566 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



permanganate of lime, 10 parts of sulphate of alumina, and 30 

 parts of fine elay. This, when added to the London sewage, 

 in the proportion of 20 parts to 10,000, purifies it completely 

 in a short time. Foul ditch water may be purified with a 

 much less quantity. The mixture can be filtered, instantly 

 yielding a bright filtrate, or it can be allowed to settle for 

 fifteen minutes, when the supernatant water can be poured 

 off equally bright. The cost of this mixture is estimated at 

 a few pence for a hundred gallons of water. 1 A, November 

 14,1873,243. 



STARCH UNFIT FOOD FOR INFANTS. 



It is asserted that various experiments have proved that 

 the saliva, as w r ell as the pancreatic juice of newly born ani- 

 mals, does not possess the power of transforming starch into 

 sugar; and it is therefore inferred, with good^ reason, that 

 any substance containing starch is unfit for food for very 

 young infants, as their physiological condition is probably 

 similar to that of the young of carnivorous animals general- 

 ly. 5 A, July, 1873, 320. 



CURE FOR DIPHTHERIA. 



The ravages of diphtheria have been so extensive in Aus- 

 tralia within the last few years that the government offered 

 a large reward for any certain method of cure; and among 

 other responses to this was one by Mr. Greathead, who at 

 first kept his method a secret, but afterward communicated 

 it freely to the public. It is simply the use of sulphuric acid, 

 of which four drops are diluted in three fourths of a tumbler 

 of water to be administered to a grown person, and a smaller 

 dose to children, at intervals not specified. The result is said 

 to be a coagulation of the diphtheritic membrane, and its ready 

 removal by coughing. It is asserted that where the case 

 thus treated has not advanced to a nearly fatal termination 

 the patient recovers in almost every instance. 



CURING CROUP WITH BROMINE. 



Dr. Schultz, of Prague, has, it is said, been very successful in 

 treating croup with bromine ; for which purpose he uses half 

 a gramme of purified bromine and half a gramme of bromide 

 of potassium in ninety parts of water. This is inhaled as 



