256 
[May, 
The Ghost of the Season. 
first essays had been criticised by Berzelius, he applied to 
the latter for permission to work in his laboratory. Berze- 
lius replied in the most benevolent terms, and this first letter 
opens the long and most interesting correspondence which 
united Wohler and Berzelius up to the time of the death of 
the latter. 
III. THE GHOST OF THE SEASON. 
By “ Argus.” 
t E-APPEARANCES and even re-incarnations of the 
dead, I am told, have undergone a marked revival. 
They are no longer laughed at as dreams or impos- 
tures of by-gone days, but meet with respectful attention 
from men of learning and repute. This change in public 
temper may, perhaps, help to account for a faCt lately wit- 
nessed, above all places, in the rooms of the Society of Arts. 
There and then was manifested the ghost, not of defunCt 
man or woman, but of a three-headed being which during 
its lifetime had “ neither a soul to be lost nor hinder-quarters 
to be kicked,” and which is generally thought to have made 
ample use of this privilege. In other words, the shade or 
“ shell ” of the late Royal Rivers’ Pollution Commission 
has possessed or “ obsessed ” a living man, and compelled 
him to reproduce once more its notions and its recommend- 
ations. 
Of this Commission I have no wish to speak harshly or 
imputatively. It possessed ample scientific attainments, 
but was not burdened with practical common sense. It had, 
from the very outset, strong prepossessions, and it appears 
mainly to have sought evidence for their confirmation. It 
told us little that was new, and suggested, perhaps, still less 
that was feasible. But had it not been for this ill-timed and 
injudicious re-appearance the world would have been quite 
willing to forget its shortcomings, and not to inquire too 
closely as to the benefit derived by the nation in return for 
a heavy outlay of public money. 
