Chapter 8

Since that epoch, the passage of solid food has been either painful or difficult, and often followed by regurgitation. The food seemed to stop at the level of the pit of the stomach. So he gave up solid food, and confined himself to liquids or semi-liquids, which readily passed up to December 20, 1887. At this epoch, he remarked that liquids were swallowed with difficulty, especially at certain moments, they remaining behind the sternum and afterward slowly descending or being regurgitated. This state of things was more marked especially in the first part of January. He was successfully sounded several times, but soon the sound was not able to pass. Doctors Affre and Bazenet got him to come to Paris, where he arrived February 5, 1888.

For ten days, the patient had not been able to swallow anything but about a quart of milk or bouillon in small doses. As soon as he had swallowed the liquid, he experienced distress over the pit of the stomach, followed by painful regurgitations. For three days, every attempt made by Dr. Terrillon to remove the obstacle that evidently existed at the level of the cardia entirely failed. Several times after such attempts a little blood was brought out, but there was never any hemorrhage.

The patient suffered, grew lean and impatient, and was unable to introduce into his stomach anything but a few spoonfuls of water from time to time. As he was not cachectic and no apparent ganglion was found, and as his thoracic respiration was perfect, it seemed to be indicated that an incision should be made in his stomach. The patient at once consented.

The operation was performed February 9, at 11 o'clock, with the aid of Dr. Routier, the patient being under the influence of chloroform. A small aperture was made in the wall of the stomach and a red rubber sound was at once introduced in the direction of the cardia and great tuberosity. This gave exit to some yellowish gastric liquid. The tube was fixed in the abdominal wall with a silver wire. The operation took three quarters of an hour. The patient was not unduly weakened, and awoke a short time afterward. He had no nausea, but merely a burning thirst. The operation was followed by no peritoneal reaction or fever. Three hours afterward, bouillon and milk were injected and easily digested.

Passing in silence the technical details, which would not interest the majority of our readers, we shall be content to say that Mr. X., thanks to this alimentation, has regained his strength, and is daily taking his food as shown in Fig. 1. The aperture made in the stomach permits of the introduction of the rubber apparatus shown in Fig. 2, the object of which is to prevent the egress of the liquids of the stomach and at the same time to introduce food. A funnel is fitted to the tube, and the liquid or semi-liquid food is directly poured into the stomach. Digestion proceeds with perfect regularity, and Mr. X., who has presented himself, of his own accord, before the Academy, and whom we have recently seen, has resumed his health and good spirits.--_La Nature._

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HOW TO CATCH AND PRESERVE MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES.

There is no part of our country in which one cannot form a beautiful local collection, and any young person who wants amusement, instruction, and benefit from two, three, or more weeks in the country can find all in catching butterflies and moths, arranging them, and studying them up.

Provide yourself first with two tools, a net and a poison bottle. The net may be made of any light material. I find the thinnest Swiss muslin best. Get a piece of iron wire, not as heavy as telegraph wire, bend it in a circle of about ten inches diameter, with the ends projecting from the circle two or three inches; lash this net frame to the end of a light stick four or five feet long. Sew the net on the wire. The net must be a bag whose depth is not quite the length of your arm--so deep that when you hold the wire in one hand you can easily reach the bottom with the bottle (to be described) in the other hand. Never touch wing of moth or butterfly with your fingers. The colors are in the dusty down (as you call it), which comes off at a touch. Get a glass bottle or vial, with large, open mouth, and cork which you can easily put in and take out. The bottles in which druggists usually get quinine are the most convenient. It should not be so large that you cannot easily carry it in your pocket. Let the druggist put in the bottle a half ounce of cyanide of potassium; on this pour water to the depth of about three-fourths of an inch, and then sprinkle in and mix gently and evenly enough plaster of Paris to form a thick cream, which will _set_ in a cake in the bottom of the vial. Let it stand open an hour to set and dry, then wipe out the inside of the vial above the cake and keep it corked. This is the regular entomological poison bottle, used everywhere. An insect put in it dies quietly at once. It will last several months.

These two tools, the net and the poison bottle, are your catching and killing instruments. You know where to look for butterflies. Moths are vastly more numerous, and while equally beautiful, present more varieties of beauty than butterflies. They can be found by daylight in all kinds of weather, in the grass fields, in brush, in dark woods, sometimes on flowers. Many spend the daytime spread out, others with close shut wings on the trunks of trees in dark woods. The night moths are more numerous and of great variety. They come around lamps, set out on verandas in the night, in great numbers. A European fashion is to spread on tree trunks a sirup made of brown sugar and rum, and visit them once in a while at night with net and lantern. Catch your moth in the net, take him out of it by cornering him with the open mouth of your poison bottle, so that you secure him unrubbed.

