520 
ISDA TOON E 
[March 17, 1870 
cist in which an urn was found, together with several small 
dressed stones, probably arrow-heads and flakes, worked not in 
flint, but in the trap and felspathic rocks of the neighbourhood. 
Other worked stones were found beneath the cist. Professor 
Ramsay described the lithological characters of the materials. 
The second cairn examined by the author was called Carnedd 
Horvel, and contained fragments of an urn surrounded. by par- 
ticles of burnt human bone, but not protected by a cist. Among 
the speakers who took part in the discussion on this paper were 
Sir J. Lubbock, Bart., M.P., Professor Ramsay, Mr. J. Evans, 
Mr. J. W. Flower, Dr. Nicholas, and Mr. R. Hamilton. A 
paper was then read ‘‘On the earliest phases of civilisation,” 
by Mr. H. M. Westropp. The author sought to show that 
every race passes through an invariable series of phases in 
definite sequence. These are the barbarous, the hunting, the 
pastoral, and the agricultural phases, which the author com- 
pared with the respective stages of infancy, childhood, youth, 
and manhood in the individual man. Numerous illustrations 
were adduced of different races exhibiting these several phases 
of civilisation in the successive stages of their development. 
MANCHESTER 
Literary and Philosophical Society, February 22.—Dr. 
J. P. Joule, president, in the chair, referred to the observations 
he had made in former years on the progressive rise of the 
freezing point of one of his thermometers. He had made a 
further observation, and found that a rise—unmistakeable, though 
very small—was still taking place after a lapse of twenty-six years 
since the bulb was blown.—Dr. F. Crace Calvert gave an ac- 
count of the progress made during the last few months in the 
production of artificial alizarine, and expressed his opinion that 
many years must elapse before it can replace madder and its 
preparations in all their varied applications in calico printing ; 
but ere long the purity of the substance artificially obtained may 
prove of great service to the calico printer, by enabling him to 
produce at a cheaper rate than now certain styles of prints as 
well as new styles and effects. Dr. Schunck remarked that 
practical success would in a great measure depend on the price of 
the raw material, anthracene, and on the amount of colouring 
matter to be obtained from it. ‘The process of manufacture was, 
however, as far as he could judge, a very simple and easy one, 
requiring the use of no costly materials. He was convinced that 
the artificial product was identical with the natural alizarine of 
madder, the only difference being that the former was generally 
contaminated with some impurity which prevented its crystallising 
easily. Purpurine was not formed along with alizarine, as had 
been supposed. He also exhibited to the meeting some speci- 
mens of Turkey-red dyed with artificial alizarine, which had been 
sent to him by Mr. Perkin, and stated that the latter had already 
manufactured several tons of the new product. Dr. Schunck 
referred to a notice in the last number of the Chemzcal News, 
giving an account of a process for preparing pure alizarine from 
Turkey-red dyed cotton ; and stated that almost the same process 
was described many years ago by himself. He also claimed to 
have been the first to point out that Turkey-red, madder pink, 
and all the finer madder colours are simply compounds of aliza- 
rine and fatty acids with bases. 
