Chapter VII: ASTRONOMY, ETC--On Determining the Sun's Distance by a (2)

DR. ZERFFI, F. R. Hist. S., recently delivered the first of the inaugural lectures in connection with the opening of the Crystal Palace Company's School of Art, on "The Racial Characteristics of Man Scientifically Traced in General History." He complained that the study of man from a scientific point of view, especially in history as enacted by him, was mostly neglected, although it ought to be--nay, would and must more and more become--our most important subject, as forming the only real basis of all our higher culture. History was undoubtedly a deductive science, but it could be verified and put to the best uses by the purely inductive study of facts. Any change, whether progressive or retrospective, in the social, political, or religious condition of men, would be a fact. The acting forces were men, of whom there were on the globe more than a thousand millions, all endowed with three principal faculties--of receiving impressions, which produced sensations, and were reflected in their intellectual consciousness. But neither in comparing individuals with one another, nor race with race, were these faculties equally developed. They varied with a race's average facial angles and lines, its amount of brain, the color of its skin, and its general organization. The facial angle of the black races might be taken at 85°, and the number of cubic inches of brain might range between 75 and 80. In an ethnological chart hung behind the lecturer, the main body of the Nigritian races, which was made up of the Asiatic and African negroes, was credited with 83 cubic inches of brain as a general statement. It was remarked however, that the brain was very small relatively to the body, while the cerebellum formed a very large portion of the organ. The statical and dynamical forces of the intellect were said to be undeveloped, the animal propensities predominating. The long extinct American Toltecs, ranking as one section of a subdivision under this head, figured for 79 cubic inches of brain. In both directions the intellectual forces were marked as undeveloped, but the Toltecs were credited with great imitative powers. The other section, comprising the Hottentots and Australian black fellows, were allowed but 75 cubic inches of brain, or not more than 10 above the highest anthropoid apes, and in neither did the statical or dynamical intellect pass beyond a transitory stage of the lowest degree. The typical facial angle of the yellow or Turanian races--the bulk being Chinese, Mongols, Finns, Turks, with Malay, Gangetic, Lohitic, Tamulic, and American tribes--was given as 87½ degrees. In cubic inches, the brain ranged between 82 and 95. In the chart the figure given was 83½. Here, too, the statical or conservative energy of the intellect was made the great characteristic, the dynamical or progressive developing for the most part in technical products only. The tendency was to become herdsmen, farmers, and traders. As a division were classed the aborigines of India and of Egypt, with an average 80 cubic inches of brain, a very large cerebellum, and a cerebrum comparatively small. Their intellect was as characteristically statical as that of the other yellow races, the dynamic impulse manifesting itself only in symbolism, mysticism, and the like. At the head of all stood the white races, Aryans for the most part, but with the Semites--Chaldeans, Phoeniceans, Hebrews, Carthaginians, Arabs--as a subdivision. Ideally, their facial angle was 90°--the right angle--and their cubic inches of brain ranged from 92 to 120, rising in individual instances--the lecturer named Byron--as high as 150. The number in the chart for the Aryans--Sanskrit-speaking Indians, the Greeks and Romans, the Goths, Kelts, Slavs, and their progeny--was 92, and for the Semitic peoples 88. The Aryans were credited with a due balance between the dynamical and statical energy of their intellect, to which they owed nearly all the great inventions and discoveries, and with all the systematic development of science. They brought forth the philosophers, moralists, engineers, sculptors, musicians. The Semitic intellect was predominantly statical, being but little developed in the creative or dynamical direction, and then mostly in theological thought. They produced, however, musicians, traders, and conquerors.

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ECCENTRICITY AND IDIOSYNCRASY.

[Footnote: An extract from a Treatise on Insanity shortly to be published by D. Appleton & Co.]

By WILLIAM A. HAMMOND, M.D., Surgeon-General U.S. Army (Retired List), Professor of Diseases of the Mind and Nervous System in the New York Post-Graduate Medical School, etc.

ECCENTRICITY.--Persons whose minds deviate in some one or more notable respects from the ordinary standard, but yet whose mental processes are not directly at variance with that standard, are said to be eccentric. Eccentricity is generally inherent in the individual, or is gradually developed in him from the operation of unrecognized causes as he advances in years. If an original condition, it may be shown from a very early period of life, his plays, even, being different from those of other children of his age. Doubtless it then depends upon some peculiarity of brain structure, which, within the limits of the normal range, produces individuality of mental action.

But eccentricity is not always an original condition, for, under certain circumstances, it may be acquired. A person, for instance, meets with some circumstance in his life which tends to weaken his confidence in human nature. He accordingly shuns mankind, by shutting himself up in his own house and refusing to have any intercourse with the inhabitants of the place in which he resides. In carrying out his purpose he proceeds to the most absurd extremes. He speaks to no one he meets, returns no salutations, and his relations with the tradesmen who supply his daily wants are conducted through gratings in the door of his dwelling. He dies, and the will which he leaves behind him is found to devote his entire property for the founding of a hospital for sick and ownerless dogs, "the most faithful creatures I have ever met, and the only ones in which I have any confidence."

