72 Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 



June 7. — Mr. Palmer on the laws which govern the progressive 

 motion of shingles along sea-coasts. 



June 14-. — Mr. Brockedon on the application of caoutchouc in 

 manufactures, and especially in that of elastic web and cloth ; with 

 an account of certain new properties of the substance. 



XII. Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 



ON AN HITHERTO UNOBSERVED PROPERTY OF CHLORINE. 

 BY MR. A. TREVELYAN. 



To the Editors of the Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science. 

 Gentlemen, 



I AM not aware that chlorine gas has been observed to possess the 

 same property as oxygen in kindling the flame of a candle 

 when introduced into it with the wick in an incandescent state. 

 When attending, on the 18th of February, the lecture of the able elec- 

 trician Mr. K.T. Kemp, on Chlorine, it struck me that it might possess 

 this property, which I immediately ascertained to be the case by in- 

 troducing into a jar of it, a candle, the flame of which had been pre- 

 viously extinguished by withdrawing it from that gas ; it was imme- 

 diately rekindled, and the experiment was repeated several times in 

 the same measure of gas. Yours, &c. 



6, St. Andrew's Square, Arthur Trevelyan. 



22nd May, 1833. 



CARBONATE OF POTASH FROM GREEN AND DRY PLANTS. 



M. Becquerel has made some experiments on the manufacture of 

 potash. The comparative analyses of a great number of ashes have 

 proved that those of green wood yield a much greater proportion of 

 saline matter, than those of dry wood. This difference is especially 

 striking with the ashes of fern ; the ley of the ashes contains a mix- 

 ture of subcarbonate and sulphate of potash ; the proportion of the 

 former varies from 0*45 to # 65 ; it is this variation which causes the 

 great difference of quality and price in potash of commerce j it be- 

 comes therefore very important, in the manufacture of potash, to se- 

 parate the sulphate with which the subcarbonate is mixed. M. Bec- 

 querel effected this by concentrating the solution to spec. grav. about 

 1*4, and allowing it to cool : the greater part of the sulphate of potash 

 crystallizes on cooling, and the saline matter which remains in solu- 

 tion contains afterwards 090 of subcarbonate. M. Becquerel has 

 also ascertained, by his numerous analyses of different kinds of ashes, 

 that those of the lime-burner contain very little sulphate of potash, 

 which is undoubtedly due to the action of the lime upon the sulphate 

 of potash, with the assistance of charcoal. This fact, M. Becquerel 

 remarks, may lead to some advantage, by adding lime to the wood, 

 the ashes of which are intended for the manufacture of potash. — 

 Journal de Pharmacie, Oct. 1832. 



