1869.] Chemistry. 533 



origin of this material. The sohitions of binitro-cresol gradually 

 become deep-red coloured on exposure to air. 



M. Ponsard has ajjplied Siemens's furnace to the manufacture 

 of iron. He states that he has succeeded in producing 1 ton of 

 cast iron, of excellent quality, with a consumption of only 1 ton 

 of fuel. The author summarizes his results in the following man- 

 ner : — 1. A great saving of fuel can be made, and iron obtained from 

 its ores without the use of the blast-furnace. 2. That, since the 

 heat produced by flame is sufiicient to effect all the chemical reactions 

 and melt the metal, there may be used all kinds of fuel which 

 produce gas — that is to say, all kinds of coal, no matter whatever 

 their quahty, wood, lignite, peat, hydrogen gas, and mineral oils. 

 3. It is possible to obtain, at ^vill, a more or less carburetted metal, 

 according to the quantity of carbonaceous matter which is mixed 

 with the ore and placed in the crucibles to act as a chemical agent 

 only. Specimens of iron, of very good quality, obtained by the 

 process as carried on by the author, have been exhibited to the mem- 

 bers of the French Academy. 



The great solubility of protoxide of nitrogen in water, especially 

 if its temperature is rather low, has induced M. S. Limnosin to 

 try what the physiological effects of such a solution would be 

 upoh men and animals. The solution of the protoxide of nitrogen 

 in cold water, obtained under ordinary pressure of the atmosphere, 

 tastes decidedly saccharine, if by means of pressure water has been 

 made to absorb a large bulk of this gas; as might be expected, 

 this solution is readily decomposed by substances capable of taking 

 up oxygen. The main point of importance in this paper is the 

 anaesthetic action of the gas and solution alluded to. 



M. Payen has taken the trouble to analyze a piece of old 

 woodwork, once belonging to the well-known Chaillot pumps, in 

 order to ascertain what state the cellulose was in after fully a 

 century's exposui'e to wind and weather. By appropriate treat- 

 ment he obtained jDure cellulose, as might have been expected. 

 This was evidently also expected by Field- Marshal Vaillant, who 

 happened to be present when the savant deposited, at a meeting 

 of the Agricultural Society, a piece of pure cellulose obtained from 

 the wood of the old pump, since the Marshal asked Payen, jocosely, 

 whether he had not some old wood from the ruins of Carthage to 

 operate upon; and M. Kobinet, improving upon the occasion, 

 ofiered to send Payen a piece of the wood from Noah's Ark, to 

 continue his researches. 



Artificial ebony is the name given to a substance prepared on 

 the large scale in the following manner : 60 parts of charcoal, 

 obtained from sea- weeds, and previously treated with dilute sulphuric 

 acid and dried, are ground to powder, and mixed with 10 parts of 



