491

convex aspect and its side; this is managed in bending the Iinstrument, for the groove is cut when the rod is straight; Ithink it is better than having the groove on the convex part. IThere is here a well-defined and deep groove presented to the ’,point of the knife as you push it in. Many surgeons prefer whatis called a straight staff, a staff with only a slight and very short ’,bend at the end, which is introduced so far whilst the incision is ’’,made upon it. The knife is pushed at right angles upon it, and the ,,

handle of the staff being then depressed, it is carried along withthe knife into the bladder. This seems to answer very well,and some of my friends cut very rapidly into the bladder thus, z,bat to me it appears to be much more suited to the cases of children z,than to adults. If you use a straight staff there is great risk ofwounding the bulb, and of cutting up the urethra very consider-ably ; the artery of the bulb, too, is in no slight danger of beingwounded; and you cannot tell how much of the neck of thebladder you open-a point of great importance.

(To be concluded in our next.)

FOREIGN DEPARTMENT.

THE following analysis of an interesting paper published inLiebig’s Annalen," bv Dr. J. Schlossberger, assistant-teacher inthe laboratory of Prof. Gregory at Edinburgh, and Dr. Doepping,has been furnished to us by the author himself :-ON THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND OTHER RELATIONS OF

THE EDIBLE AND POISONOUS FUNGI.

In most dietetic writings the fungi occupy a pretty high rankamong the peculiarly nutritive articles of food, and on this accountthey play no inconsiderable part in our materia medica, whetherclassified under the head of mere articles of diet or under that ofaphrodisiacs. It is generally supposed that these effects of theedible fungi are owing to the considerable quantity of nitrogenthey contain, and for this reason they are also considered as nearlyallied to the animal kingdom. But this supposition could not beconsidered as based upon a scientific foundation, until it was con-firmed by actual experiment, although many phenomena in thefungi, particularly the great readiness with which they pass intodecomposition and putrefaction, rendered it extremely probable.Now that Boussingault has given us, in the determination of thequantity of nitrogen they contain, a much more easily applicableand more certain means of ascertaining the nutritive power of ouraliments, and also the fertilizing power of manures, than wasafforded us by the previous experiments of agriculturists; andafter ths chemist had given us a standard of comparison, by fix-ing the amount of nitrogen in numerous substances by directexperiment, it appeared to us that an attempt to determine thequantity of nitrogei contained in various species of fungi, perennialas well as some representative of that class, the whole existenceof which is limited to a few weeks, or even days, would not bedestitute of interest.For this purpose the fungi were first carefully dried at a tem-

perature of 100° C., and after the quantity of inorganic ingredientshad been ascertained, the amount of nitrogen was determined bythe method of Varrentrappe and Will. But as this latter opera-tion sometimes miscarries in the way in which it is usually con-ducted, owing to the hydrochloric acid mounting into the tube ofcombustion, we modified the apparatus by adding two bulbs forthe reception of the ammoniacal fumes, precisely like those in theapparatus of Fresenius and Will for the determination of car-bonic acid, the bulb next the combustion-tube being somewhatlarger than the other. The communication between this bulband the combustion-tube was effected by a glass tube bent at rightangles, which terminated as soon as it passed through the cork ofthe bulb. The first bulb contained but a small quantity of acid,the bottom being barely covered; the principal quantity beingcontained in the second. From this the non-absorbable gasescould escape by means of a tolerably long tube, furnished towardsits middle with a bulb, to retain any acid which might be carriedup by the escaping gases. The corks fitted into both bulbs hadbeen thoroughly washed. This modification of the apparatus hadthis advantage, that we could conduct the operation much morebuietly, and could allow the fluid of the second bulb to regurgi-tate, without fear, into the first; for even in the event of its pass-ing wholly over, there was no danger of its entering the combus-tion-tube, as this was effectually preciudad by the distance of thetube of communication from the tiquid. The apparatus was alsomore easily cleared, and any sal ammoniac which might adhereto the corks was readily removed by alcohol. The quantity ofammonia was determined in’ the usual way by bichloride ofplatinum. Comparative experiments conducted with the originalapparatus of ’Will, and with that with the above described modifi-cations, gave precisely the same results. I

The following fungi were examined by us, according to theabove method :-

1. Agaricus deliciosus, L. 7,300 grammes fresh fungus gave,after desiccation in the water-bath, 0,961 solid residue. Its com-

position, therefore, is—13,1 solid ingredients86,9 water

100,0.0,473 of dry fungus gave 0,033 ashes (containing iron and man-

ganese) = 6,9 pe.0,365 of dry fungus gave 0,252 chloride of platinum and am-

monium = 4,68 pc. nitrogen; 100 parts of the fresh funguscontain, therefore, 0,61 nitrogen, 0,90 ashes.

