582 DISINFECTANTS AND THE RIVAL PROFESSORS. 
pigs or to the bullock it was worth not less than sevenpence half- 
penny. Bullocks sold for less than pigs, which accounted for this 
difference, and yet as much food was required to produce a pound 
of beef as a pound of pork. The farmer would find it far more 
advantageous to rear pigs than bullocks. He hoped the time would 
come when poor grass lands in this country would be the exception 
and not the rule. He held as a principle that whatever is un- 
profitable in farming is wrong, and hence he would rather that an 
outlay should be made to improve the condition of land, because 
the return would be proportionately great. — York Herald. 
DISINFECTANTS, AND THE RIVAL PROFESSORS. 
AMONG other mercantile enterprises to which the dread of the 
cholera will probably afford a stimulus, the compounds offered to 
the public as disinfectants will, without doubt, hold a prominent 
place. While it is desirable, and of the highest importance, that 
every remedy or preventive known to possess efficacy should be 
made available in case of need, it is equally important for the 
public to be warned against the error of placing undue reliance on 
alleged specifics, the value of which has not been satisfactorily 
established. 
We have already pointed out the marked distinction between a 
deodorizing agent and a disinfectant, and stated the grounds upon 
which we conceive that the destruction or modification of putrid 
odours does not imply a neutralization of the contagion with which 
they are sometimes accompanied. In our notice of some of these 
preparations now before the public, we gave one of the vendors 
(Mr. Ellerman) credit for having avoided the general error, by 
simply recommending his compound as a deodorizer. We observe, 
however, that, in his advertisements, he has followed the example 
of his rivals; and we are entertained with a vigorous competition 
and controversy between the three professors of disinfection, Sir 
William Burnett, Director General of the Medical Department of 
the Navy, Charles Ellerman, Esq.., and M. Ledoyen. 
We have before us the printed parliamentary reports and corres- 
pondence on the respective fluids of these gentlemen, namely, the 
chloride of zinc, pyrolignite and perchloride of iron, and nitrate of 
lead. On glancing over these documents, which are rather volu- 
minous, the most striking fact is the conflicting nature of the 
statements, each professor or his advocates contradicting the as- 
sertions of the other. Among the reports are recorded sundry 
