84 
VARIETIES. 
moistened  finger.  I  have  thus  obtained  a  useful  sieve  from  one  which  would 
otherwise  have  been  thrown  away. 
Thinking  that  the  hint  may  be  useful  to  others,  I  am  your  obedient  Ser- 
vant, Thomas  Barling,  M.  P.  S. 
Weymouth^  Sept.  22,  185.  London  Phorm.  Journal,  Oct.,  1853. 
Composition  of  Squill. — M.  Tilloy  (Jour,  de  Pharm.,  June  1853,)  states 
that  the  bulb  of  Scilla  maritima  contains, 
1st.  A  poisonous,  very  acrid  resinoid  substance,  soluble  in  alcohol  and 
not  in  ether. 
2d.  A  yellow,  very  bitter  principle  soluble  in  water  and  alcohol. 
3d.  A  fatty  matter,  without  taste,  soluble  in  ether  and  not  alcohol  when 
it  is  freed  entirely  from  the  bitter  and  acrid  principles. 
4th.  Citrate  of  lime,  the  pungent  action  of  which  is  purely  mechanical. 
5th.  And  lastly,  a  mucus  like  substance  and  sugar.— Ibid. 
Quackery  in  England. — Of  all  countries  in  the  world,  England  is  that  in 
which  quacks  and  quackery  flourish  most.  According  to  the  census  returns, 
there  are  nearly  30,000  persons  practising  one  or  more  departments  of  medi- 
cine and  surgery  without  qualifications. — Manchester  paper,  and  Boston  Jour- 
nal. 
Valuable  Medical  Donation. — A  physician,  attached  to  one  of  the  hospitals 
in  Paris,  has  recently  donated  to  the  proprietors  of  the  Gazette  des  Hopitaux, 
one  of  the  oldest  Medical  Journals  in  France,  10,000  francs  per  annum,  on 
the  following  considerations : 
1st,  That  the  donor's  name  shall  forever  be  kept  an  inviolable  secret. 
2d.  That  3,00of.  per  annum  of  the  sum  shall  be  employed  in  encouraging 
the  authors  of  useful  and  practical  papers  published  in  the  Gazette, 
3d,  That  the  remaining  7,000f.  be  employed  in  distributing  copies  of  the 
Gazette  to  physicians  or  students  who  are  too  poor  to  pay  the  whole  or  any 
part  of  the  subscription,  the  simple  declaration  to  that  effect  of  the  applicants 
being  all  that  is  to  be  required. — Boston  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal. 
New  Application  of  Photography — Daguerreotypes  on  Wood. — Mr.  R.  Lang- 
ton,  wood  engraver  and  draftsman,  of  Manchester,  has  produced  some  very 
successful  and  beautiful  specimens  of  photography,  taken  by  himself,  on 
blocks  of  box- wood.  This  photography,  so  taken,  is  quite  ready  for  the  ap- 
plication of  the  wood  engraver's  burin.  It  is  impossible  to  say  how  greatly 
this  will  advance  the  process  of  wood  engraving,  especially  by  saving  all  the 
preliminary  labor  of  the  draftsmen  ;  which,  in  many  cases,  constitutes  the 
chief  element  in  bo!h  the  time  and  the  cost  attendant  on  the  production  of 
wood-engravings  of  a  high  class.  Even  in  many  of  the  lower  branches  of  the 
art,  the  new  application  of  sun-drawing  will  be  an  invaluable  auxiliary. 
For  instance,  it  is  an  exceedingly  difficult  matter  to  get  accurate  drawings  of 
machinery,  in  perspective  ;  mechanical  draftsmen  only  represent  it  in  plane 