2. Agaricus arvensis, Schaeffer. 4,630 of the fresh fungus driedat 100° C., gave 0,435 of residue; 100 parts, therefore, are com-posed of 9,39 solid substance, 90,61 water.The plates of the under surface of the cap (pileus) dried at

100° C., gave the following results.-10,80 pc. ashes and 7,26 pe.nitrogen. In 100 parts of the fresh plates are therefore 0,68nitrogen 1,01 ashes. The stalk and parenchyma of the capshowed me differences in both points; they gave 11,6 pe. ashes(these ashes had a strong alkaline reaction, and were almostentirely soluble in water; they likewise contained some manga-nese) and 8,3 pc. nitrogen. 100 parts of the fresh stalk contain,therefore, 0,77 nitrogen, 1,08 ashes.

3. Agaricus glutinosus. 6,29 solid ingredients, 93,71 water.In the dry fungus, 4,8 pc. ashes, 4,6 pc. nitrogen; in the fresh

fungus, 0,29 nitrogen, 0,30 ashes.4. Agaricus russula, Scop. 8,8 solid ingredients, 91,2 water.In the dry fungus, 9,5 pc. ashes, 4,2 pc. nitrogen; in the fresh

fungus, 0,83 ashes, 0,37 nitrogen.5. Agaricus cantharellus, L. 9,4 solid substance, 90,6 water.In the dried fungus, 11,2 pc. ashes, 3,2 pc. nitrogen; in the fresh

fungus, 1,05 ashes, 0,30 nitrogen.6. Agaricus rnuscarius, L.a. the whole fungus; in 100 parts of the fresh substance, 9,44

solid ingredients, 90,56 water. In the dry fungus, 9,0 pe.ashes. (The incineration there, as was also the case withmost of the fungi which we examined, was very difficult tocomplete, and did not succeed perfectly without the additionof a few drops of concentrated nitric acid. The ashes wererich in phosphates, and contained a considerable quantity ofmanganese.) The same fungus (dried at 100° C.) gave6,34 pc. nitrogen. 100 parts of the fresh fungus contain,therefore, 0,598 nitrogen, 0,849 ashes.

b. the red skin of the cap yielded about the same quantity ofashes, but more nitrogen (7,0 pc.)

7. Boletus azzreus, Sch. (Boletus luteus, L.) 5,65 solid matter,94,25 water.

In the dried fungus, 6,8 pc. ashes, 4,7 nitrogen ; in the freshfungus, 0,38 ashes, 0,26 nitrogen.

8. Lycoperdon echinatum. The fungus dried at 100° C. con-tained 5,2 pc. ashes, 6,1 nitrogen.

9. Polyporus fomentarius. The dried fungus, 3,0 pc. ashes, 4,4nitrogen.

10. Daedalea querima. The dried fungus, 3,1 pc. ashes, 4,0 pc.nitrogen.The watery extract, exposed to the atmosphere, soon passed

into decomposition, the fluid becoming at the same time turbid,and very offensive gases being generated. Among these, sul-phuretted hydrogen could be distinctly perceived.

In considering the results of the above investigations, we foundthat the fungi contain, perhaps, a larger proportion of water thanany other alimentary vegetable, scarcely excepting some juicyfruits, which, however, seldom come into consideration as purearticles of diet. This excessive quantity of water gives a readyexplanation of many striking phenomenon observable in thesecurious vegetable bodies, especially of their proverbiaily rapidgrowth, as they shoot up after rain from the smallest rudiment,in a few hours or days, into masses the size of the fst. It also

naturally explains the great tendency the fungi have beyondevery other vegetable to pass into decomposition and putrefaction,as, along with a large quantity of water, coupled with a verysimple structure, they contain among their sohd iD’i’edients acomparatively consi1emb:<! quantity qr proteia. InolE:ed, the fungiare remarkable for the large quantity of nitrogen they contain,and far surpass, in this respect, setting aside their I:u’g’a propor-tion of water, the most of our veg-etab’e alimentary sub dances.Those of the above-named fungi, which are poorest in nitrogen,approach in the quantity of that element they contain, the rich-ness, in that respect, of our common vegetable aliments, (pc-as andbeans, for instance,) which contain, in the dried seed, according to

492

Boussingault, from three to five per cent. Most of the fungidried at 100&deg;C. contain twice or three times as much nitrogen asdried wheat.

