6 
April 11, 1870. 
The President in the chair. Eleven persons present. 
The President, to whom the subjects had been referred, re- 
ported that he had not deemed it advisable for the Lyceum, 
to take any action in the matters of the Arctic Expedition 
and Yosemite Valley. 
He also read a letter from a member of the Darien Expedi- 
tlon, giving an account of the many difficulties to be en- 
countered by any parties undertaking the survey of that 
country. 
Prof. T. Egleston, Jr., read a letter received from Dr. 
Eulenstein, of Berlin, speaking of his forthcoming revised 
edition of Pritchard’s Infusoria, and asking for contributions 
of specimens for the purpose of furthering that undertaking. 
Mr. O. Loew read a paper 
On HypDROGENIUM-AMALGAM. 
He showed that when Zinc-amalgam is agitated with a weak 
solution of Bi-Chloride of Platinum, a spongy mass forms 
upon the surface of the Zine-amalgam, having buttery con- 
sistence, and strongly resembling in physical characters, the 
well-known Ammonium-amalgam, This body he considers 
to be an amalgam of Hydrogenium and Mercury. To prepare 
it on a large scale, he shakes thoroughly Zinc-amalgam, con- 
taining three per cent. of Zinc, with an equal volume of a 
solution of Bi-Chloride of Platinum, containing ten per cent. 
of the salt. The mass becomes warm, and must be cooled 
from time to time, by plunging the flask, in which the reac- 
tion is carried on, into cold water, and also takes on a black 
color from the finely-divided Platinum which is reduced. 
The mixture is then thrown into moderately dilute Hydro- 
chlorie acid, by which the excess of Zine and Oxychloride 
formed is dissolved. Unless thus treated, the amalgam is 
rapidly decomposed with evolution of Hydrogen. The Pla- 
