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and which reverts to the inanimate compounds which the chemist can 
reproduce in his laboratory; secondly, that which contains granules or 
germs with a dormant or potential vitality of some sort. The latter is 
called, by Dr. Beale, “living matter,” and requires a continuous heat of 
212° Fah. for its destruction. These are the germs which, if admitted 
into the animal organism, reproduce their kind, and by their organic 
action disturb the normal relations of the animal system producing 
disease. If, now, it can be shown that vegetation arrests these mis- 
chievous germs or granules, a sanitary expedient of immense value has 
been developed. Dr. Carpenter cites Dr. Sanderson and Charles Dar- 
win in proof of the actual absorption of this organic matter by the 
Drosera, and claims the same in behalf of the rye-grass. A field of 
thin grass deprived of its accustomed sewage for three or four days, 
shows a vast mass of tangled rootlets covered with hairs. As a stream 
of sewage is turned upon the latter they will exhibit, under the micro- 
scope, a marvelous activity. They extend their fibrillz to reach the ad- 
vancing tide. Immediately a liquid, which is not sewage, rises in the 
parenchyma of the plant. 
A serious question has been raised, as to whether the absorption of 
injurious matter by the earth as a filter finally disposes of it, or only 
holds it in reserve for future injury. Dr. C. thinks that all possible 
danger from this source can be removed by this absorptive power of 
vegetation, so far as sewageis concerned. Plants will extract the nitro- 
genous elements of organic matter, and thus deprive it of all vitality. 
Not a single granule can escape this action, provided the soil is not al- 
ready saturated with sewage. Rye-grass sown in wet sand, without 
contact with water containing nitrogenous matter, will grow to a cer- 
tain size, and stop when it has used up all the nourishing matter 
contained in the seed. Upon the application of water, charged with 
fresh solutions of organic matter, the plant again begins to grow. If 
organic solutions be placed in sand in which there is no absorbing veg- 
etable, such as rye-grass, it will become putrid. These facts Dr. C. 
claims to have established by decisive experiment. 
In regard to the healthfulness of plants raised from sewage, for hu- 
man consumption, Dr. C. admits thatan excess of sewage injures plants, 
but contends that some plants can absorbit in greater proportion than 
others. For instance, Italian rye-grass will take up 2.33 times as much 
nitrogenized matter as meadow-grass. An unskillful experimenter, on 
the discovery of this fact, concluded that this excess was unassimilated 
nitrogen, or sewage pure and simple. But as itisimpossible for either 
animal or vegetable organism to absorb organic materials without 
changes necessary to assimilation, such conclusions are not the re- 
sult of competent knowledge of the subject. Albumen and ammonia, for 
instance, cannot pass through the vital processes without undergoing a 
radical change. The rye-grass, with its greater assimilating power, 
can dispose of an increased quantity of nitrogen and render it availa- 
ble and safe for animal nutrition. Rye-grass produces more meat and 
more milk than any other, because it contains more nitrogen, and leaves 
more sugar in the dried plant. Thousands of tons fertilized by sewage 
are now consumed by farm-animals in England with great relish and a 
marked preference over ordinary meadow-grasses. The ease with which 
cattle brought up on sewage-farms withstand epizootic attacks shows 
that their nutriment is not of such a character as to impair their vital 
energy. Dr. C. cites the Beddington farm of 500 acres, 480 of which 
are more or less under irrigation, and 280 acres constantly since 1860. 
The sewage of over 50,000 persons has been constantly supplied in all 
