156 Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 



of smaller size and obliquely placed, with the duodenum. Its lining 

 membrane is villous and vascular, and was in this instance tinged 

 with bile, which must have entered by regurgitation, as none of the 

 biliary ducts enter here. 



" As the Pelican belongs to that group of Natatores, the Toti- 

 palmes of Cuvier, which contains species approximating most closely 

 to the Raptorial Birds, and which are almost the only Birds of this 

 order, as Cuvier observes, (Regne An., nouv. ed., i. p. 561 ,) that perch, 

 I did not fail to try the common experiment suggested by Borelli's 

 observations on the effect which bending the leg- and ancle-joints 

 might have upon the toes : the latter, however, exhibited no corre- 

 sponding inflection. In perfect agreement with this is the obser- 

 vation that the Pelicans do not perch when they go to rest." 



XVIII. Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 



COMPOSITION OF IODIDE OF IRON. 



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

 Gentlemen, 



DR. THOMSON having stated in the first volume of his Inor- 

 ganic Chemistry, that the composition of iodide of iron had 

 not been experimentally determined, I boiled 126 grains of iodine 

 with iron filings in distilled water; the solution was of a light 

 green colour: the residue of the filings having been washed, the 

 mixed solutions were evaporated in a flask, and by deducting the 

 weight of it, 190*5 grains of solid iodide of iron were obtained. 

 This was dissolved in water, and filtered to separate a little oxide of 

 iron left by the dissipation of part of the iodine during evaporation: 

 its weight was 1*2 grain. The solution divided into two equal parts: 

 one, precipitated by nitrate of silver, afforded 113*4? grains of iodide, 

 of silver; the other, boiled with nitric acid to peroxidize the iron, 

 was precipitated by ammonia, and gave 19 grains of peroxide of 

 iron. Now, 113*4- grains of iodide of silver indicate 61*06 grains 

 of iodine, and 19 grains peroxide of iron, 13'3 of iron; these 

 doubled give 122-J2 and 26 6 respectively as the combining pro- 

 portions of iodine and iron : from these numbers we may conclude, 

 that iodide of iron is composed of an equivalent of each of its ele- 

 ments. The 1*2 grain of oxide of iron deposited indicates by the 

 above numbers 3*8 grains of iodine dissipated, there being a loss 

 of -,V grain of iodine and X V grain of iron in the whole. 14877 

 grains of iodide of iron and 12 grain of oxide, subtracted from 

 190*5 grains, the weight of the solid product obtained, give 4-053 

 for water ; this not indicating satisfactorily the combining propor- 

 tion of water, 63 grains of iodine were boiled with excess of iron, 

 filtered, and carefully evaporated, finishing the evaporation in a 

 water -bath: 99 grains of iodide of iron were obtained, a dark- 

 greenish brown and crystalline mass, apparently in rhombic crystals, 

 but not distinct enough to determine clearly the form. According 

 to the previous experiment 77 grains of the 99 would be anhydrous 



