478 
EDITORIAL. 
The  other  numbers  contain  an  article  on  the  sale  of  secret  remedies  ;  on 
chloroform  for  detecting  bile  in  the  urine ;  and  a  series  of  articles  on  the 
mineral  waters  of  Cuba.  No.  42  contains  a  project  for  a  benevolent  fund 
association  of  physicians  and  pharmaceutists,  for  the  relief  of  members 
distressed  by  age,  infirmities,  or  unmerited  disgrace  ;  and  for  the  widows 
and  sons  of  deceased  members  left  without  means. 
The  last  number  received,  that  for  June,  embraces  a  number  of  analyses 
of  saline  waters  from  various  parts  of  Cuba,  several  professional  articles, 
and  some  observations  on  articles  of  the  Materia  Medica. 
The  earnestness  with  which  the  editors  advocate  reform  will  doubtless 
produce  its  effect,  and  we  do  not  doubt  but  that  many  evils  that  have  be- 
come chronic  in  the  Island,  will  disappear  before  an  improyed  education 
and  legal  restraint  on  quackery  and  trade  in  drugs. 
Recognition  of  Blood  in  Medico-legal  Investigations.— The  impor- 
tance of  a  means  of  recognizing  human  blood  from  that- of  other  mammals, 
is  very  apparent,  but  is  a  problem  that  does  not  appear  to  be  well  under- 
stood. Some  years  ago,  Mr.  Barreul,  a  chemist  of  Paris,  became  so  skilled 
in  the  recognition  of  animal  blood  by  the  agency  of  chemical  action  in 
connection  with  his  unusual  acuteness  of  the  sense  of  smell,  that  his  testi- 
mony was  taken  in  the  Paris  courts  as  positive  evidence.  We  believe  the 
process  consisted  in  the  addition  of  sulphuric  acid  to  the  blood,  and  the  test 
consisted  in  the  odor  evolved  during  the  heat  resulting  from  the  mixture. 
We  don't  recollect  whether  this  ability  to  detect  included  dried  blood  or 
not,  but  remember  that  it  detected  unmixed  blood  with  great  certainty,, 
the  blood  of  each  animal  evolving  a  peculiar  odor.  We  have  been  led  to 
this  subject  by  the  following  written  testimony  of  Dr.  Duffield,  of  Detroit, 
in  a  murder  trial  in  that  city  some  months  ago,  and  published  in  *the  De- 
troit Tribune  of  July  17th,  1866. 
July  16, 1866. 
Alfred  Russell,  Esq. : 
Dear  Sir, — In  accordance  with  instructions  received,  I  have  examined 
the  blood  stains  upon  the  clothes  and  upon  the  boat  seat  sent  up  to  La- 
boratory. 
The  pieces  I  took  from  the  lining  of  the  right  coat  sleeve  near  the 
wrist  afforded  evidence  of  blood.  Sections  cut  from  the  left  leg  of  the 
pantaloons  (one  above  the  knee,  one  about  at  the  knee,  and  one  near  the 
bottom  of  the  leg)  afford  also  evidence  of  blood. 
It  was  dried  quite  firmly  on  to  the  texture  of  the  cloth,  and  must  by  its 
appearance  been  at  least  six  weeks  or  two  months  old.  On  cutting  out 
the  pieces  from  the  pantaloons  and  sleeve,  I  moistened  them  with  pure 
glycerine  and  allowed  them  to  remain  six  hours.  I  then  pressed  out  the 
liquid,  drop  by  drop.,  as  I  required  to  use  it,  on  the  glass  slip  for  the  mi- 
croscope, and  subjected  it  to  inspection.  The  blood  corpuscles  appeared 
shrivelled  and  smaller  than  in  fish  blood,  but  still  preserved  their  rounded 
form  and  were  able  to  be  recognized  as  the  organic  features  of  blood. 
Blood  corpuscles  of  an  ox,  cow,  dog,  or  any  of  the  mammalia  can  be 
recognized  from  one  another  only  by  their  size.    On  examining  fresh  blood 
