D. CHEMISTRY AND METALLURGY. 105 



NATURE OF CHLORAL HYDRATE. 



According to Meyer and Dulk, chloral hydrate is in reality 

 ethylene-glycol, chloral alcoholate being the ethylic ether of 

 the same substance. 21 A.March, 1872, 246. 



DIRECT OXIDATION OF CARBON. 



An important announcement was made not long ago by 

 Professor Schulze, at the meeting of the Chemical Section of 

 the German Association for the Advancement of Science, at 

 Rostock, in reference to the direct oxidation of carbon by 

 means of permanganate of potash in an alkaline solution. In 

 addition^ to oxalic acid and other products not determined, 

 Professor Schulze obtained an acid to which he has given the 

 name of anthraconic acid, and which he found to closely re- 

 semble mellitic acid in its properties. The experiment was 

 repeated with carbon of different varieties, all of them, how- 

 ever, yielding analogous results. 



A subsequent investigation proved that the new body was 

 identical with mellitic acid. By treating it with caustic soda, 

 benzole was produced, which was converted into nitro-benzole 

 in the usual manner, and from this aniline was manufactured. 

 This may justly be considered one of the most important of 

 recent chemical discoveries. 16 A, 1872. 



EFFECT OF VARIATION OF PRESSURE UPON THE EVOLUTION 



OF GASES IN FERMENTATION. 



According to Mr. Brown, nitrogen, hydrogen, or hydrocar- 

 bon, and sometimes nitric oxide, together with carbonic an- 

 hydride, are evolved during the alcoholic fermentation of 

 grape-juice or of malt-wort. He shows that the proportion 

 of gases unabsorbed by potassium hydrate is largely increased 

 when the operation is carried on under diminished pressure. 

 At the ordinary pressure by far the larger proportion of these 

 gases is nitrogen, but under diminished pressure the hydrogen 

 preponderates very decidedly. Nitrogen, however, does not 

 occur when the solutions contain no albuminoids, even if am- 

 monium salts are present in considerable quantity. The in- 

 crease of the proportion of hydrogen, resulting from diminu- 

 tion of the pressure, is accompanied by the formation of a 

 comparatively large amount of acetic acid and aldehyde, so 



E 2 



