Chapter X: TECHNOLOGY.--Apparatus for Testing Champagne Bottles and (4)

It remains for us to ascertain to what degree of approximation we can determine _p_ and _q_. To find _q_ we must first construct a column of mercury of known dimensions; this problem was solved by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures for the construction of the legal ohm. The legal ohm is supposed to have a resistance equal to 106.00 times that of a cube of mercury of 0.01 meter, side measurement. The approximation obtained is comprised between 1/50000 and 1/200000. To obtain _p_, we must be able to construct a plane condenser of known capacity. The difficulty here consists in knowing with a sufficient approximation the thickness of the stratum of air. We may employ as armatures two surfaces of glass, ground optically, silvered to render them conductive, but so slightly as to obtain by transparence Fizeau's interference rings. Fizeau's method will then permit us to arrive at a close approximation. In fine, then, we may, _a priori_, hope to reach an approximation of one hundred-thousandth of the value of _pq_.

Independently of the use which may be made of it for measuring time in absolute value, the apparatus described possesses peculiar properties. It constitutes a kind of clock which indicates, registers, and, if needful, corrects automatically its own variations of speed. The apparatus being regulated so that the magnetic needle may be at zero, if the speed of the commutator is slightly increased, the equilibrium is disturbed and the magnetic needle deviates in the corresponding direction; if on the contrary the speed diminishes, the action of the antagonistic circuit predominates, and the needle deviates in the contrary direction. These deviations, when small, are proportional to the variations of speed. They may be, in the first place, observed. They may, further, be registered, either photographically or by employing a Redier apparatus, like that which M. Mascart has adapted to his quadrant electrometer; finally, we may arrange the Redier to react upon the speed so as to reduce its variations to zero. If these variations are not completely annulled, they will still be registered and can be taken into account.

As an indicator of variations this apparatus can be of remarkable sensitiveness, which may be increased indefinitely by enlarging its dimensions.

With a battery of 10 volts, a condenser of a microfarad, 10 discharges per second, and a Thomson's differential galvanometer sensitive to 10^{-10} amperes, we obtain already a sensitiveness of 1/1000000, i.e., a variation of 1/1000000 in the speed is shown after some seconds of a deviation of one millimeter. Even the stroboscopic method does not admit of such sensitiveness.

We may therefore find, with a very close approximation, a speed always the same on condition that the solid parts of the apparatus (the condenser and the resistance) are protected from causes of variation and used always at the same temperature. Doubtless, a well-constructed astronomical clock maintains a very uniform movement; but the electric clock is placed in better conditions for invariability, for all the parts are massive and immovable; they are merely required to remain unchanged, and there is no question of the wear and tear of wheel-work, the oxidation of oils, or the variations of weight. In other words, the system formed by a condenser and a resistance constitutes a standard of time easy of preservation.

* * * * *

NEW METHOD OF MAINTAINING THE VIBRATION OF A PENDULUM.

A recent number of the _Comptes Rendus_ contains a note by M.J. Carpentier describing a method of maintaining the vibrations of a pendulum by means of electricity, which differs from previous devices of the same character in that the impulse given to the pendulum at each vibration is independent of the strength of the current employed, and that the pendulum itself is entirely free, save at the point of suspension. The vibrations are maintained, not by direct impulsion, but by a slight horizontal displacement of the point of suspension in alternate directions.

This, as M. Carpentier observes, is the method which we naturally adopt in order to maintain the amplitude of swing of a heavy body suspended from a cord held in the hand. The required movement of the point of suspension is effected by means of a polarized relay, through the coils of which the current is periodically reversed by the action of the pendulum, in a manner which will presently be explained. The armature of the relay oscillates between two stops whose distance apart is capable of fine adjustment.

It is clear, therefore, that the impulse is independent of the strength of the current in the relay, provided that the armature is brought up to the stop on either side. The reversal of the current is effected by means of a small magnet carried by the bob of the pendulum, and which as it passes underneath the point of suspension is brought close to a soft iron armature, which has the form of an arc of a circle described about the point of suspension. This armature is pivoted at its center, and thus executes vibrations synchronously with those of the pendulum. These vibrations are adjusted to a very narrow range, but are sufficient to close the contacts of a commutator which reverses the current at each semi-vibration of the pendulum.

The beauty and ingenuity of this device will readily be appreciated.

* * * * *

DR. MORELL MACKENZIE.

The name of the great English laryngologist, which has long been honored by scientists of England and the Continent, has lately become familar to everyone, even in unprofessional circles, in Germany because of his operations on the Crown Prince's throat. If his wide experience and great skill enable him to permanently remove the growth from the throat of his royal patient, if his diagnosis and prognosis are confirmed, so that no fear need be entertained for the life and health of the Crown Prince, the English specialist will certainly deserve the most sincere thanks of the German nation. Every phase of this treatment, every new development, is watched with suspense and hope.

