The Sun.
London, England, 1858-09-18 00:00:00

THE CITY-ROAD.

Mr. MORELAND called the attention of the board
to the urgent necessity there was of numbering the
houses in the City-road consecutively, there being
at present some 30 different " terraces" and
" places" in it between " the Angel" at Islington
and the city boundary, leading to great confusion.

SEWAGE DEODORISATION.

Mr. BAZALGETTE, the engineer of the board, read
a report on the means employed for the deodorisa-
tion of sewage near the outlets of the sewers. It
stated that since the last meeting of the board a
careful daily watch had been kept as to the condi-
tion of the water in the River Thames, and that
the result had not been such as to necessitate a re-
petition of the operation of liming the sewers. The
application of lime to the open portion of the King's
Scholars' Pond Sewer had, however, been continued
upon a special order of the board of the 13th of
Aug. last, for the benefit of the adjoining locality,
and the necessary apparatus for that purpose was
still retained. All the other sheds and apparatus
were removed about a fortnight ago, as it appeared
more than probable that there would be no further
necessity for their use during the present summer.
3,666 yards of lime, reduced to milk of lime, had
been mixed with the sewage and diffused through
the waters of the Thames during the past summer,
and the sanitary state of the river had continued
in an improved condition since the commencement
of the operation, the total cost of which had been
about £3,990.

The board then adjourned, after the transaction
of some business of a routine character.

FRENCH ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.

The last number of the Comptes Rendus contains
a paper, by Dr. Heurteloup, which we strongly re-
commend to the attention of professional men, as con-
taining a modification in the practice of lithotomy of
such importance as almost to change the nature of the
operation completely. M. Babinet read a note on
an assertion of Harry's, to the effect tint a doubly
refringent crystal could not separate images, as
Iceland spar does, by transmission through two
parallel or nearly parallel faces. To this M. Babi-
net opposes the following experiment :—Take a

plate of rock-crystal, of the thickness of one or two

centimetres, and stretch a single thread of silk,
taken from the cocoons across the lower surface by
means of a little wax, and then look through by
the aid of a magnifying glass. If the axis be
oblique to the two faces, the thread will appear
double ; and if the axis be perpendicular to the
faces, the double image may be obtained by making
the line of vision oblique to the axis. M. Renard
sent in a communication on the distribution of
electricity on the surface of conductors, in the
supposition of a single fluid. By mathemati-
cal calculation, the author shows :-1. That the
quantity of electricity at every point of the medium
is directly proportional to the intensity of the
electric source, and inversely proportional to the
square of the distance between that point and the
centre of the source. '2. That the action recultiug
from the citetr:•,.. cu.:rim on a given obstacle is
proportional to the quantity of electricity. AI.
Leon Soubeiran presented some researches on the
structure of the poisonous gland of the viper,
showing that it belongs to those that have the form
of a bunch of grapes. To insulate it, the author
used a diluted solution of tartaric acid, which has
- -

the property of destroying the muscles and
tendons without exercising any chemical action on
the glandular apparatus. M. Soubeiran arrives
at the conclusion that there is reason to doubt
the existence of any spacious reservoir to con-
tain the Poison, and that most probably the
secretion takes place only when the reptile feels
the approach of a fresh supply of the poisonous
liquid, just as in man the secretion of saliva is
most active during a repast. Dr. Legrand com-
municated a case of a painful sub-cutaneous
tumour, of the size of a bean, situated at the ex-
tremity of the deltoid on the arm of a young man
aged 19. Dr. Legrand cauterised it in the direction
of its greater axis, and 17 days after this single ope-
ration the tumour came off together with the eschar,
without either pain or loss of blood. The tumour,
being analysed, was found to consist of carbonate
of lime, carbonate of magnesia; and a little phosphate
of lime. M. Dumas communicated a paper, by M.
Callmann, on crystallised valerianate of atropine.
The crystals are rhomboidal, very brilliant and light.
They melt at 32 deg. centigrade, and under the in-
fluence -of air and -light they lose their whiteness
and become yellow. This salt is very soluble in wa-
ter, less so in alcohol, and still less soluble in ether.