Such a man is not insane. There is a rational motive for his conduct--one which many of us have experienced, and which has, perhaps, prompted us to act in a similar manner, if not to the same extent.

Another is engaged in vast mercantile transactions, requiring the most thorough exercise of the best faculties of the mind. He studies the markets of the world, and buys and sells with uniform shrewdness and success. In all the relations of life he conducts himself with the utmost propriety and consideration for the rights and feelings of others. The most complete study of his character and acts fails to show the existence of the slightest defect in his mental processes. He goes to church regularly every Sunday, but has never been regarded as a particularly religious man. Nevertheless, he has one peculiarity. He is a collector of Bibles, and has several thousand, of all sizes and styles, and in many languages. If he hears of a Bible, in any part of the world, different in any respect from those he owns, he at once endeavors to obtain it, no matter how difficult the undertaking, or how much it may cost. Except in the matter of Bibles he is disposed to be some what penurious--although his estate is large--and has been known to refuse to have a salad for his dinner on account of the high price of good olive-oil. He makes his will, and dies, and then it is found that his whole property is left in trust to be employed in the maintenance of his library of Bibles, in purchasing others which may become known to the trustees, and in printing one copy, for his library, of the book in any language in which it does not already exist. A letter which is addressed to his trustees informs them that, when he was a boy, a Bible which he had in the breast-pocket of his coat preserved his life by stopping a bullet which another boy had accidentally discharged from a pistol, and that he then had resolved to make the honoring of the Bible the duty of his whole life.

Neither of these persons can be regarded as insane. Both were the subjects of acquired eccentricity, which, in all likelihood, would have ensued in some other form, from some other circumstance acting upon brains naturally predisposed to be thus affected. The brain is the soil upon which impressions act differently, according to its character, just as, with the sower casting his seed-wheat upon different fields, some springs up into a luxuriant crop, some grows sparsely, and some, again, takes no root, but rots where it falls. Possibly, if these individuals had lived a little longer, they might have passed the border-line which separates mental soundness from mental unsoundness; but certainly, up to the period of their deaths, both would have been pronounced sane by all competent laymen and alienists with whom they might have been brought into contact; and the contest of their wills, by any heirs-at-law, would assuredly have been a fruitless undertaking.

They chose to have certain ends in view, and to provide the means for the accomplishment of those ends. There were no delusions, no emotional disturbance, no hallucinations or illusions, and the will was normally exercised to the extent necessary to secure the objects of their lives. At any time they had it in their power to alter their purposes, and in that fact we have an essential point of difference between eccentricity and insanity. We may regard their conduct as singular, because they made an unusual disposition of their property; but it was no more irrational than if the one had left his estate to the "Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals," and the other had devoted his to sending missionaries to Central Africa.

Two distinct forms of eccentricity are recognizable. In the one, the individual sets himself up above the level of the rest of the world, and, marking out for himself a line of conduct, adheres to it with an astonishing degree of tenacity. For him the opinions of mankind in general are of no consequence. He is a law unto himself; what he says and does is said and done, not for the purpose of attracting attention or for obtaining notoriety, but because it is pleasing to himself. He does not mean to be singular or original, but he is, nevertheless, both. For every man is singular and original whose conduct, within the limits of reason and intelligence, differs from that of his fellow-men. He endeavors to carry out certain ideas which seem to him to have been overlooked by society to its great disadvantage. Society usually thinks different; but if the promulgator is endowed with sufficient force of character, it generally happens that, eventually, either wholly or in part, his views prevail. All great reformers are eccentrics of this kind. They are contending for their doctrines, not for themselves. And they are not apt to become insane, though sometimes they do.

The subjects of the other form occupy a lower level. They affect singularity for the purpose of attracting attention to themselves, and thus obtaining the notoriety which they crave with every breath they inhale. They dress differently from other people, wearing enormous shirt-collars, or peculiar hats, or oddly cut coats of unusual colors, or indulging in some other similar whimsicality of an unimportant character, in the expectation that they will thereby attract the attention or excite the comments of those they meet.

Or they build houses upon an idea perhaps correct enough in itself, as, for instance, the securing of proper ventilation; but in carrying it out they show such defective judgment that the complete integrity of the intellect may, perhaps, be a matter of question. Thus, one gentleman of my acquaintance, believing that fireplaces were the best ventilators, put four of these openings into every room in his house. This, however, was one of the smallest of his eccentricities. He wore a ventilated hat, his clothing was pierced with holes, as were even his shoes; and no one could be in his company five minutes without having his attention directed to these provisions for securing health.

In addition to these advanced notions on the subject of ventilation, he had others equally singular in regard to the arrangement of the furniture in his dwelling and the care that was to be taken of it. Thus, there was one room called the "apostles' room." It contained a table that represented Christ, and twelve chairs, which were placed around it, and typified the twelve apostles; one chair, that stood for Judas Iscariot, was covered with black crape. The floor of this room was very highly polished, and no one was allowed to enter it without slipping his shod feet into cloth slippers that were placed at the door ready for use. He had a library, tolerably large but of little value, and every book in it which contained Judas's name was bound in black, and black lines were drawn around the name wherever it occurred. Such eccentricity as this is not far removed from insanity, and is liable at any time, from some cause a little out of the common way, to pass over the line.