“On the Organic Matter of Human Breath in Health and 
Disease,” by Dr. Arthur Ransome. The vapour of the breath 
was condensed in a large glass flask surrounded by ice and salt, 
at a temperature of several degrees below zero. The fluid col- 
lected was then analysed for free ammonia, urea, and kindred 
substances ; and for organic ammonia—the method employed 
being that invented by Messrs. Wanklyn and Chapman for water 
analysis. The breath of 11 healthy persons and of 17 affected 
by different disorders was thus examined, and the results were 
given in two tables. The persons examined were of different 
sexes and ages, and the time of the day at which the breath was 
condensed varied. In both health and disease the free ammonia 
varied considerably ; the variation could not be connected with 
the time of the day, the fasting, or full condition. Urea was 
sought for in 15 instances—three healthy persons and 12 cases of 
disease—but it was only found in two cases of kidney disease, 
in one case of diphtheria, and a faint indication of its presence 
occurred in a female suffering from catarrh. The quantity of 
ammonia, arising from the destruction of organic matter, also 
varied, possibly from the oxidation of albuminous particles by 
the process of respiration; but in healthy persons there was a 
remarkable uniformity in the total quantity of ammonia obtained 
by the process. Amongst adults the maximum quantity per 100 
minims of fluid was 0°45 of a millogramme, and the minimum 
was 0°35. A rough calculation was given of the total quantity 
of organic matter passing from the lungs in 24 hours—in adults 
about 3 grs. in 10 oz. of aqueous vapour, a quantity small in 
itself, but sufficient to make this fluid highly decomposable, and 
ready to foster the growth of the germs of disease. In disease 
there was much greater variation in the amount and kind of 
organic matter given off. In 3 cases of catarrh, 1 of measles, 
and 1 of diphtheria, the total ammonia obtained was much less 
than in health—less than o:2 of a millogramme—a result pro- 
bably due to the abundance of mucus in those complaints, by 
which the fine solid particles of the breath were entangled. In 
two cases of whooping-cough it was also deficient, but as they 
were both children, the lack of organic matter may have been 
due to their age. In cases of consumption also the total am- 
monia was less than in health ; but in one case of this disease 
associated with Bright’s Disease a larger amount of organic 
matter was given off, a portion of it due to urea. In kidney 
diseases the largest amount of organic matter of all kinds was 
found in the breath. The ammonia in one case of Bright’s 
Disease was 1°8 millogrammes in 100 minims of fluid, and urea 
was largely present. Perhavs this fact might be taken as an 
indication of the need of measures directed to increase the 
activity of other excretory organs. In one case of ozona or 
offensive breath, the total quantity of ammonia obtained was 
greater than in any healthy subject, but the excess was chiefly 
due to organic matter. One convalescent case of fever was 
examined, and the total ammonia was found to be deficient. 
The air of a crowded railway carriage, after 15 minutes’ occupa- 
tion, was also tested by this method, and in about 2 cubic feet 
0°3 millogrammes of ammonia and 3 millogrammes of organic 
matter were found. With reference to the presence of organic 
matter in the atmosphere, it was pointed out that the subject was 
in no way a novel one, and that it had, during the last thirty 
years, been very fully investigated by many observers, more es- 
pecially by Schwann, Dusch, Schroeder, Helmholtz, Van den 
Broeck, Pasteur, and Pouchet, but it was shown that it is to Dr. 
Angus Smith that we owe the discovery of the readiness with 
which living organisms are formed in the condensed breath of 
crowded meetings, and the determination of the actual quantity 
of organic matter in the air of different localities. Mr. 
Dancer’s calculation of the number of spores contained in 
the air was noticed, but a source of error was pointed out 
in the readiness with which organisms are developed in 
suitable fluids, even in the course of a few hours. Observatiens 
upon the organic particles of respired air had at different times 
been made by the author. 1. In 1857 glass plates covered with 
glycerine had been exposed in different places and examined 
microscopically. Amongst others in the dome of the Borough 
Gaol, to which all the respired air in the building ts conducted, 
organised particles from the lungs and various fibres were found 
in this air. 2. During a crowded meeting at the Free Trade 
Hall, air from one of the boxes was drawn for two hours through 
distilled water, and the sediment examined after 36 hours. The 
following objects were noted :—Fibres, separate cellules, nucle- 
ated cells, surrounded by granular matter, numerous epithelial 
scales from the lungs and skin. 3. The dust from the top of one 
of the pillars was also examined, and in addition to other objects 
the same epithelial scales were detected. 4. Several of the 
specimens of fluid from the lungs were also searched with the 
microscope. In all of them epithelium in different stages of de- 
terioration was abundantly present, but very few spores were 
found in any fresh specimen. On the other hand, after the fluid 
had been kept for a few hours, myriads of vibriones and many 
spores were found. In a case of diphtheria, confervoid ,fila- 
ments were noticed, and in two other cases, one of measles, and 
one of whooping cough, abundant specimens of a small-celled 
torula were found, and these were seen to increase in numbers 
for two days, after which they ceased to develope. ‘These diffe- 
rences in the nature of the bodies met with probably show some 
difference in the nature of the fluid given off ; but it was pointed 
out that they afford no proof as yet of the germ theory of disease. 
They simply show the readiness with which the aqueous vapour 
of the breath supports fermentation, and the dangers of bad ven- 
tilation, especially in hospitals. Dr. E. Lund and Dr. H. 
Browne stated that they had also made experiments, the results 
of which were, in general, confirmatory of those obtained by Dr. 
Ransome. 
Microscopical and Natural History Section, January 31.—Mr. 
John Watson, president, in the chair. Mr. Charles Bailey read a 
