202 



THE A L UMN1 JO URN A L . 



bering kindly his old flame, sent word 

 to her to escape in time if she felt doubt- 

 ful about being able to clear herself. 



She fled to Belgium with some of her 

 friends who were also implicated, but 

 town after town refused to receive them — 

 "we will not have those poisoners." — 

 They were received for a time at Brus- 

 sels, but soon the people drove them out, 

 hooting them and insulting them at every 

 opportunity. Finally the}' took refuge 

 in Spain, and, although with some diffi- 

 culty, obtained some footing at court. 

 But the sudden death of the young 

 Queen of Spain, daughter to Henrietta of 

 Oleans mentioned above, was at once 

 attributed to her, and she fled to Italy, 

 where she died, years afterwards, in 

 poverty and disgrace. About three years 

 after her flight her son, the gallant 

 Prince Eugene, then a lad of twenty, 

 petitioned Louis for a commission, but 

 was refused. He entered the Imperial 

 service, and, twenty years afterwards, on 

 the battlefield of Blenheim and else- 

 where he materially helped to cripple the 

 power of the French army. 



These names were probably the most 

 prominent of those implicated, but many 

 others of most equal importance came 

 under the rigor of the law. Some were 

 executed, others banished, others still 

 fined and disgraced. Under this treat- 

 ment further open outbreaks of the crime 

 were prevented, but the evil was not 

 eradicated. All during the long reign 

 of Louis XIV. the fear of poison hung 

 like a dark cloud over the gayety and 

 frivolity of the court. Towards the end 

 of his life, 1711, several members of his 

 immediate family, almost all in the line 

 of direct succession to the throne, died 

 suddenly one after the other. At once 

 the word was passed that they had been 

 poisoned, and terrible suspicions fell on 

 the young Duke of Orleans, who, if the 

 direct line failed, would be the heir. 



Finally but one sickly boy, afterwards 

 Louis XV., was left between Orleans 

 and the King, and again the rumors 

 were spread that his life had only been 

 saved, when at the point of death, by 

 the skill and devotion of his governess, 

 who had administered an Italian anti- 

 dote, and had warded off later attempts 

 on his life. And probably, of all the 

 misfortunes and sorrows which crowded 

 on Louis during the last years of his 

 life, nothing grieved him more than the 

 necessity of entrusting both throne and 

 heir to the guardianship of one whom 

 everbody shunned and dreaded as a 

 poisoner. 



Argon in Minerals. — I have obtained from 

 certain mineral gases which seem to contain 

 argon, and perhaps also helium. Minerals of 

 the samarskite group when heated to some par- 

 ticular temperature commence to glow, and this 

 appearance has hitherto been ascribed to a 

 molecular rearrangement. As I could not find 

 any account as to whether the weight was in 

 any way changed in this action, I have recent- 

 ly, with my assistant, Mr. Young, A. R. S. M., 

 heated euxenite and samarskite in vacuo and 

 extracted the gases. At the moment of glow a 

 large quantity of gas — 12 times the volume of 

 the mineral — is given off. This gas we have 

 sparked, and the color and spectrum point to a 

 hydrocarbon being preseut. On adding oxygen 

 to the gas and exploding, there is a decided 

 contraction, and after introducing potash, a 

 further great contraction. After the excess of 

 oxygen is absorbed, the spectrum is no longer 

 like a hydrocarbon, but has a close resemblance 

 to the argon spectrum, according to the publish- 

 ed accounts. We have so far obtained the same 

 results from euxenite as from samarskite. — 

 Extract from a letter from Professor W. R. 

 Eaton to the Chem. News. 



Ethyl carbonate of paraceamido-phenol is a 

 crystalline white powder, tasteless and odorless, 

 soluble in alcohol and slightly soluble in water. 

 It is recommended as an antithermic, analgesic 

 and hypnotic. Periodosulphate of thalline is a 

 crystalline body, nearly black in color. It is a 

 combination of talline sulphate and iodine, and 

 is recommended in cases of tumors. — Reper- 

 toire . 



