Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles, 465 



the alkaline substances occurring in the Solana. It is a white pearly 

 powder, insoluble in cold, scarcely soluble in boiling water, and fu- 

 sible at 21*2° Fahr. When decomposed by heat, it yields products 

 which contain no azote: it restores the blue colour of litmus which 

 has been reddened by an acid, and forms with acids perfectly neu- 

 tral but uncrystallizable salts. 



Solania was discovered by M. Desfosses in the ripe berries of the 

 Solatium nigrum, and also in the leaves and stocks of the S. Dulcamara. 

 M. Morin met with it in the fruit of the Solatium mammosum, and 

 MM. Payen and Chevallier, in that of the Solatium verbascifolium. 



Atropia was extracted from the Belladonna by Brandes, but se- 

 veral chemists in France have been unable to procure it ; and thus 

 Berzelius, in his Traite de Chimie (tome vi. p. 271,) states, that its 

 existence is still questionable. The same may be said of Daturia and 

 Hyoscy ama. Nicotia, the latest announced alkali of the Solana, is an 

 almost colourless liquid, very manifestly alkaline, miscible with water 

 in all proportions, and soluble in alcohol and aether: it is very acrid 

 and volatile. This principle is obtained by the distillation of a de- 

 coction of tobacco, previously mixed with sulphuric acid, and then, 

 on the addition of an alkali, the nicotia is set at liberty. This pro- 

 cess is similar to that employed by Vauquelin to obtain the acrid 

 principle of the bark of the Garou. It, will be remembered also 

 that he supposed Daphnia to be probably a mixture or compound of 

 ammonia with an acrid but not alkaline principle. — Journal de Chi- 

 mie Medicate, Feb. 1833. 



IMPREGNATIONS OF THE ATMOSPHERE NEAR THE SEA. 



M. Roubaudi observes, that M. Vogel of Munich is the only 

 chemist, as far as he knows, who has made any experiments on the 

 atmosphere of the ocean. His experiments made on the Baltic prove, 



1st, That the atmosphere of this sea contains less carbonic acid 

 than that of the land, and that it is probable the carbonic acid di- 

 minishes proportionally to the distance from the continent. 



2nd, That the atmosphere of the Baltic contains muriates in va- 

 riable proportions. — Journal dePharmacie, Septieme annee, p. 4-61. 



M. Fodere {Voyage aux Alpes Maritimes, tome ii. p. 256.) has 

 observed, that the air of the Mediterranean disagrees with persons 

 affected with pulmonary diseases, on account, as he supposes, of the 

 presence of muriatic salts, or even muriatic acid, or one of its ele- 

 ments, developed by electro-chemical agency. 



M. Roubaudi made several experiments in order to determine 

 whether the atmosphere of the coasts contained either free or com- 

 bined muriatic acid, and whether either of them existed in the at- 

 mosphere at some distance from the coast. In order to determine 

 the first question, he suspended, some feet in the air and at a few 

 paces distant from the sea, during calm weather, a large glass bal- 

 loon filled with a freezing mixture of snow and sulphuric acid. The 

 atmospheric vapour which condensed on the outside of the balloon, 

 produced a colourless inodorous liquid, which suffered no change 

 by keeping six months. Neither the nitrate of silver, protonitrate 

 of mercury, muriate of barytes, nor oxalate of ammonia, caused any 



Third Scries. Vol. 3. No. 18. Dec. 1833. 3 O 



