Inielligence and Miscella7ieous ArUcles. 313 



he was unable to trace, and he could not therefore ailirm that they 

 were found in the state in which he observed them. 



From these facts Mr. Gray stated that he was inclined to regard 

 it as probable that the Ocythoe is only parasitic in the shell of Ar- 

 <ronauta ; that the shells are only resorted to by females during the 

 breeding season for the protection of their eggs ; and that the chief 

 purpose of the dilated portion of the anterior arms is to retain the 

 animal in the shell. He remarked, that no author, so far as he was 

 aware, had distinctly stated of his own observation that these parts 

 are expanded in the form of sails before the wind, a service which 

 they seem to be incapable of performing, except in poetic fiction. 



XL. Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 



RED COLOURING MATTER PRODUCED BY THE ACTION OF 

 NITRIC ACID UPON ALCOHOL, &C. BY M. ROUCHAS. 



V|/"HEN equal quantities of nitric acid and alcohol act upon each 

 ' " other, the products are, azote, nitrous and nitric oxide, car- 

 bonic, acetic and nitrous acid, water, and nitric aether: if one part of 

 alcohol and three parts of acid be used, oxalic acid is obtained. 

 M. Ilouchas remarks, that having lately caused three parts of nitric 

 acid to act upon one part of alcohol, the above-mentioned products 

 not only resulted, but also that when ammonia, potash, or soda, or 

 their carbonates or bicarbonates, were added to the solution, a fine 

 red colour was produced, which he considers as a new fact. The 

 same effects are produced by sugar, starch, and some other vege- 

 table substances. 



M. Ilouchas observes that this colour does not appear to be 

 similar to that which accompanies purpuric acid; and he concludes 

 from his experiments : 



1st, That nitric acid, while acting on alcohol, sugar, starch, &c. 

 among other well-known products, occasions the formation of a 

 peculiar non-azotized red colour. 



2ndly, That the alkali acts in developing the colour merely by 

 neutralizing the excess of nitric acid which exists in the solution, 

 and thus separating it; for a fresh quantity of nitric acid has the 

 property of causing the red colour to disappear, and it may be re- 

 produced by a fresh addition of an alkaline substance. 



Srdiy, That this red principle is chemically composed of the 

 same elements as sugar, alcohol, starch, &c., the hydrogen being 

 in smaller quantity. 



itlily, That the red colour developed on mixing sugar or gums 

 in solution with nitrate of silver, arsenic acid with sugar, chlorine 

 or bromine with sugar, is identical with tlie red principle obtained 

 when nitric acid acts upon sugar, alcohol, &c. 



5tlily, That nitrate of silver, nitric acid, arsenic acid, chlorine 

 and bromine, act upon the vegetable substances submitted to their 

 agency, the first three by dehydrogenating them by means of their 



N.S. Vol. 10. No. 58. Oct. 1831. 28 oxygen 



