OUR PARIS LETTER.

Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3882, 8 June 1881, Page 3

OUR PARIS LETTER.

(FBOM OUK OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

, The Spbbad of Disease.—Some remarkable facts have been elicited by M. Pasteur in the fruitful reoearch on anthrax and other diseases of animals he is now engaged in. He finds it possible to weaken the virus of anthrax and to restore its rirulence. It is explained ' that in artificial cultivation of fh° Cacti? rium, this parasite grows by multiplication of filaments, which give true spores or germs, and these germ? are not affected in vitality or virulence by exposure to afr. But the cultivation at 42degs. to 43degs. a growth without spores is obtained. After about, a month this suddenly sho^s complete sterility, when sound, e.g., in fresh broth, whereas up to that point the reproduction is easy. And its. virulence j during.the first eight days proves to be gradually attenuated to complete extinction, so that, at the end of that time it -'is quite harmless, at least to the guinea pin/th«* rabbit, and the sheep. Similar effects in longer time weTe previously had ■ with :Ibe microbe of chicken cholera, through cultivation in contact witli air. Tkns a means is afforded of giving animals a mild form of the disease, so as obviate the intense and faial form. Now, the secret of effecting a return of the virulence is successive cultivation in the bodies of certain animals. The Cacterium, which is harmless for guinea pigs, is found not to be so for all ages of the animal. Thus, it may do no harm to a guinea pig six days old, and yet may kill one which is one day old. By inoculation of a somewhat older animal with the blood of the younger, and repeating this ' several times, it becomes possible to kill adult guinea pigs, and at length sheep, and M. • Pasteur, believes the effect may be extended to cows and horses. The virulence of chicken cholera may be restored by a similar process, inoculating first' small birds then larger. The fore* going facts are thought to throw light on the spontaneous appearance of epidemics, the germs of which may long remain harmless, till, under certain conditions of successive development, they become virulent', and increasingly so. Further, a

microscopic organism, supposed harmless for map, may, through like causes, acquire jirvtU^e for him. '*'' 3ydii>BNTS of Tbavel.—Doctor Jules .'Crevaux has just finished a third explor- ' ing jtour in Venezuela and New Grenada. .Having left Sabanilla on the 29th of " August laßt with M. Lezeanne (a surgeon in,the French navy), a marine in the same 1 service, and a black named Apatou, the courageous traveller ascended the Magdalena to Nevia, and, after having traced

,its vpper course, crossed the Andes to idj Mover the sources of the Guaviare. On the 26th of December the party embarked on board a raft and a sort of boat formed by r hollowed tree trunk, but on the following day they came to grief, their primitive conveyances being broken to -pieces by collisions with boulders and other obstructions, against which they 'were borne by the rapid stream in its 'descent fron/the high-lying portions of the Andes. So dangerous, indeed, was the navigation of the Guaviare, that Dr Cretans was nearly drowned by ■, the upsetting of the raft, as well as running subsequently a great risk of being devoured by a gigantic cayman, which Blade a determined attack on the travellers, and did not desist Until he bad Motived several shots in the head. But for the skill and, dexterity of the negro ApftWu.whP'tad been living for several years in the interior, of French Guiana, all; the explorers would infallibly have lost,their lives in the numerous rapids with which the river was studded. On one occasion, while the party were engaged in struggling with the headlong current and the obstacles in their way, Apatou nearly fell a victim to the fate which had previously threatened Dr Crevaux. Anothere'ayMian dashed at the raft and seized thri negro by the leg, and was about to drig him under water when his arid was caughiby his leader, who managed to pull himbapk on to the, raft. On the 17th day |of tieir! journey the travellers reached the mouth of the Arcare, where the mariner,; ,-w,hp '>was attacked by fever, succumbed to the malady and died. Notwithstanding all his- misadventures, however, Dr Crevaux has brought back a number of sketches and photographs of the country and its inhabitants, as well as a survey of a water way 850 leagues in length, Which will be published as a map, urifferrthe supervision of the explorer, by the Geographical Society. He descended the Goaviare to San Fernando, and thence followed the course of the Orinoco to its embouchure, being about to examine the delta of that river when ho fell ill at La Trinite* and was obliged to return to. France.- According to Dr Crevaux, the Guaviare does not rise in the San Joan llanos, as is stated in Codazzi's map, but in" the Andes, to the south of Neiva, its length being'probably about 1700 kilor metres. , „ P Übchins.—This is the period of the year for fishing the sea urchin, when the smooth surface and transparency of the water enable the fishermen to perceive the submarine rocks at no great depth. Th,e sea urchin is eMmSrgin gin by the inhabitants of the coast of Provence and Italy. .Those enchinodermata are little known in Paris, *foT,as they are very perishable they avaflarely sent to the, capital, which is to beffegretted for the Parisians, for they art very succulent and delicate eating, and are much esteemed by the southern populations. It is . said that LorJs XIII., having 'gone In 1629 to Marseilles, was loyally received by the municipality, who lodged him in the Hotel de Villp, on the quay of the old Port, and gave a splendid banquet to him, in which a large plate of sea-urchins was served among the hors d'teuvre. The fishermen of 'Marseilles had presented the dish to the son of Henri IV. When the King perceived these strange fisii before him, he was puzzled how-to eat them. Marshal de Bassompierre perceived the- King's embarraisment, arid boldly took up one of the sea-urchins, but 1 dropped it again immediately with » shriek that astonished all the company. His hands were covered with blood from the sharp point of the animal. A P«r of glovei were then brought, an<f tb* Ki^rwho was thus able to take op the echitiodermata- without hurtine himself, and ate several dozen, washing them down with white Cams wine. The populations of frovence, Italy, and Spain, are very fond of the •ea urchin, which Jthej also call sea«SS». Whence sea is calm and not 'nttd by the le»st windl * $ fishing is earned 0n along,the rocky ahjasbv .mail boats carrying two me*&mQh%sk' » tbreepropged pole : ,x)r J^jß* v i»"e7

examine the bed of the sea, and when they discover, a s^a-qrehin making '*| way slowly along the saiid, or hiding itself in the fissures of the rocks, they harpoon it cleverly. The market in the parts ot the. Mediterranean are well suppled witn this produce at the time of the fishery, which is carried on generally m me months of March and April-