Many have been unable to suppress the expression of regret that this important case was not under the care of a German, and part of the press look upon it as unjust treatment of the German specialists. But science is international, it knows no political boundaries, and the choice of Dr. Mackenzie by the family of the Crown Prince, whose sympathy with England is natural, cannot be considered a slight to German physicians when it is taken into consideration that the German authorities pronounced the growth suspicious and advised a difficult and doubtful operation, and that Prof. v. Bergman recommended that a foreign authority be consulted. As Dr. Mackenzie removed the obstruction, which had already become threatening and, in fact, dangerous, causing a loss of voice, and promised to remove any new growth from the inside without danger to the patient, the Crown Prince naturally trusted him. Since Virchow has made a microscopic examination of the part which was cut away, and has declared the new growth to be benign, all Germans should watch the results of Dr. Mackenzie's operations with sympathy, trusting that all further growth will be prevented, and that the Crown Prince will be restored to the German people in his former state of health.

Dr. Morell Mackenzie has lately reached his fiftieth year, and has attained the height of his fame as an author and practitioner. He was born at Leytonston in 1837, and studied first in London. At the age of twenty-two he passed his examination, then practiced as physician in the London Hospital, and obtained his degree in 1862. A year later he received the Jackson prize from the Royal Society of Surgeons for his treatment of a laryngeal case.

He completed his studies in Paris, Vienna (with Siegmund), and Budapest. In the latter place he worked with Czermak, making a special study of the laryngoscope. Later he published an excellent work on "Diseases of the Throat and Nose," which was the fruit of twelve years' work. The evening before the day on which this work was to have been issued, the whole edition was destroyed by a fire which occurred in the printing establishment, and had to be reprinted from the proof sheets, which were saved. In 1870 his work "On Growths in the Throat" appeared, and he has also published many articles in the _British Medical Journal_, the _Lancet_, _Medical Times and Gazette_, etc., which have been translated into different languages, making his name renowned all over Europe.

Since he founded the first English hospital for diseases of the throat and chest, in London in 1863, and held the position of lecturer on diseases of the throat in the London Medical College, his career has been watched with interest by the public, and his practice in England is remarkable. Therefore it is no wonder that his lately published work "On the Hygiene of the Vocal Organs" has reached its fourth edition already. This work is read not only by physicians, but also by singers and lecturers.

As a learned man in his profession, as an experienced diagnostician, and as a skillful and fortunate practitioner, he is surpassed by none; and his ability will be well known far beyond the borders of Great Britain if fortune favors him and he restores the future Emperor of Germany to his former strength and vigor, without which we cannot imagine this knightly form. The certainty with which Dr. Mackenzie speaks of permanent cures which he has effected in similar cases, together with the clear and satisfactory report of the great pathologist Virchow, lead us to look to the future with confidence.--_Illustrirte Zeitung._

* * * * *

HYPNOTISM IN FRANCE.[1]

[Footnote 1: Translated for _Science_ from _Der Spinx_.]

The voluntary production of those abnormal conditions of the nerves which to-day are denoted by the term "hypnotic researches" has manifested itself in all ages and among most of the nations that are known to us. Within modern times these phenomena were first reduced to a system by Mesmer, and, on this account, for the future deserve the attention of the scientific world. The historical description of this department, if one intends to give a connected account of its development, and not a series of isolated facts, must begin with a notice of Mesmer's personality, and we must not confound the more recent development of our subject with its past history.

The period of mesmerism is sufficiently understood from the numerous writings on the subject, but it would be a mistake to suppose that in Braid's "Exposition of Hypnotism" the end of this subject had been reached. In a later work I hope to show that the fundamental ideas of biomagnetism have not only had in all periods of this century capable and enthusiastic advocates, but that even in our day they have been subjected to tests by French and English investigators from which they have issued triumphant.

The second division of this historical development is carried on by Braid, whose most important service was emphasizing the subjectivity of the phenomena. Without any connection with him, and yet by following out almost exactly the same experiments, Professor Heidenhain reached his physiological explanations. A third division is based upon the discovery of the hypnotic condition in animals, and connects itself to the _experimentum mirabile_. In 1872 the first writings on this subject appear from the pen of the physiologist Czermak; and since then the investigations have been continued, particularly by Professor Preyer.

While England and Germany were led quite independently to the study of the same phenomena, France experienced a strange development, which shows, as nothing else could, how truth everywhere comes to the surface, and from small beginnings swells to a flood which carries irresistibly all opposition with it. This fourth division of the history of hypnotism is the more important, because it forms the foundation of a transcendental psychology, and will exert a great influence upon our future culture; and it is this division to which we wish to turn our attention. We have intentionally limited ourselves to a chronological arrangement, since a systematic account would necessarily fall into the study of single phenomena, and would far exceed the space offered to us.

James Braid's writings, although they were discussed in detail in Littré and Robin's "Lexicon," were not at all the cause of Dr. Philips' first books, who therefore came more independently to the study of the same phenomena. Braid's theories became known to him later by the observations made upon them in Béraud's "Elements of Physiology" and in Littré's notes in the translation of Müller's "Handbook of Physiology;" and he then wrote a second brochure, in which he gave in his allegiance to braidism. His principal effort was directed to withdrawing the veil of mystery from the occurrences, and by a natural explanation relegating them to the realm of the known. The trance caused by regarding fixedly a gleaming point produces in the brain, in his opinion, an accumulation of a peculiar nervous power, which he calls "electrodynamism." If this is directed in a skillful manner by the operator upon certain points, it manifests itself in certain situations and actions that we call hypnotic. Beyond this somewhat questionable theory, both books contained a detailed description of some of the most important phenomena; but with the practical meaning of the phenomena, and especially with their therapeutic value, the author concerned himself but slightly. Just on account of this pathological side, however, a certain attention has been paid to hypnotism up to the present time.

