302 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



ish-yellow and transparent, and also by sporangia or vesicles con- 

 taining spores from two one-hundredths to two three-hundredths 

 of a millimeter in diameter, and of a very characteristic form. This 

 plant grows on the surface of the water ; when young, it is rain- 

 bow-like in tints, and looks like spots of oil. At the low temper- 

 ature of cellars and in water containing no vegetation, it develops 

 slowly, but in contact with air and exposed to solar rays, it grows 

 fast, disengaging small gas-bubbles. A few drops of arsenious 

 acid, sulphite of soda, or, still better, neutral sulphate of quinine, 

 stops its vegetation at the surface of the water, the spores become 

 thin and transparent, and the sporangia alter so that they would 

 not be recognized. These changes may be seen under the micro- 

 scope. M. Bolestra states that these spores can be found in marsh 

 air. He caught agues twice during his researches, once after 

 having been exposed to air from water in fermentation covered 

 with fresh algce in full vegetation, mixed with an extraordinary 

 quantity of spores. He thinks these spores constitute the ague 

 poison. 



SNAKE POISON. 



Professor Halford, of the University of Melbourne, in a paper 

 read before the Medical Society of Victoria, has reviewed at length 

 the history of 20 cases of snake-bite treated by his method of in- 

 jecting liquor ammonias into the veins during the last 18 months. 

 These cases were all in the hands of different practitioners in the 

 colony, who have each reported on them. Recovery followed in 

 17 cases. In 13 of these the practitioners in attendance expressly 

 report that the patients were in a dying condition, and, in their 

 belief, would soon have died but for the emplo} 7 nient of this 

 remedy in the manner prescribed. The method employed was 

 that introduced by Dr. Halford, and first brought to the knowl- 

 edge of the profession here by him, in the pages of the " British 

 Medical Journal," through Mr. Paget; namely, by injecting di- 

 lute ammonia, say, at the least, 30 minims of the liquor ammonite 

 B. P., specific gravity 959, into a superficial vein ; the vein being 

 first exposed, and its coats pierced \vith the nozzle of a hypoder- 

 mic syringe. Dr. Dempster, Dr. Rae, Dr. Langford, Mr. Dalli- 

 more, and Dr. Meyler, each in his own words, and from the 

 observation of separate cases, describe the effect as being imme- 

 diate, and the recovery from collapse to be so rapid and startling 

 as to be almost " magical." This method of treatment, of which 

 such remarkable effects are detailed, has been sharply criticised ; 

 but Professor Halford successfully vindicates the claim of the 

 snakes to be considered highly venomous, almost as much so, 

 he intimates, as some of his London critics. They included the 

 tiger-snake, the brown and black snake of Australia, which are 

 affirmed to be as deadly as the cobra and rattlesnake of India. 

 Strong testimony to the efficacy of the treatment in saving life 

 was borne by Australian practitioners who took part in the dis- 

 cussion, and vindicated Professor Halford's claim to be considered 

 as the discoverer of a means of rescuing many from an otherwise 

 inevitable death. Nature. 



