660 
EDITORIAL OBSERVATIONS. 
ee From all these experiments Pasteur concludes that 
powders suspended in the air are the exclusive origin, the 
first and necessary condition of life in infusions in putrescible 
bodies and in liquids capable of undergoing fermentation. 
It is easy to collect and observe with the microscope atmo¬ 
spheric dust, among which may always be found a great 
number of organized corpuscles which the experienced 
naturalist will distinguish as the germs of inferior organisms. 
[_ ie Some infusoria are not more than -aTinroth °f nn inch in 
diameter, and if we suppose that the ova of infusoria and the 
spores of minute fungi are no more than one tenth part the 
linear dimensions of the parent organism, there must be an 
incalculable amount of germs no larger than irn J 5 - lnr th or 
t 6o'o o o th of an inch in diameter. Since, according to Sulli- 
vant and Wormley, vision with the most powerful microscope 
is limited to objects of about I ¥ f 00 th of an inch, we need 
not be surprised if infusoria and other organisms appear in 
putrescible liquids in far greater numbers than the germs in 
atmospheric dust visible by the aid of the microscope would 
lead us to expect.— Tr»y* 
THE SMALL-POX OP SHEEP. 
Since our last, the small-pox of sheep has made its 
appearance in Berkshire, but has not greatly extended in the 
neighbourhood of Devizes, where it originally broke out. 
Its extension has been due to the established traffic in sheep, 
which at this period of the year is more than ordinary in 
the western counties. Some lambs sold at Marlborough 
Fair, carried the malady with them, but by the promptness 
of all parties concerned in the sale, they were quickly 
returned home, and thus prevented doing an amount of 
mischief which otherwise must have followed their remaining 
in the locality to which they were sent. 
Far be it from us to attempt to suppress a knowledge of 
the extent of the disease, but nevertheless we know, that 
compared with 1818 it is trifling indeed. Then we had to 
reckon the infected animals by thousands, now T hundreds will 
suffice to express its amount. Then whole counties were 
affected, now only isolated spots in two or three counties at 
most. 
