An important advance in surgery—the successful tution of catgut, ivory and bone for defects in bones, muscles and nerve sinews—was illustrated by. Prof. Gluck at the Surgical Congress at Beni The inserted material sucks up the juices of the body, establishing the junction of the separated ends without any' shortening ut the part. Prof. Gluck presented cases in which mobility had been restored to defect tive fingers—a hitherto impossible feat—by insertions of from two to four inches of catgut; a ease in which the removal ut a j tumor from the thigh hud left". defective bone, vhich was remedied by the insertion of ivory, shortening being. prevented a case in which a large piece of nerve in the groin had been: replaced with catgut, serious impairment of functions.
to have produced from peat a coal greatly A civi engineer of St. Poterabung i uld resembling anthracite. " He accomplished this be te use of eeriain chemicals. Government experiments with the new fuel are reported to have been very satisfactory, the heat obtained being a little less than that from ordinary coul, but greater than that from the wood of the fir or birch which is largely used in Russia. The peat is superior to coal in cheapness, in freedom from dust, and in lack of disagreeable odour in burning.
A curious case of retarded decomposition of a human body has been brought to light, at Canterbury Cathedral, A tomb supposed to be that of Archbishop Hubert Walter, who died in 1204, was recently opened, when the body was found to be in ay ex: tremely offensive condition, giving off—after nearly seven centuries of emtombment—theoffensive and unmistakable odour of decaying flesh.
A thermometer valued at 810,000—the finest in America—is among the instrumental resources of Johns Hopkins University. The graduations on the scale are 80 fine that a microscope is necessary fur reading them.
Some researches by tio German chemists have been brought to a close in a somewhat ludicrous manner. Among several pro-duets obtained by them from the reaction of sulphureted hydrogen on acetone was a small quantity of an extremely volatile body which sesmad to be mono-sulphureted acetone, or thioketone. It was impossible, however, to obtain the substance pure on account of its odour, which makes all other foul smells sweet by comparison, and entitles this compound—whatever' it is—to rauk as the worst smelling substance known, In the attempts made to purify the product, with every precaution to prevent its escape, the atmosphere about the laboratory was 80 infected to a distance of at least a quarter of a mile, that a storm of complaint from the citizens of the town made it necessary to abandon the investigation, An electric target is made by an English company. When a bullet strikes the target, which is built up in sections, the particular section hit is pushed against the epriug of a lever, closing an electric circuit and causing the section to be indicated on the registering apparatus at the firing end of the range. An electric bell is simultane ously rung.
'A substance having all the essential qualities of silk has been made from wild
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.