BIOLOGY. 283 



ment of yeast plants continue to increase till diarrhoeic conditions 

 are produced, -ith. That a peculiar gelatinous colloid matter, 

 usuall}^ in little masses, scattered through the licees, shows ilselt' 

 to a greater or less extent as soon as the diarriioea commences; 

 that this matter is present in direct proportion to the severity of 

 the case. 5th. That tliis colloid matter is not tlie cause of the di- 

 arrhoea, but merely the consequence of certain saccharine and 

 fermentative conditions of the system, in which state the connect- 

 ive tissue of the alimentary walls becomes a proper nidus for its 

 development. As soon as these systemic conditions are overcome, 

 this colloid matter ceases to develop, and disappears entirely from 

 the faeces. 



On the "microscopic examination of the urine" in "chronic 

 diarrhoea," he finds that the urine is usually small in quantity, 

 rather high-colored, and deposits, on standing, a tolerable large 

 sediment of pinkish or brick-colored lithates. The disease is not 

 unfreqnently accompanied, and followed, also, by obstinate oxa- 

 luria and phosphuria. He finds, also, in all three stages of chronic 

 diarrhoea, that sugar is largely present in the faecal matters, and 

 in the mucous secretions of the alimentary canal. There is evi- 

 dence that the secretions of the mucous membrane of the alimen- 

 tary canal, fauces, mouth, and pulmonary surfaces, eventually 

 become saccharine. This is evidenced in the development of tor- 

 ular cells and filaments of penicillium in the viscid layer of mucu3 

 lining the whole alimentary canal, and the mucous secretions of 

 oesophagus, pharynx, larynx, trachea, and mouth, in the later 

 staofes of the disease. — Medical Record. 



CONNECTION BETWEEN THE RESPIRATORY PRODUCTS AND FOOD. 



M. Reiset presented to the French Academy, in January, 1868, 

 some chemical researches on the respiration of cattle, and the in- 

 fluence of diet thereon ; using for his experiments apparatus suf- 

 ficiently large to allow him to submit to examination the exhala- 

 tions of calves, sheep, etc. During the respiration of these 

 animals, under the normal conditions, he found a considerable 

 quantity of proto-carburetted hydrogen in the gaseous mixture. 

 When calves were fed on milk only, and deprived thus of vegeta- 

 ble food, the gaseous mixture exhaled resembled more nearly 

 in its composition that exhaled by carnivora ; the production of 

 carburetted hydrogen became absolutely nothing. He considers 

 the formation of this gas in the stomachs of ruminants, when upon 

 their natural food, as a phenomenon of incomplete combustion. 

 His conclusion is, that the respiratory products depend much more 

 on the nature of the food than on the species of the animal. — 

 Comptes Bendus. 



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