GLEANINGS — CHEMICAL  AND  PHARMACEUTICAL.  395 
isms  in  decomposing  beef  tea,  when  ingested,  may  enter  the  cir- 
culation and  increase  there  ;  and  bases  his  belief  on  experiments 
made  on  himself,  by  microscopical  examination  of  his  blood  at 
intervals  after  taking  four  ounces  of  beef  liquid  which,  according 
to  calculation,  contained  27,000,000,000  of  living  organisms.  Dr. 
R.  thinks  the  presumption  is  strong  that  other  plants  besides 
those  noticed  by  himself,  of  a  more  poisonous  nature,  may  thus 
enter  the  circulation,  "  and  each  constitute  the  essence,  the  real 
contagium,  of  some  so-called  zymotic  disease,  as,  for  example, 
diphtheria,  and  scarlet  fever,  small-pox  and  measles,  as  declared 
long  ago  by  Prof.  Salisbury,  of  Cleveland,  and  recently  by  Prof. 
Hallier,  of  Jena." — Amer.  Journ.  of  Med.  Sciences,  July,  1868. 
Whey  as  food  for  infants. — Mr.  Geo.  S.  Dickey,  pharmacceut- 
ist  of  San  Francisco,  in  a  communication  directed  to  physicians  in 
the  Evening  Bulletin  of  that  city  for  July  3d,  calls  attention,  in 
those  cases  where  young  infants  cannot  have  their  natural  food,  p 
to  the  advantages  to  be  gained  by  the  use  of  sweet  whey,  ob- 
tained from  cows'  milk.  "  By  simply  warming,  adding  a  small 
quantity  of  '  liquid  rennet,'  and  setting  aside  in  a  warm  place  for 
a  while,  will  separate  the  casein  (curd)  from  milk.  The  whey, 
separated  from  the  curd  by  straining,  is  the  most  nutritious  and 
digestible  food  for  the  tender  infant,  varied  by  the  gradual  addi- 
tion thereto  of  unchanged  milk." 
On  the  comparative  action  of  various  disinfecting  agents. — Dr. 
Beranger-Feraud,  of  the  French  navy,  after  trying  wood  charcoal, 
chlorine,  chloride  of  lime,  carbolic  acid,  and  protosulphate  of 
iron  in  deodorizing  the  bilge  water  of  ships,  comes  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  permanganate  of  potassa  far  exceeds  them  all  in  rapid- 
ity of  action  and  thoroughness  of  effect,  and  says  :  "  I  made  use 
of  a  solution  of  permanganate  of  potash,  of  the  strength  of  half 
an  ounce  of  crystals  to  a  quart  of  water.  One  ounce  and  a  half 
of  this  solution,  which  has  a  fine  crimson  color,  added  to  a  pint 
of  foul  bilge  water,  effectually  removed  all  bad  odor  in  three 
minutes,  with  a  change  of  color  to  a  dirty  grayish-brown. 
"  The  purifying  action  of  permanganate  of  potassa  is  so  re- 
markable that  its  success  in  the  disinfection  of  putrid  matters  of 
every  kind  may  safely  be  assumed.  I  have  derived  the  greatest 
advantage  from  its  use  for  many  other  sanitary  purposes  besides 
