386. Chronicles of Sctence. [July, 
temperatures between 100° and 200°, as well as at higher tempe- 
ratures in the presence of water, this absorption may be considered 
as almost instantaneous. By this process 100 kilogrammes of 
cupreous chloride, usually mixed with inert matter for convenience, 
will yield 3 to 34 cubic metres of oxygen, and as four or five ope- 
rations may be made in four-and-twenty hours, this quantity, 100 
kilogrammes, would yield 15 to 18 cubic metres of oxygen during 
the same time: the price of the chloride of copper does not exceed 
1 franc the kilogramme. . 
A new method of preparing magnesium has been devised by 
M. Reichert. He takes 1,000 grammes of the anhydrous double 
chloride of magnesium and potassium, pulverizes it, and mixes it 
with 100 grammes of finely powdered fluor spar; this mixture 
is fused with 100 grammes of sodium. The compound proposed 
for use occurs in the mineral kingdom in tolerable abundance as 
carnallite. White pieces of this minerai are available, and require 
no previous treatment; coloured fragments must be dissolved in 
water, the impurities allowed to settle, and the lixivium evaporated. 
Professor Gamgee, President of the Albert Veterinary College, 
author of several works upon the cattle plague, and a recognized 
authority in such matters, has discovered a new process for pre- 
serving meat, which is simple and inexpensive. The animal is 
caused to inhale carbonic oxide gas. Before it is quite insensible 
it is bled in the usual way. When dressed the carcase is sus- 
pended in an air-tight receiver, the air exhausted, and the receiver 
filled with carbonic oxide gas; a small quantity of sulphurous acid 
gas is also added. After remaining here for from 24 to 48 hours, 
meat may be removed, and hung in a dry atmosphere; it will 
keep for one, two, or three months, or longer, with no perceptible 
change in taste or appearance. The tests of the method thus far 
applied have been attended with success. Beef killed in London in 
March last year was sent to New York in June, and as late as the 
middle of July was shown to a prominent butcher in Fulton 
market, who did not discover that it was other than ordinary beef, 
and expressed the opinion that it had probably been killed about 
two days. Mutton killed in London last July, and sent to New 
York soon after, arrived perfectly fresh ; and one piece of beef kept 
for ten days in a can surrounded by water at a temperature of 90° 
to 100°, came out perfectly fresh. The process, in the opinion of 
eminent chemists, does not injure the meat in the least; this is an 
advantage very difficult of attaiment, even im the case of trans- 
portation of live stock, which is hable to the bad effects of confine- 
ment and the length of the journey. Among the beneficial results 
of the adoption of this scheme would be a better supply in our 
markets of wholesome meat and at a desirably cheaper rate. 
