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29
date its appearance and odour was perfectly normal, but
on passing it through a small sausage machine the finely
divided fibre had a distinct stale smell. The pork was
analysed by Gautier's process, and ultimately a crystalline
substance not in normal pork was separated. This
substance was alkaline in reaction, it gave fine crystals when
united with hydrochloric acid, and gave precipitates with
the ordinary alkaloidal reagents (save the chlorides of gold
or platinum). So small a quantity was, however, obtained,
that it was not practicable to examine it farther or to
determine whether the substance was really a poisonous
"ptomaine," although this is naturally the inference. It
may be suggested that the ptomaine was in quantity in
the meat on Sunday, and what the writer found was a
small residue which had escaped destruction in the process
of putrefaction.
The main object, however, of calling attention to this
case of food poisoning is in the hope that anyone who may
have bought pork on March 27th, and have suffered from
illness within 24 hours, may communicate the particulars
to the writer, for it is improbable that one leg of pork
should be so poisonous, the other parts are almost certain
to have been affected, and may have produced a similar
illness in other persons.
The Disinfecting Properties of Formic Aldehyde.
Formic Aldehyde, a gas of extremely irritating
properties, was discovered by Von. Hoffman, in 1868. It
is easily made by passing the vapour of methyl alcohol
over platinised asbestos. The gas is soluble in water, and
in solution is an article of commerce under the name of
" Formol," "Formalin," and other names. A large number
of researches on the antiseptic and disinfecting properties
of the gas have been made during the last few years, as
may be seen by the annexed list of publications which have
been consulted in the writing of this article. The
antiseptic powers of Formic Aldehyde are extraordinary : as
little as 1 to 10,000 preserves milk, soup and other similar
substances for a considerable period. Facts of this kind