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POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



The Discoverer of Chloroform. — The 



Jefferson County (N. Y.) Ilistorical Society, 

 having secured the battle-field of Sackett's 

 Harbor, besides erecting a monument to the 

 soldiers buried there, has determined to per- 

 petuate the memory, in a similar way, of 

 Dr. Samuel Guthrie as the discoverer of 

 chloroform. In aid of this object, Mr. 0. 

 Guthrie has prepared an account of Dr. 

 Guthrie and his work, in which his claims 

 to the original discovery of chloroform are 

 set forth. Dr. Guthrie was born the son 

 of a practicing physician in Brimfield, 

 Mass., in 1782. He was an examining sur- 

 geon in the army during the War of 1812, 

 and established a vinegar-factory at Sack- 

 ett's Harbor, for supplying the military post 

 there. In 1817 he removed to that place, 

 and prosecuted experiments in the manu- 

 facture of powder, which, extending over a 

 period of nearly forty years, were, perhaps, 

 more extensive than those of any other 

 man of his day. The priming - powder — 



'' percussion pill " — made there, is of his 

 invention. He died in 18-18. His claim to 

 priority in the discovery of chloroform rests 

 upon his publication, in " Silliman's Jour- 

 nal " for October, 1831, of an article which 

 circumstances indicate to have been written 

 not later than in July of the same year, de- 

 scribing the preparation and properties of a 

 spirituous solution of chloric ctlier. The 

 ether was prepared by distilling chloride of 

 lime with alcohol. In the article referred 

 to. Dr. Guthrie says : " During the last six 

 months a great number of persons have 

 drunk of the solution of chloric ether in my 

 laboratory, not only very freely, but fre- 

 quently to the point of intoxication ; and, 

 so far as I have observed, it has appeared 

 to be singularly grateful, both to the palate 

 and stomach, producing promptly a lively 

 flow of animal spirits and consequent lo- 

 quacity, and leaving, after its operation, lit- 

 tle of that depression consequent to the use 

 of ardent spirits. This free use of the ar- 

 ticle has been permitted, in order to ascer- 

 tain the effect of it in full doses on the 

 healthy subject ; and thus to discover, as 

 far as such trials would do, its probable 

 value as a medicine." The subject has 

 been investigated since the publication of 

 Mr. Guthrie's pamphlet, by a committee of 

 the Chicago Medical Society, whose report, 

 we understand, fully substantiates Dr. Guth- 

 rie's claim to priority. It appears, in fact, 

 that the account of Dr. Guthrie's process for 

 obtaining chloric ether was in the publish- 

 er's hands prior to May 8, 1831 ; that his 

 chloroform was at the same time in Prof. 

 Silliman's hands for distribution ; and that 

 experiments had then been making with the 

 article for six months. This would carry 

 the date of the discovery back into 1830. 

 The claim of Dr. Soubeiran, the Frenchman, 

 is based upon the publication of his account 

 in January, 1832 ; and Licbig's work upon 

 the subject was, by his own assertion, com- 

 pleted in November, 1831. 



Training for Census-Work. — Hon. Car- 

 roll D. Wright, Commissioner of the United 

 States Bureau of Labor, in a recently pub- 

 lished paper on " The Study of Statistics in 

 American Colleges," says : " I would urge 

 upon the Government of the United States, 

 and upon the governments of the various 