Now comes the work of stretching your moths. This is easy, but must be done carefully. Provide your own stretching boards. These can be made anywhere with hammer and nail and strips of wood. You want two flat strips of wood about seven-eighths or three-fourths of an inch thick and eight to fourteen inches long, nailed parallel to each other on another strip, so as to leave a narrow open space between the two parallel strips. Make two or three or more of these, with the slit or space between the strips of various widths, for large and small moths and butterflies. Make as many of them, with as various widths of slit, as your catches may demand. Take your moth by the feet, gently in your fingers, put a long pin down through his body, set the pin down in the slit of the stretching board, so that the body of the moth will be at the top of the slit and the wings can be laid out flat on the boards on each side. Have ready narrow slips of white paper. Lay out one _upper_ wing flat, raising it gently and carefully by using the point of a pin to draw it with, until the lower edge of this upper wing is nearly at a right angle with the body. Pin it there temporarily with one pin, carefully, while you draw up the _under_ wing to a natural position, and pin that. Put a slip of paper over both wings, pinning one end above the upper and the other below the under wing, thus holding both wings flat on the stretching board. Take out the pins first put in the wings and let the paper do the holding. Treat the opposite wings in the same way. Put as many moths or butterflies on your stretching board as it will hold, and let them remain in a dry room for two, three, or more days, according to size of moths and dampness of climate. Put them in sunshine or near a stove to hasten drying. When dry, take off the slips of paper, lift the moth out by the pin through the body, and place him permanently in your collection.--_Wm. C. Prime, in N.Y. Jour. of Commerce._

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THE CLAVI HARP.

The beautiful instrument which we illustrate to-day is the invention of M. Dietz, of Brussels. His grandfather was one of the first manufacturers of upright pianos, and being struck with the difficulties and defects of the harp, constructed, in 1810, an instrument _à cordes pincées à clavier_--the strings connected with a keyboard.

Many improvements have from time to time been made on this model, which at last arrived at the perfection exhibited in the newly patented clavi harp. The difficulty of learning to play the ordinary harp, and the inherent inconveniences of the instrument, limit its use. It is furnished with catgut strings, which are affected by all the influences of temperature, and require to be frequently tuned. The necessity of playing the strings with the fingers renders it difficult to obtain equality in the sounds. It gives only the natural sounds of the diatonic gamut, and in order to obtain changes of modulation, the pedals must be employed. Harmonics and shakes are very difficult to execute on the harp, and--last, but not least--it is not provided with dampers. The external form of the clavi harp resembles that of the harp, and all the cords, or strings, are visible. The mechanism which produces the sound is put into motion directly a key is depressed, and acts in a similar manner to the fingers of a harpist; the strings being pulled, not struck. The clavi harp is free from all the objections inherent in the ordinary harp. The strings are of a peculiar metal, covered with an insulating material, which has for its object the production of sounds similar to that obtained from catgut strings, and to prevent the strings from falling out of tune. The keyboard, exactly like that of a piano, permits of playing in all keys, without the employment of pedals. The clavi harp has two pedals. The first, connected with the dampers, permits the playing of sustained sounds, or damping them instantaneously. The second pedal divides certain strings into two equal parts, to give the harmonic octaves; by the aid of this pedal the performer can produce ten harmonic sounds simultaneously; on the ordinary harp only four simultaneous harmonics are possible. An ordinary keyboard being the intermediary between the performer and the movement of the mechanical "fingers" which pluck the strings, perfect equality of manipulation is secured. The mechanical "fingers" instantaneously quit the strings on which they operate, and are ready for further action. The "fingers" are covered with suitable material, so that their contact with the strings takes place with the softness necessary to obtain the most beautiful tones possible.

The clavi harp is much lighter than the piano--so that it can easily be moved from room to room, or taken into an orchestra, by one or two persons--and is of an elegant form, favorable to artistic decoration. Sufficient will have been said to give a general idea of the new instrument.

It is undeniable that at the present day that beautiful instrument, the harp, is seldom played; still seldomer well played. This is attributable to the difficulties it presents to pupils. Its seven pedals must be employed in different ways when notes are to be raised or lowered a semitone; chromatic passages easy of execution on the piano are almost impracticable on the harp. The same may be said of the shake; and it is only after long and exclusive devotion to its study that the harp can become endurable in the hands of an amateur, or the means of furnishing a professional harpist with a moderate income. It is needless to point out how far, in these respects, the harp is surpassed by the clavi harp.