In the year 1847 two surgeons in Poictiers, Drs. Ribaut and Kiaros, employed hypnotism with great success in order to make an operation painless. "This long and horrible work," says a journal of the day, "was much more like a demonstration in a dissecting room than an operation performed upon a living being." Although this operation produced such an excitement, yet it was twelve years later before decisive and positive official intelligence was given of these facts by Broca, Follin, Velpeau, and Guérinau. But these accounts, as well as the excellent little book by Dr. Azam, shared the fate of their predecessors. They were looked upon by students with distrust, and by the disciples of Mesmer with scornful contempt.

The work of Demarquay and Giraud Teulon showed considerable advance in this direction. The authors, indeed, fell back upon the theory of James Braid, which they called stillborn, and of which they said, "_Elle est restée accrochée en route_;" but they did not satisfy themselves with a simple statement of facts, as did Gigot Suard in his work that appeared about the same time. Through systematic experiments they tried to find out where the line of hypnotic phenomena intersected the line of the realm of the known. They justly recognized that hypnotism and hysteria have many points of likeness, and in this way were the precursors of the present Parisian school. They say that from magnetic sleep to the hypnotic condition an iron chain can be easily formed from the very same organic elements that we find in historical conditions.

At the same time, as if to bring an experimental proof of this assertion, Lasigue published a report on catalepsy in persons of hysterical tendencies, which be afterward incorporated into his larger work. Among his patients, those who were of a quiet and lethargic temperament, by simply pressing down the eyelids, were made to enter into a peculiar state of languor, in which cataleptic contractions were easily produced, and which forcibly recalled hypnotic phenomena. "One can scarcely imagine," says the author, "a more remarkable spectacle than that of a sick person sunk in deep sleep, and insensible to all efforts to arouse him, who retains every position in which he is placed, and in it preserves the immobility and rigidity of a statue." But this impulse also was in vain, and in only a few cases were the practical tests followed up with theoretical explanations.

Unbounded enthusiasm and unjust blame alike subsided into a silence that was not broken for ten years. Then Charles Richet, a renowned scientist, came forward in 1875, impelled by the duty he felt he owed as a priest of truth, and made some announcements concerning the phenomena of somnambulism; and in countless books, all of which are worthy of attention, he has since then considered the problem from its various sides.

He separates somnambulism into three periods. The word here is used for this whole class of subjects as Richet himself uses it, viz., _torpeur_, _excitation_, and _stupeur_. In the first, which is produced by the so-called magnetic passes and the fixing of the eyes, silence and languor come over the subject. The second period, usually produced by constant repetition of the experiment, is characterized chiefly by sensibility to hallucination and suggestion. The third period has as its principal characteristics supersensibility of the muscles and lack of sensation. Yet let it be noticed that these divisions were not expressed in their present clearness until 1880; while in the years between 1872 and 1880, from an entirely different quarter, a similar hypothesis was made out for hypnotic phenomena.

Jean Martin Charcot, the renowned neurologist of the Parisian Salpetriere, without exactly desiring it, was led into the study of artificial somnambulism by his careful experiments in reference to hysteria, and especially by the question of _metallotherapie_, and in the year 1879 had prepared suitable demonstrations, which were given in public lectures at the Salpetriere. In the following years he devoted himself to closer investigation of this subject, and was happily and skillfully assisted by Dr. Paul Richer, with whom were associated many other physicians, such as Bourneville, Regnard, Fere, and Binet. The investigations of these men present the peculiarity that they observe hypnotism from its clinical and nosographical side, which side had until now been entirely neglected, and that they observe patients of the strongest hysterical temperaments. "If we can reasonably assert that the hypnotic phenomena which depend upon the disturbance of a regular function of the organism demand for their development a peculiar temperament, then we shall find the most marked phenomena when we turn to an hysterical person."

The inferences of the Parisian school up to this time are somewhat the following, but their results, belonging almost entirely to the medical side of the question, can have no place in this discussion. They divide the phenomena of hystero-hypnotism, which they also call _grande hysterie_, into three plainly separable classes, which Charcot designates catalepsy, lethargy, and somnambulism.

Catalepsy is produced by a sudden sharp noise, or by the sight of a brightly gleaming object. It also produces itself in a person who is in a state of lethargy, and whose eyes are opened. The most striking characteristic of the cataleptic condition is immobility. The subject retains every position in which he is placed, even if it is an unnatural one, and is only aroused by the action of suggestion from the rigor of a statue to the half life of an automaton. The face is expressionless and the eyes wide open. If they are closed, the patient falls into a lethargy.

In this second condition, behind the tightly closed lids, the pupils of the eyes are convulsively turned upward. The body is almost entirely without sensation or power of thought. Especially characteristic of lethargy is the hyper-excitability of the nerves and muscles (_hyperexcitabilite neuromusculaire_), which manifests itself at the slightest touch of any object. For instance, if the extensor muscles of the arm are lightly touched, the arm stiffens immediately, and is only made flexible again by a hard rubbing of the same muscles. The nerves also react in a similar manner. The irritation of a nerve trunk not only contracts all the small nerves into which it branches, but also all those muscles through which it runs.

