Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 17.djvu/733

Rh first seen by Captain Ray, an American sailor, at Concepcion, South America, at about noon of February 27th, only a short distance in the sky from the sun. On the 28th of February, the head of the comet, with a tail several degrees in length, was observed at noon in various parts of Italy, off the Cape of Good Hope, and at different points in the United States and Mexico. The tail was remarked on the 1st of March in southern latitudes, on the 8th at Lisbon, Portugal, and on the 11th at Montpellier, France, but was not observed in England till the 17th, on the evening of which day it attracted general attention in most parts of Europe.

Hygiene of New-born Children.—The subject of the hygiene of new-born children is engaging the attention of French sanitarians. The present minimum rate of mortality of children under one year old is estimated to be one hundred per thousand. The rate in France is double this, or two hundred per thousand; and the excess is really greater than it seems, for the minimum itself is larger than it should be, and ought, by proper management, to be reduced to eighty and even seventy in a thousand. The chief among the several causes to which the large proportion of deaths is ascribed is artificial alimentation. That the whole physiological development of the newborn child is determined by the character of the food that is given to it, is enforced by all the facts that have been gathered in France. The subject was fully discussed at the International Hygienic Congress, held at Paris during the Exposition of 1878, and some significant facts were presented in illustration of the enormous difference which exists between the mortality of children brought up at home and that of children intrusted to hired nurses and the not less marked difference in the rate of mortality of children nursed at the breast and of children fed artificially. Among children of the easier classes, brought up at home, the rate of mortality often falls as low as 70 or 80 per 1,000; among children intrusted to hired nurses, it was stated to vary from 240 to 750, and even to 900 per 1,000. Among children nursed by their mothers, a rate of mortality was found of only 8·28 per 100; among children brought up by nurses, of 18 per 100 at home, 22 per 100 when they were taken away; among those fed from the bottle, the average was 51 per 100. Dr. Monot stated that, in the department of the Nièvre, in the case of children who had been sent down from-Paris without supervision, and had been consigned to hired nurses, the mortality was 710 per 1,000. In the case of assisted children sent out by responsible organizations, under the care of agents and inspectors, it was 240 per 1,000; in the case of those intrusted to nurses who were watched over by the societies for the protection of infants, it fell to 120 and even 90 per 1,000; and, in cases where the young mothers were helped to the means of living, and were able to take care of their children and nurse them, to 70 per 1,000. These facts, though many of them are only approximative, seem to be decisive as to the superiority of maternal nursing. Inasmuch, however, as the number of mothers who can not themselves nurse their babies is very great, and a large proportion of them are not able to hire wet-nurses, the question as to what is the best substitute for mother's milk is an important one. The Municipal Council of Paris has just authorized an experiment which will help answer it. It has decided to establish a nursery in connection with its hospital for assisted children, with stables to be occupied by the various animals usually depended upon for their milk, the milk of which will be given to the children fresh and absolutely pure, in such a systematic manner that the advantages attributed to the milk of each animal may be rigorously and scientifically tested. The whole will be under the direction of Professor Parrot.

Equatorial Temperatures.—Why is the equator not warmer in January, when the earth is nearest to the sun, than in July? Mr. Croll assigns as the reason that the northern hemisphere, which he calls the dominant hemisphere, having its winter in January, the whole earth is colder at that time; also that the northern trade-winds pass farther south in January, and cool the equatorial regions more than at the other seasons. His views are disputed by Mr. A. Woiekoff, of St. Petersburg, who denies