the official report of this syndicate for 1901, it is learned that the total output for that year was 1,566,385 tons. Including the product of manufacturers outside the syndicate, the grand total of the output in all Germany during 1901 was 1,643,416 tons.

The average selling price in large quantities was 13.33 marks (about $3.20) a ton, and this was the highest price that had been realized since 1891. Nearly half of the year's output was absorbed by the German railroads; approximately, 500,000 tons went to factories and workshops; retailers took 124,380 tons, and the remainder was consumed by German merchant ships or by the navy, or was exported.

"All processes of this kind are based upon the fact that lignite is a vegetable coal of more recent formation and, therefore, less perfectly carbonized structure than anthracite or bituminous coals, has lower caloric value, and requires to be compressed and further carbonized by artificial means. Turf or peat is a still more recent formation, and requires proportionately more artificial preparation to produce a highclass fuel; hence the several more or less successful patented processes for carbonizing peat into so-called peat coal, an artificial product which can be used either in irregular lumps or molded into briquettes.

"In all that concerns the manufacture of

There were in operation in Germany at the close of 1900 eighty-nine manufactories of fuel briquettes, some of which had a capacity of more than one hundred thousand tons each per annum. In respect to the material employed, briquette works are divided into two general classes, those which make briquettes from lignite or carbonized peat, with or without the addition of a bituminous matrix, or binder, and those which use as a basic material the waste of soft-coal mines.

"Brown coal," or lignite, is abundant and cheap in many parts of Germany. In the works at Deuben, near Halle, this raw material is "crushed, moistened with water to the consistency of mortar, then passed through a machine which, by compression under heat, develops the bitumen and renders the mass so plastic and adhesive that it molds rapidly into smooth, glistening briquettes of a black or dark brown color, which are practically smokeless and leave a reddish-brown ash after combustion.

in uncertain experiments. They have only to study the machinery and methods employed in European countries, compare their crude materials with those found and used here, and they can thus start at the point of technical knowledge which Europeans have reached after many years of experience."

Mr. Mason describes several of the patented processes for carbonizing peat by heating and drying, but perhaps the most interesting of these is a system operated successfully at Munich

and elsewhere, by which "black, dense briquettes

of high caloric value are made from peat without the application of heat,-simply through the action of kneading and drying."

ABATING THE SMOKE NUISANCE.

One of the chief advantages derived from the use of fuel briquettes in a city like Berlin, as set forth by Mr. Mason, is the beneficial influence in reducing the smoke of factories :

"Berlin, although a busy manufacturing city, ranks as one of the cleanest and best kept in Europe. One of the first things usually noticed by American and British travelers visiting the German capital for the first time is the absence of that cloud of dusty smoke that overhangs so many other towns and cities. The reason for this lies in three facts: The preponderant use of coke and lignite briquettes, which are practically smokeless; the skillful, scientific construction of boiler furnaces and chimneys; and, finally, the high standard of skill that is taught and enforced among firemen who stoke furnaces with coal for steam and manufacturing purposes.

It is not every strapping laborer who can shovel coal who is permitted to stoke a boiler furnace in Germany. Before he can assume such a charge he must be taught the theory and practice of economical, scientific firing. The Silesian coal used here in most large steam plants and factories is rich in bitumen and would rank below many of the bituminous coals of the United States, and yet the long, dense, trailing clouds of smoke from mill and factory chimneys which are so familiar a sight in many other cities are rarely seen in this section of Germany, where the indiscriminate shoveling of raw bituminous coal into the steam and other furnaces is considered an ignorant and wasteful proceeding.

"Coke-making in retort ovens, by which every element is saved and bituminous coal is converted into smokeless coke and gas, is another important factor in German fuel economy and abatement of the smoke nuisance. If other municipalities beyond the economic range of anthracite are ever emancipated from their present

vassalage to the smoke incubus, it will be through the enforced use of one or more of three forms of prepared fuel,—viz., coke and fuel gas made in closed ovens from bituminous coal, and briquettes made from lignite, peat, and other inferior materials by processes which have been invented, tested, and proven to be efficient by the older and more economical countries of Europe."

THE INDUSTRIAL VALUE OF THE ALPS.

