468 Miscellaneous Intelligence, 



6. " What is the cause owing to which oysters are occa- 

 sionally so prejudicial to health ? Is it in consequence of a 

 small worm that is found in them ? In this case, of what species 

 is it, and whereabout is it most easily detected ? Are oysters 

 subject to it only at certain times of the year ? Has the venom 

 of oysters any analogy with that which, from time to time, ren- 

 ders muscles poisonous and unwholesome ? What are the dis- 

 orders occasioned by such oysters and muscles, and what are 

 the most efficacious remedies either for averting the evil or for 

 removing it ?" 



7. ** To what is it owing that shrimps are sometimes perni- 

 cious ? How are such shrimps to be distinguished ? What kind 

 of disorders do they occasion, and what are the remedies to 

 which, in such cases, recourse ought to be had ?" 



2. Meadow Saffron. — Mr. Todd Thomson concludes, from 

 comparative experiments made on the colchicum autumnalef 

 taken up at different times, and prepared in different manners, 

 that the month of July is the best period of taking up the plant, 

 as the bulb has then attained its full growth and perfection, 

 whilst the vegetation of the lateral progeny for the support of 

 which the bulb is intended, has scarcely commenced : that the 

 bulb, when taken up, should be cut as soon as possible into 

 transverse slices, equal in thickness to a half-crown, which 

 should be spread upon clean white paper, and dried without 

 artificial heat in an airy situation, screened from the sunshine : 

 and that the slices, when dried, should be nearly oval, but not 

 notched or panduriform, friable, of a white or cream colour, 

 somewhat granular on both surfaces, inodorous, bitter to the 

 taste, and altogether free from sweetness, and should afford a 

 fine ca^rulean blue colour, when rubbed with a few drops of 

 vinegar, and the alcoholic solution of guaiacum. — Med. Journal, 

 1820, p. 282. 



3. On the Vitality of Plants.— M. de Candolle, in speaking 

 of those plants which can preserve their existence without re- 

 ceiving fresh nourishment, mentions the following remarkable 

 instance : 



