979 



"Le magnetisme terrestre n'est done que des courants thermo-elec- 

 triques, et I'aiguille magnetique est un thermoscope qui nous indique 

 les diflferences des temperatures des regions hetero-thermes, dont 

 nous connaissons les distances. Par suite le magnetisme terrestre 

 fait une partie de la climatologie, qui exprime la cause de cette ano- 

 male distribution de la chaleur pendant chaque saison et pendant 

 chaque mois. Cette cause se trouve, — 1°, dans la conformation geo- 

 graphique de la surface de la terre ; et 2°, dans les deplacements 

 diurnes et annuels de notre planete." 



10. " On the Physiology and Pathology of Phosphate and Oxalate 

 of Lime, and their relation to the formation of Cells." By William 

 Beneke, M.D. Communicated by Sir James Clark, Bart., F.R.S. 



In this paper the author commences by referring to a work re- 

 cently published by him, entitled " Der Phosphorasure Kalk in 

 physiologischer und therapeutischer Beziehung," Gottingen, 1850, 

 in which he believes that he has established the indispensable neces- 

 sity of phosphate of lime to the formation of cells in man, as well as 

 in animals and plants ; its deficiency as a cause of disease ; and its 

 efficacy administered internally as a means of alleviation or cure in 

 the treatment of such disease. He cites from Liebig various proofs 

 of the necessity of the presence of phosphate of lime for the forma- 

 tion of nitrogenous compounds in plants ; and from Carl Schmidt, 

 that it has an intimate relation to the formation of cells in inverte- 

 brate animals ; and argues from his own experiments, that it has the 

 same relation to the formation of cells in the higher classes of ani- 

 mals and in man. These experiments consisted, first, in the chemi- 

 cal examination of various pathological exudations, such as the 

 serum produced by blisters, the secretions of wounds, ulcers, &c., 

 the result of which satisfied him, that, wherever a formation of cells 

 took place, phosphate of lime was present in considerable quantity ; 

 and wherever it was absent, he could not detect any phosphate. He 

 believes that from a mixture of albumen, pure fat and phosphate of 

 lime, put in a sand-bath at 104?°, he has succeeded in artificially 

 producing cells, which he describes and figures in various stages. 

 He further adduces, in proof of his theory, the beneficial results of 

 the treatment of various diseases connected with dyscrasia, by the 

 administration of phosphate of lime. In such diseases he states that 

 a much larger quantity of the phosphates is removed from the ceco- 

 nomy by the urine than in the normal state ; and this he determines 

 by a multitude of observations conducted on a method of analysis 

 proposed by Dr. Heinz of Berlin. This increased elimination of the 

 phosphates he attributes to the presence of oxalic acid, the existence 

 of which in the urine he regards as always indicative of disease. On 

 this subject he refers to the works of Dr. Prout, Dr. Golding Bird 

 and Dr. Bence Jones, and compares the results of his own observa- 

 tions with those of the authors cited, giving figures of the various 

 forms of oxalate of lime, and diagrams of the diurnal variations of 

 the acidity of the urine, of its specific gravity, and of the phosphates 

 and oxalates of lime contained in it, in two remarkable cases. From 



3* 



