POISONOUS  EFFECTS  OF  OIDIUM  OF  VINES. 
459 
another  time  the  surface  will  be  of  shining  steel-grey,  mammil- 
ated  as  if  it  had  been  half  fused,  and  had  passed  through  a 
pasty  stage.  This  appearance  is  similar  to  that  of  oxide  of 
iron,  nodulous  brilliant,  with  mammilated  surface,  known  by 
the  name  of  brown  hematite. 
M.  Jaquelain  is  inclined  to  admit  that  tarry  and  pyrogenated 
products,  transformed  in  immense  proportions  into  carbon  and 
hydrogen,  under  the  influence  of  igneous  rocks,  become  accu- 
mulated in  rents  and  excavations,  causing  an  aggregation  of 
carbon,  and  inducing  a  fusion  analogous  to  that  of  carbon  in 
retorts  for  lighting  gas,  and  of  graphitoid  carbon  destined  to 
form  the  pencils  used  for  the  electric  light. 
On  this  point,  M.  Jaquelain  narrates  one  of  his  own  recent 
experiments.  On  decomposing  some  sulphide  of  carbon  in  a 
porcelain  tube  in  presence  of  pure  copper,  heated  to  about  300°, 
sulphite  of  copper  and  graphite  were  formed,  externally  similar 
to  natural  graphite. — Lond.  Chem.  News,  from  Cosmos,  pp. 
720—725,  1864. 
POISONOUS  EFFECTS  OF  OIDIUM  OF  YINES. 
We  all  know  the  destruction  which  the  o'idium  has  caused 
among  the  vines  for  many  years  past,  and,  according  to  a  com- 
munication made  by  M.  Collin  to  the  Academy  of  Medicine,  it 
may  determine  in  man  all  the  symptoms  of  true  poisoning.  In 
the  three  cases  which  he  relates,  the  persons  while  cutting  vines 
affected  with  o'idium  produced  a  slight  incision  of  the  skin ;  and 
in  all  the  same  symptoms  resulted.  In  a  few  days,  shivering, 
loss  of  appetite,  and  fever  with  remissions  set  in.  The  cut,  at 
first  quite  insignificant,  soon  assumed  a  bad  aspect,  and  eventu- 
ally became  gangrenous,  the  limb  itself  being  cedematous,  The 
most  remarkable  circumstance  was  that  the  mouth  became 
covered  with  muguet,  which  modern  researches  have  shown  to 
be  a  cryptogamous  production,  and  which  has,  indeed,  been 
termed  by  M.  Gubler  the  o'idium  of  the  mouth.  M.  Collin  has 
instituted  some  experiments  by  the  inoculation  of  animals  with 
iridium,  the  results. of  which  will  be  communicated. — Med. 
News,  from  Med.  Timez  and  Qaz.,  April  23,  1864. 
