Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 475 



"b 



lake at St. Juan de Berengela in South America. You will be 

 struck by the analogy between the Highgate resin and the animi of 

 Laurent ; they are probably the same. I have not been able to get 

 any animi having that composition : various resins seem to find 

 their way into the market under that name. 



ANALYSIS OF COMPTONITE. 



On account of the rarity of comptonite it has not yet been ana- 

 lysed, and mineralogists have been uncertain what place it ought 

 to occupy ; it is found in the lava of Vesuvius, and in the basalt 

 near Eisenach in Saxony, and also in Bohemia. A specimen from 

 EUenbogen in Bohemia, analysed by M. E. Melly, gave 



Silica 37 



Alumina ----- 31*07 



Lime 12-60 



Soda - ----- 6*25 



Water 12-24 



Trace of iron and loss - 0-84 100- 



It is therefore a hydrous silicate of alumina, lime and soda.— 

 VInstitut, 27th Sept. 1838. 



ACTION OF CHLORINE ON ACETIC ACID. 

 M. Dumas states that he had long since obtained, by the action of 

 solar influence on dry chlorine and crystallizable acetic acid, a chlo- 

 rated, volatile, crystallizable acid, with other products which were 

 separated with difficulty. On dissolving the acid in water and di- 

 stilling the dry residue on anhydrous phosphoric acid, the new acid 

 was obtained in a pure state. Its analysis gave the following for- 

 mula : C*^ H- C^ O"* ; the analysis of this acid was verified by that of 

 its alcoholic andmethylic sethers, and also by its salt of lime. — L'ln- 

 stitut, 30th Aug. 1838. 



ACTION OF CHLORIDE OF ZINC ON ALCOHOL.. 



M. Masson, Professor of Physics at the Royal College of Caen, 

 distilled a mixture of alcohol and chloride of zinc at a temperature 

 of about 322° Fahr., by this he obtained an oil, the production of 

 which did not cease till the temperature reached 392°. He com- 

 pared it with the sweet oil of wine, and observed that it was sepa- 

 rable into two products of unequal volatility ; the less volatile boiled 

 at about 572°, when freed from all extraneous matter. It possessed 

 all the characters of the light sweet oil. By analysis it yielded, 



Hydrogen 12-8 



Carbon 88-1 100-9 



which corresponds to H^ C*. 



The most volatile product boiled below 212°. It is very fluid. 

 Its smell resembled that of naphtha. Its composition is remarkable, 

 for it is the most hydrogenated of the liquid carburetted hydrogens. 

 It consists of 



Hydrogen 15-7 



Carbon 84-5 100-2. 



