196 Miscellaneous Intelligence. 



charcoal and sulphates. Lime and baryta produced similar effect, for 

 heat enabled the mixture to produce volatile oil of mustard and 

 sulpho-cyanogen. 



As to the action of salts, persalts of iron are strongly reddened by 

 sulpho-sinapisine. The persulphate of copper is precipitated white ; 

 the proto-nitrate of mercury is precipitated white ; the acid nitrate of 

 silver is precipitated as a dense white substance, the weight of which, 

 as sulpho-cyanide, is equivalent nearly to the sulpho-cyanogen which 

 the substance could form. From all these circumstances it appears 

 that sulpho-sinapisine is a curious body, not acid, containing sul- 

 phur, and containing no sulpho-cyanogen, but competent to form it 

 by various modes of treatment *. 



In an after Number t is a highly interesting memoir on the same 

 subject by MM. Boutron and Robiquet. Suspecting that, in con- 

 sequence of the presence of water, certain substances were formed 

 during the process of extraction, which did not pre-exist in the mus- 

 tard-seed, they devised various processes dependent upon the action 

 of ether and strong alcohol, (and which involved much trouble) 

 to obtain the substances in the seed in a state as near their original 

 condition as possible, gathering up as they proceeded numerous ob- 

 servations on the changes, &c. &c. of the substances during the suc- 

 cessive actions. By the action of ether, in the first place, they dis- 

 covered an acrid fixed principle, which had not before been observed. 

 On carrying on the operations they obtained the substance cor- 

 responding to the sulpho-sinapisine already described; but it had a 

 very different composition to that given. In the following columns, the 

 second gives the proportions of the new sulpho-sinapisine, the third 

 that of the substance before described, the numbers being corrected 

 by M. Pelouze. 



Carbon 54.0000 ... 57.920 



Hydrogen 10.6512 . . . 7.795 



Nitrogen 2.8392 . . . 4.940 



Sulphur 9.3670 ... 9.657 



Oxygen 23.1426 . . . 19.688 



From these and other anomalies they conclude that it is impos- 

 sible to state any thing correctly respecting the true nature of 

 organic substances, and also that we cannot be certain of their pre- 

 existence, until they have been obtained identical in their nature by 

 several different processes. 



On mixing black mustard powder with its weight of pure water, 

 or with water containing a little acetic or sulphuric acid, or sub-car- 

 bonate of potassa, the two first mixtures evolved their well known 

 powerful odour, but the two latter were inodorous. In the two 

 latter cases the effect is due probably to some kind of combination. 



The conclusions at which these authors arrive are, i. That the 

 chemical composition of the seeds of white and black mustard is 

 essentially different, ii. That the active principle of white mustard 

 * Journal de Pharmacie, 1831, 1. f Ibid. p. 279. 



