and injuring the optic nerve; indirectly, by weakening the powers of the system generally, in which case the eye always suffers from sympathy. Of the sympathies of the eye with the other organs, more will be said, however, in another place.

We are not sure which is the more injurious to the eye, light or heat. Many persons, who think they cannot read by a lamp or candle, would probably find, on a closer observation, that it is the heat which affects their eyes so much, rather than the light. The latter, however, frequently-perhaps we might say generally-adds to the mischief. United, they seldom fail to effect, sooner or later, the destruction of the eyes; at least, they are so far destroyed as to create, prematurely, an almost universal necessity for glasses.

We mean by this, however, a supposed necessity, for we believe that in nine cases in ten, glasses, used by all persons, except those whose eyes are so flattened by age that it is impossible longer to dispense with them, are injurious. In

HOT

this view, we are borne out by many a medical writer. The use of glasses which magnify objects is, of course, much more injurious than that of those which are neither convex nor concave; nevertheless, the latter do harm, and should not be worn unless by the special prescription of a physician.

Quizzing glasses, as we believe they are called, and green and blue spectacles, but especially quizzing glasses, are exceedingly hurtful to the eye, and should be avoided. Those who are near-sighted, and who, therefore, use glasses which are convex, would do well to delay the use of them as long as possible. It is by no means certain, that the frequent occurrence of nearsightedness, in these days, is not the consequence of abusing the eye by heat and light.

[As our space is now exhausted, and forbids enlargement, we are compelled to reserve the further remarks on this important and interesting subject till our next number, when we hope to find room for it.]

The

THE Excessive heat which has lately prevailed gives some interest to the following account of remarkably hot summers:In 1132 the earth opened, and the rivers and springs disappeared in Alsace. Rhine was dried up. In 1152 the heat was so great, that eggs were cooked in the sand. In 1160, at the battle of Bela, a great number of soldiers died from heat. In 1276 and 1277, in France, an absolute failure of the crops of grass and oats occurred. In 1303 and 1304, the Seine, the Loire, the Rhine, and the Danube, were passed over dry-footed. In 1393 and 1394 great numbers of animals fell dead, and the In 1440 the heat crops were scorched up. was excessive. In 1538, 1539, 1540, 1541, the rivers were almost entirely dried up. In 1556 there was a great drought over all Europe. In 1615 and 1616 the heat was overwhelming in France, Italy, and the Netherlands. In 1616 there were 58 consecutive days of excessive heat. In 1678 excessive heat. The same was the case in the first three years of the eighteenth century. In 1718 it did not rain once from the month of April to the month of October. The crops were burnt up, the rivers were dried up, and the theatres were closed by

The

In

decree of the Lieutenant of Police. thermometer marked 63 degrees Reaumer (113 of Fahrenheit). In gardens which were watered, fruit trees flowered twice. In 1723 and 1724 the heat was extreme. 1746, summer very hot and very dry, which absolutely calcined the crops. During several months no rain fell. In 1748, 1754, 1760, 1767, 1773, and 1788, the heat was excessive. In 1811, the year of the celebrated comet, the summer was very warm, and the wine delicious, even at Susenes. In 1818 the theatres remained closed for nearly a month, owing to the heat. The maximum heat was 35 degrees (110-75 Fahrenheit). In 1830, while fighting was going on on the 27th, 28th, and 29th of July, the thermometer marked 36 degrees centrigrade (97.75 Fahrenheit). In 1832, in the insurrection of the 5th and 6th of June, the thermometer marked 35 degrees centrigrade In 1835 the

Seine was almost dried up. In 1850, in the month of June, on the second appearance of the cholera, the thermometer marked 34 degrees centrigrade. The highest temperature which man can support for a certain time, varies from 40 to 45 degrees (104 to 113 of Fah.) Frequent accidents, however, occur at aless elevatedtemperature.-GALIGNANI.