Unfortunately we had not sufficient materials to make detailedanalyses of the ashes of some of the fast-growing fungi; but weremarked during the process of incineration to determine thetotal quantity of ashes, in all the fungi which we examined, adecided preponderance of phosphates, which appear, therefore,here also to stand in direct relation to the quantity of proteinfound along with them. We may now, therefore, fix upon ascientific basis the view which hitherto has rested upon mereprobability&mdash;viz.. that the fungi possess a considerable alimentarypower, in the strictest sense of the term, and that they maypowerfully promote the direct.formation of blood.

In our experiments, we included some poisonous fungi, partlybecause it may be possible, with little difficulty, to render themapplicable as aliments, either by the method of preparing them,or by adding something to them, and partly because the quan-tity of nitrogen they contain must give them, when they can beobtained in sufficient quantity, a very considerable value as

organic manure, and even enable them to enter the 1sts withguano, which, when dried at 100&deg;C., contains, according toBoussingault, only about six per cent. of nitrogen. However, onthis point, agricultural experiments must decide.With reference to the proper substractum of the fungi-

namely, their .fibres, Payen, and afterwards Promberg, haveshown that, when properly purified, they coincide entirely withthe cellular substance, and hence fungin, as it was described byBraconnot and others, has been struck out of the list of vegetableelementary substances. Payen found the fibres of the

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Fromberg found’ in the fibres of the agaricus albus, after it hadbeen boiled with water and treated with a weak solution ofcaustic soda, with hydrochloric acid and alcohol:-C 45,57;H 6,29; 0 48,14; and after a second treatment with the samereagents, 44 per cent. of carbon.We had abundant opportunity, in the course of our experiments,

to corroborate these results, in proof of which the followingexamples may be quoted :-

Polyporus foyttentarius, reduced to small pieces, and treatedfirst with cold, then with hot water, dilute solution of potash,hydrochloric acid, and alcohol, yielded a substance which,dried at 100&deg; C., gave the following results by the elementaryanalysis :

It was only after long and continued boiling with diluted

sulphuric acid that we succeeded in transforming the purifiedfibres into grape sugar.

Daedalea guercina gave at the elementary analysis:-C 50,60;H 7,00; N 3,19.; 039,21. From the rough substance of thatfungus, the pure cellular tissue was prepared by treating it withthe various extractive reagents: it was composed of-C 48,58;H 6,27 ; 0 48,15. The light-brown, half-decayed oak wood onwhich this fungus had grown, gave, after deducting the earthy in-gredients, the following results: - C 53,16 ; H 5,91 ; 040,93.The nitrogen contained in this wood was about one half per cent.Gay Lussac found in oak wood which had been digested with

water and alcohol-C 52,53; and nitrogen, 4; H and 0. (in thesame proportion as in water.) Mayer found in decayed oak wood53 C.-( Vide Liebig’s 4grikultu)-chemie, 5th edition, p. 437.)

It appeared to us remarkable that scarcely any traces of phos-phates could be detected in the decayed wood on which thedsedalea grew, while in that fungus itself they were present inconsiderable quantity. This is a parallel case to that observedby Fresenius and Will, who found that the mistletoe which grewupon an apple-tree contained a large quantity of phosphates,while the wood of the tree scarcelv contained any.