Finally, the somnambulistic condition proceeds from catalepsy or from lethargy by means of a slight pressure upon the _vertex_, and is particularly sensitive to every psychical influence. In some subjects the eyes are open, in others closed. Here, also, a slight irritation produces a certain amount of rigor in the muscle that has been touched, but it does not weaken the antagonistic muscle, as in lethargy, nor does it vanish under the influence of the same excitement that has produced it. In order to put an end to the somnambulistic condition, one must press softly upon the pupil of the eye, upon which the subject becomes lethargic, and is easily roused by breathing upon him. In this early stage, somnambulism appears very infrequently.

Charcot's school also recognize the existence of compound conditions, the history of whose symptoms we must not follow here. These slightly sketched results, as well as a number of other facts, were only obtained in the course of several years; yet in 1882 the fundamental investigations of this school were considered virtually concluded. Then Dumont-Pallier, the head of the Parisian Hospital Pitié, came forward with a number of observations, drawn also exclusively from the study of hystero-hypnotism, and yet differing widely from those reached by the physicians of the Salpetriere. In a long series of communications, he has given his views, which have in their turn been violently attacked, especially by Magnin and Bérillon. I give only the most important points.

According to these men, the hyper-excitability of the nerves and muscles is present not only in the lethargic condition, but in all three periods; and in order to prove this, we need only apply the suitable remedy, which must be changed for each period and every subject. Slight irritations of the skin prove this most powerfully. A drop of warm water or a ray of sunshine produces contractions of a muscle whose skin covering they touch.

Dumont-Pallier and Magnin accede to the theory of intermediate stages, and have tried to lay down rules for them with as great exactness as Charcot's school. They also are very decided about the three periods, whose succession does not appear to them as fixed; but they discovered a new fundamental law which regulates the production as well as the cessation of the condition--_La cause qui fait, defait_; that is, the stimulus which produces one of the three periods needs only to be repeated in order to do away with that condition. From this the following diagram of hypnotic conditions is evolved:

And, furthermore, Dumont-Pallier should be considered as the founder of a series of experiments, for he was the first one to show in a decisive manner that the duality of the cerebral system was proved by these hypnotic phenomena; and his works, as well as those of Messrs. Bérillon and Descourtis, have brought to light the following facts: Under hypnotic conditions, the psychical activity of a brain hemisphere may be suppressed without nullifying the intellectual activity or consciousness. Both hemispheres may be started at the same time in different degrees of activity; and also, when the grade is the same, they may be independently the seat of psychical manifestations which are in their natures entirely different. In close connection with this and with the whole doctrine of hemi-hypnotism, which is founded upon these facts, stand the phenomena of thought transference, which we must consider later.

As an addition to the investigations of Charcot and Dumont-Pallier, Brémaud, in 1884, made the discovery that there was a fourth hypnotic state, "fascination," which preceded the three others, and manifested itself by a tendency to muscular contractions, as well as through sensitiveness to hallucination and suggestion, but at the same time left to the subject a full consciousness of his surroundings and remembrance of what had taken place. Descourtis, in addition, perceived a similar condition in the transition from hypnotic sleep to waking, which he called _delire posthypnotique_, and, instead of using the word "fascination" to express the opening stage, he substituted "captation." According to him, the diagram would be the following:

This whole movement, which I have tried to sketch, and whose chief peculiarity is that it considers hypnotism a nervous malady, and one that must be treated clinically and nosographically, was opposed in 1880 in two directions--one source of opposition producing great results, while the other fell to the ground. The latter joined itself to the theory of the mesmerists, and tried, by means of exact experiments, to measure the fluid emanating from the human body--an undertaking which gave slight promise of any satisfactory result.

Baillif in his thesis (1878) and Chevillard in his (for spiritualists) very interesting books, tried, by means of various arguments, to uphold the fluidic explanation. Despine also thought that by its help he had been able to explain the phenomena; but it was Baréty who, in the year 1881, first turned general attention in this direction. According to him, mankind possesses a nerve force which emanates from him in different kinds of streams. Those coming from the eyes and fingers produce insensibility to pain, while those generated by the breath cause hypnotic conditions. This nerve force goes out into the ether, and there obeys the laws that govern light, being broken into spectra, etc.

Claude Perronnet has more lately advanced similar views, and his greatest work is now in press. Frederick W.H. Myers and Edmund Gurney sympathize with these views, and try to unite them with the mesmerist doctrine of personal influence and their theory of telepathy. The third champion in England of hypnotism, Prof. Hack Tuke, on the contrary, sympathizes entirely with the Parisian school, only differing from them in that he has experimented with satisfactory results upon healthy subjects. In France this view has lately been accepted by Dr. Bottey, who recognizes the three hypnotic stages in healthy persons, but has observed other phenomena in them, and vehemently opposes the conception of hypnotism as a malady. His excellently written book is particularly commended to those who wish to experiment in the same manner as the French investigator, without using hysterical subjects.