Thus, a lady had since her childhood shown a singularity of conduct as regarded her table furniture, which she would have of no other material than copper. She carried this fancy to such an extent that even the knives and forks were of copper. People laughed at her, and tried to reason her out of her whim, but in vain. She was in her element as soon as attention was directed to her fancy and arguments against it were addressed to her. She liked nothing better than to be afforded a full opportunity to discuss with any one the manifold advantages which copper possessed as a material to be used in the manufacture of every article of table ware. In no other respect was there any evidence of mental aberration. She was intelligent, by no means excitable, and in the enjoyment of excellent health. She had, moreover, a decided talent for music, and had written several passably good stories for a young ladies' magazine. An uncle had, however, died insane.

A circumstance, trifling in itself, but one, as it afterward resulted, of great importance to her, started in her a new train of thought, and excited emotions which she could not control. She read in a morning paper that a Mr. Koppermann had arrived at one of the hotels, and she announced her determination to call upon him, in order, as she said, to ascertain the origin of his name. Her friends endeavored to dissuade her, but without avail. She went to the hotel, and was told that he had just left for Chicago. Without returning to her home, she bought a railway ticket for Chicago, and actually started on the next train for that city. The telegraph, however, overtook her, and she was brought back from Rochester raving of her love for a man she had never seen, and whose name alone had been associated in her mind with her fancy for copper table furniture. She died of acute mania within a month. In this case erotic tendencies, which had never been observed in her before, seemed to have been excited by some very indirect and complicated mental process, and these in their turn developed into general derangement of the mind.

In another case, a young man, a clerk in a city bank, had for several years exhibited peculiarities in the keeping of his books. He was exceedingly exact in his accounts, but after the bank was closed always remained several hours, during which he ornamented each page of his day's work with arabesques in different-colored inks. He was very vain of this accomplishment, and was constantly in the habit of calling attention to the manner in which, as he supposed, he had beautified what would otherwise have been positively ugly. His fellow-clerks amused themselves at his expense, but his superior officers, knowing his value, never interfered with him in his amusement. Gradually, however, he conceived the idea that they were displeased with him, and at last the notion became so firmly rooted in his mind that he resigned his position, notwithstanding the protestations of the directors that his idea was erroneous. Delusions of various other kinds supervened, and he passed into a condition of chronic insanity, in which he still remains. In most of the cases occurring under this head the intellectual powers are not of a high order, though there may sometimes be a notable development of some talent, or even a great power for acquiring learning. Painters, sculptors, musicians, mathematicians, poets, and men of letters generally, not infrequently exhibit eccentricities of dress, conduct, manner, or ideas, which not only merely add to their notoriety, but often make them either the laughing-stocks of their fellow-men or objects of fear or disgust to all who are brought into contact with them.

IDIOSYNCRASY.--By idiosyncrasy we understand a peculiarity of constitution by which an individual is affected by external agents in a manner different from mankind in general. Thus, some persons cannot eat strawberries without a kind of urticaria appearing over the body; others are similarly affected by eating the striped bass; others, again, faint at the odor of certain flowers, or at the sight of blood; and some are attacked with cholera-morbus after eating shellfish--as crabs, lobsters, clams, or mussels. Many other instances might be advanced, some of them of a very curious character. These several conditions are called idiosyncrasies.

Bégin,[1] who defines idiosyncrasy as the predominance of an organ, a viscus, or a system of organs, has hardly, I think, fairly grasped the subject, though his definition has influenced many French writers on the question. It is something more than this--something inherent in the organization of the individual, of which we only see the manifestation when the proper cause is set in action. We cannot attempt to explain why one person should be severely mercurialized by one grain of blue mass, and another take daily ten times that quantity for a week without the least sign of the peculiar action of mercury being produced. We only know that such is the fact; and were we to search for the reason, with all the appliances which modern science could bring to our aid, we should be entirely unsuccessful. According to Bégin's idea, we should expect to see some remarkable development of the absorbent system in the one case, with slight development in the other; but, even were such the case, it would not explain the phenomena, for, when ten grains of the preparation in question are taken daily, scarcely a day elapses before mercury can be detected in the secretions, and yet hydrargyriasis is not produced; while when one grain is taken, and this condition follows, the most delicate chemical examination fails to discover mercury in any of the fluids or tissues of the body.

[Footnote 1: "Physiologic Pathologique," Paris, 1828, t.i., p. 44.]

Bégin's definition scarcely separates idiosyncrasy from temperament, whereas, according to what would appear to be sound reasoning, based upon an enlarged idea of the physiology of the subject, a very material difference exists.

Idiosyncrasies are often hereditary and often acquired. Two or more may exist in one person. Thus, there may be an idiosyncrasy connected with the digestive system, another with the circulatory system, another with the nervous system, and so on.

