Bodies of men, horses, &c., have been preserved for centuries in the bogs of Scotland and Ireland; it is to be presumed that these must have been immersed when the temperature was low, as we have always failed in attempting to preserve bodies in a saturated solution of gall nuts, during warm weather but an injection of the vessels with the tincture of galls has proved more successful. We have already demonstrated by experiment that Tranchini’s arsenical solution is inadequate as a means of embalming, (vide _Note_, p. 211 of this volume.) The mercurial corrosive sublimate, as a means of preserving from corruption, in addition to the palpable objections to its use designated by our author, exacts much time, labour, and expense, and not unfrequently fails altogether, whether applied to animal or vegetable substances. The sulphate of copper, has more recently been proposed as a preservative of vegetable matter, especially as applicable to the blocks for paving streets; its properties as a preservative of animal matters have long been recognised. We have read of human bodies found in some parts of Germany, preserved entire for many years, by being deposited in a soil strongly impregnated with this salt. About the close of the year 1839, we read in the Medical Gazette, an account of some experiments performed by Drs. Babington and Rees, with the view of preserving human bodies, for the purposes of dissection. After numerous unsuccessful trials with various antiseptic substances, they succeeded to their entire satisfaction by simply injecting the arteries of an adult with one gallon of pyroxilic spirits; of which substance, (which must not be confounded with pyroligneous acid, or pyro-acetic spirits,) a full account may be found in the “Annals of Philosophy,” N. S. VIII, 69. According to the authors, the advantage of employing Pyroxilic Spirits are--1. Its extreme fluidity. 2. Its freedom from colour. 3. Its cheapness, being only one half the price of alcohol. 4. Its innoccuous nature, and its freedom from any corrosive action on dissecting instruments. In the London Medical Gazette, for December, 1839, there is a memoir of Dr. Thomas Marshall, on the same subject, who thinks he has discovered a much cheaper and more effectual method--which consists in puncturing the surface of the body very generally with needles or scissors, &c., and brushing over the body with acetic acid, specific gravity 1.048, which must be brushed into it slowly and repeatedly, the same acid slightly diluted with water, to be introduced into the great cavities. This process, the author asserts, has not only preserved bodies perfectly sweet for months; but is capable of restoring the natural colour to parts already gangrenous.