Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. $2S 



cyanoform ; it is purified by distilling it from chloride of calcium ; 

 by this a colourless soluble liquid is obtained, which does not take 

 fire by the taper, which has a strong smell of hydrocyanic acid and 

 tobacco smoke } it is quite neutral, soluble in water, alcohol and 

 aether ; potash does not readily act upon it. If the operation is well 

 conducted, that is to say, if the heat be gradually raised, cyanoform 

 and water only are obtained, without any trace of acetone, acetic 

 or hydrocyanic acid, for the liquor is not acid, and contains no 

 acetone, since it is not combustible ; but if a drop of acetone be 

 added to it, and it be then inflamed, the acetone burns. — Lhistitut, 

 Feb. J 837. 



ANALYSIS OF SILK. 



M. Mulder of Rotterdam remarks, that the only analysis of raw 

 silk which we possess is that by Roard, inserted in the 65th volume 

 of the Annales de Chimie, which, according to the present state of 

 science, is incomplete and unsatisfactory. 



To analyse silk M. Mulder subjected some yellow raw silk from 

 Naples, and white raw silk from Amasieh in the Levant, to the suc- 

 cessive operation of boiling water, absolute alcohol, and acetic acid, 

 and he examined each of these solutions for the substances which 

 they might contain. 



The cold water dissolved a portion of the colouring matter of 

 the yellow silk; the solution contained gelatine and albumen, as well 

 as some cerine ; in the alcohol there were colouring matter, resin, 

 and a solid fatty matter. The aether dissolved only a certain quantity 

 of colouring matter and resin which had been partly taken up by 

 the alcohol. As to the acetic acid, the substance which it dissolved 

 had all the appearance of albumen. The residue insoluble in this 

 acid M. Mulder considered as the pure filamentous part of the silk. 

 The residue obtained by the evaporation of the water, mixed with a 

 little alcohol, then with aether, gave a little cerine. Both silks when 

 distilled with dilute sulphuric acid, yielded an acid liquor, to which 

 the author gave the name of bombic acid, already employed by some 

 authors. 



The quantities of the several substances obtained from each kind 

 of silk were as under : 



Yellow Silk. White Silk. 



Filamentous matter 53*37 54*04? 



Gelatine 20-66 19-08 



Albumen 24-43 25-47 



Cerine 1-39 ]-ll 



Colouring matter 0*05 



Resinous and fatty matter . . 0-10 0*30 



100-00 100-00 



Journal de Chimie Medicate, Jan. 1837. 



FOSSIL MAIZE. 



M. Warden announced to the Academy that he had receired 

 from Philadelphia some specimens of maize which he supposes to 



2T2 



