Owing, no doubt, to the preponderance of horizontality over verticality in the construction of the horse, there results a considerable difficulty in administering medicine to that quadruped, and he frequently has to undergo what may be said to amount to cruelty in the endeavor to persuade him to swallow the unpalatable dose. It is therefore with satisfaction that we bring under our readers' notice a simple and effective invention which promises to do away with this difficulty, and from humanitarian motives we hope to see it widely adopted. It is the joint production of Mr. Philip Fonnereau, of Masons' Arms Yard, Maddox Street, and Mr. Willoughby Fielding, of Lisle Street, Leicester Square, London. The inventors have adopted the sensible and very obvious plan of utilizing that which the horse is trained to tolerate--viz., the bit. It will be seen from the annexed engravings that the invention consists essentially of a tubular bit, with a funnel attached, as shown at Fig. 1. The bit has a hole, which is close to the horse's tongue when in its mouth. The upper part of the apparatus is fitted with a rope, which is passed through a ring in the ceiling of the stable. By this rope the horse's head is gently elevated, so as to prevent the medicine from going in any other direction than down its throat. When it has been properly adjusted, as shown at Fig. 2, the medicine is poured into the funnel, and it immediately runs through the hole into the horse's mouth, and the animal cannot help swallowing it. The apparatus is then removed, and rinsed out for future use. Of course the invention is adapted to liquid medicine only, but we believe it is as easy to prepare medicine in a liquid form as in any other, and therefore there need be no difficulty on that account. We commend this invention to all having the care of horses as a practical means of obviating the perpetuation of a hitherto necessary but now unnecessary cruelty to animals.--_Iron._ [Illustration: Fig. 1.] [Illustration: Fig. 2.] * * * * * THE PHYSIOLOGY OF SLEEP. As regards the vascular condition of the cerebrum during natural sleep, there seems to be at present a virtual agreement among physiologists. Whatever views may be held of the immediate or proximate cause, it is generally admitted that during sleep the brain is relatively anæmic. There are well-attested facts enough on record to substantiate this. The brain, denuded of a portion of its cranial covering, has been carefully watched during the waking state and in sleep, and it has been ascertained that, both in man and in the lower animals, the organ is comparatively bloodless during sleep, and its circulation more sluggish than at other times.