290 Literary and Philosophical Society. 



might have shown his impatience even with Dalton had 

 that gentleman been more in his company, but Dalton was 

 then old, and the dignity of a great discoverer encom- 

 passed him, a dignity, however, which the old man in his 

 simplicity scarcely felt when Liebig did homage to him. 



Mr. Moore, having no business engagements to distract 

 his mind, and being much respected by all who knew him, 

 was elected president of the Society, and during his term 

 of office one of the subjects in which he took the most 

 prominent interest was the potato disease. A committee 

 was formed in the Society for the examination of the sub- 

 ject, and a report was printed and circulated. The chief 

 point found was the method of preventing decay from 

 proceeding in the potato after it had been taken from the 

 ground, and the best ideas were given by Mr. John Thorn, 

 now of Chorley. He used sulphurous acid, and found that 

 a decided action of some kind took place by this treatment ; 

 there was moisture removed, and the temperature was 

 lowered. It was Mr. James Young (now LL.D. and F.R.S.) 

 who used also sulphuric acid weak for the same purpose ; 

 he was one of the committee. As the time may come 

 when the report may be again of use, it is well to publish 

 the whole document. As the present writer had something 

 to do with the experiments and report, he may say that the 

 statements made to the Mayor were not quite sufficiently 

 representative of the committee's work. There was not 

 enough said of the value of disinfectants in preventing 

 decay generally, and their evident effect here ; and too 

 much was made of the value of dryness, air, and light. 

 Dryness and air themselves are powerful disinfectants, but 

 it is not easy to dry a great store of potatoes, whilst it is 

 easy to send through them the vapours of sulphurous acid. 



