Intelligence and iscellaneous Articles. 151 



less than from thirty to forty miles an hour. Compared with the beau- 

 tifully arranged muscular powers of these minute beings in the crea- 

 tion, how insignificant are those which science, with all its advan- 

 tages, has hitherto been able to accomplish by mechanical means ! 

 D. T. 



PROCESS FOR PREPARING HYDROCYANIC ACID. 



Mr. Thomas Clark of Glasgow has pubhshed an account of a 

 method of preparing this acid, in the Glasgow Medical Journal, 

 from which the following is extracted : 



Expose some crystallized ferrocyanate of potash to a moderate 

 heat until water ceases to be separated ; put the dried powder into 

 an iron bottle, furnished with a tube to conduct gas ; the bottle is 

 then to be put into a moderately strong fire, and to remain there 

 as long as gas is evolved j in this operation the cyanide of iron is 

 decomposed, but not the cyanide of potassium, this salt remaining 

 mixed with the oxide of iron and charcoal resulting from the de- 

 composition of the cyanide of iron ; the cyanide of potassium is 

 to be dissolved out by water, and the solution, after filtration and 

 evaporation, is to be set aside to crystallize; the salt obtained, after 

 drying in a gentle heat, being deliquescent, is to be kept in well- 

 stopped bottles. 



If the cyanide of iron should not have been entirely decomposed, 

 crystals of ferrocyanate of potash will be obtained with the cyanide 

 of potassium : they are easily distinguishable, and are to be sepa- 

 rated. 



To prepare hydrocyanic acid, of the strength proposed by Vau- 

 quelin, admitted into the last Dublin Pharmacopoeia, and of about 

 one-fourth the strength of Magendie's solution, 



Take of tartaric acid 72 grains. 



cyanide of potassium 32 



distilled water 1 ounce. 



First dissolve the tartaric acid in [the water in a small vial ; then 

 add the cyanide of potassium and immediately cork the vial, the 

 cork for a short time being firmly kept in by the finger; then agitate 

 the vial in a vessel of cold water to lower the heat produced. 

 When all action has ceased, set the vial aside in a cool and dark 

 place for twelve hours, in order that the bitartrate of potash may 

 form and subside ; the clear solution is to be poured off and pre- 

 served for use. 



VANADIUM A NEW METAL. 



M. Sefstrom, Director of the School of Mines at Fahlun, while 

 examining a kind of iron remarkable for its extreme softness, dis- 

 covered a substance, the properties of which differ from those of 

 all previously known bodies, but the proportion was so small that 

 it would have been tedious and expensive to procure enough for a 

 detailed examination of its properties. This iron was from the ore 

 of Tabcrg in Smiiland, which however contained merely traces of 

 the substance in question. M. Sefstriim finding that the pig-iron 



contained 



