570 
MEDICO-LEGAL CONTRIBUTIONS ON ARSENIC. 
to her own dataj and not connect herself witli speculation. 
There is plenty of field for her ambition. The Duke of 
Argyll has properly eulof^ised the ^‘fruits of that intercrossing 
and breeding by which they have now established such 
varieties of animals/^ and we see no reason why our farmers 
should not attempt to produce a rival of that ‘'magnificent 
bull’^ whose head was discovered in peat moss the other day, 
and which is supposed by Professor Owen to liave been a 
specimen of the original cattle of this countiy. Mr. Bakewell, 
it is said, made the Leicestershires/^ but not by any power 
“allied to creation,” but simply by judicious crossing. Mr. 
Bakewell was a very observant cattle-breeder, but he was 
neither a magician nor a Pan, nor even a philosopher and a 
theorist. He was a plain practical man. 
But though the Duke of Argyll has rather overshot the 
mark in endeavouring to make farming a transcendent philo¬ 
sophy, ally it with magnificent speculations, and give it a new’ 
Darwinian basis, the attempt is well meant, and only ex¬ 
presses his w'ish to raise agriculture as a profession, and infuse 
a higher amount of intelligence and inquiring spirit into it. 
Here we quite agree with him, and willingly acknowledge the 
great value of his services as so generous and devoted a 
patron of Scotch agriculture. He will, we have no doubt, 
give a stimulus to the cause of good farming, though he will 
not make the Scotch farmers Darwinian philosophers. 
MEDICO-LEGAL COI^TRLBUTIONS ON ARSENIC. 
By Charles H. Porter, M.D., Professor of Chemistry and 
Aledical Jurisprudence, Albany Medical College. 
{Coniinuedfro7ti p, d45.) 
6. Rediiction test.—Liquid tests. — a. The reduction test now 
to be considered is the same as the last, except that the 
arsenic is volatilized in air instead of in carbonic acid. xA 
number of tubes are to be prepared, with a bulb on one ex¬ 
tremity. The mixture of the arsenical compound, carbonate 
of soda and cyanide of potassium, is to be introduced into 
the bulb of the tube by means of a paper gutter, as already 
mentioned, not more than • half filling it. The bulb is first 
to be gently warmed (and if moisture escapes it should be 
removed with a twisted slip of paper), afterwards it is to be 
heated till the mass fuses, and finally more intensely. By 
this means an arsenic mirror is obtained of great purity and 
beautv. 
b. Odour test .—If the tube be cutoff just below the mirror 
