480 Miscellaneous Intelligence. 



Old fir .... 



Lime .... 



Rye straw .... 

 Fern .... 



Reed 



Old birch wood 



Jamieson's Jour., 1827, p. 287. 



10. Preparation of Cyanide of Iodine, by M. Serullas. — Place a 

 large glass jar with its mouth upon a plate of glass : mix two 

 parts of cyanide of mercury with one part of iodine, and heat 

 the mixture in a small porcelain capsule until the temperature 

 being sufficiently raised, the cyanide begins to form ; then quickly 

 place it under the jar, and leave the operation to itself; the pro- 

 duction of cyanide oT iodine will continue for fifteen or twenty 

 minutes, presenting the appearance of a multitude of snow-white 

 flocculi, of the utmost degree of whiteness and beauty : these will 

 gradually collect on the plate, and may be afterwards secured. — 

 A7inales de Chimie, xxxiv. p. 100. 



11. On the Detection of Hydrocyanic Acid in the bodies of Ani- 

 mals poisoned by it, by MM. Lassaigne and Leuret. — The extreme ^ 

 delicacy of the test employed by M. Lassaigne to detect prussic acid 

 in the bodies of poisoned animals, namely, by means of the per- 

 sulphate of iron, or the per-sulphate of copper, has been pointed 

 out at page 397 of vol. xviii. of the former series of this Journal. 

 Being desirous of ascertaining after how long a period the poison 

 might be discovered, MM. Lassaigne and Leuret made experiments 

 in which animals were killed by hydrocyanic acid introduced into 

 their food, or thrown into the stomach in a diluted state, the dose 

 never surpassing more than the equivalent of five or six drops of 

 the pure acid, or less than two drops ; the animals were left after 

 death for twenty-four hours in a chamber, and then buried in 

 moist earth afoot and a-half or two feet deep. 



The disinterment took place after various periods, from fifteen 

 days to a month, and the stomach and first portions of intestines 

 being separated, were well divided and mixed with pure water, and 

 distilled ; a little sulphuric acid was added to the substances in the 

 alembic, and the recipient was cooled by ice and water. 



The products were rendered slightly alkaline, and then tested by 

 the per-sulphate of rjiron or sulphate of copper, and a little excess 

 of muriatic acid was poured upon the precipitates occasioned by 

 these salts. No prussic acid could be discovered in animals, the 

 viscera of which were in a state of complete putrefaction ; it was 

 iFound after intervals of two or three days, but never after a longer 

 pjeriod than eight days. 



