CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 181 



Iodine and Bromine in Coal. Recent examinations made by M. 

 Bussy, and presented by him to the Paris Academy, show that iodin 

 exists in co;il in considerable <;u;mtity. He had detected it in the, 

 vapors given off daring the slow combustion of coal caused by the de- 

 composition of sulphuret of iron, and also in the ammoniacal liquor 

 formed by the distillation of coal in gas-works. In this latter case the 

 iodine was in sufficient quantities to admit of separation and estima- 

 tion. Three kilogrammes of condensed liquor yielded O..V.) grammes 

 of iodine. The coal from which the iodine was derived w;is obtained 

 in Commcntry, France ; but as it has also been detected in oilier g 

 works, it is probable that it exists in all varieties of coal. M. Bn 

 remarks, that the quantity of iodine obtained does not include the 

 whole amount contained in the coal, since a quantity remains in the 

 coke, which rnay bo obtained by incineration. The distilled products 

 of gas-works may thus possibly be employed for the economical prep- 

 aration of iodine. 



Since the above discovery of M. Bussy, M. Mene, another French 

 chemist, has detected bromine, as well as iodine, in the ammoniacal 

 liquor obtained as above mentioned. L'Inslitut, No. 853. Phil. 

 Mug., Oct. 



Mr. Storer, of the Lawrence Scientific School, has also, during the 

 past year, detected the presence of iodine in the liquor resulting from 

 the purification of coal-gas at the Boston gas-works. Bromine, though 

 searched for, was not found. Editors. 



Iodine in Beet-Root. M. Lamy has ascertained the presence of 

 iodine in the beet-root of the Grand Duchy of Baden. As other speci- 

 mens of beet-root examined by him contained no trace of iodine, he 

 inquires, without attempting to decide, whether the presence of iodino 

 may not be derived from the assimilation of the salts of this element, 

 which are known to be common in the salt springs of Germany. 



THE GENERAL DISTRIBUTION OF IODINE. 



THE existence of iodine in certain aquatic plants, from all quarters 

 of the globe, is evidence of the general distribution of this substance 

 throughout the mass of the earth, and in its waters, both salt and fresh. 

 Th'j state of the earth at the periods of the old vegetation might be 

 deduced from the proportion of iodine in their fossil remains. Coal, 

 which is rich in iodine, must arise from plants developed on lands still 

 washed by the sea ; in anthracite, which contains less iodine than 

 bituminous coal, we find that terrestrial vegetables have become mixed 

 with the cryptogamic plants of the coal mines; and the lignites, which 

 contain little or no iodine, show that the terrestrial species then pre- 

 dominate over the crust of the globe. Iodine appears in the lixivium 

 of turfs ; and its abundance in graphite seems finally to show that this 

 substance should be classed among products of organic and aqueous 

 origin. Anterior to the coal formation, graphite would represent the 

 oldest vegetation of the globe. Fresh-water animals contain iodine ; 

 they even contain more than the plants which grow in the same water. 

 From numerous experiments, it may be presumed that iodine exists in 



