Page:Science vol. 5.djvu/89

 exploile wet gun-cotlon, Ihe bureau has


 * r consideration a plan of a piece which Is in-

"0 project an aeriaj torpedo, charged with a

ulreil pounds o[ wet guii-cotloii, to be exploded

ir upon an eneiny's deck.

��At the meeting of the physical section of the Imperial Kussian geographical society, held Dec, B, mention was made of Melnikow's archeological re- searches in the district ofTroItak and in the prov- ince of Slohilew. A few tumuli and prehistoric buildings bad been examined, among which Melni- kow claimed to have discovered cromlechs. Pro- fessor Sorokin travelled In central ThianShaii from Wemoje to the Issjk-Kul, thence by the TJVKhom Pass to the Naryii valley, and by Mart Pass to Na- Manghan in Ferghana. Old buildings were found on Ihe shore of the luyk-Eul, but no traces of any under the water. Limestones of very new formation were discovered in ibe lake. Professor Muechketow gave a ri-ntini of Konshln's travels In the steppe east of the Caspian, including a part of the old beda of the Amu-Daria, which was followed by an int<'re»t- ing discusaiou in reganl to these beds.

At a later meeting of the society, Dec. 17, Mr, Leg- tar read ■ comniunlcation on the country and tribes on the Afghan frontier. lie first recalled his re- marks made last year, that the only means of thor- oughly subduing the Turcoman sleppe was to annex Ht-rv. and that It was comparatively easy at that [Jme on account of the prestige of Russia. His ex- pectations had been more than realized, as not only Herv had been peacefully annexed, but the country of the Saryks, southern Turcoinauia, had submitted. The peaceful annexation of Merv was said to be partly due to the conviction of the people that they would never have peace while there was not a power strong enough to enforce it. and that Russia was Ibis power. After the subjection of Merv, the Kub- siaiLS came In contact with the Saryks, who had been liitherto very little known. Lessar found a great difference tKtween the natives of Jalatan, near Uerv, and of Fende, which Is farther south. The former are very poor, not even possessing the com- modities most prized by nomads, viz., good Beld- tenlB, fast horses, etc. ; while this kind of wealth is more abundant in Penile. The people are not en- tirely nomadic, but know something of agriculture. They make use of artificial irrigation, though their method of storing and conducting water is very crude, and they know nothing of levelling. Lessar made the interesting discovery that the mountains In Ihe south are very low, and composed of soft strata ; while the same chain is much higher atid sleeper to the west and east. The Salors, a small tribe living near Merv, are very poor, the probable reason beiiig the long cessation from robbing expeditions, while l^cultui'e and stock-raising are rc;iidered insecure Uie incursions of their neighbors. A. Woeikof.

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��EMMERICH ON THE CHOLERA BACIL- LUS.

Thb Lancet of Dec. L'7. tte4, gives a very inter- esting resume of a paper by Dr. Rudolf Emmerich, which is to be publislied in the forthcoming number of the Archie Jilr hygiene. The remarks are taken from advance proofs, and Ibe original article has not yet reached us. The observations were made during the epidemic in Naples, and at the Instance of the Bavarian government.

Dr. Kmmericb did not limit liimself to observations upon the comma bacillus, but attempted to discover other organisms by means of various culture-media and methods. He procured blood upon a sterilized platinum needle from the median vein of a young woman In collapse from cholera, and about six hour* before death. He inocnlaled ten tubes containing nutrient gelatine in three places each, and found or- ganisms in three of them, the other seven remaining sterile.

The organisms were all of one kind, cylindrical, with roimded ends, and occurring singly or in pairs, the length being about one and one-batf times more than their widtlL They grow at ordinary temperatures in slightly alkaline nutrient gelatine, which they liquefy in solid opalescent patches. Under alow power (T"). the colonies in the deeper portions of the gelatine pre- sent the form of a hone: those more superficial are like flat, circular mussel-sbetls.

The deeper colonies are yellowish brown by trans- mitted light, while by reflected tight, and are finely granular. Those on the surface are pale yellow in the centre, whitish at the margin, and spread over the gelatine in a film.

These organisms were cultivated from the blood anil from the internal organs of nine persons dead of cholera. They were most numerous in the kidneys and liver, then in the lungs, and least abuudaul In the spleen. They were found in sections of the in- testines and kidneys (other organs not yet examined), and in very large numbers in the dejections and in- testines after death. They grew in every culture ex- periment with alvine cholera material, whereas the comma haccilli only occurred in some cases.

Inoculation experiments were made at the Hygienic institute of Munich in conjunction with Dr. Sehlnn. The animals used wete mostly guinea-pigs, and symp- toms were produced similar to those of cholera. The changes noticed varied from a simple desqiumative catarrh, with rice-water-like Intestinal contenls, to hemorrhagic exudation, and destniction of the mu-

The inoculations were made by the injection of two drops of a solution of a portion of a pure culture the size of a pin's head in two drams of water into the lungs, or aubcutaueously. This produced an ill- ness of from five to six days, with marked changes in the infestinal mucous membrane. The injection of a large quantity produced death In from sixteen to tliirty hours, but with much less marked changes In Ibe intestines.

The puhliralion of the full paper is awaited with

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