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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW. 
diseases as cholera, typhoid fever, and dysentery. Now such spores or germs, 
endowed as they are with vitality, -will he likely to resist the oxidising 
agencies which convert the rest of the animal refuse into carbonic acid, 
water, nitric acid, nitrous acid, and ammonia. For instance, if the contents 
of an egg were beaten up with water and poured into the Thames at Oxford, 
the organic matter would probably be entirely oxidised and converted into 
mineral compounds before it reached Teddington; but if the egg were 
thrown whole into the Thames at Oxford, it would, if it retained its vitality, 
be carried down to Teddington without any decomposition of its organic 
matter. There can be no doubt that the spores or germs of many organisms 
are in like manner capable of resisting for a long time the decomposing 
action of water. Now no practicable process is known by which these spores, 
once introduced into water, can be again removed or can have their vitality 
destroyed. Filtration will not do it ; in fact, it is well known to engineers 
that water is often contaminated with visible suspended matter which cannot 
be separated by filtration ; thus, M. Belgrand says, Lorsque I’eau est 
troublde dans le fleuve, elle sort louche de nos filtres.” And again, speaking 
specially of the London water supply, Le mode de degrossissage employe 
par les grandes compagnies anglaises, tres- convenahle a Londres, ou Ton ne 
hoit pas d'eaUy ne vaut rien d Paris, oil les femmes, les enfants, les vieillardsde la 
classe ouvriere n'ont pas di autre hoisson. J’ai constate par moi-meme, et les 
ingenieurs anglais n’en disconviemient pas, que Teau sort des filtres tres- 
chargee de matiere organique^ Again, in the account of his highly remark- 
able researches on vaccine and small-pox poisons, recently communicated to 
the Academy of Sciences, M. Chauveau says regarding the organic germs 
contained in these poisons, that they ne se deposent jamais completement 
dans les couches profondes du milieu ambiant, et passent a travers tons les 
filtres.” 
The Tactile Corpuscles . — M. Rouget believes he has demonstrated the actual 
structure of these bodies, which have so often baffled anatomists. He pre- 
pares the tissues by soaking them for some time in acidulated water. He 
then acts on the specimens with strong nitric acid ; this, he says, stains the 
nerve-fibres, and not the adjacent structures. Preparations made in this way 
lead^ him to believe that the nerve-fibres are not simply coiled round the 
cone-like corpuscle, but absolutely enter its substance, and penetrate it.— - 
Comptes Rendus, May 11. 
Alum in Wine . — In a recent number of the Gazette Medicale de Lyon, M. 
le Dr. Barbier calls attention to the fact that many of the cheap wines, 
especially clarets, are largely adulterated with alum. In one instance 
which came under his notice, he had been treating a whole family for acute 
gastralgia, but eventually discovered that the affection of the stomach was 
due to the wine his patients had been using ; on analysis this wine was 
found to contain as much as two drachms of alum in the bottle. In com- 
menting on this case, the Chemical Nexus (June 5) says: “We have our- 
selves obtained samples of so-called pure claret, which we have reason to 
believe contained a considerable quantity of alum ; it is therefore evidently 
necessary for those who are accustomed to drink these wines, to have some 
guarantee of their purity.” 
Carbolic Soap. — Medicated soaps are much in vogue among foreign prac- 