Persons subject to hysterics for years, have a tendency to insanity; and hysterical women do the most strange things of any class of persons, sane or insane. I speak from my own observation, and history attests its correctness. Hysterical women will deceive their friends, and frequently their physicians, by inventing stories, with little if any regard to truth; and will, in carrying on the deception, submit to painful operations, by the physician or surgeon, and I am not prepared to say but that they do, in fact, deceive themselves. I do not attribute their false statements to moral obliquity, theologically speaking, as the obliquity is produced by disease. They are apparently sincere, and I have never known one to own the deception. It is a diseased state of the nervous system, and I think the subject is irresponsible. [The Doctor here enumerated instances where males and females pretended to be strangely affected, and submitted to painful and unpleasant operations, and some of them in the manner here intended. The carrying out the deception so adroitly, as to deceive the attending physician, the clergyman, and indeed the whole neighbourhood.] Insane persons often inflict injury upon themselves in order to charge others with the commision of an offence; and cases have occurred, where insane persons have admitted themselves to be guilty of crimes committed by others. Hysterical females sec visions and dream dreams, that are so vivid that they take them for realities. There is a person at Utica who, a year after he had recovered from his insanity, could not rid himself of the fancies conceived by him when insane. Nervous persons sometimes feign fits in order to obtain medical advice, and when one hysterical person alleges she is affected in a particular manner, another

hearing of it, is very apt to be exercised in the same way. Hysterical and nervous women will perform the most marvellous and mysterious things imaginable. They will cut their flesh, and do other things, and with apparent honesty and sincerity, charge their commission upon others.

Direct Examination. When persons make statements at one time that they forget at another time, it is an evidence of a poor memory, or a discased mind. Hysterical fancies and strange delusions are very likely to occur in young females that mensurate, and it is highly probable they are themselves deceived. The length of time the patient has been subject to hysterics, will make no material difference. When any remarkable occurrence takes place in a neighbourhood, and it is much talked over, a nervous female will be apt to dream of it, and after dreaming, will mix up facts with what is purely imaginary, and be apparently incapable of separating facts from fancy.'

The editor of the American Water-Cure Journal, adds:-'If such things are factsand few men are as competent to judge of matters of this kind as Dr. Brigham-how careful should parents be in the physical training and education of their daughters. Hysteria is a very common affection at the present day. It is a real disease, and should be treated always as such. But hysterical persons generally get little sympathy from friends or enemies. "She is only nervous," is the common expression, as if nervousness were not a disease. "Nevousness" is, in fact, one of the worst of diseases. Let no one call an hysterical person well; such a thing cannot be. They are far from it; but we are glad to say the affection is generally curable; perhaps, always, when not connected with some other and more formidable disease. Drug-treatment will seldom if ever cure it. Bathing, with suitable dieting, exercise, &c., are the means that should be employed.

Hysterical persons should not marry until they are cured. Once cured, the sooner married the better, provided there are no other obstacles in the way. How many miserable wives there are, who are not only miserable themselves, but make their husbands and others about them a vast deal of trouble, in consequence of the diseased state of their nervous system.'

COMPOSITION OF THE VARIOUS KINDS OF FOOD.

the

We call attention to the following statistics, presenting the composition of various articles of food, the results of the analyses made by distinguished chemists, principally of the Liebig school of chemistry, including those of Dr. Lyon Playfair, Boussingault, and others, in which composition of food is presented under the three great heads of requirement already mentioned, premising, merely, that in addition to matter to form the animal heat and the blood of the body, as well as ashes, a certain amount of innutritious matter accompanies most articles of food, and that this has been declared by certain physiologists to be of considerable importance; bulk, as well as nutrition, being considered essential to the healthy action of food in the process of digestion.

various articles of vegetable food with beef, it cannot but excite surprise to see that whilst the solid matter of peas, beans, lentils, and oat-meal, should range between 84 and 91 per cent. of solid matter, and from 16 to 9 only of water, the lean and fat together of flesh contain 36 1-6th lb. of solid matter, whilst all the rest, amounting to 63 4-10th lb. is merely water.-Vegetarian Cookery.

DEATHS FROM THE LATE EXCESSIVE HEAT.

SEVERAL inquests have been held during the late hot weather on persons whose deaths resulted from coups de soleil. One was held by Mr. Brent upon a man named Cureke, a labourer at the farm of Mr. Goodchild, near Harrow, who died of a coup de soleil; and another by the same coroner, was on the body of Elizabeth Osborne, a nursemaid to Mrs Kingston, of Kingston, who died from the exhaustion caused by wheeling two children to Kensall Green and back, a distance of four miles. The coroner remarked that the number of deaths that resulted from the same cause within the week was truly frightful. Mr. Wakley had held two inquests in similar cases. therefore was really necessary that medical men should meet and decide upon some specific against such dreadful calamities. Dr. Frost suggested the throwing of water from a height upon the head of a sufferer, a treatment successfully adopted in India. Before the coroner concluded the second inquest, information reached him that Mr. Webb, cheesmonger, residing at 109, Tottenham Court Road, while speaking to a lady, fell dead upon the ground from a coup de soleil, and communications have reached London from several districts announcing numerous fatal catastrophes from the same

cause.