An idiosyncrasy may be of such a character as altogether to prevent an individual following a particular occupation. Thus, a person who faints at the sight of blood cannot be a surgeon; another, who is seized with nausea and vomiting when in the presence of insane persons, cannot be a superintendent of a lunatic asylum--not, at least, if he ever expects to see his patients. Idiosyncrasies may, however, be overcome, especially those of a mental character.

Millingen[1] cites the case of a man who fell into convulsions whenever he saw a spider. A waxen one was made, which equally terrified him. When he recovered, his error was pointed out to him. The wax figure was put into his hand without causing dread, and shortly the living insect no longer disturbed him.

[Footnote 1: "Curiosities of Medical Experience," London, 1837, vol. ii., p. 246.]

I knew a gentleman who could not eat soft crabs without experiencing an attack of diarrhea. As he was exceedingly fond of them, he persevered in eating them, and finally, after a long struggle, succeeded in conquering the trouble.

Individuals with idiosyncrasies soon find out their peculiarities, and are enabled to guard against any injurious result to which they would be subjected but for the teachings of experience.

Idiosyncrasies may be temporary only--that is, due to an existing condition of the organism, which, whether natural or morbid, is of a transitory character. Such, for instance, are those due to dentition, the commencement or the cessation of the menstrual function, pregnancy, etc. These are frequently of a serious character, and require careful watching, especially as they may lead to derangement of the mind. Thus, a lady, Mrs. X, was at one time under my professional care, who, at the beginning of her first pregnancy, acquired an overpowering aversion to a half-breed Indian woman who was employed in the house as a servant. Whenever this woman came near her she was at once seized with violent trembling, which ended in a few minutes with vomiting and great mental and physical prostration, lasting several hours. Her husband would have sent the woman away, but Mrs. X insisted on her remaining, as she was a good servant, in order that she might overcome what she regarded as an unreasonable prejudice. The effort was, however, too much for her, for upon one occasion when the woman entered Mrs. X's apartment rather unexpectedly, the latter became greatly excited, and, jumping from an open window in her fright, broke her arm, and otherwise injured herself so severely that she was for several weeks confined to her bed. During this period, and for some time afterward, she was almost constantly subject to hallucinations, in which the Indian woman played a prominent part. Even after her recovery the mere thought of the woman would sometimes bring on a paroxysm of trembling, and it was not till after her confinement that the antipathy disappeared.

Millingen[1] remarks that certain antipathies, which in reality are idiosyncrasies, appear to depend upon peculiarities of the senses. Rather, however, they are due to peculiarities of the ideational and emotional centers. The organ of sense, in any one case, shows no evidence of disorder; neither does the perceptive ganglion, which simply takes cognizance of the image brought to it. It is higher up that the idiosyncrasy has its seat. In this way we are to explain the following cases collected by Millingen:

[Footnote 1: _Op cit_., p. 246.]

"Amatus Lusitanus relates the case of a monk who fainted when he beheld a rose, and never quitted his cell when that flower was blooming. Scaliger mentions one of his relatives who experienced a similar horror when seeing a lily. Zimmermann tells us of a lady who could not endure the feeling of silk and satin, and shuddered when touching the velvety skin of a peach. Boyle records the case of a man who felt a natural abhorrence to honey; without his knowledge some honey was introduced in a plaster applied to his foot, and the accidents that resulted compelled his attendants to withdraw it. A young man was known to faint whenever he heard the servant sweeping. Hippocrates mentions one Nicanor, who swooned whenever he heard a flute; even Shakespeare has alluded to the effects of the bagpipes. Julia, daughter of Frederick, King of Naples, could not taste I meat without serious accidents. Boyle fainted when he heard the splashing of water; Scaliger turned pale at the sight of water-cresses; Erasmus experienced febrile symptoms when smelling fish; the Duke d'Epernon swooned on beholding a leveret, although a hare did not produce the same effect; Tycho Brahe fainted at the sight of a fox; Henry III. of France at that of a cat; and Marshal d'Albret at a pig. The horror that whole families entertain of cheese is generally known."

He also cites the case of a clergyman who fainted whenever a certain verse in Jeremiah was read, and of another who experienced an alarming vertigo and dizziness whenever a great height or dizzy precipice was described. In such instances the power of association of ideas is probably the most influential agent in bringing about the climax. There is an obvious relation between the warnings given by the prophet in the one case, and the well-known sensation produced by looking down from a great height in the other, and the effects which followed.

Our dislikes to certain individuals are often of the nature of idiosyncrasies, which we can not explain. Martial says:

"Non amo te, Sabidi, nec possum dicere quare;
Hoc tantum possum dicere, non amo te;"

or, in our English version:

"I do not like you, Doctor Fell,
The reason why I can not tell;
But this I know, and that full
I do not like you, Doctor Fell."

Some conditions often called idiosyncrasies appear to be, and doubtless are, due to disordered intellect. But they should not be confounded with those which are inherent in the individual and real in character. Thus, they are frequently merely imaginary, there being no foundation for them except in the perverted mind of the subject; at other times they are induced by a morbid attention being directed continually to some one or more organs or functions. The protean forms under which hypochondria appears, and the still more varied manifestations of hysteria, are rather due to the reaction ensuing between mental disorder on the one part, and functional disorder on the other, than to that quasi normal peculiarity of organization recognized as idiosyncrasy.

