"George Nasmyth, C.E.," writes to the Morning Post to suggest,
"that along with the water used for watering our streets, there should be a few pounds of chloride of lime put into each cartful of water, and in addition to this a small quantity of sulphuric acid, so as to combine with the lime and thereby set the chlorine gas free. The purifying properties of this gas are well known where fevers of the worst kind rage." [As some of these dis- infectants have the property of exciting inflammatory diseases of the chest, of course they should only be used under proper medical instructions.] Mr. Edward W. Lane, "the well-known Orientalist," has put forth a specific against cholera. It consists in a "table-spoonful of powdered mus- tard in a tumbler of cold water," as an emetic, and a wine-glassful of brandy with ten grains of Cayenne pepper as a restorative. "Rest, perspiration, and sleep," are thus to be produced. This remedy is said to have been used in Cairo with success in 1848; but if we reckon that because Mr. Lane is a great authority on any Arabian Nights subject, he is also an authority in the treatment of Asiatic cholera, the non-sequitur would be as false as if we were to accept a prescription from Haroun Alraschid.
At a Statistical Congress of all nations which has been sitting in Brussels, a question was asked as to the progress of Russia in statistical science, which elicited some interesting information. Russia, it appears, is almost the only country that is not represented in the Congress ; giving the somewhat curious reason that in Russia statistics are the business of the Government, which at present required no information from abroad ; and that when such information was needed, it could be obtained from the published reports of the Brussels Congress. King Leopold has not the same scruples: Belgium was represented, amongst others, by its King in person.
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