FACTS AND OBSERVATIONS. 
2-85 
weight was also the same—viz.^ twenty-five grains to a 
gramme. On being ground they yield a good deal of flour, 
but are harder than common wheat, and not very friable ; 
the colour of the flour is somewhat lighter than that of the 
outer envelope. Its taste is bitter and bituminous; and 
when thrown into the fire, it emits a slight but pungent smell. 
On being sown in moist ground, under the usual pressure of 
the atmosphere, and at a temperature of 25 degrees (Reaumur), 
the grains became soft, and swelled a little during the first 
fonr days; on the seventh day their tumefaction became more 
apparent, with an appearance of maceration and decomposi¬ 
tion ; and on the ninth day this decomposition was complete. 
No trace of germination could be discovered during all this 
time. Figari-Bey obtained similar negative results from 
grains of wheat found in other sepulchres, and also on barley 
proceeding from the same source ; so that there is every 
reason to believe that the ears hitherto ostensibly obtained 
from mummy wheat proceed from grain accidentally con¬ 
tained in the mould into which the former was sown. 
Veterinary Quackery. —A report recently issued by 
the council of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons gives 
the number of members of the profession practising in the 
United Kingdom as 914, while the number of those who 
assume the title of “ veterinary surgeon,^^ without having any 
claim to it, are not less than 1244, and those practising as 
veterinary surgeons, and calling themselves farriers,’^ are 
1189. In Yorkshire there are 68 licensed members of the 
profession, and 245 persons who practise w ithout having the 
diploma of the college, and without having received any 
education fitting them for the art of veterinary medicine and 
surgery, such persons having been either stud grooms, far¬ 
riers in the army, gardeners, or, perhaps, at present keeping 
forges for shoeing horses, or druggists’ shops. In Sheffield 
and the immediate neighbourhood there are tw^enty-four 
persons who professedly obtain a living as veterinary sur¬ 
geons,” and are of the class before named .—Sheffield and 
Rotherham Indejoendent. 
Hydrophobia. —During a series of experiments made by 
Professor Renault, and communicated to the Academy of 
Sciences, respecting the period required for the development 
of symptoms of hydrophobia, he caused 130 dogs to be either 
bitten by mad dogs, or inoculated with their saliva. Of 
these, 63 showed no symptoms during a period of four 
months, and were therefore considered free. Of the remain- 
