320 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



serving these objects for many years, and have regarded 

 them as derivations of hoemation ; but how they come to as- 

 sume their peculiar forms I am at a loss to conjecture." 

 Dr. Richardson adds to this : " With him, I believe them to 

 be derivatives of hoeniation, but only by the rubbing process 

 detailed above; and I trust that my 'conjecture' how these 

 hamiative flakes 'come to assume their peculiar forms' may 

 be satisfactory." 



NEW SUBSTANCE IN URINE. 



Messrs. Musculus and Mering announce that they have dis- 

 covered a new substance in urine, after taking hydrate of 

 chloral. This body, to which they give the name of uro- 

 chloralic acid, is in the form of isolated, star-shaped crystals, 

 soluble in alcohol, but almost insoluble in pure ether. The 

 discoverers class this acid among the substances which, be- 

 ing introduced into the organism, combine chemically with 

 some product of the system, and thus pass into the urine. 

 Benzoic acid is the type of the group, which, in combining 

 with glycocol, is eliminated in the form of hippuric acid. 

 12 _#, May 15, 420. 



IS SEX DISTINGUISHABLE IN EGG-SHELLS? 



It has ever been a desideratum with country housewives 

 and dealers in poultry to distinguish the sex which may re- 

 sult from given eggs, and to apportion accordingly in the 

 nest. M. Genin has lately made a communication to the 

 French Academy of Sciences, in which he claims ability to 

 always separate them, and to have verified his hypothesis by 

 the experience of several years. The eggs containing the 

 germs of males, he says, have wrinkles at their smaller ends, 

 while those containing females are smooth at the ends. We 

 simply give this for what it is worth, and with a caution not 

 to place implicit confidence in it. Indeed, the probability 

 from analogy is against the claim. It will, however, do no 

 harm to bear it in mind, and it will be worth while to make 

 observations to verify or disprove it. The difiiculty will 

 consist in following up the egg through hatching out, and 

 until the determination of the sex can be obtained. M. Genin 

 does not tell us how to do this. The observations might be 

 continued by any person in this way : The hatching of the 



