CHEMISTRY. 217 



verter. As soon as the carbon lines disappear from the spectrum 

 the bhist is shut off. — Roscoe, Lectures on Sped. Anal. 



Gaseous Spectra. — Frankland and Lockyer find, that under 

 ceriain conditions of temperature and pressure tlie spectrum of 

 hydrogen is reduced to one line in the green corresponding to F 

 in the solar spectrum ; that the spectrum of nitrogen is similarly 

 reducible to one bright line in the green, with traces of other 

 more refrangible faint lines; that from a mixture of hydrogen and 

 nitrogen a combination of these spectra is obtained, the relative 

 brilliancy of the two lines varying with the amount of each gas 

 present in the mixture ; that, by reducing the temperature, all 

 spectroscopic evidence of the nitrogen vanishes, and by increas- 

 ing it many new nitrogen lines make their appearance, the hy- 

 drogen line alwavs remaining visible. These observations render 

 unnecessary the assumption made by Huggins, that the visibility 

 of a single nitrogen line in the spectra of the nebulos indicates a 

 form of matter more elementary than nitrogen, and which our 

 analysis has not yet enabled us to detect. We can gather that 

 the temperature of the nebulas is less than that of our sun and 

 that their tenuity is excessive. It is also a question whether the 

 continuous spectrum observed in some cases may not be due to 

 gaseous condensation. — C/iem. News. 



JAKGONIUM. 



The existence of absorption bands in the spectra, obtained from 

 light transmitted through certain specimens of zircons, was first 

 observed by Prof. Church, in 1866. Recently Mr. H. C. Sorby, 

 acting independently, observed the same phenomena, and has in- 

 ferred therefrom the existence of a new element, to which he 

 gives the name of jargonium. He has also succeeded in sepa- 

 rating chemically the oxide of jargonium from that of zirconium, 

 altogether not in a state of purity. 



NEW ACID FROM SULPHUR. 



A solution of sulphiu'ous acid in contact with zinc becomes of 

 a yellow color, and acquires the propert}^ of powerfulh'^ decolor- 

 izhig indigo and litmus, which Schonbein laid^to the conversion of 

 the oxygen in combination into ozone. The same effect is pro- 

 duced by the action of zinc on a solution of bisulphite of sodium. 

 As the color of the indigo and litmus returns on exposure to the 

 air, it is evident that the phenomenon is due to a reduction. M. 

 Shiitzenberger shows this is due to the formation of a compound 

 made up of a double atom of sulphurous acid, wherein one atom 

 of oxygen is replaced by one atom of h3drogen ; this free and 

 anhydrous acid would be represented by the formula S2 O3 H. 

 M. Shiitzenberger proposes to call tiiis compound iiydrosulphurous 

 acid. He prepared the hydrosulphite of sodium by heating a 



10 