THE CONTRADICTIONS OF MEDICAL MEN.

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"Ar this moment," says Mr. Piuny, "the opinions on the subject of treatment are almost as numerous as the practitioners themselves. Witness the mass of contradiction on the treatment of even one disease, Consumption. Stroll attributes its frequency Morton to the introduction of bark. considers bark an effectual cure. Reid ascribes the frequency of the disease to the use of mercury. Brillonet asserts that it is curable by mercury only. Ruse says that consumption is an inflammatory diseaseshould be treated by bleeding, purging, cooling medicines, and starvation. Salvadori

says it is a disease of debility, and should be treated by tonics, stimulating remedies, and a generous diet. Galon recommended vinegar as the best preventive of consumption. Dessault and others assert that consumption is often brought on by taking vinegar to prevent obesity. Beddoes recommended foxglove as a specific. Dr. Parr found foxglove more injurious in his practice than beneficial. Such are the contradictory statements of medical men!"

ILLUSTRATIONS OF EXTREME MINUTENESS.

Fine as

DR. WOLLASTON obtained platinum wire so fine, that 30,000 pieces, placed side by side in contact, would not cover more than an inch. It would take 150 pieces of this wire bound together to form a thread as thick as a filament of raw silk. Although plantinum is the heaviest of the known bodies, a mile of this wire would not weigh more than a grain. Seven ounces of this wire would reach from London to New York. is the filament produced by the silkworm, that produced by the spider is still more attenuated. A thread of a spider's web, measuring four miles, will weigh very little more than a single grain. Every one is similiar with the fact, that the spider spins a thread, or cord, by which his weight hangs suspended. It has been ascertained that this thread is composed of about 6,000 filaments.-LARDNER'S Handbook.

STATISTICS OF COST OF FOOD.

We find, for instance, in appealing to the facts of the composition of food, that the economic question of what does it cost to produce 100 lb. weight of the blood of the body from the various articles of food in ordinary consumption,' is answered in a way altogether condemnatory of flesh as food, when the cost of relying upon the nutriment of flesh is compared with that of the identical elements of nutriment derived from vegetable products, as may be readily observed on an inspection of the following calculations

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from beans, for £1. 2s. 6d. ; 100 lb. from peas, for £1. 2s. 114d.; and 100 lb. from lentils, for £2. 8s. 8d.; while the same amount of flesh-forming principle (identical as it has been shown to be, in all these various kinds of food, and originating in vegetable food), if taken from beef, or the average of butcher's meat, at 6d. per lb., will cost £11. 128. 64d.-Vegetarian Cookery.

PICTURE OF THE FULL MOON ON THE RETINA.

If we look at the full moon, on a clear night, we perceive, with considerable distinctness, by the naked eye, the lineaments of light and shade which characterize its disk. Now, let us consider only for a moment what are the dimensions of the picture of the moon formed on the retina, from which alone we derive this distinct perception. The disk of the moon subtends a visual angle of half a degree, and consequently, according to what has been explained, the diameter of its picture on the retina is 1-230th part of an inch, and the entire superficial magnitude of the image from which we derive this distinct perception is only the 1-52900th part of a square inch; yet, within this minute space, we are able to distinguish a multiplicity of still more minute details. We perceive, for example, forms of light and shade, whose linear dimensions do not exceed one-tenth part of the apparent diameter of the moon, and which, therefore, occupy on the retina a space whose diameter does not exceed the 1-500000th part of a square inch.-Lardner.

ETHERISATION OF A LION.

A MOST novel operation was performed lately at South Boston, United States. Francis Alger, Esq., has in his possession, at his residence in South Boston, a lion about six months old, of the species known as the American lion, and brought a short time since from South America. The lion, as it has increased in size, has grown quite ferocious, and it was deemed advisable to remove his claws, which were very sharp, to prevent him from doing injury to those who might approach his cage. To accomplish this end, Dr. Charles T. Jackson administered ether to him. At first he was quite cross and snappish, and some difficulty was experienced in getting the sponge to his nose. last, however, a soothing impression was made, and after a pound and a half had been administered he became perfectly docile, and slept quietly for twenty minutes. In the meantime, his claws were removed by a pair of sharp pincers, and, when his lionship awoke from his trance, he found himself deprived of his formidable weapons of defence.

At