236 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



Cornc and Demeaux its proper effect, certain indispensable precautions must 

 be followed. It is evident, from having neglected some of these precautions, 

 that different experimenters have been led to believe that the method is use- 

 less. Fine moulding plaster, and not the common article, should be employed. 

 The coal-tar, which is mixed with it in the proportion of two to four parrs to 

 a hundred, by triturating or grinding, ought to impart to it a gray tint, with- 

 out destroying its dry, pulverulent condition. Objects to be disinfected 

 should be rolled in this powder until each point upon their surfaces has been 

 brought in contact whh it. Gangrenous or pun-id sores should be covered 

 with thick layers of it, by handfuls, several times per day. If one is treating 

 pus, blood, dejections, or the like, enough of the powder should be added to 

 form a paste of the mass, taking care to replace the first layer of powder by 

 another as soon as it no longer absorbs anymore. Comptes Rendus, et Silli- 

 man's Journal. 



NEW DISINFECTANT. 



L'lnvcntion (Paris) states that the following composition has the property 

 of instantaneously disinfecting putrefying matter, privy vaults, etc. It is 

 prepared as follows : Sulphate of iron and sulphate of alumina are dissolved 

 in water, the solution being of a strength of fifty-five degrees. This is 

 evaporated for eight or ten hours, in or Icr to obtain a hard and compact 

 cake, which may be transported in sacks to great distances. During the 

 evaporation, eight or ten per cent of lime is mixed with the compound, which 

 is finally run into forms, and dried perfectly in the air. After it is positively 

 ascertained that it contains no moisture, it is reduced to powder, more or 

 less fine, and delivered to the consumer, who may keep it any length of time 

 either in powder or in solution. This disinfectant has no odor, and it may 

 be employed for a great number of hygienic and domestic purposes. 



THE ANTISEPTIC QUALITY OF SUGAR. 



It is well known that fruits, flesh, etc., may be indefinitely preserved in a 

 syrup of sugar, in honey, or in glycerine. It has been observed that the life 

 of animals which breathe in water is incompatible with the presence therein 

 of even an inconsiderable quantity of sugar. Mondi offers as an explanation 

 the osmatic or diffusive tendency of these bodies, which prevents the life and 

 propagation of animalcule, or ferment cells, as these organisms swell and 

 even burst in syrupy solutions. The high density of a liquid is accordingly 

 of chief importance in determining its antiseptic properties. 



ON THE PRODUCTS OF PUTREFACTION. BY F. GRACE CALVERT. 



Some eighteen months ago, my friend, Mr. J. A. Ransome, surgeon to the 

 Royal Infirmary, Manchester, induced me to make some researches with the 

 view of ascertaining the nature of the products given off from putrid wounds, 

 and more especially in the hope of throwing some light upon the contagion 

 known as hospital gangrene. I fitted up some apparatus to condense the 

 noxious products from such wounds, but the quantity obtained was so small 

 that it was necessary for me to acquire a more general knowledge of the 

 various substances produced during the putrefaction of animal matter, before 

 I could determine the nature of the products from sloughing wounds. I 



