4 Proceedings of Royal Society of Edinburgh. [sess. 
that it does not permit of the whole contents of the tube being 
actually counted, and thus gives only rough approximations. It 
was with the view of overcoming this defect that the Author 
devised his new apparatus. He has also contributed a paper on 
the Chemical and Bacteriological Examination of Soil, with special 
reference to the soil of grave-yards. He finds that the number of 
micro-organisms present in grave-yard soil exceeds the number 
present in virgin soil in a very marked degree. 
Another subject relating to Public Health is treated of by Dr 
Hunter Stewart in a paper on the Estimation of Carbon and 
Nitrogen in Organic Substances, by the Kjeldhal method, and its 
application to the analysis of potable waters. In this communica- 
tion, the Author gives the results of the analysis of potable waters 
in Midlothian and the adjoining counties. 
Great interest is now taken by the authorities in all matters 
relating to Public Health. Everyone who can look back for 
thirty or forty years must recognise the advance that has been 
made all along the line. But the reference to Dr Young’s and Dr 
Hunter Stewart’s investigations reminds me that even in these 
late days we often run the risk of being poisoned ourselves or of 
poisoning others by selecting sites for cemeteries and sewage- 
fields without first considering the geological structure of the 
ground. When we are disposing of decaying organic matter we 
should always ask ourselves the question — Do we know in what 
direction the natural underground drainage will transport the 
products of decay % In disposing of our dead and our refuse 
matter, unless we can answer that question without hesitation, we 
may be taking sure means for the propagation and dissemination 
of disease. 
Professor T. R. Fraser has given us two most important papers 
on producing Immunity against Serpents’ Y enom, and on the Anti- 
dotal Properties of the Blood-Serum of the Immunised Animals. 
These communications are crowded with the details of varied and 
carefully-conducted experiments, and are of great scientific interest. 
Let us hope that the antidote described by the Author will be the 
means of reducing the great mortality that results from the bites 
of venomous serpents. 
Professor Rutherford has treated of the measurement of the 
