While so much is written of the internal economy of Russia, many will be surprised to hear of the extraordinary extent of the lands which form the estates of the Crown. The extent of the possessions of the Russian emperor may be gathered from the fact that the Altai estates alone cover an area of over one hundred and seventy thousand square miles, being about three times the size of England and Wales. The Nertchinsk estates, in Eastern Siberia, are estimated at about seventy-six thousand six hundred square miles, or more than twice the size of Scotland and Wales put together. In the Altai estates are situated the gold and silver mines of Barnaul, Paulov, Smijov, and Loktjepp, the copper foundry at Sasoum, and the great iron-works of Gavrilov, in the Salagirov district. The receipts from these enormous estates are in a ridiculously pitiful ratio to their extent. In the year 1882 they amounted to nine hundred and fifty thousand roubles, or a little more than ninety-five thousand pounds; while for 1883 the revenue was estimated at less than half this sum, or about four hundred thousand roubles. The rents, &c., gave a surplus over expense of administration of about a million and a half of roubles, or about one hundred and fifty thousand pounds. On the other hand, the working of the mines showed a deficit of over a million; hence the result just indicated. A partial explanation of this very unsatisfactory state of things is to be found in the situation of the mines, which are generally in places quite destitute of wood, while the smelting-works were naturally located in districts where wood abounds, sometimes as much as three hundred and four hundred miles distant from the mines. The cost of transport of raw materials became considerable in this way. By degrees, all the wood available in the neighbourhood of the smelting-works became used up, and it was necessary to fetch wood from distances of even over one hundred kilometres. Formerly, the mines were really penal settlements, worked by convicts, who were partly helped by immigrants, whose sons were exempted from military service on the condition of working in the mines. But since the abolition of serfdom this system has been quite altered, and there is now a great deal of free labour on the ordinary conditions.
HYDROPHOBIA—IMPORTANT EXPERIMENTS.
M. Pasteur, who has already made so many valuable discoveries in connection with diseases that are propagated by germs, has, in his own name and that of his assistants, MM. Chamberlan and Roux, communicated to the French Academies of Sciences and Medicine the results of his experimental inoculations with the virus of rabies. He finds that the virus may remain in the nervous tissues without manifestation for three weeks, even during the summer months. Virulence is manifested not merely in the nervous tissues, but in the parotid and sub-lingual glands. The granulations observed in the fourth ventricle, when in a state of virulence, are finer than the granulations in the fourth ventricle when in a healthy state, and they can be coloured by means of aniline derivatives. The virus of rabies injected into the veins or beneath the skin produces paralytic rabies, while inoculations into the spinal cord or the brain produce the paroxysmal form. Inoculations with quantities of the virus too small to be effective, have no preservative influence against subsequent inoculations. Whether the virus is propagated by means of the nervous tissues or by absorption through the surfaces of the wound, has not been ascertained. Finally, the experiments have shown that the protective ‘attenuation’ of the virus is possible. The energy or the nature of the virus varies in each species of animals. By passing the virus through different animals, ‘cultures,’ or varying qualities of virus, are obtained, whose precise effects can be predicted. Thus a ‘culture’ has been obtained which certainly kills a rabbit in five or six days, and another which certainly kills a guinea-pig in the same time. Other things being equal, the virulence varies inversely with the duration of the incubation. M. Pasteur and his assistants have good reason to believe that by means of a special culture they have succeeded in making twenty dogs absolutely proof against rabid inoculations. M. Pasteur, with his usual caution, asks for a little longer time before finally pronouncing on the condition of the dogs in question. To devise a means of making the dog proof against rabies is, of course, to devise a means of almost certainly preserving man (including children) from this frightful disorder; for hydrophobia is almost invariably communicated to man and other animals by the bites of rabid dogs.
THE ELECTRIC LIGHT IN RAILWAY CARRIAGES.
An interesting experiment was commenced just after Christmas last by the District Railway Company, on the short branch line which connects Kensington and Fulham, passing through Earl’s Court and Walham Green. On the 2d of January last, the carriages running on this short line were lighted for the first time, each with a small Swan burner, inclosed in a little glass globe; and although only a very small coil of fine wire, thin as a hair, shaped something like a letter U, was employed, the light was so brilliant and steady that the smallest print could be read by it easily. The experiment lasted about a fortnight or three weeks, and was worked from a luggage van attached to the rear of the train, and fitted up for the purpose. This experiment is interesting, and the result has been most successful, not a slip, nor a hitch of any kind, having occurred; while the reports as to cost are, it is understood, perfectly satisfactory.
