Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1877-03-21
SCIENTIFIC.

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An English physician opposes com
pulsOry vaccination on the ground tina
it prevents further discovery, and com
pels medical science to halt at just tha
point, because it fOrbids experiment
upon methods of prevention that MAJ
prove to be better. He says: at stere.
otypes a particular stage of scientific
knowledge, and bars further progress
Ii l remind you of the great improve
ment thought to have been made by
the introduction of inoculation by Lady
Mary WOrtley Montagu at the end Ol
the last century, and ask You to sup
pose that Parliament might then have
passed an act to compel every one to bt
inOculated, you will, think, see wha
is meant. This method was tried fol
some years with great ecldt, but after
ward 1t was found to spread the small.
pox so much that an act of Parliament
was passed to forbid its use. Vacci-
nation, introduced by DIR. Jenner, has
followed, and this was another step il
advance. | was the first child in my
fathers family vaccinated seventy-ont
years ago, several elder brothers and
sisters having been lnOculated. Botl
methods answered in our cases. But fol
many years have been satisfied that
other diseases besides the modified
smallpox (called cow-pOx) are now in
trOduced by the old vaccine, and have
steadily refused to use it, seeking
rather, at increased trouble and eX-
pense, new vaccine. And the question
which comes forcibly to the front ii
this: May not some other preseryative
be discovered which shall be further
Improvement? The question cannot
be answered so long as vaccination Is
compelled by law. There are no per-
sons upon whom experiments can be
tried" So far as it goes, this is valid
ground for criticislng vaccination laws,
But the proof that smallpox is more
disastrous to the human race than the
evils that vaccination brings with it is
so strong that there is little likelihood
society will subject itself To the attacks
of the greater enemy in order to avoid
the lesser. The evils of the old system
of using vaccine taken from human
beings for new inoculatiOns are now no
longer inevitable. Fresh vaccine di-
rect from the calf, and called Bovine"
can be had everywhere. A large estab-
lishment for obtaining il is situated
near New York.-The GGiarV.
lnOOH <hUuNtSS. DOpuldI
that the moons rays will cause mad
ness in any person who sleeps exposed
to them has long been felt to be alb
surd, and vet it has appeared TO have
its source in undoubted facts. Some
deleterious influence is experienced by
those who rashly court slumber in full
mOonshine. and probably there is no
superstition to which the well-to-dO
ma y
often carefully covered To keep the
moonbeams from entering sleeping
rooms. A gentleman living in India
furnishes Mature" with an explana
ton of this phenomenon which is at
least plausible. He says: sit has often
been observed that when the moon is
full, or near its full time, there are
rarely any clouds about; and If there be
clouds before the full moon rises, they
are soon dissipated; and therefore a
perfectly clear sky, with a bright full
moon is frequently observed. \ clear
sky admits of rapid radiation of heat
from the surface of the earth, and any
person exposed to such radiation is sure
to be chilled by rapid loss of heat.
There Is reason to believe that, under
the circumstances, paralysis of one side
of the face Is sometimes likely to occur
from chill, as one side of the face Is
more likely To be exposed to rapid ra-
and consequent loss of its heat.
This chill is more likely to occur when
the sky is perfectly clear. have often
slept in the open air III India on a clear
night, when there was no
moon; and although the first part of the
night may have been hot, yet toward
two or three o'clock in the the morning,
the chill has been SO great that / have
often been awakened by an ache in my
forehead, which as often have coun-
by wrapping handkerchief
round my head, and drawing the blan-
ket over my face. As the chill is like
ly to be greatest on every clear night,
and the clearest nights are likely to be
those on which there is bright moon
shine, it is very possible that neuralgia,
or other similarinjury, caused
by sleeping In the open air has been at
to the moon, when the proNl-
mate cause may really have been the
chiH, and the moon only a remote cause
acting by dissipating the clouds and
haze Off it do sol, and leaving a perfect
y clear sky for the play OF radiation
INTO spaee."-1he Gaidry.
Panthers as Seed Distributors. 1T is
we'll known that bees carry pollen from
lower to flower, and that eggs of ma
rine animals are often carried long
distances in the stomachs of aquati
birds. A very curious instance or thi |
Kind, showing how vegetable species !
nay be ditfused by means which no |