Page:Science vol. 5.djvu/536

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�mtDt* d'ftDtliropologle giairaie ' (Paris, 1386), states IbSt the chief dlfficultiea with water are: Rnt, that tbi water, wetting the side« o( the measuring-glags. riM* on it, and makes it impoiaible for the observer to Nad correctly; and, tecond, that the water pene- tiUM to the Biniues and Tuuoles of the tkull, and ntunia, when the ticull Is drained, to augment unduly the water lielonging to the cavlt; proper. The ei- perttnenta of Dr. MatlbeirB Indicated that the great-

���est source nl uncertainty lay in the fact that the skull, when moistened, Increases rapidly in cnblc capacity. Bis method is as follows: —

After recording the weight of the skull, it is var- nished inside with thin alicllac vomlab, applied by means of a reversible spray apparatus. ArtiGelal or accidental oriflces are closed with India-rubber adhesive piaster. The foramina and fossae are BUed with putty. The skull Is wrapped In a coating of putty an inch or more In thickness, which renders it water-tight. It is filled with water by special appa- ratus] Id forty-live seconds, and emptied in dfteeo

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seconds. The rapidity of this manipulation, ta «■> Junction with the varnishing, prevents soaking lato the atnuies, and the undue measuremeut of nut which (loos not pertain to the cranial eavlty. Iks water is poured Into a meaauring^glass of two UiM' land cubic centimetres capacity, and lyoopodiotD li scattered on the water to define the true lurfu*. The pntty is taken from the skull: the latter is cleansL and placeil in a dry, warm apartment, until b; ila< evaporation it has been reduced to its former weight, and coQsequentty to its former capacity. Th«n It 1) measured a secoad time to verify the rnsults ol Oa first measure msnt. Theauthordid notclaim lafridlt] as an adrantage of the system, but bsli«T«d thai fl removed to a great extent the eSect of varying m» cular effort, which was such a disturtiinfc faetoc id other methols. "With the most Importmnl epan- tions, the unchangeable element of tlin« nUMa ibi place of tlie Qchle element of vital force." Although the method is new, and still i of improvemeni. It is thought that the shown in the following table have not be«n esDctflad,

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��THE CULTIVATION OF MICROBES.^

It is possible to obtain a perfectly sterile liquid (that Is to say, one deprived of all living germs) by one of four methods: —

1. Filtering through some material whose mesbfi are sufficiently line to arrest the amnUest ot^anisrai. The only material really practicable for tills purposr is the unglaied porcelain used by Pasteur atid Chaiu- berland,

2. Obtaining the liquid directly from the Internal organs of one of the superior animals ; the digestive tract being considered, for this purpose, an etUrnai organ. Pasteur's eiperimenls have shown tlial tb« 

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