Thus, upon one occasion I was consulted in the case of a lady who it was said had an idiosyncrasy that prevented her drinking water. Every time she took the smallest quantity of this liquid into her stomach it was at once rejected, with many evident signs of nausea and pain. The patient was strongly hysterical, and I soon made up my mind that either the case was one of simple hysterical vomiting, or that the alleged inability was assumed. The latter turned out to be the truth. I found that she drank in private all the water she wanted, and that what she drank publicly she threw up by tickling the fauces with her finger-nail when no one was looking.

The idiosyncrasies of individuals are not matters for ridicule, however absurd they may appear to be. On the contrary, they deserve, and should receive, the careful consideration of the physician, for much is to be learned from them, both in preventing and in treating diseases. In psychiatrical medicine they are especially to be inquired for. It is not safe to disregard them, as they may influence materially the character of mental derangement, and may be brought in as efficient agents in the treatment.--_N.Y. Medical Journal_.

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PYORRHEA ALVEOLARIS.

[Footnote: Abstract from a paper lately read before the Southern Dental Association, Baltimore, Md.]

By Dr. J. M. RIGGS, of Hartford, Conn.

A gentleman, a physician, aged thirty-two years, strong and vigorous, with no lack of nerve-energy, calls to have his teeth attended to, with the disease in the first stage throughout the mouth. Upon examination, he observes upon the gum of one of the lower cuspids a dark purplish ring encircling the neck, from one-sixty-fourth to one sixteenth of an inch in depth; the tooth _in situ_ is white and clean. With the aid of the mouth and hand mirror he shows the condition to the patient, and, taking up an excavator, endeavors to pass it down between the tooth and gum, on the labial surface. After it gets down a little way the instrument meets with an obstruction, over which, calling the patient's attention to the fact, he carefully guides the instrument until it drops down on the tooth-substance beyond it; then, turning the instrument and pressing it upward, he breaks off a portion of the concretion; which proves to be what is ordinarily called lime-salts, or tartar. That is the cause of the purple ring on the gum, which is merely the outward manifestation of the disease. Take it off thoroughly, polish the surface of the tooth, and in three days' time the gum will show a perfectly healthy color. The condition described is the first stage of the disease, and the treatment given is all that is required for a cure of the case at this time. But take the same man and let him go for ten years without the simple operation detailed. The disease spreads, and causes inflammation of the process, and, finally, its absorption--sometimes on the labial surface for one half or two-thirds the length of the tooth. It runs its course, the tartar accumulating, all the time following up the line of attack. At the end of ten years what has become of the line of tartar? Sometimes it will be found extending clear around the tooth. Sometimes it will not be found at all; it has done its work--the tooth is loose, but the concretion is gone, in whole or in part. In this case the patient wants the tooth out, but, he asks, what has become of the tartar? The answer is that the natural acids found in the oral cavity have dissolved it, and it has passed into the stomach or out of the mouth in the saliva. But the tooth is so loose that it is a torment to the man; it lies in its socket, entirely loose, almost ready to drop over. It hurts so that he cannot bear the pain. The tooth is taken out. There is no tartar on it, or very little; there is a little speck near the point that looks like a foreign body; but the point of the tooth--the apex--is as sharp as a needle. After the disease has done its work of separating the tooth from its socket, the destroying agent begins to absorb the tooth at the point, irregularly, causing the sharpness described. Now, because no tartar is found upon the tooth, does that argue that it has never been there? Not at all; the loosened tooth shows simply that it has been there and has been absorbed. The speaker has never seen a tooth in that condition on the point of which he could not show patches or specks; we may not see the tartar, but it certainly once existed there, and has accomplished its work.

Now suppose we find a patient with all the teeth loosened; he has neuralgia pains in the face, for which medicine seems to furnish no remedy; he has also catarrh, and the malar and nasal bones are all affected. In the third and fourth stages a low inflammatory action pervades all the bones of the face, accompanied by neuralgic pains, extending to the brain itself. In such a case the disease of the teeth intensifies the catarrh. A medical man called upon him for treatment for pyorrhea alveolaris; the patient was also afflicted with catarrh. He cured the pyorrhea alveolaris, and cured the catarrh, too, at the same time.