Vocalists who accompany themselves on the harp are forced, by the extension of their arms to reach the lower strings, and by frequent employment of their feet on the pedals, into postures and movements unfavorable to voice production; but they can accompany themselves with ease on the clavi harp.

Composers are restricted in the introduction of harp passages in their orchestral scores, owing to the paucity of harpists. In some cases, composers have written harp passages beyond the possibility of execution by a single harpist, and the difficulty and cost of providing two harpists have been inevitable. These difficulties will disappear, and composers may give full play to their inspirations, when the harp is displaced by the clavi harp.--_Building News._

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THE ARGAND BURNER.

Argand, a poor Swiss, invented a lamp with a wick fitted into a hollow cylinder, up which a current of air was permitted to pass, thus giving a supply of oxygen to the interior as well as the exterior of the circular frame. At first Argand used the lamp without a glass chimney. One day he was busy in his work room and sitting before the burning lamp. His little brother was amusing himself by placing a bottomless oil flask over different articles. Suddenly he placed it upon the flame of the lamp, which instantly shot up the long, circular neck of the flask with increased brilliancy. It did more, for it flashed into Argand's mind the idea of the lamp chimney, by which his invention was perfected.

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THE SUBTERRANEAN TEMPLES OF INDIA.

During the last fifteen years Bombay has undergone a complete transformation, and the English are now making of it one of the prettiest cities that it is possible to see. The environs likewise have been improved, and thanks to the railways and _bungalows_ (inns), many excursions may now be easily made, and tourists can thus visit the wonders of India, such as the subterranean temples of Ajunta, Elephanta, Nassik, etc., without the difficulties of heretofore.

The excavations of Elephanta are very near Bombay, and the trip in the bay by boat to the island where they are located is a delightful one. The deplorable state in which these temples now exist, with their broken columns and statues, detracts much from their interest. The temples of Ajunta, perhaps the most interesting of all, are easier of access, and are situated 250 miles from Bombay and far from the railway station at Pachora, where it is necessary to leave the cars. Here an ox cart has to be obtained, and thirty miles have to be traveled over roads that are almost impassable. It takes the oxen fifteen hours to reach the bungalow of Furdapore, the last village before the temples, and so it is necessary to purchase provisions. In these wild and most picturesque places, the Hindoos cannot give you a dinner, even of the most primitive character. It was formerly thought that the subterranean temples of India were of an extraordinary antiquity.

The Hindoos still say that the gods constructed these works, but of the national history of the country they are entirely ignorant, and they do not, so to speak, know how to estimate the value of a century. The researches made by Mr. Jas. Prinsep between 1830 and 1840 have enlightened the scientific world as to the antiquity of the monuments of India. He succeeded in deciphering the Buddhist inscriptions that exist in all the north of India beyond the Indus as far as to the banks of the Bengal. These discoveries opened the way to the work done by Mr. Turnour on the Buddhist literature of Ceylon, and it was thus that was determined the date of the birth of Sakya Muni, the founder of Buddhism. He was born 625 B.C. and his death occurred eighty years later, in 543. It is also certain that Buddhism did not become a true religion until 300 years after these events, under the reign of Aoska. The first subterranean temples cannot therefore be of a greater antiquity. Researches that have been made more recently have in all cases confirmed these different results, and we can now no longer doubt that these temples have been excavated within a period of fourteen centuries.

Dasaratha, the grandson of Aoska, first excavated the temples known under the name of Milkmaid, in Behar (Bengal), 200 B.C., and the finishing of the last monument of Ellora, dedicated by Indradyumna to Indra Subha, occurred during the twelfth century of our era.

We shall speak first of the temples of Pandu Lena, situated in the vicinity of Nassik, near Bombay. These are less frequented by travelers, and that is why I desired to make a sketch of them (Fig. 1). The church of Pandu Lena is very ancient. Inscriptions have been found upon its front, and in the interior on one of the pillars, that teach us that it was excavated by an inhabitant of Nassik, under the reign of King Krishna, in honor of King Badrakaraka, the fifth of the dynasty of Sunga, who mounted the throne 129 B.C.

The front of this church, all carved in the rock, is especially remarkable by the perfection of the ornaments. In these it is to be seen that the artist has endeavored to imitate in rock a structure made of wood. This is the case in nearly all the subterranean temples, and it is presumable that the architects of the time did their composing after the reminiscences of the antique wooden monuments that still existed in India at their epoch, but which for a long time have been forever destroyed. The large bay placed over the small front door gives a mysterious light in the nave of the church, and sends the rays directly upon the main altar or _dagoba_, leaving the lateral columns and porticoes in a semi-obscurity well calculated to inspire meditation and prayer.