THAT the Alps have an industrial, or useful, side is a fact quite commonly overlooked by the tourist. To the Revue de Paris, M. Houllevigue contributes a curious and instructive article dealing with this phase of the Swiss mountains. Too long, he says, visitors to Swiss mountainous regions have simply regarded the mountains as beautiful and interesting objects; and he points out that were it not for the Alps, those countries which are situated in their neighborhood would be arid and utterly different from what they now are. That group of mountains known to us all as the Alps benefits Switzerland, France, Italy, and Austria; and of late the scientific leaders of thought on the Continent have given much thought to the whole question of how these mountainous regions can be utilized in a fashion to bring comfort and wealth to man. Visitors, says the French writer, are often surprised to notice that every small Swiss village is furnished with electric light. It would be difficult to overestimate the good that this abundant and cheap illuminant has brought to the lonely Swiss villages, especially in those where electricity is utilized in many other ways. It has been estimated that the French Alps alone produce, each year, a force equal to that of three million horse-power; that is, were the same force to be created with the help of ordinary steam engines, seventeen million tons of coal would have to be consumed. Of course, the water power of each mountain is not harnessed for nothing, but the expense is incredibly less than that of creating the power, as it were, out of nothing.

Italy alone among the nations of Europe has so far attempted to utilize her natural resources with a view to driving local railways. There is now an electric railway line from Bologna to San Felice some thirty-five miles in length, and yet another, close to Lake Como, is close on a hundred miles in length.

THE QUESTION OF OWNERSHIP.

One issue which has been raised of late, and which is likely to be raised far oftener in the future, concerns the difficult question as to

who are the actual owners of these rivers and streams which have their source in the various highlands of Europe. Should the French pay a tax to Switzerland for the use of those of her rivers which have their source in the Alps? "Yes," answer the Swiss lawyers; "No," cry those in France. The one set argue that the water which has its source in Switzerland should be regarded as a coal mine would be in the same region; the others declare that water, like air, has no nationality. It will be extremely interesting to see how this vexed question will be settled, especially when, as seems so likely, the natural forces of the world begin to play an even greater rôle than they now do in public and private life. In this connection it is interesting to state that in all those French colonies where water has a certain actual value, such as Algiers, every stream, however humble, is considered as the property of the state, and not of the private individual through whose land it flows.

THE

THE FINSEN LIGHT IN AMERICA.

HE readers of the REVIEW OF REVIEWS will remember Mr. Moritzen's article on the extraordinary accomplishments of the Danish physician, Dr. Niels Finsen, published in the REVIEW OF REVIEWS last autumn. A very interesting group of articles appears in the February McClure's from various writers telling of the marvelous results Dr. Finsen has obtained in curing lupus and preventing smallpox markings by the use of his light method, and showing how the cure is being taken up by other countries. Dr. George G. Hopkins, writing on "The Finsen System in America," shows that as early as 1899 he had a Finsen tube built for his use, which was the first in this country, and cases of lupus were successfully treated with this apparatus until the tube was broken, owing to defective mounting. Dr. Hopkins then made a hasty trip to Copenhagen, studied the light treatment under Finsen himself, and brought back another tube with him. Since then, lupus cases have come to be treated from all parts of the United States and Canada. Except in cases where the disease was very far advanced, the cure has been complete, even more surely than by the use of the knife. Other physicians have now taken up the treatment, and the number is constantly increasing.

The light cure in America is the same as that employed in Copenhagen, except that it is used here for cases that could not be reached with the apparatus in Finsen's hospital. For instance, in America, cases of internal abdominal tumor have been successfully treated. It will

not be long before every American town of any size will have its light-cure plant, and American ingenuity will no doubt improve the methods.

CAN MALIGNANT CANCER BE CURED?

