140 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



Close upon the above-named highly important announce- 

 ments of Hermann comes the publication of a communication 

 by M. Prat, made to the Societe des Sciences Physique et 

 Naturelles de Bordeaux, in which he claims also to have dis- 

 covered a new metallic element, which he names (in honor 

 of Lavoisier) Lavoesium. The author appears to have iso- 

 lated the metal, which is described to possess a silvery white 

 color and eminent malleability. It forms crystaliizable and 

 colorless salts. It appears, according to the author, to be 

 related to copper in many of its reactions. He affirms, how- 

 ever, that its spectroscopic behavior, its silvery white color, 

 and its reactions with ammonia and ferro-cyanide of potas- 

 sium constitute properties which distinguish it from every 

 other known metal. 



Duvillier has proposed a process for recovering from plati- 

 num precipitates and residues the metal contained in them, 

 which consists in placing them in a boiling solution of sodium 

 hydrate, to which is gradually added a solution of sodium 

 formate. The liquid effervesces and deposits the platinum 

 in a pulverulent form, whence it can be converted directly 

 into chloride. 



H. Sainte-Claire Deville and Debray have prepared ruthe- 

 nium in a pure form, and have carefully examined its proper- 

 ties. Its density they find to be 12.261. A number of new 

 compounds of this metal are described. They also prepared 

 pure osmium, and find that is the heaviest of the platinum 

 metals, its density being 22.447. 



ORGANIC. 



Kopfer has proposed the use of finely divided platinum, 

 either in the form of sponge or black, for the filling of com- 

 bustion tubes in organic analysis, instead of copper oxide, 

 the combustion being carried on in a stream of oxygen. For 

 ordinary purposes the tube is only thirty -five centimeters 

 long, fifteen centimeters being filled with the platinum mixed 

 with asbestus. Only three burners are necessary to heat the 

 tube, a fourth being used to heat the substance. The results 

 obtained by the method are apparently good. 



Friedel and Crafts have proposed a new and general method 

 for the synthesis of hydrocarbons, which consists simply in 

 treating organic chlorides with aluminum chloride. If a 



