74 Intelligejice and Miscellaneous Articles. 



limited by what occurs in the air ; what has been disengaged in the 

 fluid has not been examined ; but this has been done by MM. Ed- 

 wards and Colin. 



They took a globe with a straiglit neck, the capacity of which 

 was from three to four litres of water, (about 1S3 to 244 cubic 

 inches,) with which it was filled, and they then introduced forty 

 large and perfect Windsor beans {fives de marais). To the globe 

 a bent tube was adapted, wliich was filled with water, and which 

 terminated in a jar also filled with water. The beans were thus in 

 contact only with the water and the air which it contained, and 

 which could not be renewed on account of the mode in which the 

 experiment was performed ; and this is an important circumstance, 

 and upon which the success of the experiment depends. 



The first phenomenon which appeared was the disengagement of 

 bubbles of air arising from the seeds ; at the end of twenty-four 

 hours the disengagement was considerable. At the expiration of four 

 days the beans were weighed ; they had increased twenty per cent, 

 in weight ; when put into the ground they came up perfectly, which 

 proves that they had suffered no change. As to the production of gas, 

 that which was disengaged after passing through the water, and re- 

 ceived in the tube and jar, was only a sign of the function ; it could 

 be only that portion M^hich the water did not dissolve, as it was gra- 

 dually formed ; it was therefore smaller in quantity than that which 

 was dissolved. The quantity of air which had passed through the 

 water without being dissolved amounted to from twenty to forty 

 millimetres (r22 to 2'44 cubic inches) ; but that which was dis- 

 solved in the water, and which was expelled from it by ebullition, 

 was veiy considerable. Before the experiment the water in the globe 

 contained about 4 '5 7 7 cubic inches of air, and after the experiment 

 more than 30"5 cubic inches of gas were expelled. Thus the action 

 of the beans alone produced nearly 30 cubic inches of gas. No doubt, 

 therefore, can exist as to the action of water in the respiration 

 of the beans. 



It was found that the gas generated consisted of, 1st, an enormous 

 quantity of carbonic acid ; 2nd, an almost infinitely small portion of 

 oxygen ; and 3rd, a very small quantity of a gas which appeared to be 

 azote, or at any rate the authors at present so consider it ; its propor- 

 tion was rather smaller than that of the air contained in the water. 



These experiments then prove that during the respiration of 

 plants water is decomposed, and that the carbonic acid formed is 

 derived from the oxygen of the water, which unites with tlie carbon 

 of the grain. MM. Edwards and Colin propose to examine on a 

 future occasion whether the carbonic acid thus formed is totally or 

 l)artially disengaged, and whether the hydrogen of the water is ab- 

 sorbed by the grain. — L'Institut, No. 257. 



VALERIANIC JETHER. BY MM. GROTE AND OTTO. 



When valerianic acid or a valerianate is distilled with alcohol and 

 suljihuric acid, a liquor is obtained which contains a large quantity 

 of valerianic a;thcr ; this aether separates partly of itself and partly 



