GENERATION  OF  HEAT  BY  FUNGI. 
523 
ing  machinery.  The  cod-liver  oil  has  gone  up  in  price  lately, 
owing  to  the  immense  demand  for  it  in  Europe,  and  now  it  is 
sold  to  the  merchant  at  the  rate  of  130  cents  a  gallon.  Last 
year  330  tuns  of  it  were  exported,  the  value  being  260  dols.  per 
tun.  Of  the  common  cod  oil,  unrefined,  4,521  tuns  were  ex- 
ported, the  value  being  144  dols.  per  tun.  So  plentiful  has  been 
the  catch  of  cod  this  year  that  in  one  factory  2,000  had  been 
barrelled  before  the  season  was  half  through.  The  men  who 
handle  it  get  quite  a  liking  for  the  oil.  A  little  dog  running 
about  the  premises  laps  it  eagerly.  The  secret  of  making  good 
cod-liver  oil  lies  in  the  application  of  the  proper  degree  of  heat 
— too  much  or  too  little  will  seriously  injure  the  quality.  Great 
attention  to  cleanliness  is  also  necessary,  the  filtering  bags  re- 
quiring to  be  washed  thoroughly  every  day,  and  the  troughs 
scrubbed  out  with  great  care.  The  rancid  oil  that  is  frequently 
met  with  is  the  produce  of  manufacturers  who  are  careless  about 
these  matters.  The  best  oil  is  made  in  the  way  above  described  ; 
and  all  the  pretences  of  quacks  about  refining  it,  and  making  it 
palatable,  are,  it  is  declared,  mere  moonshine,  and  either  covers 
for  adulteration,  or  such  as  deprive  the  oil  of  its  medicinal  prop- 
erties. There  is,  no  doubt,  an  enormous  amount  of  adulteration 
practised  by  the  retailers  of  cod-liver  oil,  but  it  is  maintained 
that  it  is  not  done  in  Newfoundland.  The  greater  part  of  the 
oil  goes  to  London,  and  there  it  is  "  doctored."  The  writer  in 
the  St.  John's  paper  states  that  were  a  person  with  competent 
skill  and  capital  to  embark  in  the  manufacture  in  Newfoundland 
on  an  extensive  scale,  and  bottle  the  oil  on  the  spot  for  the  re- 
tailers, guarding  it  by  a  label  and  other  securities,  and  guaran- 
teeing a  pure  article  of  the  best  quality,  his  oil  would  speedily 
take  the  the  lead  in  the  market. — The  Canadian  Pliarm.  Journ.^ 
Toronto,  Ont.,  Oct.,  1870,  from  Chem.  and  Drug. 
GENERATION  OF  HEAT  BY  FUNGL 
Dutrochet  has  observed  that  there  is  more  heat  generated  by 
Boletus  ceneus  than  by  any  other  vegetable,  with  the  exception  of 
Arum.    This  phenomenon  is,  however,  by  no  means  confined  to 
B.  ceneus,  but  is,  I  believe,  common  to  all  Boleti ;  and  when  de- 
