MISCELLANEA. 
207 
fraudulently, and that he was not the proprietor of the powder in question, inasmuch as 
that sold by the defendants had been manufactured and sold on their premises for the 
last fifty years. He would produce before them a receipt book, bearing date 1815, in 
which was written the receipt for the same powder, which book had been purchased by 
the defendants as a portion of the property connected with the business. In the year 
1821 old Mr. Douthwaite occupied the premises now used by the defendants, and from 
him they passed into the hands of Mr. Shepherd, who carried on business and manufac¬ 
tured the powder in question for some years. In 1820, Shepherd’s business was pur¬ 
chased by Mr. Wimble, who conducted it for some years, and finally transferred it to his 
son and Mr. Nutt. The powder in question was manufactured and sold by each succeed¬ 
ing occupier, and was now made up and disposed of in the same way by the defendants. 
After the examination of several witnesses, his Lordship said there was no evidence 
.whatever of an intention to defraud; the plaintiff was accordingly nonsuited,—the re¬ 
sult of the action being to establish the right of Messrs. Wimble and Nutt, by purchase 
of the receipt of the original inventor, John Douthwaite, to manufacture and sell the 
article known as “ Douthwaite’s Improved British Ink Powder.” 
MISCELLANEA. 
Poisoning by Fungi. —We this week have to record one of those lamentable events 
which so frequently occur of poisoning by deleterious fungi. Unfortunately, in these 
cases, the particular kind which has proved destructive is rarely if ever ascertained ; either 
because there is no one at hand acquainted with species, or there is uncertainty as to 
which especial kind amongst several proved poisonous, or because no specimens remained 
out of those which were eaten. The specimens in the case recorded were gathered in a 
wood, and the danger of eating mushrooms from such a situation almost amounted to an 
axiom so long since as the days of Horace. Indeed, no one should venture to dress any 
from such a locality without some accurate knowledge of the subject; for though our 
woods produce many excellent species, the distinctions are often so nice between good 
and bad kinds that the utmost caution should be used. Indeed, we should ourselves be 
sorry to venture on such species as Agaricus rubescens, one of our commonest forest kinds, 
though many pronounce it excellent. Paulet, whose work would be inestimable were 
the figures as good as the text, speaks only doubtfully of it, and it may very easily be 
confounded with some closely allied species which bear a bad character. Even with the 
practical knowledge, the result of long experience, which is possessed by the peasants in 
the South of France, who consume the different species largely, fatal mistakes are not 
unfrequent; and so strong is the feeling on the subject that at Paris only two or three 
universally approved kinds are admitted into the market.— The Gardeners' Chronicle. 
Structure, etc., of Woody Fibres. —M. Payen, the eminent French chemist, 
has presented an interesting paper to the Academy of Sciences, on the “ Structure and 
Constitution of Woody Fibres,” of which the following are the conclusions:—1. The 
subject of substitutes for textile fibres is one of great interest, and promises a gradual 
increase in the consumption of paper, which naturally follows the happy impulse given 
to general education. 2. In a scientific point of view, it is proved by a considerable 
annual consumption, representing more than one-tenth of the total amount of the raw 
materials of paper, that the cellulose extracted from various and even from ligneous 
fibre, more or less covered with other matters, is chemically identical. 3. That the less 
compact, spongy cellulose forming the matter of ligneous incrustations may be detached 
from the cells by means of acids, which convert it into glucose capable of undergoing 
alcoholic fermentation. 4. That thus two products may be obtained from the wood of 
various trees; alcohol, and membrane of cellulose sufficiently strong, flexible, and pure, 
to be used in making all kinds of paper, and even for the whitest kinds, in the propor¬ 
tion of 80 per cent. 5. That this experimental demonstration is equally interesting in 
an agricultural point of view, for it opens up a new market for the products of planta¬ 
tions of Conifera, which have the special quality of rendering productive and healthy 
the immense tracts of waste country which are to be found in France.— Journal of the 
Society of Arts. 
