma—namely: “ ieueoplakia,” .and this disease is more generally considered to bo caused by smoking. The fact is pointed out that, among seventy-five recorded cases, all but four were smokers. One authority has shown that leueoplakia may he tho starting point of epithelioma, .and out of tho above mentioned number of cases forty-four developed epithelioma, and in one only was there a family history of cancer. Another authority states that out of fifty five cases of cancer of t’nc tongue about one fourth had been the the seat of leuconlakia.

Rain as a Stimulant- —The health-giving properties of rain arc not, appreciated by the pcnuial public. Rain is an essential to physical vtetfrr in localities (hat have an extensive population. Man and Ins occupations load tlie air with countless and unclassified impnrities. The generous, kindly rain absorbs them, even as a washerwoman extracts the dirt from soiled clothes. Thcammonical oxidations, the gases resultant from combustion and decay, arc all quietly absorbed by a brisk shower. People talk about a “’dry climate," but it is a snare and a del si' There is nothing in it. A very dry climate wiR never support a large population, for it would soon become so poisoned that it would be fatal to the human race. A scattering few might inhabit it, hut not the multitude.

Dr. Andries, the. German student of thunderstorms, attributes their increased violence in Europe of late years to the constantly growing impurity of the atmosphere, due chiefly to the smoke from manufacturing Establishments. Electrical tension, ho contends, is greatly augmented by the presence of dust particles in the air. To their presence also ho assigns the frequency of auroral displays in the northern hemisphere; while in the southern hemisphere the aurora is not so often seen," and thunder-storms are less severe. The facts stated by Dr. Andries are interesting whether there is any such relation as ho supposes between them or not.

An exception to the Newtonion law that attraction varies inversely as the square of the distance, appears to have been discovered by Sir William Thomson. This eminent physicist finds that the mutual attraction of parties of matter at the minute distance of less than ten micro-millimetres from one another is much greater than the law of gravitation calls for, and he suggests that this may be due to the influence of molecular movements, which constitute an attractive force additional to gravitation, but distinct from it. The subject is one of much interest, and will doubtless attract other investigators.

Thc-re is a plant in Australia (Pinonia finuidtx) which is a natural bird-catcher.

" The seeds arc like an elongated barley corn, and are covered with a very sticky gum, which adheres to (he legs and'fcalhersof any bird that comes in contact with it.” One tree, in the colony of Victoria, is known to have captured one hundred birds. After gelling into the gum they tell to the ground and could not fly away. The plant is described as very ornamental.

Some interesting experiments have recently been made by a Russian physiologist, Dr. I’atenko, of St. Petersburg, to’ascertain the effects of tin upon the animal system. Neither the pure metal nor the bi-chloride of Unproved poisonous when introduced into the stomach; but when the bi-chloride was injected into the veins of a dog, a dose of less than a grain was sufficient to cause speed death.

It seems that the common flat-bread i , Norway is made largely of the powdered bat k of young pine branches, not so much to save flour as to secure a light loaf. Of comae this bark possesses no nutritive value. Indeed, it is actually injurious to the digestive organs. Its true character has lately been pointed out in some of the Norwegian journals, and intelligent house-wives will probably abandon its use in bread-making.

To show the quantity of poison Convoyed in the fangs of some venomous snakes, Dr. Vincent Richards, of Bengal, mentions a krait —a snake whose poison glands are smaller than those of the cobra—which killed three men, and seriously poisoned a fourth by bites given in rapid succession. lie estimates that the reptile probably carried eight grains of liquid venom iu its poison glands.

According to the Onr/Irnm' Chr.)n'uh\ phiiantiinixfrurt/cosns (a plant which belongs to the same order as mint, sane, and marjoram) and the common elder, will keep flies out of rooms. *• On the continent, waggoners use the shoots of the latter stuck into the halter and other parts of the harness to keep flics from horses and draught oxen.”

A new elementary substance is said to have been discovered at Freiburg, in Saxony, by Mr. Clemens Winkler. It occurs in the mineral known ns argyroditc, is lion-metallic, and is closely related to arsenic and antimony, Argyroditc is a compound of sulphur, silver, anil.this new substance, which Mr. Winkler proposes to call Germanium.

A new sleep-producingdrugcallcd hypnotic has been brought to the attention of the medical world in the French flrnrrnl Ihdlrtln of Thn-iijh-nfii'*. The claim is made that it does not produce the unpleasant after symptoms of opium. It is a distilled mixture of acetate of lime with benzoate of lime,

One of the subject;, for the essays for the Uoylston medical prizeat Harvard University for I*B7 is the identilication of human blood in suspected stains. This is a matter of great importance in medical jurisprudence and well worthy of more thorough study thanlmsevor been devoted to it.