The Sun.
London, England, 1862-12-30 00:00:00

c, iv.

"The receipts of the extraordinary budget of
1864 will be, in spite of this resource, less
by 17,000,000 f. than those of the extraordinary
budget of 1863. I can only hope that this diminu-
tion will be merely temporary ; that the advantage-
ous disposal of the woods, the sale of which will be
ordered, and the decrease of the reimbursement of
the expenses of the Mexican expedition will allow
us to restore to the extraordinary budget of 1864
all, or a part, of these 17,000,000 f.

But it was indispensable to begin by conforming
with the sanitary regulation established by the
Senatus Consultum of the 21st of December, by
which grants are measured by the resources really
availab:e. By enjoining ua all to respect this rule,
your Majesty insures goad order in the finances,
and the stability of credit, while putting a stop to
the continuation of deficiencies.

" I have already made known to yoar Majesty, in
my report of the 6th of October, that the total
of the former deficiencies amounts to 848,000,000 f.
With respect to those of 1861, which amount to
158,000,000 f., they are balanced by the result of the
conversion, which has produced an equal sum. But
for the extraordinary expenses which have weighed
upon the current year, and the effects of which will
continue to be felt during 1863, it would have been
possible to return to a completely normal position
at the commencement of 1864 ; this desirable result
is only adjourned. Besides, the total of the fresh
deficiency within the limits in which it is now em-
braced does not exceed the resources that can be
furnished by the floating debt, without that debt
exceeding the proportions it has several times at-
tained during the last six years. We may, then,
dismiss all idea of the necessity of appealing to cre-
dit. It is an assurance that I repeat with con&
deuce to your Majesty, and which will be welcomed
with satisfaction by the country.
"I remain, Sire, with respect, your Majesty's
most humble and very obedient servant and faithful
subject,

" The Minister of Finance,
"Paris, Dec. 27, 1862." " ACHILLE FOULD.

THE MARSHALL HALL PHYSIOLOGICAL TEST
FOR STRYCHNINE.—It is related of Dr. Marshall
Hall, in his biography, that at one time the number of cri-
minal poisoning cases, and the conflicting evidence in re-
gard to the employment of strychnine in some of them, set
him thinking on the subject. His long series of experi-
ments on the nervous system had rendered him well ac-
quainted with the action of strychnine upon the frog, and
it occurred to him that the extreme susceptibility of this
animal to the influence of strychnine would constitute it the
most delicate test of its presence, thus substituting a physi-
ological for a ohemical test. Aided by Mr. Bullock, of
Hanover-street, he performed a series of experiments, by
which it was at last satisfactorily demonstrated that a young
frog might be rendered tetanic by the 5,000 th part of a
grain of strychnine I These experiments were communi-
cated by him in detail to the Lancet in 1856. This ingeni-
ous suggestion of our great English physiologist has re-
cently been acted upon at North Shields in the post mortem
examination of Mrs. Gillespie. It is stated in the Times of
Nov. 8 that a drop of an acidulated solution of the residue
front the stomach and duodenum brought into contact with
the skinef ayoung frog produced violent convulsions. Three
or four alditional drops were applied, with intermissions,
and it died at the expiration. of half an Dour,—Lancet.