Scientific Intelligence. Chemistry. 



regions of the atmosphere. At twenty minutes before seven 

 o'clock, I saw the hail begin to fall, and the dull sound which 

 had preceded it then ceased. This murmuring noise, which ac- 

 companied the stormy cloud, was heard at the distance of about 

 six miles. I at first thought that it might be attributed entire- 

 ly to t\\e fall and not at all to the motions of the hailstones 

 in the cloud, as the observations made above might induce us 

 to think ; but some individuals who were directly under the 

 cloud, near the situation where it appeared to form, and where 

 no hail had as yet commenced to fall from it, have assured me 

 that they then heard this kind of murmuring noise." 



CHEMISTRY. 



10. Researches made on the Bouquet of Wines, by Messrs 

 Liebig and Pduze. It has been long suspected that wine con- 

 tained a peculiar principle which is the cause of the agreeable 

 odour generally known as the bouquet of wines, which principle 

 seems hitherto to have eluded all the attempts which have been 

 made to detect it. " We have now,*" however, remark the authors 

 of this extract, " the honour of presenting to the Academy certain 

 experiments which we have made on an essential oil, which was 

 sent us by M. Deleschamps of Paris, and which, from all its pro- 

 perties, appears to be the principle so long sought after. This 

 substance has an exact resemblance to the essences, and was 

 given to us as such ; its odour is completely that of old wine, 

 with the exception of its intensity. Its chemical properties re- 

 move it from the class of essential oils, and regarding its consti- 

 tution it sheds a new light on organic chemistry, in supplying 

 the first well established example of the existence of a true ether, 

 which is produced in the act of fermentation, and without the aid 

 of the chemist. This ether is composed of an atom of sulphuric 

 ether, and an atom of a new acid which we propose to designate 

 amanthic acid, and which is formed of C 14 H 26 O 2 . The con- 

 densation of its vapour is that of formic and acetic ethers. The 

 oil presents itself under the form of a greasy oil which crystal- 

 lizes at 56 Fahr. In its free state it contains one atom of wa- 

 ter, which it loses by distillation. By combining it with sul- 

 phuric ether, we can easily reproduce ccnanthic ether. We have 

 deemed it necessary, for the purpose of establishing the compo- 



