CHEMISTRY. 529 



200). Professor Armstrong objects to the termination ol for hydrocar- 

 bons not of the paraflSn series, and would restrict it to the alcohols — 

 carbinol, phenol, &g. He calls attention to the confusion which results 

 from the terms "ethylene," "anthracene," "phenanthrene," on the one 

 hand, and "benzol," "toluol," and " naphthalin " on the other; and he 

 expresses the hope that the German Chemical Society may unite with 

 the London organization in attempting a uniform nomenclature. The 

 publication committee of the Berichte approved of an exchange of views 

 on the question. 



American chemists are vitally interested, for in this country the oc- 

 currence of the petroleum i3roduct called benzine complicates the mat- 

 ter. While the English custom has much in its favor, the similarity in 

 pronunication of "benzine" and "benzene" leads many Americans to 

 follow the continental terminology. Consistency is eminently desirable. 

 It will be interesting to watch the result of the movement. 



The Berichte d. cliem. Oes. for 1882 contains articles on the nomen- 

 clature of special groups. We refer to Herrmann on the nomenclature 

 of azo-compounds (p. 813), and to Wallach's paper on the same subject. 

 Liebig's Annalen also has a paper, by Aug. Bernthsen, on the nomencla- 

 ture of derivatives of carbonic acid. (Liebig's Annalen^ ccxi, p. 85.) 



NOTES. 



Blade phosphorus is formed, according to Maumen^, when phosphorus 

 is distilled in hydrogen (made from zinc and sulphuric acid), and not 

 formed when the distillation is conducted in carbonic anhydride. The 

 black color soon disappears. 



Lecture experiment. — H. Schwarz finds that zinc dust and sulphur, 

 when intimately mixed, combine with very great energy, and the experi- 

 ment is more brilliant and interesting than the usual one with iron fil- 

 ings (or copper turnings) and sulphur. The best proportions are two 

 parts by weight of zinc and one of sulphur. The mixture inflames also 

 when struck heavily by a hammer, and when ignited in a confined space 

 (gun-barrel) explodes with about one-fourth the energy of gunpowder. 



The rare met^l vanadium occurs in large quantity, according to Witz 

 and Osmond, in the residues of the iron furnaces of Creusot, and they 

 describe a process for extracting it on a large scale with a view to its 

 industrial applications. 



Solid paraffine has been discovered by Silvestri in basalt. It occurs 

 in cavities about a centimeter in diameter, and is nearly identical with 

 the paraffine occurring in petroleum. 



Bernthsen has discussed the unsatisfactory nomenclature of the iso- 

 meric sulpho-derivatives of carbonic acid, and proposes to call the radi- 

 cal =C=S thio-carbonyl, and to name the acids thio-carbonyl acids. In 

 like manner we may have for =C=!N^H imido carbonyl and similar de- 

 rivatives. 



Phosphate of chromium, prepared by the action of phosphoric acid and 

 H. Mis. 26 34 



