PROCEEDINGS OF THE POLYTECHNIC ASSOCIATION. 747 



O22 S. The replacement of one atom of hydrogen by one atom 

 of sodium forms albuminate of soda, found in white of egg. Ger- 

 hardt coincides in this view, and the latest investigations of Leh- 

 mann seem to confirm it, although he prefers to describe albumen 

 only by its percentage analysis. We are at first struck with the 

 fact that the atoms which form this compound atom or atomoid 

 are expressed by very high numbers. It is ranked among the 

 most complicated of chemical structures. No definite opinion can 

 be formed as to its actual constitution, however the speaker had 

 found this singular numerical relatioirof its several elements. The 

 nuqiber of atoms of hydrogen in the compound is equal to the sum 

 of the number of atoms of carbon, nitrogen and oxygen ; and 

 further, that the atomic ratio of carbon and nitrogen is as four to 

 one. A knowledge of these relations has no practical value at pre- 

 sent, unless it be in chemical classification, based on multiples pf 

 hydrogen ; yet it may be the clue by which we shall finally arrive 

 at the cause of the stability of albumen as a chemical structure. 



Peeservation of Flowers. 

 At several fairs of the American Institute dried flowers, in their 

 natural colors and shape have been exhibited. Flowers thus per- 

 fectly preserved are now for sale in London shops. The process 

 of preservation is this : A metallic vessel is provided with a mova- 

 ble top ajid bottom. The top cover is removed, and a wire gauze 

 of moderate fineness is fitted into the top of the vessel, when the 

 cover is replaced. Sufficient sand to fill the vessel is first sifted, 

 and then placed in an iron pot with a small quantity of stearin — 

 about half a pound to lOO'pounds of sand. The mixture is heated, 

 and carefully stirred, so as to equally diifuse the stearin. The first 

 vessel is then turned upside down, the bottom cover removed, and 

 the flowers to be operated on are placed in the wire gauze, after 

 which the prepared sand is gently poured in so as to cover the 

 flowers entirely, the leaves being thus prevented from touching 

 each other. This vessel is then put in a hot place — such, for 

 instance, as the top of a baker's oven — and left for forty- eight 

 hours. The vessel is then taken out, and, while still bottom 

 upward, the lower cover is removed, and the sand runs out through 

 the gauze, leaving the flowers uninjured and dry, yet still retain- 

 ing their natural colors. 



