400 Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 



parison well, I employed a process which has always been useful to 

 me in my old experiments in electro-physiology, and which consists 

 in the opposition of two muscular elements which it is desired to 

 compare. I have killed a great number of frogs poisoned by urari, 

 at the moment when the first effects of the poison were manifested, 

 and at the same time I killed a great many similar frogs M'hich had 

 not been poisoned. Piles of gastrocnemians taken from healthy and 

 poisoned frogs, or a healthy and a poisoned gastrocnemian being op- 

 posed, the galvanometer has always indicated a notable differential 

 current, denoting that the electromotive power of the poisoned muscles 

 had become much more feeble than that of the healthy muscles. 



If this result be compared with that which I obtained long since, 

 with muscles belonging to frogs killed with narcotic poisons, and 

 which do not exhibit the difference of healthy muscles, we shall be 

 led to consider that, as I believe is the result of the experiments of 

 M. Bernard, the action of urari is exerted upon the blood and upon 

 the nutrition, and consequently upon the function which is, accord- 

 ing to me, the source of the electromotive muscular power. — Comptes 

 Rendus, June 27, 1859, p. 1145. 



ON THE FORMULAE OF KAPNICITE AND WAVELLITE. 

 BY G. STADELER. 

 The author obtained, through Professor Kenngott, some very pure 

 fragments of a mineral which was procured from the collection of 

 the Archduke Stephen of Austria, and had been found in Hungary. 

 He analysed this mineral, and from the results obtained proposes for 

 it the formula 3 Al« 0\ 2P0^ + 1 1 HO. The results of the analysis 

 are as follows : — 



A12 0' 39-59 52-52 3=154-2 39-02 



PO^ 35-49 47-48 2=142-0 35-92 



HO 24-92 .. 11= 99-0 250G 



100-00 100-00 395-2 100-00 



This composition differs widely from that of Kapnicite, as given 

 by VonHauer. The author afterwards obtained specimens of Kapnicite 

 from Kapnick, and found in it also a great quantity of phosphoric 

 acid and no sulphuric acid, whence he concludes that Von Hauer 

 must have entirely overlooked the phosphoric acid in his analyses, 

 and that the sulphuric acid found by him was derived from the alka- 

 lies employed for decomposing the mineral. 



On this supposition, the amount of water in Kapnicite, as given 

 by Von Hauer, is increased by the Weight of sulphuric acid (as it 

 was calculated from the loss), and we then get a close agreement 

 between the analytical results obtained by Von Hauer and the 

 author : — Calculated. Stadeler. Von Hauer. 



Phosphate of alumina. . 74-94 75-08 75-75 



Water 25-06 24-92 24-25 



The author then compares the existing analyses of Wavellite with 

 that of Kapnicite, and concludes that the essential composition of 

 the former must be 3AI-O' 2PO*-fl3HO. 



Wavellite therefore is distinguished from Kapnicite by containing 

 two atoms more water. — Liebig's Annalen, vol. cix. p. 305. 



