ZVS Miscellaneous Intelligence, 



he says that when they wore the clothes next their skin they 

 covered themselves up and took much exercise to excite perspira- 

 tion. At this time from 12 to 25 persons were dying per day. 

 On the whole, the chloride of lime appears better than the soda 

 preparation, because it attacks the fabrics less strongly. The 

 chloride produced no effects when administered as medicine 

 to those having the plague : they were neither better nor worse 

 for it. Two hours after death, a corpse was opened and exa- 

 mined ; it was first washed with chloride of lime and the hand 

 kept continually bathed in the solution 3 the viscera were still 

 warm. No injury to the examiners followed. — Eevue Ency. 

 xliv. 223. 



7. Fecundity of the Viper. — M. Robineau Desvoidy stated at the 

 Academy of Sciences, that on opening a viper (one of those usually 

 called red snakes) he found in the uterus more than 3000 little 

 ones in different states. 



8 . Use of Su Iphate of Soda instead of Salt for Sheep and Cattle. — 

 Numerous experiments, made since those performed and recom- 

 mended by the Marquis de Sainte-Pere, have demonstrated that 

 coloured sulphate of soda may be substituted for common salt for 

 the use of sheep and cattle. It is a weak purgative, which mo- 

 derately irritates the intestines, and gives tone to the stomach. 

 It appears to unite the double advantage of smaller price (?) and 

 greater energy. — Bull. Univ. D. xiii. 245. 



9. Alimentary Tubercle of Van Diemen's Land. — A singular sub- 

 stance has been found at the depth of a foot or a foot and a half in 

 the earth of that country. It has not yet been described, but is 

 called indigenous bread. It is covered with a thin skin, has a 

 rounded form, like a potatoe or yam^ and is sometimes as large as 

 a man's head. When cut, it appears as if composed of a solid 

 spongy mass, containing a considerable quantity of alimentary 

 matter. No root or fibre has been found adhering to it, so that 

 sometimes it has been thought to be a sort of terrestrial polypus, 

 possessing a principle of animal life. The only indication of its 

 presence which the natives have is the occurrence of an exceed- 

 ingly small leaf, which rises from the earth, and is connected with 

 it by very thin and delicate fibres, which break whenever the 

 tubercle is raised. — Asiatic Journal, 



10. Effects of Light on Vegetation — Saussure and others have 

 said that seeds exposed to light during germination were developed 

 and grew equally with those in the dark. The following experi- 

 ment on this point is by M. Boitard. Three garden pots filled 

 with willow earth were placed, on the 1st of August, under a 

 shelter towards the north upon the surface of the earth ; in each 

 was sown the same quantity of auricula seeds. These seeds are 



