640 
FACTS AND OBSERVATIONS. 
per cent. When fed on beet there was of casein 375, of 
butter 275, of sugar of milk 5*95, of salts *68, and of water 
86 87 per cent. Thus, while the proportion of water re¬ 
mained the same, the proportion of casein, butter, and salts, 
was greater under the carrot diet, while the sugar of milk 
increased under the beet dietary. 
New Act to seize Unwholesome Meat. —On Satur¬ 
day, August 1st, an Act of Parliament was printed to 
amend the Nuisances Removal Act of England, 1855, with 
respect to the seizure of diseased and unwholesome meat. 
The Act is now in force, and a medical officer of health, or 
inspector of nuisances, may inspect and examine any animal, 
carcase, meat, poultry, game, flesh, fish, fruit, vegetable, 
corn, bread, or flour exposed for sale, or deposited for the 
purpose of sale or preparation, and intended for the food of 
man; and in case either appear to him to be diseased, 
unsound, unwholesome, or unfit for food, to seize and take 
it away, and to have the same dealt with by a magistrate, 
who, on conviction, may fine the offender a sum not exceed¬ 
ing £20, or commit him to prison for three months. Anv 
person obstructing the medical officer or inspector is liable 
to a fine of £5. The meat so seized is to be destroyed. 
Respiration during Sleep. —M. Delbruck has made 
some researches on the quantity of air required for breathing 
during sleep. It strikes him as singular that, while all 
medical men are unanimous in prescribing several cubic 
metres of pure air for each person sleeping in a room as abso¬ 
lutely indispensable for health, all animals appear to shun 
the open air as much as possible in order to compose them¬ 
selves to sleep. Thus, the lion and tiger retire to some dark 
cavern where the air is confined; the dog goes to his kennel, 
and thrusts his snout under his belly; birds, to which the 
open air would appear to be a necessity, whether asleep or 
awake, retire to some private corner and put their heads 
under their wings. Nay, what does the schoolboy do, when 
left in a dormitory aired with particular care? If he finds he 
cannot fall asleep, the first thing he does is to bury his head 
under the bed-clothes. Hence M. Delbruck concludes that, 
if, when awake, we exhale a certain quantity of carbonic 
acid, we must inhale a certain quantity of this gas during 
sleep, just as plants exhale by day the oxygen they absorb 
during the night. 
