THE MICROSCOPE. 



for Dr. Tidy's opinion of Mr. Hatton's experiments, and wonder 

 whether this chemist after having seen that bacteria withstand the 

 action of cyanogen, sulphurous acid, and other deleterious gases, 

 will adhere to his statement that the run of a mile or two of sewage 

 of contaminated water, will ensure the destruction of any amount of 

 bacteria, cause organisms most tenacious of life, by endosmosis, to 

 burst their protoplasmic envelope, and commit a sort of "happy des- 

 patch " for the special security of human beings in general. The 

 idea is too preposterous to be entertained for a moment. — Medical 

 Press and Circular. 



Poisonous Articles or Foou. — The Committee on Epidemic 

 diseases of the House of Representatives secured a mass of convincing 

 evidence of dangerous food adulterations in this country. From 

 one of the reports submitted, made by a chemist of Chicago, we 

 make the following extracts: 



At the the request of a highly respectable citizen of Chicago, I 

 have examined fourteen brands of sugar, bought, as I understood, 

 in this city, some granulated, some white, some colored, some coarse, 

 and some fine. I tested them thoroughly for impurities. In twelve 

 of the samples I found tin in the form of a chloride, an active poi- 

 son. I have examined several syrups, made essentially and entirely 

 cf glucose, and found in them chlorides of tin, calcium, iron, and 

 magnesia, and in quantities which made them very poisonous. In 

 one case a whole neighborhood was poisoned, and I was told of one 

 death. I have in several cases found sugar of lead in vinegar. I 

 have had large experience in the analysis of colored poisonous arti- 

 cles of clothing, being employed by one of the largest dry goods 

 firms in this city. I examined, I think, sixteen samples, and nearly 

 all of them were poisonous. I have also analyzed for other parties. 

 In one case a child nearly died from wearing colored stockings. I 

 have examined a large number of specimens of oleomargarine, and 

 have found in them organic substances i.i the form of muscular and 

 connective tissues, various fungi and living organisms which have 

 resisted the action of boiling acetic acid ; also eggs resembling that 

 of the tapeworm. 1 have them preserved to be shown to any one 

 who desires to see them. The French patent under which oleo- 

 margerine is made requires the use of the stomach of pigs or sheep. 

 This is, probably the way the eggs get in. I have specimens of 



