118 



CHEMISTRY. 



derivative, and can be nitrated. The same com- 

 pound has been isolated by the authors from the 

 usual medicinal preparations of Cannabis indica. 



MM. II. Moissa.ii and Ch. Mouren find that if 

 aectylene is allowed suddenly to impinge upon py- 

 rophoric iron that has been reduced by hydrogen at 

 the lowest possible temperature, the gas is decom- 

 posed with incandescence into its constituents. At 

 the same time, owing to the high temperature, con- 

 densation takes place, and a liquid hydrocarbon, 

 rich in benzene, is produced. The same phenome- 

 non is produced by pyrophoric nickel and by pla- 

 tinum black. No compound containing metal can 

 be isolated, and the decomposition appears to be 

 due to physical causes. 



Cerium carbide, CeC a , produced by M. Moissan 

 in the electric furnace from charcoal and Ce0 2 , 

 gives, with water, a gas containing ethylene, 4 per 

 cent. ; methane, 24 per cent. ; and acetylene, 75 per 

 cent. A small proportion of the carbon is obtained 

 in the form of liquid and solid hydrocarbons. 



Carbide of lithium, LiC 2 , also obtained by M. 

 Moissan. forms a transparent crystalline mass. 

 which, on account of its high percentage of carbon 

 (69 per cent.), acts as a powerful reducing agent. 

 It is volatile at the temperature of the electric fur- 

 nace, with partial decomposition into its elements, 

 and on treatment with water yields acetylene. 



Lanthanum carbide, obtained from the oxide 

 and carbon in the usual manner by M. Moissan, 

 forms a transparent, yellowish, crystalline mass, of 

 the composition LaC 2 . Water rapidly decomposes 

 it at the ordinary temperature, giving acetylene, 

 ethylene, and methane with traces of solid and 

 liquid hydrocarbons. 



Yttrium carbide, as prepared in the electrical 

 furnace, is found to be attacked readily by the 

 halogens, with difficulty by acids. With water it 

 yields a mixture of acetylene (72 per cent.), me- 

 thane, ethylene, and hydrogen, together with a 

 small quantity of liquid hydrocarbons. Therium 

 carbide, similarly produced, forms a crystalline, 

 transparent mass, and gives a mixture of hydro- 

 carbon on treatment with water of the same quali- 

 tative composition as that obtained from yttrium 

 carbide. 



Among the products of the reaction between 

 400 C. and 500 C. of hydrobromic acid upon phos- 

 phoryl trichloride, M. Besson has isolated the phos- 

 phoryl chlorobromide, POCl.Br 2 , hitherto not ob- 

 tained. It is solid at the ordinary temperature, 

 melts at 30 C., and distills under normal pressure 

 at 165. Its boiling point is, however, not fixed, as 

 it decomposes into the chlorobromide, POCl 2 Br, of 

 Menschutkin and phosphoryl tribromide. This 

 property renders its isolation by fractional distilla- 

 tion difficult. Besides these two chlorobromides 

 and the tribromide, M. Besson obtained considerable 

 quantities of phosphorus pentabromide from the 

 product of the original reaction. A remarkable 

 feature in the formation of this substance is that 

 it involves the replacement of the oxygen of the 

 phosphoryl group by bromine with elimination of 

 water, whereas at ordinary temperatures the in- 

 verse change takes place with great vigor. 



A new soluble oxidizing ferment, an oxydase, has 

 !>eeu identified by M. G. Bertrand as the "agent un- 

 der the influence of which the cut surfaces of cer- 

 tain vegetables, such as the dahlia and apple, are 

 browned through the oxidation of the tyrosine. It 

 eiin be isolated from the roots of the dahlia. 



