Note 414 — PHARMACOLOGIA. (continued 2)

The experiments by which I ascertained this fact were made soon after the publication of Mr. Phillips’s paper, and long before I saw Dr. Christison’s communication in the Edinburgh Journal. I merely mention this circumstance to add greater weight to the experimental evidence, for when different persons arrive at the same conclusion without any communication with each other, the strongest possible testimony is afforded. I may also add that my suspicions were raised to the probability of the fact by a knowledge of the action of charcoal upon lime water. In a philosophical point of view the fact is one of great interest; it seems to connect the phenomena of mechanical and chemical attraction. We have evidently a body removed from the state of solution by mechanical means.