Let us hope that this beautiful system of lighting may speedily be introduced on the different railways throughout the country; and especially on the District line of the Metropolitan Railway, where the bad blinking gas is so terribly trying to those who have to make two journeys a day by it, and who desire to employ the time of transit with their book or their paper, which becomes a work of difficulty under the present gas arrangements, but which may possibly be explained by one word, ‘economy;’ for it is a well-established fact, patent to all, that gas is light and brilliant enough for most purposes, provided a proper and sufficient quantity is used.
DISSECTION AFTER DEATH.
Amongst the strange institutions which have been started within the last few years is that of ‘The Society for Mutual Autopsy,’ which commenced its existence in Paris in the year 1876. No balloting or any elaborate system is necessary to become a member. A proper introduction with a fee of five francs suffices, and an engagement to will your body to the Society for the purpose of dissection after death. In order to prevent the friends and relatives of the dead from frustrating the intentions of the testator, by disposing of the corpse in the usual manner, a proper legal form has been drawn up and inscribed in the Rules. This Society, which consists of about two hundred members, a dozen of whom are ladies, contains amongst its members many men eminent in the medical world in Paris, as well as distinguished in science and art. The theory of the founders is, that in consequence of the difficulty of obtaining for post-mortem examinations any other subjects but those of the lowest classes, whose faculties are naturally warped or otherwise undeveloped, much benefit must accrue to science by an opportunity being given for the dissection of persons of cultivated understanding, and particularly by making observations on the brain. Between twenty and thirty of the members of this Society generally dine together once a month at a restaurant near the Halles, where they pass a congenial evening, although there is a touch of ghastliness in the gathering. When one of their community is missing at the banquet, instead of lamenting over his departure, every one listens with rapt interest to the surgeon’s explanation of the post-mortem examination he has made.
PREVENTION OF BLINDNESS IN INFANCY.
The Manchester and Salford Sanitary Association recently issued a paper, based upon the directions of the Society for the Prevention of Blindness. From it we learn that one of the most frequent causes of blindness is the inflammation of the eyes of new-born babies. Yet this is a disease which can be entirely prevented by cleanliness, and always cured if taken in time. The essential precautions against the disease are: (1) Immediately after the birth of the baby, and before anything else is done, wipe the eyelids and all parts surrounding the eyes with a soft dry linen rag; soon afterwards wash these parts with tepid water before any other part is touched. (2) Avoid exposing the baby to cold air; do not take it into the open air in cold weather; dress the infant warmly, and cover its head, because cold is also one of the causes of this eye-disease. When the disease appears, it is easily and at once recognised by the redness, swelling, and heat of the eyelids, and by the discharge of yellowish white matter from the eye. Immediately on the appearance of these signs, seek the advice of a medical man; but in the meantime, proceed at once to keep the eyes as clean as possible by very frequently cleansing away the discharge. It is the discharge which does the mischief. The cleansing of the eye is best done in this way: (1) Separate the eyelids with the finger and thumb, and wash out the matter by allowing a gentle stream of lukewarm water to run between them from a piece of rag or cotton-wool held two or three inches above the eyes. (2) Then move the eyelids up and down and from side to side in a gentle rubbing way, to bring out the matter from below them; then wipe it or wash it off in the same manner. This cleansing will take three or four minutes, and it is to be repeated regularly every half-hour at first, and later, if there is less discharge, every hour. (3) The saving of the sight depends entirely on the greatest care and attention to cleanliness. Small pieces of clean rag are better than a sponge, as each rag is to be used once only, and then burnt immediately; sponges should never be used, except they are burnt after each washing. (4) A little washed lard should be smeared along the edges of the eyelids occasionally, to prevent them from sticking. Of all the mistaken practices which ignorance is apt to resort to, none is more ruinous than the use of poultices. Let them be dreaded and shunned as the destroyers of a new-born baby’s sight. Tea-leaves and sugar-of-lead lotion are equally conducive to terrible mischief, stopping the way, as they do, to the only right and proper course to be taken.