154- Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 



wolfram as a compound of blue oxide of tungsten and of two- 

 thirds oxide, of either iron or manganese. These oxides being iso- 

 morphous, if R represent iron or manganese, or a mixture of these 

 two metals, we arrive at the formula 

 W a O s R«0 3 , 

 which will represent all the varieties of wolfram. 



The first formula, which represents the tungsten as in the state of 

 tungstic acid and the iron in that of protoxide, is not admissible, for, 

 on one hand, cold hydrochloric acid separates pertoxide of iron from 

 the mineral and leaves blue oxide of tungsten, and on the other hand, 

 the free protoxide of iron reacts on the tungstic acid isolated and 

 reduces it to the state of blue oxide, and itself becomes peroxide. 



When heated to ebullition in hydrochloric acid the blue oxide in 

 its turn reduces the salts of iron, and this reaction explains how 

 Berzelius and Ebelmen adopted the first formula. 



The superior oxides of manganese convert the blue oxide into 

 tungstic acid under the same circumstances as the peroxide of iron, 

 even when cold. This circumstance induced the author to suppose 

 that the manganese might exist as the oxide Mn- O 3 , isomorphous 

 with the sesquioxide of iron, although found only in the state of 

 protoxide in the solution of the mineral. 



M. Marguerite further observes that it is easy to explain the causes 

 of the different opinions which have been given on the chemical con- 

 stitution of wolfram ; that it had not been deduced from the very 

 exact analyses already alluded to, is because the last phase of an 

 operation was considered instead of its commencement. 



M. Marguerite concludes that, — 



1st. The tungsten in wolfram is in the state of blue oxide. 



2nd. The iron is in the state of peroxide. 



3rd. The tungstic acid and protoxide of iron obtained are the re- 

 sults of the analytic means employed, and that these two products 

 are eventually formed from each other. 



4th. Of the three formulae which have been given, the second and 

 third only agree with experiments, and the second may be reduced 

 to Ws O 5 R' 2 3 .—Journ. de Ph. ct de Ch., Octobre 1843. 



ANALYSIS OF ANCIENT AND FOSSIL BONES. BY MM. GIRARDIN 

 AND PREISSER. 



The authors found that human bones taken from various ancient 

 tombs contained from less than one up to 8 per cent, of phosphate 

 of magnesia, and in one case the bones of an infant taken from a 

 Gallo-Roman tomb at Rouen, were found to be of a fine chrome- 

 green colour, and contained 3*1 per cent, of carbonate of copper, for 

 the existence of which no sufficient cause appeared. 



In ancient buried bones, as well as in the fossil bones of animals, 

 the authors always found a much greater quantity of phosphate of 

 lime than in recent bones. Under certain unknown circumstances, 

 this salt suffers some curious modifications, by which it is converted 

 into, for the most part, sesquiphosphate of lime, which crystallizes in 

 small hexagonal prisms on the surface of the bones. This transfor- 