Cancer proper has been generally regarded as hopeless. Having used the Finsen ray with good results in a case of cancer of the skin, I decided, in 1900, to prove its results upon the deeper-seated cancer of the breast. Here, however, entered a difficulty. The Finsen ray has slight penetrative power. The use of the Roentgen or X-ray in connection with the Finsen ray suggested itself to me. The Roentgen ray has extraordinary germicidal qualities, but no curative properties. Light heals; the X-ray is not light, but something beyond light the nature of which is an unfathomed secret. Therefore, to destroy the germs, I used the X-ray, which broke down the cancerous tissue and killed the bacteria. Then I used the Finsen tube to heal the open sore which resulted. The Finsen ray alone would have done the whole work had it been able to penetrate to the core of the ailment. Under the double radial attack, the area of ulceration quickly shrank, and after several months of treatment, disappeared. That was two years ago; there has been no return of the growth since. Subsequently, cases of abdominal cancer were treated with the same result. The Finsen light has also been found useful in the treatment of birthmarks. It gives rise to no pain, and leaves only a white scar which will undoubtedly fade out and in time assume almost a normal aspect.

THE GREATNESS OF THIS MEDICAL DISCOVERY.

"It is yet too early to assert that the Finsen ray, used in combination with the X-ray, will definitely cure malignant cancer. Until the cases of apparent cure have been under observation for several years there can be no certainty that the disease is eradicated. This much, however, we may say that the dreaded scourge can be arrested even in its last stages, and the sufferings of the patient almost nullified by the simple action of the actinic rays. Should the apparent

cures of cancer prove permanent, we must regard Finsen's discovery as the greatest mitigant of human suffering since the first use of anæsthetics. And, in any case, the future of the new science is glorious with hope. It is in its infancy yet; when coming years shall have established it beyond the suspicion of quackery, when it shall count its devoted students and eager experimenters in every institution of healing the world over, what limit can imagination set to its achievements?"

THE PRESENT STATUS OF THE BLOOD-SERUM THERAPY.

ON BEHRING'S blood-serum therapy, one of the most precious gifts of modern bacteriology to suffering humanity, is discussed by Medical Counselor Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Dönitz, of Berlin, in the Deutsche Monatsschrift, in that lucid yet scholarly way which the Germans term allgemeinverständlich,—that is, adapted to the general reader. Since 1890, when von Behring was conducting his epoch-making experiments at the Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases, bacteriologists have been working to produce a diphtheria serum of maximum power, their efforts being very nearly crowned with success now. It was known long ago that a person who recovered from an infectious disease was protected for a long time against a second attack. Then came the discovery that most agents of disease, chief among which are the bacteria, produce their noxious effects by secreting a poison in the body they attack; and bacteriologists succeeded in separating the poison produced by the bacteria of diphtheria and tetanus and evoking by means of them the same symptoms as those produced by the bacilli themselves. With the further discovery that a second attack of the disease may be induced by injecting into an animal a still larger dose of the poison, the foundations for the modern serum therapy were laid.

ACTION OF THE SERUM.

The action of the serum is explained by the writer as follows: "We now know that when a person, or an animal, is recovering from a disease like diphtheria, chemical substances are produced in the body that are capable of neutralizing the poison of the diphtheria bacilli. By subjecting the animal to a second attack, the ability to produce such matter is increased, and if further attacks are induced, these substances (which the German physicians call Schutzstoffeprotective matter) are increased to such a degree that the blood, or its liquid portion, the serum, may be used as a curative; for if this serum be injected into a person suffering with diphtheria, the protective substances contained therein neutralize the diphtheria poison in the body, thereby removing the direct cause of the disease. Such a serum is therefore called an antitoxic serum."

ADVANTAGES OF THE SERUM TREATMENT.

Statistics have shown that if the serum be administered with the first suspicious symptoms, the children who are subjected to that treatment on the first day of the disease will positively

recover, while the percentage of convalescents decreases with every day's delay. However, if larger quantities are injected later, the patient may still be saved. It is well, therefore, to have recourse to the serum as a preventive measure even before the disease has been diagnosed as diphtheria, as no ill effects ensue to the person so treated, and all suspicious cases are sure to be reached in that way. Other children in the family affected also may be rendered immune by having a weak solution of serum injected. In the writer's opinion, "No child now need die of diphtheria."

TETANUS SERUM.