The temples and monasteries of Ajunta, too, are of the highest interest. They consist of 27 grottoes, of which four only are churches or _chaityas_. The 23 other excavations compose the monasteries or _viharas_. Begun 100 B.C., they have remained since the tenth century of our era as we now see them. The subterranean monasteries are majestic in appearance. Sustained by superb columns with curiously sculptured capitals, they are ornamented with admirable frescoes which make us live over again the ancient Hindoo life. The paintings are unfortunately in a sad state, yet for the tourist they are an inexhaustible source of interesting observations.

The excavations, which have been made one after another in the wall of volcanic rock of the mountain, form, like the latter, a sort of semicircle. But the churches and monasteries have fronts whose richness of ornamentation is unequaled. The profusion of the sculptures and friezes, ornamented with the most artistic taste, strikes you with so much the more admiration in that in these places they offer a perfect and varied _ensemble_ of the true type of the Buddhist religion during this long period of centuries. The picturesque landscape that surrounds these astonishing sculptures adds to the beauty of these various pictures.

The temples of Ellora are no less remarkable, but they do not offer the same artistic _ensemble_. The excavations may be divided into three series: ten of them belong to the religion of Buddha, fourteen to that of Brahma, and six to the Dravidian sect, which resembles that of Jaius, of which we still have numerous specimens in the Indies. Excavated in the same amygdaloid rock, the temples and monasteries differ in aspect from those of Ajunta, on account of the form of the mountain. Ajunta is a nearly vertical wall. At Ellora, the rock has a gentle slope, so that, in order to have the desired height for excavating the immense halls of the _viharas_ or the naves of the _chaityas_, it became necessary to carve out a sort of forecourt in front of each excavation.

Some of the churches thus have their entrance ornamented with porticoes, and the immense monasteries (which are sometimes three stories high) with lateral entrances and facades. The mountain has also been excavated in other places, so as to form a relatively narrow entrance, which gives access to the internal court of one of these monasteries. It thus becomes nearly invisible to whoever passes along the road formed on the sloping side of the mountain. The greatest curiosity among the monuments of Ellora is the group of temples known by the name of Kylas (Fig. 2). The monks have excavated the rocky slope on three faces so as to isolate completely, in the center, an immense block, out of which they have carved an admirable temple (see T in the plan, Fig. 2), with its annexed chapels. These temples are thus roofless and are sculptured externally in the form of pagodas. Literally covered with sculptures composed with infinite art, they form a very unique collection. These temples seem to rest upon a fantastic base in which are carved in alto rilievo all the gods of Hindoo mythology, along with symbolic monsters and rows of elephants. These are so many caryatides of strange and mysterious aspect, certainly designed to strike the imagination of the ancient Indian population (Fig. 3).

Two flights of steps at S and S (Fig. 2) near the main entrance of Kylas lead to the top of this unique base and to the floor of the temples.

The interior of the central pagoda, ornamented with sixteen magnificent columns, formerly covered, like the walls, with paintings, and the central sanctuary that contains the great idol, are composed with a perfect understanding of architectural proportions.

Exit from this temple is effected through two doors at the sides. These open upon a platform where there are five pagodas of smaller size that equal the central temple in the beauty of their sculptures and the elegance of their proportions.

Around these temples great excavations have been made in the sides of the mountain. At A (Fig. 2), on a level with the ground, is seen a great cloister ornamented with a series of bass reliefs representing the principal gods of the Hindoo paradise. The side walls contain large, two-storied halls ornamented with superb sculptures of various divinities. Columns of squat proportions support the ceilings. A small stairway, X (Fig. 2), leads to one of these halls. Communication was formerly had with its counterpart by a stone bridge which is now broken. There still exist two (P) which lead from the floor of the central temple to the first story of the detached pavilion or _mantapa_, D, and to that of the entrance pavilion or _gopura_, C. At G we still see two sorts of obelisks ornamented with arabesques and designed for holding the fires during religious fetes. At E are seen two colossal elephants carved out of the rock. These structures, made upon a general plan of remarkable character, are truly without an equal in the entire world.

We may thus see how much art feeling the architects of these remote epochs possessed, and express our wonder at the extreme taste that presided over all these marvelous subterranean structures.--_A. Tissandier, in La Nature._

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[NATURE.]

TIMBER, AND SOME OF ITS DISEASES.[1]

[Footnote 1: Continued from SUPPLEMENT, No, 640, p. 10222.]

By H. MARSHALL WARD.

IV.