CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 179 



Sciences. As lock-jaw consists in an unnatural rigidity of the 

 muscular system, which, with all its accompanying symptoms, may 

 be artificially produced by strychnine, while the essential characteris- 

 tic of the woorali poison is that of producing a relaxation of the 

 muscular system, it will be easily understood that all Dr. Vella's 

 researches tend towards establishing an antagonism existing between 

 woorali and strychnine. For this purpose he has made 97 experi- 

 ments, forming two different series, in the former of which animals 

 poisoned with strychnine were cured by the inoculation of woorali 

 into the blood, while in the latter a mixture of strychnine and 

 woorali was injected into the veins, and found to be utterly innocu- 

 ous. From these experiments, which it is unnecessary to describe 

 more minutely, Dr. Vella concludes that woorali is the true physiolo- 

 gical antidote to strychnine. — Galignani. 



CAPTURE OF WHALES BY HYDROCYANIC ACID. 



Professor Christison has published the result of some experi- 

 ments suggested as long ago as 1831, by Messrs. W. and G. Young, 

 of Leith, for the Capture of Whales by means of poison, the agent 

 being Hydrocyanic or Prussic Acid. This subtle poison was con- 

 tained in glass tubes, in quantity about two ounces. Among other 

 difficulties one was to discharge the poison from the glass tubes at 

 the right time. After various trials, , the plan fixed upon was to 

 attach firmly to each side of the harpoon, near the blade, one end of 

 a strong copper wire, the other end of which passed obliquely over 

 the tube, thereby securing it in its place ; then throw an oblique hole 

 in the shaft, close to the upper end of the tube, and finally to a 

 bight in the rope, where it was firmly secured. By these means the 

 rope could not be drawn tight, as it would when the harpoon 

 attached to it struck the whale, without crushing the tubes ; the 

 poison would then enter the whale and death ensue. The Messrs. 

 Young accordingly sent a quantity of tubes charged with the poison 

 by one of their ships engaged in the Greenland fishery, and on meeting 

 with a fine whale the harpoon was skilfully and deeply buried in its 

 body ; the leviathan immediately " sounded," or dived perpendicu- 

 larly downwards, but in a very short time the rope relaxed, and the 

 whale rose to the surface quite dead ; but the men were so appalled 

 by the terrific effect of the poisoned harpoon, that they declined to 

 use any more of them. Subsequent experiments tend to convince 

 the learned Professor that success will be established in this method 

 of capturing whales. 



ON CEMENTATION. 



The following experiments were undertaken by Caron, to ascertain 

 the nature of the process of Cementation : — 



An iron bar, completely surrounded by pieces of charcoal, was 

 packed in a porcelain tube, which was placed in a reverberatory fur- 

 nace, and heated to redness ; while pure hydrogen, carbonic oxide, 

 nitrogen, air, and carburetted hydrogen gases were passed through 



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