592 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



Carbolic or Phenic Acid. 

 This compound (eorlat), recently found so efficient as a disin- 

 fectant, is now used for internal disinfection, in the form of a 

 lozenge. 



RniEUDINE. 



Hesse has discovered a new alkaloid in the red poppy ; it is 

 also found in good opium. It is soluble in water, alcohol and 

 ether, and crystallizes from the last in white prisms. 



Parafine for Preserving Meat. 

 Durin<y the late meeting of the British Association at Notting- 

 ham, at one of the soirees, specimens of meat preserved in parafine 

 were exhibited. The process consists in the immersion of fresh 

 meat in parafine at a temperature of 240*^ F., long enough to 

 effect a concentration of the juices of the meat and to expel the 

 air. Afterward a coatiiig of parafine is applied to exclude the 

 air and prevent decomposition. 



Silica in Cokn-Stalks. 

 M. Pierre, in a memoir to the French Academy of Sciences, says 

 some people have supposed that corn becomes laid because of the 

 stalk from the absence of silica {akei), but chemical analysis does 

 not show a deficiency of silica. Observing that corn on poor land 

 was rarely laid, he concludes that the stalks in general give way 

 in consequence of an over-development of leaves. 



The Hardness of Silver. 

 M. Mathe}^ assa^^er at Locla, has shown that the hardness of 

 which carvers in silver sometimes complain is not owing to the 

 presence of tin, lead, or any other metal, but is solely due to the 

 high temperature at which the silver is cast. By letting the cru- 

 cible cool, until a slight solid crust is formed on the surface of the 

 fused metal, and ca'^ting at that moment, a soft silver with a bril- 

 liant cut is obtained. 



A New Test for IodiNe. 

 M. Carey Lee, of Philadelphia, has successfully used chromates 

 in bringing about the starch reaction in the presence of iodine in 

 extremely small quantities. For instance, in a solution of iodide 

 of potassium, so dilute that the addition of nitric acid or 

 starch produces no perceptible effect, by the further addition of a 



