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species of birds, and he arrives at the following conclusions, which, however, 
he regards as in some measure conjectural : — (1) That in some birds, as in 
the common fowl and in the duck family, the bursa increases in size and in 
'completeness of organization up to a certain age, beyond which it gradually 
diminishes equally in both sexes, and eventually disappears ; (2) That in 
birds, such as the owl and buzzard, which take wing as soon as they are able 
to fly, the bursa, though large while they are nestlings, does not continue to 
increase, but rather diminishes in size, and disappears at a certain age. Dr. 
Davy does not think the bursa is used to store up the semen for the fertiliza- 
tion of several batches of ova, but that its uses are provisional and various, 
and that in some birds it may serve as a urinary bladder. 
Who introduced the Sphymograph into England ? — Those who are au fait 
of the progress of medical science are probably aware that to Drs. Anstie 
and Sanderson the credit of introducing the sphymograph into English 
practice is chiefly, if not wholly, due. But we must caution our readers 
against a paragraph which has appeared in some of our non-medical contem- 
poraries, attributing the merit of the introduction to a Dr. Belshazzar Foster, 
of Birmingham. Dr. Foster, a gentleman in practice in the great provincial 
“ town of guns and buttons,” has written a clever little pamphlet on the 
subject of the use of the sphymograph ; and as some of the passages in this 
which refer to the introduction of M. Marey’s instrument into England were 
somewhat vaguely expressed, they were misinterpreted by careless readers. 
No doubt, no one more than Dr. Foster himself regrets this inadvertence ; for 
his pamphlet was put forward with all the modesty characteristic of a young 
practitioner, and is in reality — so says the Lancet — “ scarcely more than a 
collection of cuttings from the ‘ Physiologie de la Circulation du Sang ’ of 
M. Marey.” It therefore affords us much satisfaction to be able to explain 
the unpleasant attitude in which Dr. Foster was placed by the unwise enthu- 
siasm of some of his friends “ on the press.” 
The Poisonous Principle of Mushrooms. — This, which is called amanitine, 
has been separated and experimented on by M. Letellier, who has quite 
lately presented a paper recording his investigations, to the French Academy 
of Medicine. He experimented with the alkaloid upon animals, and found 
the same results as those stated by Bernard and others to follow the action 
of narceine. Fie thinks amanitine might be used in cases where opium is 
indicated ; and states that the best antidotes in cases of poisoning by this 
principle are the preparations of tannin. The general treatment in such 
cases consists in the administration of the oily purgatives. 
MMunn’s Elixir of Opium. — We have received some of this preparation, 
and have very carefully tested its effects in large and small doses. In small 
doses it produces a pleasantly sedative effect, without giving rise to much 
constipating action on the intestines. Taken in drachm to drachm and a 
half doses, it produces sleep, as in the case of laudanum ; but it does not 
give rise to the headache and stupor next day which follow the use of the 
tincture of opium. It must be remarked, however, that the patentees claim 
too much for it when they say it produces no intestinal unpleasantness. In 
doses of a drachm it gives rise to very decided constipation of the bowels. 
Detection of the Alkaline Sulphides in Water. — In the Lancet “Record of 
Science ” for June 9th it is stated that a new test for the presence of alkaline 
