NOTES AND QUERIES. 123 
for in a very large percentage of the cases of trichinoid pork, the 
knife in passing through the flesh would be almost sure to encounter 
gritty particles, which consist chiefly of phosphate of lime and are 
formed round the cysts of the trichine. Mr. Hall further observed 
that speckled hams bearing the appearance of trichinous disease 
were to be found, and he related an instance in which a large 
dealer had been threatened with an action for selling trichinous 
ham, the appearance of which was in reality due to the peculiar 
formation of the mildew or fungus arising through the hams being 
kept ina damp place. Officers who had undergone examinations 
in the use of the microscope were appointed on the Continent to 
examine all pork before its sale. They were rewarded for every 
specimen of trichina they found. Sometimes vinegar eels were 
mistaken for the mature sexual trichina. Mr. Hall exhibited several 
specimens of the disease both in the human subject and in pork ; 
also various illustrations. 
THe Germ THEORY OF PHTHISIS VERIFIED.—We have received 
a brochure of 94 pages, bearing this title ; it abounds with figures 
and statistics, and will doubtless prove valuable to the advanced 
ranks of the medical profession. Its author is W. Thomson, 
F.R.C.S. ; the Publishers are Messrs. Sands and McDougall, of 
Melbourne. 
_ Hemipintum nasutum.—Mr. Bolton has been sending this 
little organism from his studio during this month. It was found in 
a ditch in Sutton Park, amongst decaying leaves. 
Tue Wasp anD Honey Bez.—At the usual fortnightly meeting 
of the Manchester Field Naturalists Society, a lecture was delivered 
by Mr. J. F. Robinson, of the Owens College museum, “On the 
Anatomy and Economy of the Honey Bee.” ‘The Manchester City 
ews makes Mr. Robinson to say, “‘the wasp can sting any number 
of times without sustaining any injury, while the bee’s sting being 
barbed at the tip, when once it is inserted in the skin cannot be 
withdrawn without causing the death of the insect.” 
We rather think that if our readers will examine the sting of the 
wasp, they will find it is “barbed at the tip” also.—Ep. 
ZEcipi1um or Puccinra.—In 1881 Mr. Plowright, with an un- 
biassed mind, set to work to find out whether there was any 
connection between AXcidium and Puccinia. His experiments 
consisted in infecting young wheat plants with the spores of A‘cidia 
and comparing them with similar uninfected plants. No definite 
conclusion was arrived at, as both infected and uninfected plants 
developed forms of Uredo. 
In the following year (1882) Mr. Plowright succeeded in culti- 
vating Aicidium from Puccinia graminis, and from the spores of 