Another case.--A lady called in great distress. Nearly all her teeth were affected, and the discharge was most offensive and abundant; if she lay on her side in bed, the pillow would be covered with large splotches of the discharge in the morning; if she lay on her back, the mass was swallowed, and the result was that the whole alimentary canal was demoralized by the pus, blood, and vitiated secretions. When she arose she wanted no breakfast, only two or three cups of strong coffee and some crackers. She was nearly blind, could only see a great light, and was totally unable to see to read. He told her that the trouble with her sight was caused by the diseased condition of the teeth; that unless that was remedied, she might live three months, but she would die suddenly. He treated three or four teeth at a time at each sitting. This consumed three weeks. The teeth became firm, her appetite returned, her sight was restored, and she was able to walk a mile or two without disturbance. He was called to Brooklyn, where they had a live society, and an infirmary for the treatment of dental diseases, at which members of the society were delegated to attend from day to day. He was invited to give a clinic upon pyorrhea alveolaris, and he told them of this patient, whom he showed to some fifteen members. The woman was apparently in fair health. It was not loss of nerve-energy which started the disease in this case, but the disease caused the loss of appetite and the vitiated condition of the whole alimentary canal. Her physician would have sent this woman to the grave, not recognizing the disease and its management.

He maintains that it is not lack of nervous energy that causes this disease, but the disease will lead to loss of nerve-energy. That small purple ring on the gum of the cuspid in the case first mentioned would eventually have led to the loss of the whole set, if left to work its way unopposed. He had tried in these remarks to controvert the old ideas, and to present the cause of the disease and its treatment as he sees it. You may see it differently; if so, give us your information, in order that we may correct our views, if wrong.

One gentleman says he finds it is only those who are strong and vigorous who have this disease. The speaker finds some cases of this kind; he also finds consumptives who have not a trace of it, but he would take the strongest man in the room and cause a beautiful case of pyorrhea alveolaris in his mouth in three weeks, with a fine cotton thread tied around one of the lower front teeth at the line of the gum. The thread will work its way under the gum, and the gum will become inflamed; it will work its way down between the gum and the tooth, and in the meantime the flour and the particles of food will also work down under the loose gum, finding a rallying-point on the thread; the mass will become impregnated with lime-salts, and will then begin to harden, and in a very short time you will have an excellent example of the disease under discussion. Patients suffering from salivation fall an easy prey to this disease, due to the action of the drug on the glands and the hard and soft tissues of the mouth, the gums in such cases affording a ready pocket under their edges for the deposits.

When you find a tooth with the characteristic concretion of tartar upon it, the first principle of surgery demands that you clean that tooth thoroughly. Go down beyond the line of the disease, go around the tooth thoroughly, and break up the diseased tissue, and apply tincture of myrrh, and in three days you will notice a marked improvement for the better, and if the patient takes proper care of the teeth the disease will not return. Practitioners should watch the teeth of the young people under their care, and see that the mouth is kept scrupulously clean and healthy.

In reply to a question, Dr. Riggs stated that whenever absorption goes on irregularly, unless the inflammatory action is extreme, it will sometimes absorb one or two bone-cells, and then skip one or two, and these last, being isolated, naturally die, or become necrosed to some extent. In treating this disease you must break up the line of disintegrated tissue. You must, as it were, transfer your eyesight to the end of the instrument, so that when you strike dead bone you will know it. Live bone will feel smooth and greasy.

It requires some years of experience to treat this disease properly, because you have not your eyesight to aid you, but must depend absolutely upon the sense of touch. With experience, however, you will learn to give a great deal of relief in one of the most annoying conditions to which the teeth are subject. The reason the profession are not familiar with the treatment of this disease is, they fail to recognize it until it reaches its third or fourth stage, and then they treat it by depletion and therapeutic remedies. Some treat it by stippling in acids underneath the gum, thinking thereby to dissolve away not only the tartar, but the necrosed bone. Another writer takes off patches of the diseased tissue, and another a strip of the gum, from wisdom-tooth to wisdom-tooth. This treatment he could only characterize as simply barbarous. The treatment of this disease is purely surgical. Any therapeutic treatment is to alleviate the pain and soreness immediately after the operation.

Dr. W. N. Morrison, St. Louis, referring to the method of treating pyorrhea alveolaris described by Dr. Riggs, said he cheerfully bore testimony to the importance of loosening the scales of tartar, and teaching patients the value of cleanness of the mouth. In his experience he had found that all instruments will occasionally fail to dislodge the deposit. In such cases he used as an assistant a little ring of para gum about an eighth of an inch wide. This was sprung on the tooth at the edge of the gum. If this is done and the ring allowed to remain a few hours, you will see an entirely new revelation, and you will readily be able to get at the tooth to clean it. He had found it advisable to give patients practical showing how the brush should be used.

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SULPHUR AS A PRESERVATIVE AGAINST MARSH FEVER.

