1830.] 



Varieties. 



03 



perceptible. It is more than probable that 

 the Egyptian priests took advantage of -this 

 deception to mystify their followers, and 

 that their veneration for the chafer or scara- 

 bzeus, arose from this circumstance. Upon 

 a farther examination with the aid of my 

 lantern, I discovered several animated balls, 

 of a like description, more than three inches 

 in diameter. My Arabian companions, 

 however, did not appear to take the slightest 

 notice of them. 



Astronomy. The attention of astrono- 

 mers has been very much directed, of late, to 

 phenomena attending an occultation of Al- 

 debaran by the moon. It has been pretty 

 generally remarked, that this star was either 

 projected upon or indented the moon's disc 

 before it was occulted ; and as such a fact 

 would go to prove the existence of a lunar 

 atmosphere, much care was besto\v ed by the 

 Astronomical Society of London to give 

 general notice of the occultation which took 

 place last month, in order to collect as much 

 evidence on the subject as possible. The 

 trouble they took was well requited : a great 

 mass of observations of this occultation has 

 been obtained, and in all but two instances 

 the projection of the star upon the body of 

 the moon, or the indentation of the moon's 

 disc, was observed during a space of time, 

 varying in duration from half a second to 

 five seconds. 



Literary Union. This society has al- 

 ready increased to three hundred members. 

 The committee sit, pro tempore, at the 

 British Coffee House. The present meml 

 bers of the Committee are : 

 W. Ayrton, Esq. . Rt. Hon. Sir Gore 

 Prince Cimitilli. Ouseley, Bart. 



Sir G. Ducket, Bart. W. H. Pickersgill, 

 Sir F.Freeling, Bart. Esq., R. A. 

 J. Goldsmid, Esq. J. Smirnove, Esq. 

 Dr. Henderson. Rev. A. Wade,D.D. 



W. Mackinnon, Esq. R. Watson, Esq. 

 J. Martin, Esq. J< Webster, Esq. 



Thomas Campbell, Esq., Chairman. 

 The following is extracted from the most 

 recent prospectus, which states, after men- 

 tioning that the house, No. 12, Waterloo- 

 place, lately occupied by the Athenaeum 

 Club, has been engaged from the 1st of 

 January, that the Committee intends to 

 place { The Literary Union' in full ope- 

 ration on the 25th of March ensuing That 

 " the Committee proposes to open the large 

 coffee-room from the 14th of January until 

 the 25th of March, from twelve o'clock at 

 noon to twelve at night daily, during which 

 time tea and coffee, with the periodical pub- 

 lications, will be supplied to the members. 

 The various arrangements contemplated for 

 dining, the different footing from other 

 societies on which The Literary Union' 

 is established, and the necessity of ensuring 

 a rigid economy in the household expenses, 

 render this delay necessary." 



Sir Walter Scott, Mr. Jeffrey, Professor 

 Wilson, and other distinguished literati of 

 Scotland are, we hear, among the members; 



also Professor Schlegel, Cuvier, Albert, Mon- 

 temont, Senor Goristiza, and other distin- 

 guished foreigners. 



Poisoning by Cheese. Dr. H. L. Wes- 

 trumb, of Hameln, found that seven persons 

 were poisoned by decayed or damaged 

 cheese. M. Serturner analysed this cheese, 

 and found in it a peculiar acid, which ap- 

 peared both to him and to M. Westrumb 

 to be the poisonous principle ; the analysis 

 was performed with aether and alcohol. 

 Three different substances were obtained 

 from the cheese, viz 1. Caseate of ammo- 

 nia; 2. an acid fatty, or resinous cheesy 

 matter ; 3. an acid, but less fatty matter. 

 These substances tried separately upon dogs 

 and cats, showed that the first was the least 

 poisonous, the third more so, and the second 

 the most poisonous of all. The symptoms 

 occasioned by the poison in these animals 

 were similar to those occasioned in man ; 

 they were at first nervous, and then followed 

 by intestinal inflammation. One pheno- 

 menon especially remarkable was, the pro- 

 duction of an enormous quantity of ammo- 

 niacal gas in the intestines ; this resulted 

 from an organic secretion, for the fatty-poi- 

 soning matters did not contain any ammonia 

 whatever. 



Nitrate of Silver A distinguished sur- 

 geon of Nottingham, Mr. Higginbottom, 

 although medical practitioners had some in- 

 distinct notions of the benefits derived from 

 the use of nitrate of silver, has recently dis- 

 covered the universality of its efficacy, and 

 the proper mode of applying it. In the se- 

 veral departments of army, navy, and hos- 

 pital practice, its utility is very great. Its 

 application is so simple, and its operation so 

 quick, that by rendering unnecessary a mul- 

 tiplicity of dressings, the period of residence 

 in hospital may be greatly shortened. In- 

 stead of daily dressings, attention to the pa- 

 tient every third or fourth day is frequently 

 all that is required. Mr. H. has pointed 

 out the prevailing error, that the nitrate of 

 silver acts as a caustic. He considers it as 

 the very reverse, as it is impossible to de- 

 stroy by it any but the most superficial parts. 

 " I speak of it," says he, " in its solid form. 

 Instead of destroying, it frequently preserves 

 parts which would inevitably slough, except 

 for the extraordinary preservative powers of 

 this remedy. A new term is in fact re- 

 quired for the peculiar kind of influence 

 which the nitrate of silver possesses in sub- 

 duing and checking inflammation in 

 phlegmon and erysipelas, in adducing the 

 adhesive inflammation in wounds, in pre- 

 serving the health of parts which in cases 

 of puncture or bruise are ready to take on 

 the suppurative or sloughing process, and 

 lastly in changing various specific actions 

 and inducing one of a more healthy and 

 curative kind." The treatment of corns is a 

 subject of popular interest. Mr. H. re- 

 marks : " The nitrate of silver is an old re- 

 medy for corns, but as the plan which I 

 adopt is rather different from that usually 