The rough substance of a Polyporus clestructor, which wegathered on the half-decayed portion of poplar, showed some verypeculiar qualities. After being dried and triturated, it formed analmost entirely white powder, and was found to contain less nitro-gen than any of the other fungi, including the perennial, not evenone per cent. ; by the elementary analyses it gave, after deduc-tion of the ashes, (four per cent.) C 43,06 ; H 6,18; 0 50,76.After the fuugos had been exhausted by the different digestiveliquids, it vielded a quite white residue of following composition-C 43,93; H 6,69; 0 49,38. The half-decayed poplar wood onwhich this iungus grew was also subjected to elementary analysis,

and contained C 50,15; H 6,43; 0 43,42. From this it wouldappear as if the cellular substance had passed from the poplarinto the fungus, and, indeed, almost without change, while thelignin, containing a larger amount of carbon, had not beenreceived.

With reference to the question whether the fungi containstarch, we were unable to produce a blue tint in any one case bysimply touching the fungus with tincture of iodine; though wedetected, by aid of the microscope, in the expressed juice of some,as, for instance, of the cantharellus cibarius, some grains whichwere rendered blue by iodine. At the same time, however, wesaw many grains, similar in size and shape to those of starch,which merely received an intensely yellow colour from the iodine.In some few places, iodine produced a greenish hue, whichwas, perhaps, owing to the mixture of the blue-and-yellovgrains.

In almost all the fungi which we examined, we could detect,besides mannite, fermentable sugar, and we made the interestingobservation, that many of the juicy fungi, (for instance, agaricusrussula, cantharellus, emeticus,) when preserved for some daysin a bottle with a narrow neck, but not closed, passed sponta-neously into spirituous .f&egrave;rmentation. They emitted at the same-time a very agreeable odour of must, and distillation yieldedspirit of wine. Genuine yeast cells were produced, and therewas an abundant development of carbonic acid. It would therefore-appear, that the protein substance of the fungi very readily passesinto that series of decompositions, through means of which, thesugar which they contain (or the substance which forms sugar,)is brought into fermentation. The fungi which had passed intothe state of spirituous fermentation, emitted, after standing eightdays, no smell of putrefaction ; they yielded, however, an acidodour.

Many of the fungi contain large quantities of vegetable mucus,which, during the process of evaporation on the waterbath, forms.thick pellicles, but which it is very difficult to get in a purestate.We now undertook some experiments on the nature of gases,

which were exhaled by fresh fungi. For this purpose we madeuse of the following apparatus:-A large flask with narrow neck was filled almost entirely with

quite fresh fungi, mostly agarici. A glass tube, reaching almostto the bottom of the flask, and bent at a right angle, commu-nicated with another tube, about two feet long, which was filledwith pieces of pummice-stone soaked in sulphuric acid, destinedto absorb any ammoniacal gas which might be developed. Thislast tube communicated with a vessel containing water of baryta,which again was in communication with a tube containing causticpotash, and ended in a vessel containing concentrated sulphuricacid. A tube containing chloride of calcium led from this vesselinto a combustion-tube, filled with fresh calcined oxide of copper,which was placed in a furnace, such as is generally used forultimate analysis. The tube with the oxide of copper was firstheated to redness, and then dry air passed through it for a quarterof an hour, by means of a respirator. Thereafter the combustiomtube was connected with a weighed tube, containing chloride ofcalcium; with another, containing small pieces of caustic potass,also weighed, and finally, with a tube filled with chloride ofcalcium, and with a large aspirator. Within a quarter of an hour,and before the aspirator was in thorough operation, a copiousprecipitate took place in the water of baryta ; and when theaspirator had been three hours in operation, during which timethe oxide of copper had been constantly kept at a red heat, thetubes containing the chloride of calcium and caustic potash wereremoved and weighed. Both were found to have gained so muchin weight (that containing the chloride one hundred milligr., andthe potash tube more than three hundred milligr.,) that the ques-tion of the increase being accidental could not be entertained.A gas containing carbon and hydrogen must have been given off inconsiderable quantity, in addition to a very large quantity of car-bonic acid. It is also to be remarked, that the sulphuric acid,over which the gases passed, was tinged of a deep brown. Atthe conclusion of the experiment, the fungi had precisely thesame smell which they have when perfectly fresh, and it wasonly after they had been exposed to the air for three days thatthey gave off the odour of must described above.A second experiment, conducted in the same manner, gave

exactly the same results. On receiving the gas above water,(instead of passing it over oxide of copper,) and then bringingit over mercury along with freshly-heated spongy platinum andoxygen, we remarked no diminution of volume, even after allow-ing it to stand for several hours. There was, therefore, no freehydrogen present, but the gas, on the contrary, was rich innitrogen. Marcet had a considerable time ago remarked, thatfungi exposed to sunshine under water, exhale a considerablenuantitv of h B"flroQ’pn. This exneriment aDDeared to us to coin-

