country, the effect of transplantation into new climatic conditions may be studied. If several European races are compared together with reference to the amount of change produced in their rate of growth by such transplantation, the comparative adaptability of the races to the new climate may be investigated. If it shall be found that when a race emigrates to this country the rate of growth of the female sex undergoes greater variations than that of the male sex, some light may be thrown on the question of the causes of the alleged inferiority of physique of American women. "Since statistics of this sort are only valuable in proportion to their accuracy, it is important that all measurements of height should be taken without shoes, and on scales graduated to 's of an inch. Weights should be taken in ordinary clothes, and in taking averages a deduction should be made of the average weight of garments. Quetelet has estimated that in Belgium the weight of the clothes of a man is of his total weight, while those of a woman weigh 24 of this amount. Whether the same fractions would express the truth in this country also can only be determined by experiment." 18 H. P. BOW DITCH. Sheet Height. Weight. Sheet and No. Height. Weight. Sheet and No. Height. Weight. Lbs. |Sheet 162.3, 87.11 FATHER. MOTHER. TABLE 2.-Nationality. 5 MONTHS. 6 MONTHS. 7 MONTHS. 8 MONTHS. and No. Height. Weight. Lbs. Sheet and No. Height. Inches. Weight. Lbs. Sheet and No. Height. Weight. Height. Weight. Sheet ard No. Height. Inches. Weight. Height. Weight. Sheet and No. Weight. Sheet and No. Height. Weight. Lbs. and No. Height. 9 MONTHS. 10 MONTHS. 11 MONTHS. HEMLOCK POISONING. THE CASE OF F. W. WALKER, BROOKLYN, APRIL 3, 1875. SUMMARIZED BY A. N. BELL, M.D., OF THE CORONER'S JURY. DR. DAVID WEBSTER testified that he first saw Mr. Walker, in the Manhattan Eye and Ear Infirmary, in August, 1873. He was then suffering from blepharo-facial paralysis, which was very distressing. At times, when the spasms were most troublesome, he could not see for hours. He was given a letter to Dr. BrownSéquard, who treated Mr. Walker for nearly a year. One of the most troublesome symptoms was the convulsive winking of the right eye, with extreme diplopia or double vision. For this Dr. F. Falk divided the internal rectus muscle. Mr. Walker was struck by a truck pole in the temple, and being knocked down, the forward wheels passed over his arm, crushing it. The patient said that he had used many remedies, including electricity and injections under the skin of preparations of strychnia and morphia. The ophthalmoscope revealed marked changes in the inner structure of the eye. There was a slight staphyloma posticum, common to near-sighted persons, and marked pulsation of the ret ina. Mr. Walker said that he had been stabbed in the abdomen in the war, the knife passing through the body, so that the point protruded from his back. After Dr. Brown-Séquard went to Europe, Mr. Walker came to the hospital again. Although he was a free patient, he was frequently treated gratuitously at Dr. Agnew's office. There had been little amelioration of the blepharo-facial spasms. Dr. Webster continued: I recommended that the extract of conium be tried, and asked Mr. Walker to come to my office on VOL. XXVI.-23 April 3, 1875, at 10.25 A. M. He came, and 40 drops of a prepa.. ration obtained at Caswell & Hazard's drug store was administered. At 10.50 A. M. 40 drops more were given. At 11.15 A. M. 40 more, and at 11.45 A. M. 60 drops more were given. During this time Mr. Walker remained in the office, and the drug he had taken caused no change in his feelings. There were no external symptoms of action of the drug. After an hour and a half he departed. In our conversation, we discussed the physiological action of hemlock. Mr. Walker asked a great many questions, and seemed thoroughly to appreciate and comprehend the danger of using the remedy. I gave him a prescription for one ounce of Dr. Squibb's fluid extract of conium, and told him to act upon Dr. Squibb's directions in taking the drug. I particularly charged Mr. Walker, over and over again, to stop taking the remedy the moment he felt any effect of the drug, such as muscular relaxation or vertigo. While he was in the office I read to him all that is published about conium in the United States Dispensatory. Dr. C. R. AGNEW testified: I saw Mr. Walker first in autumn. of 1873; sent him to Brown-Séquard; saw him again a few months afterward; took very careful notes of his case; tried to relieve the fearful spasms of his eyelid by dividing the muscle which surrounds the slit between the eyelids; failed; I then saw him from time to time until last week on Wednesday or Friday when I saw him at the hospital. Dr. Webster proposed to give conium; I approved, and by appointment Mr. Walker came to my office on Saturday, April 3, 1875, about 10 A. M.; the remedy was administered by Dr. Webster in his room adjoining mine, the door between being open; from time to time I stepped in to observe the effect; I failed to learn by observation or inquiry that Mr. Walker was in the least affected; once I sent him down stairs to the reception room, when he moved with alacrity; at 1.20 I examined him, when he said that he could not notice any effect; I then bade him good morning, and he went down stairs; I heard, during the three hours that Mr. Walker was present, Dr. Webster explaining the effects of the drug, and Mr. Walker asking questions; at one time, on going into Dr. Webster's room, I saw Dr. Webster with the Dispensatory open, when I sat down and read the account given in it of the drug, and asked some questions as to whether any effect had been produced, and learned that there had not been; I heard Dr. Webster tell Mr. Walker that when he |