164 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



were on fowls and legs of mutton, and, though made in July, when 

 the thermometer ranged at 94 in the shade, they succeeded so much 

 to my satisfaction, that I forwarded some to England, and have now 

 the pleasure to send to the Society a human hand prepared in a similar 

 way four years since. The best informed among the Arabs think that 

 large quantities of camphor, myrrh, aloes, and frankincense were used in 

 the preparation of the mummies. These specimens will, however, 

 prove that such additions were by no means necessary, as the tar ap- 

 plied alone penetrates and discolors the bone. This tar is obtained from 

 the branches of a small tree or shrub, exposed to a considerable degree 

 of heat, and it is found in most parts of Syria and Arabia Felix." 



NEW METHOD OF PREPARING- SULPHURIC ACID. 



IT has been generally supposed that the elements of sulphuric acid 

 will not combine in a direct manner, and that the presence of water 

 is necessary to insure its formation. Prof. Davy has lately shown 

 that this is an error; and by the following experiment, made before 

 the Royal Dublin Society, he demonstrated the practicability of form- 

 ing sulphuric acid directly from its elements. Having placed in a dry 

 Florence flask some sulphur, he vaporized it by the application of 

 heat, and then ignited the vapor by means of a red-hot iron rod. 

 The combustion extends throughout the vessel ; at the instant of its 

 taking place, both sulphuric acid and sulphurous acid are formed, the 

 former descending in condensed drops, and the latter escaping from the 

 flask. Prof. Davy hopes to render his process available in the manu- 

 facture of oil of vitriol. 



CHLOROFORM. 



Two French chemists have made a minute examination of chloro- 

 form and have communicated the results obtained to the Journal de Pliar- 

 macie et de Chimie, and it is from this that we derive the following 

 statements. In commerce two liquids are known under the name of 

 chloroform, which are of different origin, but are considered identical, 

 and are often substituted for each other. There are, however, con- 

 siderable differences in their properties ; one, which may be called the 

 normal chloroform, being derived from the reaction of hypochlorite of 

 lime upon alcohol, while the other comes from the action of the same 

 substance upon pyroxylic spirit, and differs very much from the first. 

 That derived from pyroxylic spirit, which the authors conditionally 

 call methylic chloroform, although it has the same appearance as the 

 other, has a very different odor, being not sweet and agreeable, but 

 nauseous, and having a burnt or empyreumatic smell. Its density is 

 also less than that of the normal chloroform, and its boiling-point not 

 so high, and its inhalation is far from pleasant, often causing general 

 uneasiness, followed by heaviness of the head, continued nausea, and 

 sometimes vomiting. On examination it was found that the two 

 chloroforms are in reality identical, but that there is in the methylic 

 variety a considerable quantity of foreign matter of an oily con- 

 sistency, which is composed of several substances, and which it is 



