The general question of the disposition of sewage is one that has occupied the attention of the board. A well-ordered water supply, water-closets, and suitable drainage in connec tion with a system of sewers is, of course, the best. The substitutes for water-closets are, first, frequent disinfection with dry earth, and prompt and frequent removal of all excrement; second, the disposition of slop-water in such a way that it can not putrefy and contaminate the air in the neighborhood of dwellings. This is well attained by a system of irrigation devised by Mr. Rogers Field, of London; but where this can not be adapted, it is said that the safest way is to dispose of slop-water on the surface of the ground not near dwellings, where the organic matters in suspension or solution will be taken up by vegetation. All tanks, reser voirs, cesspools, etc., may be always looked upon as likely to cause serious trouble under the immense majority of cir cumstances.

CINCINNATI HAMS.

The health authorities of Paris have lately prohibited the sale in that city of Cincinnati hams, which, as is well known, are generally put up in canvas, colored of a brownish hue. According to the results of a chemical investigation, this color is due to chrome-yellow, or the chromate of lead, which is in itself a highly poisonous substance.

Professor Bouchardat suggests, in a communication on the subject, that if a brown color for this purpose is desirable, there are numerous substances, such as curcuma and others, which are entirely inoffensive, and which would be equally valuable in producing the general effect of color.-12 B, May 15, 1876, 430.

EXCLUSION OF DUST FROM THE LUNGS.

Dr. B. W. Richardson, in a series of lectures upon unhealthy trades, recently delivered in London, mentions a new device for the filtration of dust, the injuries from which are known to be among the most serious to which mechanics and oper atives are subjected. Whenever filings and fine dust of any kind are produced, it is very important to prevent the introduction of particles of the foreign substance into the lungs, as even an occasional exposure may do great harm, while

one continued for many months or years almost inevitably produces fatal results.

Dr. Richardson states that the principal conditions in a mask, in order to secure perfection of action, are a free entrance of air and freedom of exit, with balance for respiration and expiration so arranged that the expiration should be at least one sixth freer than the inspiration; second, the removal of the water of expiration; third, selection of a material for filtration that shall absorb the smallest possible amount of water, offer as little resistance as is possible, and filter finely; fourth, arrangement of the filter so that it should, as far as possible, clear itself, in expiration, of the dust it had received during the time the air was being drawn through in the act of inspiration.

For these purposes numerous devices have been presented; among them one by which the air is passed through cotton. In this, however, the cotton soon becomes saturated with water; the breathing is difficult even in pure air. A second form, made of layers of crape spread over a light framework, is easily put on and off, and it admits the passage of the air in either direction freely, but it allows the water to accumulate in the meshes, and it filters badly. It answers fairly for very coarse dusts, but the finer sorts, such as flour, are not excluded.

Other very complicated forms were mentioned; but the one to which the lecturer referred as having all the good qualities and none of the disadvantages of the rest is made of feathers arranged around the outside of a perforated breathing tube of a convenient size, a line of feathers being fastened to the tube, and wrapped around it so closely as to cover all the perforations. By breathing through the upper end of this tube, the feathers come down to the perforations in inspiration, and expand in expiration so as to be lifted from the openings, and all the intercepted dust is blown off. Very little moisture is collected, and the apparatus is considered almost perfect.

The tube is fastened in a mask, which is tied around the feathers, so as the more readily to keep them in the proper position. It can be put on and taken off as easily as if it were a pair of spectacles. The filter-tube is placed below, so as to catch all the inspired air, and by means of the two

side expiratory valves nearly all the moisture of the breath is set free.-18 A, June 9, 1876, 326.

ELECTRICAL ALARM AGAINST CARBONIC OXIDE.

The following is the general construction of a small apparatus, designed by Ansell, which is said to indicate the presence of a comparatively small amount of carbonic oxide in the atmosphere by starting an electrical alarm, and seems to be especially adapted to sleeping-chambers, where there may be any danger from the escape of gas. A pear-shaped vessel, closed at the top with a porous membrane-best with an unglazed earthen plate-is connected at the bottom with two communicating tubes filled to a certain height with mercury. The tube not immediately connected with the vessel ends in a small hollow glass bulb, containing a platinum wire reaching nearly to the mercury. The poles of a battery, including in its circuit an alarm-bell, are connected respectively with this wire and the mercury. In an atmos phere containing carbonic oxide, this gas, of lower specific gravity, will diffuse so much more rapidly through the por ous membrane into the vessel filled with air, that sufficient pressure will be produced to cause a depression of the mercury in the tube connected with it, and a corresponding elevation of it in the other, until it comes in contact with the platinum wire, when the alarm will be sounded by the completion of the circuit.-18 C, February 9, 1876, 81.

