174 Miscellaneous Intelligence. 



wliiter than platinum, and hard enough to scratch glass like a 

 diamond. It was easily reducible to powder in a mortar, and 

 its powder was metallic. Strong acids, and even nitro-muria- 

 tic acid, scarcely acted on it *. 



Chromate of iron, being heated in a crucible lined with char- 

 coal, the iron was only reduced into a minor state of oxidation, 

 and acted on the magnet. Without the presence of the oxide 

 of chrome, the iron would have been reduced. 



On heating chromate of iron with an equal quantity of glass, 

 containing 16 per cent, soda, there was reduction of part of the 

 metals, and a loss of 10 per cent, which M. Berthier thinks is 

 iron and chrome volatilized, because a metallic scoria appeared 

 on the surface of the crucible f- and this loss was greater on 

 adding borax, and increased with its quantity. 



The best method of obtaining the alloy from chromate of iron, 

 is to fuse it in a crucible lined with charcoal, with .30 of lime 

 and .70 of silica, or with 1. of alkaline glass, or better still 

 with .40 of borax ; and to obtain as much chromium as pos- 

 sible, a portion of oxide of iron should be added. 



In consequence of the experiments described, p. 319, Vol. ix. 

 of this Journal, M. Berthier was induced to try the effect ob- 

 tained by adding a portion of this alloy to steel. Two alloys of 

 cast-steel and chromium were made, one with 0.01, the other 

 with 0.015 of chromium. These both forged well, the first bet- 

 ter than cast-steel. A knife and a razor were made from them, 

 and both proved very good ; their edges were hard and solid, 

 but their most remarkable character was the fine damask they 

 took, when washed over with sulphuric acid. This damask 

 was composed of white silvery veins, and nearly resembled that 

 given by the alloy of steel and silver. The white parts are pro- 

 bably pure chromium, on which acids have no action. There 

 is room to suppose that chromic steel will be found proper for 

 the manufacture of damask blades, which will be solid, hard, and 

 have a fine appearance, and also for many other instruments. 

 It was prepared by fusing together cast-steel and the alloy of 

 chromium and iron. 



6. On the Combination of Oxides with Chlorine, Iodine, and 

 Cyanogen, by M. Granville. — The compounds formed by the 

 union of oxides with chlorine, &c., have never been examined 

 in a general manner. Messrs. Vauquelin, and Thomson have 

 been engaged with some of them, but still a chasm exists 

 in the chemical knowledge of substances with regard to these 

 compounds. M. Granville has added to the number which was 



* Query, the proportion of these properties due to carbon combination 

 with the iron ? 



t May not this loss be alkali ? 



