CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 189 



became covered witli suli)hi(le of copper, ui^on which were depos- 

 ited fine rhombohedric crystals of sulphur. Gold has been pro- 

 duced in the form of a beautiful crystalline gold-sand, by placino* 

 chloride of gold, contained in a porous vessel, in the midst of a 

 solution either of sulphate of iron, hyjiosulphite of soda, or oxalic 

 acid. M. Kuhlmann then mentions another remarkable result he 

 obtained, by placing crystals of sulphate of copper in a solution of 

 monosulphide of potassium, and concludes by showing that wood 

 has a true deoxidizing effect upon the salts of coijper and iron, 

 transforming the sulphates into suliihides. 



SEDIMENTS OF WINES. 



M. Pasteur states that he has carefully examined these sedi- 

 ments, and has found they can all be classed under three heads. 

 The first are crystals of bitartrate of potash, neutral tartrate of 

 soda, or a mixture of the two salts. These adhere to the sides of 

 the Ijottles, and have but little infiuence upon the composition and 

 quality of the wine. The second kind, also covering the sides of 

 the bottles, are brown coloring matters, which, originally dissolved 

 in the wine, ai'c gradually rendei-ed insoluble by oxidation. This 

 sediment, tlierefore, is caused by the pr(!sence of oxygen existing 

 in the air which is over or dissolved in tlie wine. By several ex- 

 periments upon different wines enclosed in tubes, the author proves 

 this fact, and shows that the deposit takes jilace more i-apidly when 

 the tubes are exposed to the light. The wine becomes of a'lighter 

 color, and acquires the peculiar odor and flavor of old wines which 

 have returned from a voyage. He attributes the good effect of a 

 troj^ical voyage upon wine, not, as has been recently supposed, to 

 the increase of teriiperixture, but to the continual changing of the 

 vitiated air over the wine through variations in the pressure from 

 constant shaking and evaporation. Accordingly, wines hermeti- 

 cally sealed in bottles without oxygen have no sediment ; indeed, 

 do not sensibly change in any way. The third class of sediment, 

 by far the most injurious, is composed of various cryptogamic 

 vegetations, which, acting as ferments, are the sole cause of the 

 " diseases" of wine. The author infers that wines would be im- 

 proved by leaving them in the cask until ripe, and then bottling 

 them. 



UTILIZATION OF SEWAGE. 



At the meeting of the London Chemical Society, February 1, 

 1866, Dr. Gilliertread a lecture " On the Composition, Value, and 

 Utilization of Town Sewage," of which the following were the 

 conclusions : 1. It is only bj' the liberal use of water, that the 

 refuse matters of largo populations can be removed from their 

 dwellings without nuisance and injury to health. 2. That the 

 discharge of town sewage into rivers renders them unfit as a 

 watei'-supply to other towns, is destructive to lish, causes deposits 

 which injure the channel, and emanations which are injurious to 

 health, and is also a great waste of manurial matter. 3. That , 

 the proper mode of both puritying and utilizing sewage-water is 

 to apply it to land. 4. That, considering the great dilution, con- 