The second counter current that opposed itself to the French neuropathologists, and produced the most lasting impression, is expressed by the magic word "suggestion." A generation ago, Dr. Liebault, the patient investigator and skillful physician, had endeavored to make a remedial use of suggestion in his clinic at Nancy. Charles Richet and others have since referred to it, but Professor Bernheim was the first one to demonstrate its full significance in the realm of hypnotism. According to him, suggestion--that is, the influence of any idea, whether received through the senses or in a hypersensible manner (_suggestion mentale_)--is the key to all hypnotic phenomena. He has not been able in a single case to verify the bodily phenomena of _grandehypnotisme_ without finding suggestion the primary cause, and on this account denies the truth of the asserted physical causes. Bernheim says that when the intense expectance of the subject has produced a compliant condition, a peculiar capacity is developed to change the idea that has been received into an action as well as a great acuteness of acceptation, which together will produce all those phenomena that we should call by the name of "pathological sleep," since they are only separable in a gradual way from the ordinary sleep and dream conditions. Bernheim is particularly strenuous that psychology should appear in the foreground of hypnotism, and on this point has been strongly upheld by men like Professors Beaunis and Richet.

The possibility of suggestion in waking conditions, and also a long time after the sleep has passed off (_suggestions posthypnotiques ou suggestions a (longue) echeance_), as well as the remarkable capacity of subjects to change their personality (_changement de la personnalite objectivation des types_), have been made the subject of careful investigation. The voluntary production of bleeding and stigmata through spiritual influence has been asserted, particularly by Messrs. Tocachon, Bourru, and Burot. The judicial significance of suggestion has been discussed by Professor Liegeois and Dr. Ladame. Professor Pitres in Bordeaux is one of the suggestionists, though differing in many points from the Nancy school.

This whole tendency brings into prominence the psychical influence, while it denies the production of these results from purely physical phenomena, endeavoring to explain them in a different manner. These explanations carry us into two realms, the first of which has been lately opened, and at present seems to abound more in enigmas than in solutions.

_Metallotherapie_, which was called into existence by Dr. Burg, and further extended by Dr. Gellé, contains a special point of interest--the so-called transference in the case of hysterically or hypnotically affected persons. Transference is caused by electro-magnetism, which has this peculiarity--that in the case of specially sensitive persons it can transfer the bodily affection from left to right, and _vice versa_. The transference of paralysis, the cures attempted on this plan, and the so-called "psychical transference," which contains special interest for graphologists, are at the present time still open questions, as well as the closely connected theory of human polarity; and the odic experiments of Dr. Chazarain are yet waiting for their confirmation. At present the problem of the connection between magnetism and hypnotism is under investigation, and in such a manner that we may hope for a speedy solution.

Still stranger than these reports are the accounts of the distant operation of certain bodies; at least, they seem strange to those unacquainted with psychometry and the literature of the past century relating to this subject. Two physicians in Rochefort, Professors Bourru and Burot, in treating a hystero-epileptic person, found that gold, even when at a distance of fifteen centimeters, produced in him a feeling of unbearable heat. They continued these experiments with great care, and, after a number of trials, came to this conclusion--that in some persons certain substances, even when carefully separated from them by long distance, exercise exactly the same physiological influence as if introduced into their organism. In order to explain these phenomena, they refer to the radiating force of Baréty, an explanation neither satisfactory to themselves nor to others. Lately the distinguished Parisian physician, Dr. Luys, has confirmed by his experiments the existence of these phenomena, but he thinks the explanation referable to hyper-sensitiveness of the "_regions emotives et intellectuelles de l'encephale_" yet even he has not reached the kernel of the difficulty.

In close connection with action at a distance is the question of distant production of hypnotic sleep. For an answer to this problem, they are experimenting in both France and England; and Frederick W.H. Myers has thrown an entirely new light upon the subject by the investigations he is making upon a purely experimental basis. In Italy they have limited themselves to the study of isolated cases of hystero-hypnotism, except as the phenomena of magnetic fascination investigated by Donato have given rise to further research; but all the books I have seen upon this subject, as well as many by French authors, suffer from ignorance of the latest English discoveries.

With this I think that I have given a slight outline of the history of hypnotic investigation to the end of the year 1886. I shall attempt a criticism of this whole movement at some other time, as space is not afforded to me here; but I should like to make this statement now, that two of the characteristic indications of this period are of the gravest import--first the method ("Our work," says Richet, "is that of strictly scientific _testing_, _observation_, and _arrangement_"); and, secondly, the result. Hypnotism has been received into the realm of scientific investigation, and with this the foundation of a true experimental psychology has been laid.

MAX DESSOIR.

* * * * *

THE DUODENUM: A SIPHON TRAP.

By MAYO COLLIER, M.S. Lond., F.R.C.S. Eng.; Senior Assistant Surgeon, North-West London Hospital; Assistant Demonstrator of Anatomy, London Hospital Medical College.

We may take it for granted that all gases generated in the jejunum, ileum, and large intestines pass onward toward the anus, and there sooner or later escape. Fetid gases--except those generated in the stomach and duodenum--never pass upward, not even during vomiting due to hernia, obstruction, and other causes. Physiologists, it would appear, have never busied themselves to find an explanation for this apparent breach of the laws of gravity. The intestinal canal is a tube with various dilatations and constrictions, but at no spot except the pylorus does the constriction completely obliterate the lumen of the tube, and here only periodically. It is perfectly evident, then, that, unless some system of trap exists in the canal, gases are free to travel from below upward in obedience to the laws of gravity, and would, as a matter of fact, sooner or later do so. From the straight, course and vertical position of the oesophagus, a very slight pressure of gas in the stomach easily overcomes the closure of its cardiac sphincter and allows of escape. When the stomach has digested its contents and the pylorus is relaxed, gases generated in the duodenum can and do ascend into the stomach and so escape. Normally, no fetid gases are generated in the stomach or duodenum. If we follow the course of the intestines down, we find that the duodenum presents a remarkable curve.

