Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 337 



the highest temperature which could he produced hy the flame of 

 an alcohol eolipyle. The crucibles were cooled in a receiver with a 

 glass stopper, containing fragments of chloride of calcium. When 

 perfectly cool they were again weighed, and the difference between 

 the first weighing and that after calcination was attributed to the 

 quantity of water disengaged, and was 14*97, 1496, and 14*90 in 

 three experiments. 



In order to act upon the diaspore deprived of water, hydrated sul- 

 phuric acid was poured upon the mineral remaining in the crucible 

 in which it had been calcined. The whole was heated in a sand- 

 bath so as to volatilize the greater part of the sulphuric acid ; when 

 the matter had become of a pasty consistence, water was added, 

 which dissolved a great quantity of sulphate of alumina ; the solu- 

 tion was poured off, and more sulphuric acid was added, and this 

 operation was repeated five times. The aluminous solution was fil- 

 tered in order to separate a small portion of a white earthy deposit ; 

 this, which had resisted the prolonged action of sulphuric acid, still 

 contained much alumina ; when moistened with nitrate of cobalt 

 and heated to redness, it acquired a very decided blue tint, and rea- 

 dily dissolved in the salt of phosphorus. 



The solution of sulphate of alumina was supersaturated with car- 

 bonate of ammonia ; the alumina was collected, washed and heated 

 for a long time to strong redness. It was very white, and nitrate of 

 cobalt gave a fine blue tint to it. 



One hundred parts of diaspore yielded — 



Alumina 79*91 



Water 14*90 



Mineral unacted upon .... 5*80 100*61 



M. Damour admits that this analysis is superfluous after those of 

 MM. Dufrenoy and Hess, and gives it merely to exhibit a property 

 worthy of attention, and which had not been previously noticed with 

 respect to any mineral whatever. — Ann. de Ch. et de Phys., Mars 1 846. 



ON BOllACIC iETHER. 



M. Ebelmen having ascertained that boracic acid is volatilized by 

 the vapour of water and of alcohol, succeeded in preparing, after 

 some trials, boracic aether by the following process: — fused and 

 finely-powdered boracic acid was put into a tubulated retort, and an 

 equal weight of absolute alcohol was added to it. In a few minutes 

 the temperature of the mixture became 122° Fahr., that of the atmo- 

 sphere being only 64°. The retort was heated, and a thermometer 

 placed in it showed that the liquid did not begin to boil until heated 

 to about 203°, and its temperature continued rising from this point. 

 At about 230° the distillation was stopped to cohobate the distilled 

 liquid, and it was again distilled at 230°. The boracic acid swelled 

 much during the operation, and the liquid which covered it while the 

 distillation was going on, had completely imbibed it the following 

 day. The distilled liquid had the slightly alliaceous smell of abso- 

 lute alcohol, became very turbid on admixture with water, deposited 



Phil. Mag. S. 3. Vol. 28. No. 187. April 1846. 2 A 



