i879-J 
Notes. 
269 
but polyhedric, and though black they appear red by transmitted 
light. The hairs of certain persons retain a peculiar eledlric 
condition : if t^e hand is approached to a bunch which contains 
some hairs of this kind, they will separate themselves from the 
remainder and follow the hand. 
A curious toxicological case is reported from Hamburg in the 
“ Chemiker Zeitung,” The body of a man who died in 1867 
was taken up for examination. It was thought necessary to de- 
termine arsenic not merely in the corpse in question, but in the 
soil of the churchyard at different distances from the coffin, and 
also in the body of another man who had been subsequently 
buried in the same grave. This latter body was perfectly free 
from arsenic, which, however, was found in the first corpse in 
amply fatal quantity (0-24. grm.), whilst in the lid of the coffin 
and in the adjacent soil very minute quantities were traced. 
Hence the conclusion was fairly drawn that the man in question 
had been poisoned with arsenic, and that a portion of the poison 
had been gradually transferred fiom his body to the wood of the 
coffin and the adjacent soil. 
In a paper on Poisoning by Mushrooms, in the “ Moniteur 
Scientifique,” Mr. J. A. Palmer says that mushrooms may ad! as 
a poison in three different manners. They may ad! as an indi- 
gestible matter, which is the case with hard coriaceous species, 
and may even occur with the edible mushroom when decom- 
posing, as it gives off sulphuretted hydrogen in quantity suffi- 
cient to cause vomiting. Or, again, they may be gelatinous or 
acrid. Many Boleti , otherwise innocent, are too gluey to serve 
as food. Lastly, mushrooms may contain a subtle alkaloid, de- 
void of smell and taste, as happens in the group of the Amanitae. 
This compound is known by the name of Amanitin, and to it the 
fatal cases of mushroom-poisoning are mostly due. No remedy 
has yet been found. No immediate effedts are produced by this 
poison ; but after eight to fifteen hours the patient experiences 
stupefadlion, nausea, and diarrhoea, followed by delirium and 
death. Mushrooms containing this poison seem able to commu- 
nicate it to wholesome species by contadl, and it may also be 
absorbed through the skin. The ^author was on one occasion 
seized with alarming symptoms after carrying in his hand some 
Amanitae wrapped in paper. 
Engineering, Metallurgy, Mineralogy, and Mining. 
According to the “ Colonies and India” a valuable deposit of 
graphite, of excellent quality, has recently been made in the pro- 
vince of Wellington, New Zealand. 
M. F. Pisani has communicated to the Academy of Sciences 
the fad! that Wagnerite — a fluoriferous phosphate of magnesia, 
originally met with at Werfen, in Salzburg — is identical with a 