Now, there are some points of great interest in connection with this remarkable, almost circular, curve of the duodenum. In the first place, this curve is a constant feature in all mammalians. Mr. Treves says it is one of the most constant features in the anatomy of the intestines in man, and, speaking of mammalians in general, that the curve of the duodenum varies in shape, but is never absent, becoming more complex in some of the higher primates, but seldom less distinct than in man. In birds the duodenum always forms a long loop embracing the pancreas.

A second point of great interest is the absolute constancy and fixation of its terminal portion at the point of junction with the jejunum, more correctly termed second ascending or fourth portion. Mr. Treves says that this fourth portion is never less than an inch, and is practically constant. It extends along the side of the left crus of the diaphragm opposite the second lumbar vertebra, and is there firmly fixed to the front of the aorta and crus of the diaphragm by a strong fibro-muscular band, slinging it up and absolutely retaining it in position. This band has been termed the "musculus suspensorius duodeni," but is chiefly composed of white fibrous tissue, and is more of the native of a ligament than a muscle. This ligament is always present, and its position is never altered. The curve of the duodenum may descend as far as the iliac fossa, but the terminal portion is always maintained by this band in its normal position.

Another point of great constancy is the position of the pancreas and its relation to the curve of the duodenum. The duodenum always curves round the head of the pancreas and is, as it were, moulded on it and retained in position by it. In birds the duodenum always forms a long loop embracing the pancreas. Further, the ducts of the liver and pancreas always open into the center Of the duodenum, either separately or by a common opening.

Now, the absolute constancy of the curve of the duodenum, the complete fixation of its fourth portion, the position of the pancreas, and the place of entry of the ducts of the pancreas and liver, are all component parts of a siphon trap, whereby gases generated below the duodenum are prevented from passing upward. A reference to the accompanying diagrams will make this quite clear. A is a diagram of a siphon trap copied from Parkes' hygiene. B is a very diagrammatic outline of the stomach and duodenum, _a_ is intended to mark the position of the fibrous band, or musculus suspensorius duodeni; and _b_ the position of entry of the ducts of the liver and pancreas. The duodenum, then, is a siphon trap, and a most efficient one. Now, the efficiency of a siphon trap depends not only on its shape, but what is absolutely essential is that the curve must be kept constantly full of fluid, without which it ceases to be a trap, and would allow gases to ascend freely. The position of the place of entry of the ducts of the pancreas and liver assures that this _sine qua non_ shall be present. The discharge of the secretions of the pancreas and liver, although more active during and after feeding, is practically constant, and so insures in an admirable manner that the curve on which the efficiency of the trap depends shall be constantly kept full not only with fluid, but, as I would suggest, antiseptic fluid. There is no other trap in the intestinal canal, but the peculiar position of the colon would no doubt have more or less effect in preventing gases ascending through the ileo-cæcal valve.--_Lancet._

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WISCONSIN CRANBERRY CULTURE.

Among the many thousands of well informed persons with whom the cranberry is a staple article of food throughout the autumn and winter, and who especially derive from its pungent flavor sharp relish for their Thanksgiving and Christmas turkey, not one in ten has any definite idea as to where the delicious fruit comes from, or of the method of growing and harvesting it. Most people are, however, aware that it is raised on little "truck patches" somewhere down in New Jersey or about Cape Cod, and some have heard that it is gleaned from the swamps in the Far West by Indians and shipped to market by white traders. But to the great majority its real history is unknown.

Yet the cranberry culture is an industry in which millions of dollars are invested in this country, and it gives employment, for at least a portion of each year, to many thousands of people. In the East, where the value of an acre of even swamp land may run up into the thousands of dollars, a cranberry marsh of five or ten acres is considered a large one, and, cultivated in the careful, frugal style in vogue there, may yield its owner a handsome yearly income. But in the great, boundless West, where land, and more especially swamp land, may be had for from $1 to $5 an acre, we do these things differently, if not better.

The State of Wisconsin produces nearly one-half of the cranberries annually grown in the United States. There are marshes there covering thousands of acres, whereon this fruit grows wild, having done so even as far back as the oldest tradition of the native red man extends. In many cases the land on which the berries grow has been bought from the government by individuals or firms, in vast tracts, and the growth of the fruit promoted and encouraged by a system of dikes and dams whereby the effects of droughts, frost, and heavy rainfalls are counteracted to almost any extent desired. Some of these holdings aggregate many thousands of acres under a single ownership; and after a marsh of this vast extent has been thoroughly ditched and good buildings, water works, etc., are erected on it, its value may reach many thousands of dollars, while the original cost of the land may have been merely nominal.

Large portions of Jackson, Wood, Monroe, Marinette, Juneau, and Green counties are natural cranberry marshes. The Wisconsin Valley division of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway runs through a closely continuous marsh, forty miles long and nearly as wide, as level as a floor, which is an almost unbroken series of cranberry farms. The Indians, who inhabited this country before the white man came, used to congregate here every fall, many of them traveling several hundred miles, to lay in their winter supply of berries. Many thousands of barrels are now annually shipped from this region; and thus this vast area, which to the stranger looking upon it would appear utterly worthless, is as valuable as the richest farming lands in the State.