The results obtained in the case of tetanus are less satisfactory. Although the tetanus serum has been brought to as high a degree of perfection as the diphtheria serum, it has much less scope, on account of the nature of the disease, as the symptoms of tetanus do not appear at once. It takes some time before the spores of the tetanus bacillus in the wound germinate and form poison, and this poison, again, does not immediately produce in the spine and brain the disturbances that become manifest as lockjaw, and when they do appear, the poison cannot be neutralized to any great extent; if they are such that life cannot continue, no quantity of serum will avail, for it can neutralize only the poison circulating freely in the fluids of the body. As it is impossible to tell how far the action of the poison may have advanced, in a case of tetanus, physicians inject the serum at the very first symptoms.

PROPHYLACTIC TREATMENT.

"The best results have so far been obtained with the prophylactic treatment, veterinary surgery leading the way. It appears from experiments made by French surgeons that out of 2,300 large domestic animals, mostly horses, that underwent operations and immediately afterward had serum injected, not a single one died, while at the same time and place hundreds of other animals not so treated perished. Other experiments referred to animals that had received injuries such as often lead to tetanus; of these, 400 animals that had serum injected between the first and fourth day after the injury were not attacked by tetanus, but a horse that received the injection on the fifth day was attacked in a mild form." In view of these experiments, the prophylactic treatment is also used in cases where persons are injured, and it has been successfully applied by the German army surgeon Herhold in the recent Chinese campaign.

ANTI-VENOMOUS SERUM.

The third kind of serum so far used with success, finally, is that against snake-bites, made by Calmette. It is obtained by inoculating horses with the poison of the most venomous snakes, which are kept for that purpose. The poison is taken from the snake by opening its mouth and pressing upon the poison glands, the venom being caught on a watch crystal. Once, Calmette himself was bitten in the finger during this operation, but as he immediatly applied his serum, he was saved, though his finger had to be amputated. This serum is efficacious for all snake-bites, probably because all these poisons are related chemically. It must be applied at once, as snake poison causes death within a few hours; but the serum, on the other hand, acts even a short time before the fatal moment.

WHAT HOPE IS THERE FOR THE FUTURE?

Mr. Begbie gives, among others, the following as the most important results of his conversations with Sir William Crookes :

"I asked him if he could see any hope that science will one day unlock the mystery and show us wonders of the spiritual world. He refused to prophesy. His work is now entirely in physical science, and to speculate in the realms of metaphysics offers him no temptation. But,' he said, if you had come to me a hundred years

SIR WILLIAM CROOKES AND PSYCHICAL RESEARCH.

MR.

R. HAROLD BEGBIE contributes his second article on master workers to the Pall Mall for January, and this time he sketches the life and doings of Sir William Crookes. In his presidential address to the British Associa tion, with reference to his connection with the Psychical Research Society, Sir William Crookes said:

"To stop short in any research that bids fair to widen the gates of knowledge, to recoil from fear of difficulty or adverse criticism, is to bring reproach on science. There is nothing for the investigator to do but to go straight on, to explore up and down, inch by inch, with the taper his reason;' to follow the light wherever it may lead, even should it at times resemble a will-o'the-wisp."

NO BRIDGE BETWEEN THE SPIRITUAL AND THE MATERIAL.

These are brave words, and Mr. Begbie endeavored to ascertain from the man who spoke them whether he had succeeded in coming nearer the mystery,-whether he was able to handle and examine it. Says Mr. Begbie:

"As frankly as he uttered his faith to the British Association, he told me that he had come to a brick wall. Still, he has nothing to retract; still, he believes that it is in the power of science to gain new and brighter glimpses of a profounder scheme of cosmic law; but, for himself, he has come to a brick wall.

"There is no bridge between the spiritual and the material world,' he said; and I don't see how there can be.'"

SIR WILLIAM CROOKES.

ago, do you think I should have dreamed of foretelling the telephone? Why, even now I cannot understand it! I use it every day, I transact half my correspondence by means of it, but I don't understand it. Think of that little stretched disk of iron at the end of a wire repeating in your ear not only sounds, but words, -not only words, but all the most delicate and elusive inflections and nuances of tone which separate one human voice from another! Is not that something of a miracle?'"

With regard to the progress of science in relation to the supersensual boundaries of phys ical existence, Mr. Begbie says:

"His attitude is this: It is impossible to tell whether science may not some day stumble upon the soul. Men of science believe more than they can express-spiritually as well as physically."