522 
FACTS AND OBSERVATIONS. 
and that the green colour could be restored by the action of 
an alkali. The conclusion has been verified by experiment, 
—autumnal leaves placed under a receiver with vapour of 
ammonia have in nearly every instance lost the red colour and 
renewed their green. 
Spontaneous Generation. — In reference to this 
questioned phenomenon, a paper of M. TrecuPs has lately 
been laid before the French Academy. The authors con¬ 
clusions relate especially to the formation of yeast in beer, 
and are as follow:—1. Yeast cells may be formed in the 
must of beer without spores being previously sown. 2. Cells 
of the same form as those of yeast, but with different 
contents, arise spontaneously in plain solution of sugar, or 
to which a little tartrate of ammonia has been added, and 
these cells are capable of producing fermentation in certain 
liquids under favorable conditions. 3. The cells thus formed 
produce Penicillkm, like the cells of yeast. 4. On the other 
hand, the spores of Penicilliim are capable of being trans¬ 
formed into yeast. Finally, he states that spontaneous 
generation is the great obstacle to satisfactory observations, 
because it mixes its own products with those placed by the 
observer for experiment.— Ulnstifdit, December 23, 1868. 
Creatine in Milk. —In a note to the French Academy, 
M. Commaille announces that he has obtained creatine from 
putrefied whey. This is, without doubt, derived from 
creatine by dehydration, so that, according to M. Commaille, 
the latter substance must be a constituent of new milk. Its 
presence has not been hitherto made out on account of the 
large quantity of other matters with which it is united in 
new milk. JM. Commaille finds in the presence of creatine 
a new analogy between milk, blood, and meat, and doubts 
whether creatine is an excrementitious matter.— The Pojmlar 
Science Review. 
Influence of Veratrium on the Heart. —M. 
Oulmont, who has been continuing his experiments on the 
physiological action of Veratrumviride and on its therapeutical 
effects, recently read his second paper on these subjects 
before the French Academy of Medicine. He finds that 
the resinous extract in doses of about a centigramme every 
hour lessens and steadies the pulse, and considerably dimi¬ 
nishes the temperature. He has tried it in pleuritis, pneu¬ 
monia, and typhoid fever, and while it gave bad results in 
the first and third, it proved of immense service in the 
second.— Ihid. 