In a few instances, however, this fruit is cultivated in Wisconsin in a style similar to that practiced in the East; that is, by paring the natural sod from the bog, covering the earth to a depth of two or three inches with sand, and then transplanting the vines into soil thus prepared. The weeds are then kept down for a year or two, when the vines take full possession of the soil, and further attention is unnecessary. The natural "stand" of the vines in the sod is so productive, however, and the extent of country over which bountiful nature has distributed them so vast, that few operators have thought it necessary to incur the expense of special culture.

One of the best and most perfectly equipped marshes in Wisconsin is owned by Mr. G.B. Sackett, of Berlin. It is situated four miles north of that village, and comprises 1,600 acres, nearly all of which is a veritable bog, and is covered with a natural and luxuriant growth of cranberry vines. A canal has been cut from the Fox River to the southern limit of the marsh, a distance of 4,400 ft. It is 45 ft. wide, and the water stands in it to a depth of nine feet, sufficient to float fair sized steamboats. At the intersection of the canal with the marsh steam water works have been erected, with flood gates and dams by means of which the entire marsh may be flooded to a depth of a foot or more when desired. There are two engines of 150 horse power each, and two pumps that are capable of raising 80,000 gallons per minute.

When, in early autumn, the meteorological conditions indicate the approach of frost, the pumps may he put to work in the afternoon and the berries be effectually covered by water and thus protected before nightfall. At sunrise the gates are opened and the water allowed to run off again, so that the pickers may proceed with their work. The marsh is flooded to a depth of about two feet at the beginning of each winter and allowed to remain so until spring, the heavy body of ice that forms preventing the upheaval that would result from freezing and thawing--a natural process which, if permitted, works injury to the vines.

There is a three-story warehouse on the marsh, with a capacity of 20,000 barrels of berries, and four large two-story houses capable of furnishing shelter for 1,500 pickers. The superintendent's residence is a comfortable cottage house, surrounded by giant oaks and elms, and stands near the warehouse on an "island," or small tract of high, dry land near the center of the great marsh. The pickers' quarters stand on another island about 200 yards away.

A plank roadway, built on piles, about two feet above the level of the ground, leads from the mainland to the warehouse and other buildings, a distance of more than half a mile. Several wooden railways diverge from the warehouse to all parts of the marsh, and on them flat cars, propelled by hand, are sent out at intervals during the picking season to bring in the berries from the hands of the pickers. Each picker is provided with a crate, holding just a bushel, which is kept close at hand. The berries are first picked into tin pans and pails, and from these emptied into the crates, in which they are carried to the warehouse, where an empty crate is given the picker in exchange for a full one. Thus equipped and improved, the Sackett marsh is valued at $150,000. Thirteen thousand barrels have been harvested from this great farm in a single season. The selling price in the Chicago market varies, in different seasons, from $8 to $16 per barrel. There are several other marshes of various sizes in the vicinity.

The picking season usually begins about Sept. 1, and from that time until Oct. 1 the marshes swarm with men, women, and children, ranging in age from six to eight years, made up from almost every nationality under the sun. Bohemians and Poles furnish the majority of the working force, while Germans, Irish, Swedes, Norwegians, Danes, negroes, Indians, and Americans contribute to the motley contingent. They come from every direction and from various distances, some of them traveling a hundred miles or more to secure a few days' or weeks' work. Almost every farmer or woodsman living anywhere in the region of the marshes turns out with his entire family; and the families of all the laboring men and mechanics of the surrounding towns and cities join in the general hegira to the bogs, and help to harvest the fruit. Those living within a few miles go out in the morning and return home at night, taking their noon-day meal with them, while those from a distance take provisions and bedding with them and camp in the buildings provided for that purpose by the marsh owners, doing their own cooking on the stoves and with the fuel furnished them.

The wages vary from fifty cents to a dollar a bushel, owing to the abundance or scarcity of the fruit. A good picker will gather from three to four bushels a day where the yield is light, and five to six bushels where it is good. The most money is made by families numbering from half a dozen to a dozen members. Every chick and child in such families over six years old is required to turn out and help swell the revenue of the little household, and the frugal father often pockets ten to twenty dollars a day as the fruits of the combined labors. The pickers wade into the grass, weeds, and vines, however wet with dew or rain, or however deeply flooded underneath, making not the slightest effort to keep even their feet dry, and after an hour's work in the morning are almost as wet as if they had swum a river. Many of them wade in barefooted, others wearing low cowhide shoes, and their feet, at least, are necessarily wet all day long. In many cases their bodies are thinly clad, and they must inevitably suffer in frosty mornings and evenings and on the raw, cold, rainy days that are frequent in the autumn months in this latitude; yet they go about their work singing, shouting, and jabbering as merrily as a party of comfortably clad school children at play. How any of them avoid colds, rheumatism, and a dozen other diseases is a mystery; and yet it is rarely that one of them is ill from the effects of this exposure. As many as 3000 or 4000 pickers are sometimes employed on a single marsh when there is a heavy crop, and an army of such ragamuffins as get together for this purpose, scattered over a bog in confusion and disorder, presents a strange and picturesque appearance.