493cide so little with the physiological relations of the fungi, whichexist neither in water nor in sunshine, that, granting that hydro-gen was evolved, no deduction could be made from it concerningthe phenomena of vegetation in the fungi. Only so much is atpresent certain, that fresh fungi (like all other vegetable bodiesnot green) exhale a large quantity of carbonic acid, to whichmay be added, at least in some species, carburetted hydrogen.We hope soon, should an opportunity be afforded us, to make

the peculiar acids of the fungi the object of a second investi-gation.

ON THE

RISE, PROGRESS, AND MYSTERIESOF

MESMERISMIN ALL AGES AND COUNTRIES.

BY CHARLES RADCLYFFE HALL, M.D.EXTRA-LICENTIATE OF THE COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS, LONDON.

No. X.CONCLUSION.

&sect; 580. When Lafontaine was in Manchester, I allowed him toattempt to mesmerise me. Like others, I was placed in a low,easy chair, my magnetiser sitting before me on a high stool, withIfis back towards a large chandelier, the glare from which wasthus thrown directly on my face. Fixing an intent look on myeyes, which I was not to move, Lafontaine placed his thumbsagainst mine, his fingers resting gently on the hacks of my hands,and his knees and feet being in contact with my own. At first,I gave myself up entirely, in mind and body, to Lafontaine,obeyed his directions implicitly, and desired to do everything tofavour his success, After a time, the constrained position inwhich I sat began to fatigue me ; the constant tickling ofhands and knees made those parts tingle; sight became dis-ordered, objects appearing too large, indistinct, or ceasing to bevisible; my eyes felt dry and tight, and I had a strong inclina-tion to relieve them by winking or closing the eyelids. Myhead became rather mazy, and I could not concentrate mythoughts as at first. I felt that I should, in some measure, lose’consciousness, if this continued. Having expected all this, andpredetermined at first to give way, and afterwards to try whether,by an effort of will, I could throw off the strange feelings, Iabstracted my attention from what was going on, and at the sametime I relieved my eyes, not by closing them, but by altering theaxis of vision. Lafontaine now released my thumbs, and madea quivering motion with his fingers before my eyes, followingtheir axis, however I might vary it. But as I could move myeyeballs quicker than he his fingers, he did not succeed in againriveting my attention. Meanwhile I rubbed my thumbs againstmy fingers, and my knees against each other, and thus destroyedthe peculiar tickling sensations there. Presently, Lafontainedesisted, and pointing to my eyes with a shrug of disapprobation,ejaculated, " Les yeux!" At the solicitation of some medicalfriends, he made a second attempt in a few minutes, but withsimilar result.

&sect; 581. Had I omitted to alter my fixed gaze, the result wouldhave been different. My tired eyes and eyelids would havefound relief by closure; my brain bewildered by the variety ofstrange sensations conveyed from eyes and limbs, my mind con-fused by all the circumstances, I should have had swimming inthe head, and probably the sensation one experiences so

commonly on looking down from a great height, or on gazingearnestly at a rapidly revolving object, and then more or less un-consciousness. Now if these effects were produced in conse-quence of some special mesmeric influence conveyed fromLafontaine’s body into mine, why should this influence exert itspeculiar power only when admitted through the pupils of the eyes,and be resisted when such entrance was prevented. Surely theopaque parts of the eyeball could not offer any obstacle to anagent which finds no impediment in the side of a house, or inseveral miles of atmospheric air ! 582. I was afterwards operated on by a potent mesmeriser

under less exciting circumstances, and did my utmost to have thestate of somnambulism induced. I usually felt very comfortableindeed ill about ten minutes, the effects on the skin of the gentlewafts of air from the passes being very agreeable. I closed myeyes and moved my limbs wherever I thought my mesmeriserwished; tried to have catalepsy of them induced, but always in I

vain, as I could move them at pleasure. I was perfectlyconscious, heard all that was said, and did not rouse myself from

my pleasant day-dream until my mesmeriser grew tired, or untilI heard him declare to my father (a medical man) that " themesmeric sleep was passing into ordinary slumber"!