O. NECROLOGY.

Angelin, Nils Peter. For many years Superintendent of the Paleontological Department of the Royal Museum at Stockholm, and author of numerous memoirs on the geology and paleontology of Sweden. Died February 13th, at the age of seventy.

Balard, M. Member of the Academy of Sciences of Paris, and Professor of Chemistry at the Sorbonne. Died in Paris, at the age of seventy-four. Baudeira, Marquis Sa de. Author of several papers on the Portuguese possessions in Africa. Died at Lisbon, February 6th, at the age of eighty-one.

Becher, Rear-Admiral A. B. Entered the British navy in 1812, and became editor of the Nautical Magazine, after a period of service in surveying on the Canadian lakes, in the Hydrographic Office, and in the Admiralty. In 1856 published "The Landfall of Columbus," identifying Watling Island with Guanahani. Died February 14th, in the eighty-fourth year of

his age.

Bird, Frederick. An astronomer; specially skilled in polishing mirrors of telescopes. Died at Birmingham, September 27th, aged sixty.

Bleek, Dr. W. H. D. Born in Berlin in 1827. Distinguished as a philologist, and an author of several works upon the languages of South Africa, Australia, and Polynesia. Died August 17th, at Capetown, in the fiftieth year of his age.

Boeck, Dr. William. Author of important works on elephantiasis and other diseases. Died at Christiania, December 10th.

Bollaert, William. An explorer in Central and South America; especially interested in geology and archæology. Died November 15th.

Borlan, Alexander. A local botanist of Angers, France.

Brongniart, Adolphe. An eminent French naturalist. Born January 11th, 1801. Author of many important botanical works, and one of the founders of the Annales des Sciences Naturelles. Died February 18th, at the age of seventy-five.

Buchholz, Dr. R. Well known in connection with polar exploration, and more recently with travels in Central Africa. Died April 17th. Carrington, R. C. Known as the proprietor of Red Hill Observatory, and subsequently of the observatory at Churt, near Farnham, where he died, November 1st; author of a catalogue of circumpolar stars.

Chekanovsky, M. An exile to Siberia, he devoted many years to the study of the geology of that country, and made extensive collections on the shores of the Polar Sea. Died in October.

Cornelissen, Lieutenant J. E. Head of the marine branch of the Utrecht Institute. Died at Brussels in March.

Cresson, John C. Professor of Mechanics and Natural Philosophy in the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia, of which body he was president. At the time of his death, January 12th, aged seventy, was chief-engineer of the Philadelphia Park.

Davies, Professor Charles. A well-known author of mathematical text-books, a West Point graduate, and Professor of Mathematics in Columbia College from 1857 to 1867. Died on the 18th of September, in his seventy-ninth year.

Delvigne, Gustave. Inventor of an explosive bullet and rifled gun. Desmoulins, Charles. President of the Linnean Society of Bordeaux.

Died December 23d, 1875.

D'Orbigny, Professor. An eminent French zoologist, and connected with the Paris Museum of Natural History.

Edwards, F. E. Author of several valuable monographs on various groups of eocene mollusca. Died in England, October 15th, at the age of seventy-six.

Ehrenberg, Professor C. G. Born in Prussian Saxony in April, 1795. An eminent microscopist, and author of several works on infusoria; making a specialty of the examination of deep-sea soundings, a great number of new species of these minute organisms having been described by him. Received many honors in the way of membership in learned societies; was Secretary of the Academy of Sciences of Berlin, a member of the Royal Society of London, and one of the eight foreign associates of the Academy of Seiences of Paris. Died June 27th, in the eighty-first year of his age.

Fearn, Thomas. An accomplished metallurgist of England. Died in September.

Forbes, David. Foreign Secretary of the Iron and Steel Institute. Died December 5th, at the age of forty-nine.

Fuckel, Leopold. Well known for his mycological writings, and his published collection of fungi, entitled "Fungi Rhenani." Died at Vienna, May 8th.

Gamond, Thomé. Born in Paris in 1798; educated in Holland; was the originator of the Channel Tunnel enterprise. Died in February, at the age of seventy-eight.

Grattoni, Signor Severino. An Italian engineer, and superintendent of the construction of the Mont Cenis Tunnel.

Gray, Mrs. Widow of the late John Edward Gray of the British MuDied at an advanced age.

seum.

Guichenot, Alphonse. Well known for his connection with the chair of herpetology and ichthyology in the Museum of Paris. An assistant on