Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Metallurgy, Nutrition, Discovery

    Discusses Frederick C Calvert's 'conversation' at the Leeds meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (a version of which was published as Calvert 1859) in which Calvert claimed that the 'lately discovered metal Aluminium', decomposes to form a jelly. Concludes that aluminium spoons might be turned into jelly and that it might be possible to 'eat jelly out of a mere spoon'. Proceeds to discuss George Harley's paper on digestion (published as Harley 1859) which suggested the possibility of finding a substance that would enable people to digest 'anything they pleased'. Notes that when Harley finds this substance he will eclipse the discovery of 'pepsin' and please London's aldermen.