CHEMISTKY. 



221 



immediate solidification takes place. The prod- 

 uct can be applied to nearly all the purposes 

 for which the vulcanized India rubber and 

 gutta-percha are already employed, and has 

 besides some advantages of its own. It appeara 

 to be more indestructible than those sub- 

 stances, and in some of its preparations exces- 

 sively hard, quite as much so as iron ; and 

 while in thin plates it is perfectly transparent, 

 and can be made to take transparent colors, by 

 the use of certain others it is made wholly 

 opaque. It resists moisture, and has high 

 insulating properties. It is already made into 

 buttons, combs, knife handles, medallions, and 

 other like articles; and the specimens look 

 well, while they appear to be quite indestruc- 

 tible, except by fire. It can be applied as a 

 varnish, transparent or colored, and which 

 becomes perfectly hard and impervious to moist- 

 ure. The name is from that of the inventor, 

 Mr. Parkes. 



Australian Oils and Resin*. Mr. J. "W. Os- 

 borne exhibited before the British Association, 

 1862, thirty-five specimens of oils, from indige- 

 nous trees and plants of Australia, and all of 

 which he regarded as possessing valuable proper- 

 ties, for uses in medicine, or as solvents of resin- 

 ous materials in varnishes, and for purposes of il- 

 lumination. Of those serving the last named 

 purposes, many are well adapted to high lati- 

 tudes burning in lamps for parafiine oil, with 

 a very white and clear light, and being safe, 

 since they ignite with some difficulty. The 

 trees yielding these products cover an area of 

 not less than 12,000,000 acres. Among them 

 the Eucalyptus amygdalina^ a very large forest 

 tree, bears leaves which, with the twigs they 

 are on, yield in the green state 3 pints of oil 

 to 100 Ibs. of the material. Mr. Osborne also 

 described resins from the Eucalyptus, Callitris, 

 Xanthorrhcea, and various species of Acacia. 



Organic Alkaloids new method of detection 

 and preparation. The organic alkaloids are 

 easily soluble in hot amylic alcohol, while their 

 hydrochlorates are so insoluble in this that 

 they may be separated from the amylic solu- 

 tion by shaking this with water containing 

 hydrochloric acid in solution. Erdmann and 

 Von Uslar accordingly prepare the alkaloids 

 by extracting with hydrochloric acid, treating 

 the extract with ammonia to set free the bases, 

 and evaporating. The alkaloid may then be 

 dissolved in hot amylic alcohol, and the solu- 

 tion being shaken with water containing hydro- 

 chloric acid, the result is a watery solution of 

 the pure hydrochlorate, while fatty and color- 

 ing matters remain dissolved in the amylic 

 alcohol, which may be mechanically removed 

 from the watery layer. (Ann. der Ghem. und 

 Pharm., cxv, p. 12.) 



Refining Sugar. It has been usual with 

 sugar refiners to correct the acidity likely to 

 appear in the clarified syrup or mother liquor 

 at a certain stage of the refining process, as 

 after the separation of the first crop of crystals, 

 and which is due to formation of saccharic 



acid (C 6 H 4 7) HO), by addition of lime water 

 or milk of lime. The lime base being perma- 

 nent, however, remains as an impurity in the 

 solution, and as such requiring subsequent re- 

 moval. Mr. Edward Beanes, of Havana, Cuba, 

 has patented a process in which he substitutes 

 for the lime compound the use of liquid ammo- 

 nia. The quantity, varying in different cases, 

 should be sufficient in each to keep the syrup 

 neutral, and so prevent the formation of un- 

 crystallizable sugar ; the chief advantage con- 

 sisting in the fact that the ammonia is a vola- 

 tile base and, hence, eventually removable by 

 heat. The liquid ammonia also serves, being 

 introduced in such quantities as may be requi- 

 site, to correct the acidity of crude syrup or 

 molasses, in the manufacture of sugar from these. 



Detection of Picrotoxine. The seeds of the 

 MeMtperawm Cocculus, known in commerce by 

 the name of Cocculus Indicus, or popularly as 

 "fish berries," contain several active organic 

 bodies. One of these, picrotoxine, is eminent- 

 ly poisonous, and in small doses, it is asserted, 

 possesses an intoxicating quality. Hence, its use 

 is believed to be common in the adulteration of 

 ale and beer a small addition of the berries to 

 .the fermenting mash enabling the brewer to 

 dispense with a large amount of the malt he 

 must otherwise consume. Mr. J. W. Langley 

 believes that he has found a simple and sure 

 test for the presence of picrotoxine; namely, 

 in the bright reddish-yellow color produced in 

 a solution or mixture containing this substance, 

 when, after adding to the mixture 3 or 4 times 

 the quantity of nitrate of potash that there is 

 of substance to be examined, and then barely 

 sulphuric acid enough to moisten the mass, 

 enough of a strong solution of caustic potash 

 or soda is finally introduced to render the 

 whole quite alkaline after neutralization of the 

 acid. The color is strongest at first, and is not 

 permanent. Sugar or strychnia in the mix- 

 ture, causes the color to be a brownish-yellow ; 

 so that these substances, when present, need to 

 be first removed. By the test, the T5 Vo of a 

 gramme of the poison has been detected ; and 

 in malt liquors into which it was purposely 

 introduced, its presence was readily deter- 

 mined, as also in the membranes of the stomach 

 of a cat poisoned with it, and apart from the 

 contents of that organ, the animal having been 

 killed while the process of absorption was 

 going on. A liquid to be examined for picro- 

 toxine should first be rendered acid, then 

 shaken with ether, and the residue after evap- 

 oration examined with the microscope for 

 small prismatic crystals. If such be present, 

 test as above stated. (" Amer. Jour, of 

 Science," July, 1862.) 



Oxygenated Beverages. M. Maumene, Profes- 

 sor of Chemistry at Rheims, the centre of man- 

 ufacture of champagne wines, has been con- 

 ducting a series of experiments in the way 

 of forcing into wines oxygen gas under a pres- 

 sure of V or 8 atmospheres. When the wine is 

 BO old as no longer to give a deposit, the oxy- 