Indians are not usually as good pickers as white people, but in the sparsely settled districts, where many of the berry farms are situated, it is impossible to get white help enough to take care of the crop in the short time available for the work, and owners are compelled to employ the aborigines. A rake, with the prongs shaped like the letter V, is used for picking in some cases, but owing to the large amount of grass and weeds that grow among the vines on these wild marshes, this instrument is rarely available. After being picked the berries are stored in warehouses for a period varying from one to three weeks. They are washed and dried by being passed through a fanning mill made for the purpose, and are then allowed to cure and ripen thoroughly before they are shipped to market.

From statistics gathered by the American Cranberry Growers' Association it is learned that in 1883 Wisconsin produced 135,507 bushels, in 1884 24,738 bushels, in 1885 264,432 bushels, and in 1886 70,686 bushels of this fruit. By these figures it will be seen that the yield is very irregular. This is owing, principally, to the fact that many of the marshes are not yet provided with the means of flooding, and of course suffer from worms, droughts, late spring or early autumn frosts, and extensive fires started by sparks from the engines on railroads running through the marshes. These and various other evils are averted on the more improved farms. So that, while handsome fortunes have in many cases been made in cranberry growing, many thousands of dollars have, on the other hand, been sunk in the same industry. Only the wealthier owners, who have expended vast sums of money in improving and equipping their property, can calculate with any degree of certainty on a paying crop of fruit every year.

Chicago is the great distributing point for the berries produced in Wisconsin, shipments being made thence to nearly every State and Territory in the Union, to Canada, to Mexico, and to several European countries. Berries sent to the Southern markets are put up in watertight packages, and the casks are then filled with water, this being the only means by which they can be kept in hot weather. Even in this condition they can only be kept a few days after reaching hot climates.--_American Magazine._

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SOUDAN COFFEE.

(_Parkia biglobosa._)

There are valuable plants on every continent. Civilized Europe no longer counts them. Mysterious Africa is no less largely and spontaneously favored with them than young America and the ancient territory of Asia.

The latter has given us the majority of the best fruits of our gardens. We have already shown how useful the butter tree (_Butyrospermum Parkii_) is in tropical Africa, and we also know how the _gourou_ (_Sterculia acuminata_) is cultivated in the same regions. But that is not all, for the great family of Leguminosæ, whose numerous representatives encumber this continent, likewise furnishes the negro natives a food that is nearly as indispensable to them as the _gourou_ or the products of the baobab--another valuable tree and certainly the most widely distributed one in torrid Africa. This leguminous tree, which is as yet but little known in the civilized world, has been named scientifically _Parkia biglobosa_ by Bentham. The negroes give it various names, according to the tribe; among the Ouloffs, it is the _houlle_; among the Mandigues, _naytay_; in Cazamance (Nalon language), it is _nayray_; in Bornou, _rounuo_; in Haoussa, _doroa_; in Hant-fleure (Senegal), _nayraytou_. On the old mysterious continent it plays the same role that the algarobas do in young America. However, it is quite a common rule to find in the order Leguminosæ, and especially in the section Mimosæ, plants whose pods are edible. Examples of this fact are numerous. As regards the Mediterranean region, it suffices to cite the classic carob tree (_Ceratonia siliqua_), which also is of African nationality, but which is wanting in the warm region of this continent.

Throughout the tropical region of Africa, the aborigines love to consume the saccharine pulp and the seed contained in the pod of the _houlle_. Prepared in different ways, according to tribe and latitude, these two products constitute a valuable aliment. The pulp is consumed either just as it is or as a fermented beverage. As for the seeds, they serve, raw or roasted, for the production of a tea-like infusion (whence the name "Soudan coffee"), or, after fermentation in water, for making a national condiment, which in certain places is called _kinda_, and which is mixed with boiled rice or prepared meats. This preparation has in most cases a pasty form or the consistency of cohesive flour; but in order to render its carriage easier in certain of the African centers where the trade in it is brisk, it is compressed into tablets similar to those of our chocolate. As these two products are very little known in Europe, it has seemed to us that it would be of interest to give a description and chemical analysis of them. We shall say but little of the plant, which has sufficiently occupied botanists.

The houlle (_Parkia biglobosa_) is a large tree from 35 to 50 feet in height, with a gray bark, many branches, and large, elegant leaves. The latter are compound, bipinnate (Fig. 7), and have fifty pairs of leaflets, which are linear and obtuse and of a grayish green. The inflorescence is very pleasing to the eye. The flowers, say the authors of the _Floræ Senegambiæ Tentamen_, form balls of a dazzling red, contracted at the base, and resembling the pompons of our grenadiers (Fig. 8). The support of this latter consists only of male flowers. The fruit that succeeds these flowers is supported by a club-shaped receptacle. It consists of a large pod, which at maturity is 13 inches in length by 10 in width (Fig. 1). This pod is chocolate brown, quite smooth or slightly tubercular, and is swollen at the points where the seeds are situated. The pods are straight or slightly curved. The aborigines of Rio Nunez use the pods for poisoning the fishes that abound in the watercourses. We do not know what the nature of the toxic principle is that is contained in these hard pods, but we well know the nature of the yellowish pulp and of the seeds that entirely fill the pods.

Although the pulp forms a continuous whole, each seed easily separates from the following and carries with it a part of the pulp that surrounds it and that constitutes an independent mass (Fig. 2). This pulpy substance, formed entirely of oval cells filled with aleurone, consists of two distinct layers. The first, an external one of a beautiful yellow, is from 10 to 15 times bulkier than the internal one, which likewise is of a beautiful yellow.