Natural History . 199 



or blue vitriol, was employed in that country to assist in the fer- 

 mentation of bread ; and at the same time that they pointed out the 

 dangerous nature of this substance, they said that it was used be- 

 cause it was supposed to render the bread whiter, more compact, 

 more healthy, and better fermented. The magistrates of Bruxelles 

 caused thirteen bakers and five drug-gists to be brought before them 

 for being concerned in this adulteration; and it appeared, i. that 

 the employment of the process came from France, and that by the 

 use of blue alum, a better fermented and whiter bread was obtained 

 than by ordinary processes ; ii. that the use of the process was 

 announced in the public journals, and in a prospectus signed Frinch, 

 which, being printed, was distributed, and stated that a patent 

 secret for the preparation of leaven was to be sold, but without 

 describing in what it consisted ; iii. that the bakers inquired for the 

 substance under the term of blue alum, and that the druggists gave, 

 under this name, blue vitriol, or the sulphate of copper. 



The magistrates decided that the druggists did not know the use 

 to which the poisonous substance which they sold was to be put, 

 although the frequency of demand, and the character of the buyers, 

 ought to have raised their suspicion ; they were therefore discharged, 

 but they condemned the bakers (although they said they thought 

 the substance innocuous) to five days' imprisonment, and a fine of 

 fifteen florins. — Jour, de Chimie Medicale. 



It is painful to observe the substance which forms our daily food 

 thus adulterated and rendered poisonous, first by one article, and 

 then by another, to satisfy the avarice of a set of tradesmen. No 

 argument which they may advance, drawn from the competition in 

 trade, or supposed innocence of the substance used, will avail them. 

 They well know they are doing wrong, as is shewn by the secrecy in 

 which they invest their proceedings; and besides their liability to 

 be punished when their knavery is discovered, they must be branded 

 with the character of a heartless set of people who do not hesitate 

 for a moment to trifle dishonestly with the health of their fellow- 

 creatures, when it serves their own pecuniary interest. It is also a 

 sad thing that the practices of the bad should, by the just suspicions 

 which they create in the minds of all persons, throw a shade over 

 that portion of their fellow tradesmen who are willing to act honour- 

 ably, which scarcely anything can remove. 



5. Rosacic Acid in Human Urine.— M. Henry has observed in 

 certain cases of acute rheumatism, accompanied by nervous fever, that 

 the urine has been of a very red colour, and produced an abundant 

 deposit on cooling. On analysing the secretion in such cases, he 

 found that it was very acid, that phosphoric acid and phosphate of 

 lime were very abundant, and that the uric acid had almost entirely 

 disappeared and been replaced by rosacic acid in large quantities. — 

 Jour, de Phar. xv. 228. 



6. Leech Bites. — Dr. Lowendhart mentions a method of checking 



