678 
Facts and Observations. 
The Chemical Qualities of Milk. —Milk has been 
so often analysed that it would seem no further facts could 
be elicited regarding this important liquid. Professor Boe- 
decker, however, has just completed a series of experiments 
conducted on quite a new principle. The question he pro¬ 
posed to himself was whether milk obtained at any hour of 
tlie day always presented the same chemical composition or 
not; and lie has arrived at the result that the milk of the 
evening is richer by 3 per cent, than that of the morning; 
the latter containing only lO per cent, of solid matter, and 
the former 13 per cent. On the other hand, the water con¬ 
tained in milk diminishes by 3 per cent, in the course of the 
day; in the morning it contains 89 per cent, of water, and 
only 86 per cent, in the evening. The fatty particles increase 
gradually as the day ivears on. In the morning they amount 
to 2T7 per cent.; at noon, to 2'63; and in the evening to 
3*42 per cent. This circumstance, if true, would be very 
important in a practical point of view. Let us suppose a 
kilogramme of milk to yield only the sixth part of its weight 
of butter; then the milk of the evening may yield double 
that quantity. The caseous particles are also more abundant 
in the evening than in the morning. From 2*24 they 
increase to 2*70 per cent., but the quantity of albumen dimi¬ 
nishes from 0’44 to 0'31. The serum is less abundant at 
midnight than at noon, being 4’19 per cent, in the former 
case, and 4-72 in the last.— Galignani* 
Longevity of the Horse. —The Courier de Verdun 
mentions a rare instance of longevity in the equine race; 
M. Collas-Gattelet, member of the Council-General of 
the Meuse, having lost a horse at the advanced age of 
forty-five. 
Value of Botany. —Botany has always been regarded 
as an important part of the education of the future prac¬ 
titioner of medicine. At the present time there are between 
300 and 400 species of plants, some parts of which are more 
or less employed by the medical practitioner as remedial 
agents, and the greater part of which enter into the recog¬ 
nised formularies of the colleges. Could it be an unim- 
