The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1883-01-13
SCIENTIFIC.

OerIndny is 10 give SIO,OUO IOr SclentlHc
exploration in Africa and other countries
during the financial year 1SS3-S4.
The Captain-Ge General of the Philippines
reports that after ii severe hurricane the
cholera, which was of a bad type. ne,rly
disappeared from Manila.
NJ Cruls states that the discovery of the
great comet was announced at Rio on Sep
tember l0,h, but it was not seen at the OBJ
servstory there until the morning of the 18th.
1t h 5 often been noticed by hospit,l sur
geons, says the Lanct, til, t severe, curious
or out-of- tn 2-way accidents seem to occur in
groups, but OF tn no ndequate explanation
has ever been given. (In this connection we
would note the fact that there have been
three deaths here within six months. result
ing from injuries TO the base of the brain,
consequent upon falling from horseback
EDITOR Z G. Al
Next year Russia is to send nj. Sholtz-
Ragozinsky with an expedition to explore
Central Africa. AT first land will be bought
and a meteorological station built on it at
Cameron Bay, and this will form the basis
of the w TX
Great disinfectant and antlseptic action is
said to result from the proper use of copper.
nj. Burcq recommends treatment of infec-
tious disen ses with salts of copper, the in
lection OF the wood of huts with copper sui
phate, and the application of copper to
infected furniture, clothing, and other sus-
pect,d articles.
Some correspondence has occurred in La
Nature with regard to a statement by De
Bronardeli that a girl who lately committed
suicide by jumping from one of the overs
of Notre Dame had probably died from as
phyxia caused by the rapid fall. The criti-
cisns have thus been summarized M. Bon
temps points ont that the depth of fall
having been sixty-six metres, the velocity
required in the time Qess than four seconds)
cannot hay been so great as that sometimes
attained on railways; yet we never hear
of the asphyxiation of engine-drivers and
stokers. He considered it desirable that the
idea in question should be exploded, as I'M
happy persons may be led to choose suicide
by fall from a height. under the notion that
they will die before reaching the ground.
Again M. Gossin mentions that a few years
ago a man threw himself from the top of the
Column of July and fell on an awning which
sheltered workmen at the pedestal. He suf-
fered only a few Commissions. M. Reny says
he had seen an Englishman leap from a
height of thirty-one metres into a deep river
OLillJOlCo ob0 hO was 0AOHA3 IN AOC~I ia
the Island of Oahu, by missionaries, a native
who had fallen from a verified height of
more than three hundred metres, and, his
fall having been broken near the end by a
growth of ferns and other plants, he had
only a few wounds. When asked as to his
sensation in falling, he said he only felt
dazzled.
APHAsIA.
One of the most curious and battling
of nervous diseases is aphusia, which
consists in the loss of power in the sub
ject of it to recall certain words, and
which in serious cases destroys all
power of expression.
An eminent French Judge, who suf-
fered from it, would say to his wife
Give me my-dear me my-you
know, and he would point to his head.
Your hat 2
ooh yes, my hat
Sometimes, again, he would ring the
bell before going out, and say to his
servant, : Give me my um-um- brel.'
Your umbrella ?
Yes, my umbrella
At this time he exhibited no other
symptoms of diminished intelligence, but
was in the habit of discussing the most
intricate points of law. Another in
valid would substitute the word he de-
sired to use with a paraphrase-as, for
instance, when he wanted to mention
his 'aunt,' he would say the nearest
relative by the mothers side
While in the simpler forms of the dis
ease only a few words are lost by the
sufferer, in more complicated cases his
vocabulary is limited to perhaps not
more than half a dozen words. In one
instance the total vocabulary of an
aphasia patient consisted of five words
yes no. three always and
'hello.' He answered all these inquiries
with one of these and though when