31 If Dr. Scherer's Abstract of 



ving been puzzled about the anagram. The name is often 

 spelled Torporley, but still there is no u. It however oc- 

 curred to me that this was probably a fault of the printer; 

 that the word manufactia"ed in this way was Porltcrey, which 

 the man, thinking of his cocks and hens, had altereil to the 

 form in which it now stands." I have recently met with a 

 passage in Aubrey's MS. collections in the Ashmolean Mu- 

 seum at Oxford which confirms one part of Professor Rigaud's 

 conjecture, and makes known the source whence Wood de- 

 rived his information. It is as follows: — 



" Mr. Hooke affirms to me that Mr. J. Torporley was 

 amanuensis to Vieta, but from whence he had that information 

 he has now forgot ; but he had good and credible authority 

 for it ; and bids me tell you that he was certainly so. He 

 printed something against Vieta, by the name of John Porl- 

 terey, a digested name, the same letters a little transposed." 



This is quite satisfactory as far as it goes, and shows how 

 little credit is frequently to be placed on unauthenticated re- 

 lations of this kind. 



XLIX. Abstract of Chemico-Physiological Researches. By 

 Joseph Scherer, M.D.* 



A FTER some general observations upon the extent to 

 •'-^ which the aids derivable from chemistry have been neg- 

 lected by physiologists, and upon the real limits of the appli- 

 cation of chemical results to the explanation of vital phasno- 

 meua. Dr. Scherer proceeds to his experimental results on 

 the composition of the animal substances. 



The analyses were executed in the laboratory at Giessen, 

 under the guidance of Professor Liebig. The first object 

 was to demonstrate the identity of composition of the vege- 

 table alimentary principles, gluten, albumen and casein (legu- 

 mine). 



Gluten from wheaten meal, prepared as pure as possible, 

 was dissolved in dilute caustic potash liquor, and the solution 

 neutralized by acetic acid. The flocculent very glutinous 

 precipitate was treated first with boiling alcohol and then with 

 boiling asther, as long as either took up anything ; then dried 

 at 212°, and analysed by combustion. 



0'604 gramme gave 0*0072 of ashes. 



I. 0*25 1 (or ashes abstracted 0"248) gave, burned with 

 oxide of copper, 0*476 carbonic acid, and 0*159 water. 



II. 0*202 (or without ashes 0*200) gave, by combustion 

 with chromate of lead, 0*395 carbonic acid, and 0*132 water. 



• From the Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie, Band xl. Heft \, 

 October 1841. 