At a recent meeting of the Paris Academy, M. D'Abbadie called attention to some facts regarding marsh fever, which African travelers and others might do well to ponder. Some elephant hunters from plateaus with comparatively cool climate brave the hottest and most deleterious Ethiopian regions with impunity, which they attribute to their habit of daily fumigation of the naked body with sulphur. It was interesting to know whether sulphurous emanations, received involuntarily, have a like effect. From inquiries made by M. Fouqué, it appears that in Sicily, while most of the sulphur mines are in high districts and free from malaria, a few are at a low level, where intermittent fever prevails. In the latter districts, while the population of the neighboring villages is attacked by fever in the proportion of 90 per cent., the workmen in the sulphur mines suffer much less, not more than eight or nine per cent. being attacked. Again, on a certain marshy plain near the roadstead in the island of Milo (Grecian Archipelago), it is hardly possible to spend a night without being attacked by intermittent fever, yet on the very fertile part near the mountains are the ruins of a large and prosperous town, Zephyria, which, 300 years ago, numbered about 40,000 inhabitants. Owing to the ravages of marsh fever the place is now nearly deserted. One naturally asks how such a town grew to its former populous state. Sulphur mining has been an important source of wealth in Milo from the time of the ancient Greeks. Up to the end of last century the sulphur was chiefly extracted at Kalamo, but since that time it has only been mined on the east coast of the island. The decadence of Zephyria has nearly corresponded to this transference. The sulphurous emanations no longer reach the place, their passage being blocked by the mountain mass. Once more, on the west side of the marshy and fever-infested plain of Catania, traversed by the Simeto, is a sulphur mine, and beyond it, at a higher level, a village which was abandoned in the early part of this century because of marsh fever. Yet there is a colony of workmen living about the mine, and they seem to be advantageously affected by the emanations. M. D'Abbadie further mentions that the engineer who made a railway through this notorious plain preserved the health of his workmen by requiring them to drink no water but what was known to be wholesome and was brought from a distance.

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HYDRAULIC FILTERING PRESS FOR TREATING OLEAGINOUS SEEDS.

Messrs. Laurent Bros. & Collot exhibited at the Paris Universal Exhibition in 1878 a patented hydraulic apparatus styled a filtering press, the principle and construction of which it will prove of interest to describe. The apparatus is remarkable for its simplicity and ease of manipulation, and is destined to find an application in most oil mills.

_Details of Structure_.--The filter, which is shown in detail in Figs. 5 to 7, is formed of two semicylindrical cast iron shells, F, that are firmly united, and held by a strong iron band which is cleft at one point in its circumference, and to which there is adapted a mechanism permitting of loosening it slightly so as to facilitate the escape of the oil-cake. Within these shells, F, there are grooves, a, which have the arrangement shown by the partial section in Fig. 11, and through which flows the oil expressed by pressure. To prevent the escape of the material through these grooves or channels, the interior of the shells is lined throughout with plates or strips of brass that fit very closely together, and present a simple slit with chamfered edges opposite the grooves. At the two joints of the shells four of these plates are riveted two by two; all the others are movable, and rest, like the pieces of an arch, against the fixed plates that form abutments. Each half lining is thus held by means of a central plate, b' (Fig. 10), with oblique edges, and which, being driven home by the top of the filter, binds the whole tightly together. All these plates, which are slightly notched at their upper part, rest on a small flange at the lower part of the shells.

As regards their manufacture, these plates are cut out of sheets of perfectly laminated brass, and are afterward set into a matrix to center them properly. After the shells have been bored out, all the plates are mounted therein so as to obtain a perfectly cylindrical and uniform surface. The plates are then numbered and taken out; and, finally, a slit with chamfered edges is cut longitudinally through them, save at three points--two at the extremities and one at the middle. The plates thereafter rest against each other only at these three points, and leave at the chamfered places capillary openings just sufficient to give passage to the oil, but not to the pressed paste, however fine it be. As will be seen in Fig. 5, the points of contact are not in the same horizontal plane, but are arranged spirally, so that the flow will not be stopped at this place as it would be were these solid parts all at the same height. The filter, F, is completed by two pieces that play an important part. The first of these is a cast iron rim, J, which is set into the upper edge, and forms a sort of lip whose internal diameter corresponds exactly to the surface of the plates, b. This rim, J, is cast in one piece, and carries on its circumference two small, diametrically opposite iron studs, which are so placed that they may engage in the groove, p, at the upper edge of the shells, F.

The second of the two pieces is a cast iron bottom, K, which works on a hinge-joint, and which is perforated with a large number of holes for giving passage to the oil that has traversed the hair cloth cushion of which we shall speak further on. These holes must correspond accurately with the radial conduits presented by plate, E, and through which flows the oil to a circular channel running around this same piece. In order to exactly maintain such a relation between the holes and channels, the piece, E, is provided with a stirrup-iron, d, that passes around one of the columns, C, of the hydraulic press.

The entire filter thus constructed is attached to one of the columns, C', of the hydraulic press in such a way that it can revolve around it. For this purpose, the column is surrounded by an iron sleeve, L, cast in two pieces, and which in its lower position rests on the shoulder, e, of the column. The filter is connected with the sleeve by means of screws, as shown in Fig. 6.

We shall now describe the mechanism for loosening the band, I, and moving the bottom, K.

The band, I (Figs. 5 to 9), is cleft at a point in its circumference corresponding to one of the joints of the shell, F, and carries at each side of the cleft a bearing in which turns freely a steel pin. One of these latter, i, is cylindrical, and the other, j, has eccentric extremities that are connected with the former by two small iron rods, k and l. The upper extremity of the pin, j, is provided with a bent lever-handle, M, and the lower one carries in its turn a small disk, m, the use of which will be explained further on. It results from such an arrangement that by acting on the lever, M, with the band, and by reason of the eccentricity of the pin, j, the two extremities of the band, I, may be made to approach or recede at the will of the operator. The position of nearest approximation is limited by the abutting of the hook at the end of the lever, M, against the side of the filter. This latter position corresponds to the moment of charging the apparatus (Fig. 6), while the contrary one indicates the moment that the oil cake falls (Fig. 4). Although the separation is but a few millimeters, it is sufficient for disengaging and allowing the cake to drop.

