Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. S93 



made through it by means of a hot coal, and not 5y percussion, 

 which would disturb the crystals; the liquid metal is then to be 

 poured out: in about half an hour the remainder of the crust may 

 be broken, and the crystals will be found in great perfection. 

 Journal de Pharmacic t 1830, p. 534-. 



REACTION OF PERSALTS OF IRON AND CARBONATES. 



M. Sorbeiran finds that the persalts of iron decomposed by neu- 

 tral carbonates yield a carbonate of peroxide equally neutral: this 

 carbonate is soon destroyed to produce a double salt, formed by 

 the neutral alkaline sulphate and the subsulphate of iron, yielding 

 a new sulphate of iron, before unknown, and containing three times 

 as much base as the neutral salt : a weak alkali in excess precipitates 

 another subsalt, which has not been before noticed, but is a true 

 double salt, composed of the subsulphate of iron and the hydrated 

 peroxide. The aperient saffron of Mars is a hydrate of the peroxide 

 of iron, containing 3 atoms of water mixed with variable and acci- 

 dental quantities of sesquicarbonate of iron, and sometimes neutral 

 carbonate of iron Ibid. 1830, p. 535. 



INFLAMMATION OF PHOSPHORUS BY CHARCOAL. 



Dr. Bache of Philadelphia states, that, at the temperature of 60 

 Fahr. or upwards, carbon in the form of animal charcoal or lamp- 

 black causes the inflammation of a stick of phosphorus powdered 

 with it: the effect takes place either in the open air, or in a close 

 receiver of a moderate size Sillimans Journal, xviii. 373. 



OBSERVATIONS ON AURORA BOREALES WITNESSED AT BEDFORD, 

 AT VARIOUS TIMES, FROM APRIL 19, 1830, TO JANUARY 11, 

 1831. BY W. H. WHITE, H.M.C.S. 



To the Editors of the Philosophical Magazine and Annals. 

 Gentlemen, 



The frequent appearance of the aurora boreales at Bedford, lat. 

 52 8' 48" north, long. 2' 49" east, may perhaps form some apology for 

 my troubling you with a short account of them. The first that I ob- 

 served was on the 1 9th of April, 1830. Soon after sunset a bright 

 light appeared in the horizon about the magnetic north, which in-, 

 creased in brightness as the twilight decreased. I watched it till a 

 little after nine P.M., before any coruscations could be distinguished, 

 when a few faint flame-coloured flashes darted about 12 or 14 above 

 the horizon about the north-west. About eleven P.M. several columns 

 of light rose in the north-west in quick succession, which continued 

 for upwards of an hour; some of them extended as far as the north, 

 and were slightly tinged with red. During the appearance of the 

 aurora up to midnight, several bright meteors appeared above it, 

 but none of them were visible more than two seconds. 



Sept. 7th. A little before the moon rose I observed an aurora which 

 extended from the north nearly to the north-west, from which ema- 

 nated several columns of light j the rising moon soon overpowered 

 its light, so that I could not distinguish any other coruscations. 

 N.S. Vol.9. No. 53. May 1831. 3 E Sept. 