&sect; 583. I am aware that this negative influence on myself doesnot disprove the mesmeric effects stated to have been producedon others, but it may serve to show how easily the imaginationmight have converted a simple into a mesmeric agency.

&sect; 584. Whatever may be the genuine effects producible bymesmeric processes, I am perfectly convinced, that in the greatmajority of cases at public exhibitions, in which they were confi-dently stated to be manifested, there was deception, either in-tentional or unintentional.

&sect; 585. I have been present and have taken notes of all the pro-ceedings at many exhibitions on mesmerism and its varieties, andhave been forced to the conclusion, that it would be morecharitable than reasonable to suppose that the actors themselves,in many instances, believed anything to be genuine but their ownimposture.

&sect; 586. Deception, however, may exist to a great extent withoutimplying wilful deceit. Medical men, who are in the constanthabit of carefully weighing the evidence of individuals in refer-ence to their own states, know better than others how frequentlya person’s testimony as to what occurs to himself is not trust-worthy. With every intention to be accurate and truthful, thepatiett often states what he believes to be true, but what is notto be implicitly relied on as a guide in practice.

&sect; 587. Hypnotism does not allow of the action of any nervousfluid, or other agency furnished by a second person, but ascribesall its phenomena " to an impression made upon the nervouscentres by the physical and psychical condition of the patient."*Ordinary sleep is not attended by stupor, palsy, or muscularmovements. Hypnotism sometimes is. In sleep we have nophrenological manifestations ; in hypnotism these have beeneduced. By common sleep we cannot make the deaf hear; byhypnotism, it is said, we may. But when a person is not fastasleep, but voluntarily, though he believes otherwise, in a half-sleepmg, half-waking state, with his eyes closed, the imaginationhas full play. A credulous person will believe that he hearsbetter, (&sect; 334,) and state it confidently; yet his statement is nota proof of the fact. The hypnotists allow, that unless there is afixation of the mental eye-i. e., an entire giving up of the mindto the hypnotising process, they fail to induce the hypnotic phe-nomena : thus, the mental eye is essential. But a blind man, ora man with his eyes closed or bandaged, who will only think ofsome dull subject without intermission, may become hypnotised.Hence the corporeal eye is not essential. It follows, that as themind without interfering with the body further than to preventany causes of disturbance from interfering with the mind, is quitesufficient to produce hypnotism, that state is sometimes producedentirely through the mind; and that as hypnotism can never beinduced where the mind is not more or less affected, hypnotismis never produced solely by any induced physical condition ofthe body. And if the body be primarily affected, only inasmuchas a certain small part of it is wearied by prolonged action-thoughwhen a person hypnotises himself in one minute, the body canscarcely be said to have anything whatever to do with the effect-as we know by experience that this corporeal condition alonecannot lead to such wonderful effects as those asserted, to whatmust these be referred? In the first instance, solely and ex-clusively to the other elementary condition laid down-the stateof the mind. We know by experience that all imaginable won-ders mav be performed under an excited and perverted imagina-tion. We know that the body may then be secondarily affectedto an almost incredible extent. We know by experience thatreason is no longer trustworthy; that a man first deceives him-self, and then others, with respect to the causes of sensations andactions which, as they depend on imagination, are a first them-selves imaginary. Hence, the firm conviction of one, howeverrespectable and desirous to speak the truth, who has given him-self up to be hypnotised with perfect faith and excited imagina-tion, cannot always be admitted as unquestionable proof of thereal origin of what he experienced.

&sect; 5S8. Instances are commonly given in which we are toldthe imagination could exercise no influence. But how can we

prevent the mind from taking part in any mode of acting throughthe senses ! If a mesmeriser would affect a man in the midst ofa crowd, who was expecting no mesmeric influence to be exerted,and could ascertain nothing to excite his suspicion through themedium of his senses, we should see no effect from the imagina-tion, and it may be doubted whether we should have much more

* Neurypnoloy, p. 31, et se’]. When the famous Dr. Dee, i’1 the six-teenth century, stared at his crystal until he saw a vision of angels, hefound that he must co7zeent)-tite hi", whole attention on the crystal, or, like.. spirits from the vasty deep," the angels would not come when he didcall. Have we not here the first type of hypnotism ?