Wishing to heat some lithium in a current of an 

 inert LTH-,. \I. (Juntx. under the necessity of exclud- 

 ing nitrogen, usrd hydrogen. The whole caught 

 fire and burned with a flame In the tube, depositing a 

 WM " 1 leaving no trace of unburned lith- 



ium. On analysis, this powder proved to have the 



composition LiH, and it is noteworthy as giving 

 the maximum weight of hydrogen on treatment 

 with water for the minimum weight of that sub- 

 stance. It is not deliquescent, alters very slowly in 

 the air, and is stable at a full red heat, in this dif- 

 fering from the previously known hydrides of the 

 alkali metals. Heated in a current of nitrogen, 

 LiH is converted into Li s N. 



New Processes. In a new method for the prep- 

 aration of aromatic aldehydes by M. L. Bouveault, 

 the hydrocarbons are converted into glyoxylic 

 acids by means of ethoxalyl chloride in presence of 

 aluminium chloride, and these heated with aniline 

 give nearly quantitative yield of phenylimides, the 

 condensation to the phenylimido-acid and elimina- 

 tion of C0 2 from the latter proceeding simultane- 

 ously. A good yield of the corresponding aldehyde 

 is obtained on hydrolyzing the phenylirnide by boil- 

 ing with dilute-sulphuric acid. The aldehyde group 

 has in this way been introduced into toluenes, m- 

 xylene, cymene, anisol, dimethyl ether of resorcinol, 

 and of dimethyl-hydroquinol. 



In a process by H. N. Warren for the manufac- 

 ture of peroxide of lead offering a pure and theoretical 

 yield, free from secondary products, either litharge 

 or sulphate of lead from vitriol tanks, etc., is intro- 

 duced into canvas bags, through which is inserted 

 a lead sheet. These bags are immersed in dilute 

 vitriol, and connected respectively to sheets of iron ; 

 the sulphate or other lead compound contained 

 therein is thus speedily and completely reduced to 

 the spongy metal. The bags are afterward con- 

 nected alternatively by thin lead plates and ex- 

 posed to an electric current, whereby the positives 

 are wholly converted into peroxide, while the tem- 

 porary accumulator thus produced is again emptied 

 of its current into further quantities of spongy 

 metal, with the result of manufacturing more per- 

 oxide. 



The method of M. Henriet for the rapid determi- 

 nation of carbonic acid in the air and in confined 

 places depends upon the fact that on adding sul- 

 phuric acid to a solution of neutral potassium car- 

 bonate, colored red by means of phenolphthalein, 

 the coloration disappears at the moment when half 

 the carbonic acid of the carbonate is fixed upon the 

 undecomposed carbonate, converting it into bicar- 

 bonate. This decoloration is very sharp if we take 

 care, toward the end of the operation, to add the 

 acid only drop by drop. If we absorb in potassa 

 the carbonic acid contained in a known volume of 

 air, it is sufficient to titrate an equal volume of the 

 potassa liquid employed, when double the difference 

 of the readings corresponds exactly to the carbonic 

 acid retained. The result is independent of the 

 carbonate which potassa liquid always contains, 

 since in the liquid and in the carbonated liquid the 

 pre-existing carbonate is decomposed by the same 

 acid volume, and we take account merely of the 

 difference of the readings. 



The paraffin manufactured at Linlithgow, Scot- 

 land, is derived, according to a lecture delivered 

 by Mr. Kerr before the Edinburgh University 

 Chemical Society, from the bituminous shale lying 

 under the coal formation. From these shales are 

 obtained directly the crude oil, ammonia water, 

 and gases containing volatile hydrocarbons. The 

 yield of crude oil depends on the form and nature 

 of the shale used, and varies from 17 to 35 gallons 

 per ton of shale. The ammoniacal liquor yields 

 from 17 to 80 pounds of ammonium sulphate, and 

 the retort gases, when scrubbed, about 1| a l- 

 lon of naphtha per ton of shale. After being 

 settled and separated from the ammonia liquor, the 

 crude oil is put through a series of washings with 

 acid and soda and fractional distillation, producing 

 naphtha, which is washed and redistilled, burning 



