eight-increasing power; and I have observed this in several private
cases also. Having no weighings of these latter, however, makes this
statement merely an expression of opinion. In early cases, mullein milk
appears to act very much in the same manner as cod-liver oil; and when
we consider that it is at once cheap and palatable it is certainly worth
a trial. I will continue the research by careful weighings of early
cases; and will further endeavor to ascertain whether the addition of
mullein to the cultivating solution prevents the propagation of the
phthisical bacillus.

* * * * *

ACTION OF MINERAL WATERS AND OF HOT WATER UPON THE BILE.

Lewaschew and Klikowitch, from experiments upon dogs, conclude that the
use of ordinary alkaline mineral waters was to increase the quantity of
bile and to make it more fluid and watery. This increased flow is
beneficial in clearing out any bile stagnating in the gall-bladder. A
subsequent increase in the quantity of bile indicates a greater flow of
bile into the gall-bladder, and this also is of service in emptying out
any stagnant bile, and restoring the normal condition when this is
disturbed. Artificial solutions of alkaline salts were found to have a
similar action to the natural mineral waters, and, as with them, the
action varies according to the concentration of the solution.
Bicarbonate of sodium has a quicker, more powerful, and more lasting
effect on the composition of the bile than the sulphate of sodium, and
weak solutions than strong ones. Vichy was more efficacious than
Carlsbad water. Hot water was found to have an effect on the bile much
like that of the mineral waters.

* * * * *

VIVISECTION.

Although Magendie is rightly considered the true initiator of
experimentation upon living beings, the practice of vivisection is as
old as science itself.

Galien, the physician of Marcus Aurelius (in the second century of the
Christian era), dissected living animals, and yet he is regarded as
having merited his name (_Galenus_, "gentle") from the mildness of his
character. Five centuries before him, under the Ptolemies, Egyptian
experimenters had operated upon condemned persons. So, then, vivisection
is not, as usually thought, a diabolical invention of modern science.

[Illustration: Fig. 1-5 APPARATUS USED IN VIVISECTION.]

In all ages the necessity has been recognized of operating upo