•86 Horneman, the Traveller. — New Metal, &c. 



and Klagel conjectured that the electric fluid is determined 

 by the nervous fluid secreted in the glands of the brain to 

 the nerves themselves. Gardini relates an experiment made 

 on lizards : he observes that, if one of these animals be de- 

 capitated and laid on glass, by bringing an electric sub- 

 stance into contact with the neck, and laying the finger on 

 the tail, convulsions are produced. These authors were all 

 anterior to the discovery of animal electricity. 



HORNEMAN, THE TRAVELLER. 



The Danish consul at Tripoli, M. Nissen, saw in Sep- 

 tember last, at the house of the pacha's minister, Ali Mu- 

 hamed Dghics, a merchant of Fezzan, who had arrived with 

 tlie caravan, and who had been at Buran. From this mer- 

 chant he learned that Horneman, the celebrated traveller, 

 who was known in that place under the name of Jussuf, 

 Lad set out for Gondash in order to proceed to the coast for 

 the purpose of returning to Europe. 



NEW METAL EXTRACTED FROM PLATINA. 



Tn a late sitting of the National Institute, Collet Descos- 

 tils, engineer of mines, read a memoir, in which he an- 

 iicunced the discovery of a new metal found in great abun- 

 dance in the black dust leftbv platinawhen dissolved in the 

 nitro-muriatic acid. The principal properties of this met?! 

 are: It gives a red colour to the triple saks of platina; with 

 tlie triple ammoniacal salt of platina it is precipitated : it is. 

 easily reduced : it dissolves readily in acids, even the nitro- 

 nmriatic, when in the metallic state ; the oxides are green 

 or blue, or at least communicate these colours to the acids 

 in which they are dissolv^ed : these oxides seem to be vola- 

 tile, Sec. C. Descoslils found also that the sand which ac- 

 companies platina contains titanium when susceptible of 

 attraction by the magnet, and that when not so it contains 

 chrome. 



In the same sitting Fourcroy and Vauquelin presented a 

 memoir also on this new metal. They slated, that having 

 known that C. Descostils had made the discovery, they were 

 unwilling to dispute with him that honour, and that they 

 had waited till he should announce it before they published 

 a large work they have composed on that subject. 



ON EXTINGUISHING FIRES. 



M. Driuzzi has invented a kind of liquor which in cer- 

 tain cases prevents combustion. A commission, appointed 



bv 