The movable bottom, K (Figs. 5 and 6), which closes the base of the filter during the pressing, becomes detached and drops vertically (Figs. 3 and 4), when the filter is disengaged from the press, and the oil cake is to be dropped out. To render the maneuver of this part easy, the bottom is provided with a projecting piece, N, united by a bolt with the band, I, and furnished with an articulated hand-lever, N', that terminates in an appendage, q. The upper part of the hinge is provided with a tail piece, q', under which the appendage q, places itself when the bottom, K, is brought to its horizontal position. Consequently, when the operator desires to let the bottom drop in the position shown by the dotted line (Fig. 5), after the filter has been loosened, he moves the lever, N, to the position shown by the dotted line (Fig. 6). The appendage, q, then disengages itself from the tail piece, q', and the bottom is thus enabled to assume a vertical position. As the bottom at the time of charging would not be sufficiently supported if there merely existed the lever and catch, it is further provided at its opposite extremity with an appendage, r, which slides over a catch, r'. This latter is attached to the disk, m, at the lower extremity of the pin, j (Fig. 7), and takes exactly the proper position when the band is closed at the moment of charging, but leaves it, on the contrary, when the band is loosened to allow the oil cake to drop out.

As the lateral flow takes place through the interstices of the brass lining, there is need of but one cushion on the bottom and another at the top to hold the material to be pressed. The first is a simple hair-cloth disk for preventing the seed from passing through the perforations in the bottom plate; and the second, O, of which Figs. 12 and 13 represent a segment, is formed of three thicknesses of the same material united at the edges by two flat iron circles, s, riveted together. These circles, which are made to fit the inside diameter of the shells very accurately, prevent any leakage of the oil around the presser, G, and keep the hairs from getting caught between this piece and the plates, b.

_Charging of the Filter_. (Figs. 14 and 15.)--The apparatus for charging the filter is of the same capacity as the latter, and is made of galvanized iron. It is placed on a slide at the aperture of the steam kettle so as to receive the warm seed as it is thrown out by the stirrer. When full, it is taken up by its handles, rested on the rim of the filter, and its contents emptied therein.

_General Manipulation of the Press_.--Supposing the filter in the position shown in Figs. 3 and 4, at the moment the seedcake is about to drop out: the operator takes hold of the lock lever, N, with his left hand, raises the bottom, K, to a horizontal position, and at the same time fastens the bolt of the lever by turning it. He then seizes the lever, M, with his right hand, and turns it so as to close the filter, having care at the same time to support the extremity, r, of the bottom with his left hand so that the catch, r', may pass under it when the lever is manipulated. The bottom haircloth is then put in place, the charge is thrown in, and its surface leveled, and the hair-cloth cushion is laid on top. The filter is then revolved around the column so as to bring it into the position shown in Fig. 1. The cock of the distributer that admits water under pressure being turned on, the ram, D, rises, carries with it the filter, and compresses the material against the presser, G. At the end of from six to ten minutes the pressure-valve is closed and the discharge-valve opened. The filter then slides down with its socket along the column, C', till it reaches the shoulder, e, where it rests. It is next swung around to the position shown in Fig. 3, and emptied of its contents by a manipulation, the reverse of that described for charging it. All these manipulations of charging and emptying require no more than half a minute on the part of an experienced workman.

The press under consideration is well adapted to the treatment of heated seed paste, and has been very successfully employed for that purpose in France, Belgium, and Holland. It succeeds equally well for the extraction of oil from nuts. Referring to the drawings, the scales are for Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 14, 15, one fifteenth actual size; Figures 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, one-tenth; Figures 10, 11, 12, and 13, one-fifth.--_Machines, Outils et Appareils_.

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LAURENT & COLLOT'S AUTOMATIC INJECTION PUMP.

As well known, in every well-constructed injection pump, there is a system of gearing which acts upon the suction valve and stops the operation of the pump as soon as the requisite pressure is reached; but the piston, for all that, continues its motion, and, besides the resistant work of the pump has passed through different degrees of intensity, seeing that at every moment of its operation the piston has preserved the same stroke and velocity. We are speaking, be it understood, of pumps that are controlled mechanically. In the one that we are about to describe, things take place far otherwise. In measure as the pressure increases, the stroke of the piston diminishes, and when it has reached its maximum, the motion of the piston ceases entirely. If, during the operation progression undergoes more or less variation, that is, for example, if it diminishes at a given moment to afterwards increase, the stroke of the piston undergoes all the influences of it.

The pump of which we speak is shown in Figs. 16 to 21, and is the invention of Messrs. Laurent Bros. & Collot. It may be described briefly as follows: