NOTES BY THE EDITOR. EC 



vations (see pp. 187, 188) go to show that there is no natural 

 barrier between organic and inorganic chemistry, since chemists 

 are able to ascend step by step from inorganic substances to 

 some of the most complicated bodies secreted by animals and 

 vegetables. 



It has been reported in the journals that Prof. Graham, master 

 of the Mint, has lately discovered the metallic base of hj'drogen, 

 or hydrogenium. He writes to Prof. Horsford as follows : " I am 

 at this moment closing a paper to show that palladium, with 

 occluded hydrogen gas, is an alloy of hydrogenium, — a white 

 magnetic metal, of specific gravity about 2, appearing to have 

 considerable analogy to magnesium." Should this discovery be 

 verified, the field of chemical research is incalculably ex- 

 tended. 



Among the improvements in the chemistry of common life may 

 be mentioned the oxygen gas-light, which is more purely white, 

 much more brilliant, more steady, and far less heating than any 

 gas or ordinary flames. It is used with coal gas, the oxj'gen 

 being cheaply supplied in sufficient quantity for its consumption, 

 the carbon being wholly consumed, without the air being deprived 

 of its oxygen to aid the combustion ; beside these advantages, it 

 is also more economical. 



The utilization of the deodorizing properties of dry earth solves 

 the difficult problem of what to do with human excreta in scattered 

 populations, or in places where many persons are confined, from 

 sickness or crime, and where the drainage is poor or neglected, • — 

 convertins: a nuisance and a constant source of disease into a 

 valuable fertilizer. 



Prof. David Forbes, in his researches in chemical geology, lays 

 great stress upon the correlation of forces, and upon the compound 

 and convertible action of these forces in- explaining geological 

 phenomena. There is something more to be considered than the 

 mere Plutonic or cataclysmic and the Keptunic or quiescent theo- 

 ries ; not only heat and water, but chemical action, light, elec- 

 tricity, magnetism and mechanical force, form important elements 

 in these questions. Mechanical force may cause development of 

 heat, and thereby chemical action, accounting for many of the 

 facts of metamorphism and other disjDuted points in geology. 



The fungoid origin of most, if not all contagious, epidemic, and 

 malignant diseases, affecting both man and animals, and frequently 

 transmitted by animals to man, is generally accepted by physiolo- 

 gists. Earth, air, and water teem with the germs of fungi, in 



