276 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



four days the crj-stals of carbonate of soda are acted upon to a considerable 

 depth. The very friable sulphite of soda may be readily separated from the 

 unaltered nucleus, if any remains, and the latter may then be put back into 

 the sieve. The sulphite of soda is dissolved in water so as to produce a 

 solution of 25 B., and this is saturated whilst hot with crystallized carbonate 

 of soda. When effervescence no longer occurs on the addition of this salt 

 (which is the best criterion, as litmus paper gives no satisfactory indications), 

 or rather when the dilute sulphite furnishes a slight effervescence of carbonic 

 acid on the addition of muriatic acid, flowers of sulphur are added, and the 

 mixture is heated in an earthen vessel for three hours on the water bath, 

 stirring and replacing the water that evaporates. When the fluid is cool, it 

 is filtered and diluted until it shows 25 B. 



Perchloride of antimony is prepared by heating powdered black sulphuret 

 of antimony with commercial muriatic acid. When the evolution of sulphu- 

 retted hydrogen begins to diminish at a gentle heat, the mixture is boiled for 

 a few minutes. On cooling, the clear liquid is decanted. To avoid incon- 

 venience from the sulphuretted hydrogen gas evolved during the solution of 

 the sulphuret of antimony, it may either be passed into a solution of soda, or 

 allowed to pass through a tube drawn out to a point at the extremity, close 

 to which the flame of a spirit lamp is placed; by this the sulphuretted 

 hydrogen is burnt, even when it is mixed with much aqueous vapor. The 

 solution of chloride of lintimony obtained is diluted with water to 25 B. 



When the solutions of hyposulphite of soda and chloride of antimony are 

 thus prepared, the antimonial vermillion is prepared in the following man- 

 ner: Four litres of solution of chloride of antimony and six litres of 

 water are poured into a stoneware basin, and after these, ten litres of the 

 solution of hyposulphite of soda. The precipitate which is produced by the 

 water is rapidly dissolved by the hyposulphite of soda in the cold. The basin 

 is now placed in a warm bath, which is heated to boiling ; in this the tem- 

 perature of the mixture gradually rises. Towards 86 F. the precipitate 

 begins to form ; it is at first orange-yellow, but gradually becomes darker. 

 The temperature is allowed to rise to 131 I\, when the basin is removed from 

 the water bath, and the precipitate is allowed to settle, which takes place 

 rapidly. The fluid is separated from the precipitate by decantation ; the pre- 

 cipitate is washed first with water containing one-fifteenth of muriatic acid, 

 and afterwards with common water, then collected on a filter and dried. In 

 the moist state the antimonial vermillion has a shining red color, but in dry- 

 ing it loses a little of its lustre. 



OX THE COMPOSITION" OF MUSCLES IN THE ANIMAL SEKIES. 



From an article on the above subject, by MM. Valenciennes and Freiny, 

 published in the Journal de Pharmacie, Dec. 1855, we make the following 

 extracts : 



" The result of our researches in regard to the substance which gives 

 acidity to the muscles of all the vertebrata, is that if, in some cases, the acidity 

 of the muscles is due to lactic acid, that which makes the muscular fibre 

 strongly acid is ordinarily a phosphate of potash, having, according to our 



