CHEMISTRY. 



107 



' 'laces. Tho death of a lady upon on. <d' 



..mid railway in August 



tion ( .r ill.- circumstances 



i.v a i-Mroiu-r's in.|iie-t. and the qU68- 

 ulu-tliiT IHT death had nut h.-i-n ac- 

 hy tin- impurity of tho air in tin- 

 Is of the liiii-. ScviTiil distinguished cli.-in- 

 engagcd to analyze the air in tho 

 Is and in other places, in order to alVord 

 iry data of comparison. Drs. Bachhoffner, 

 l.y, and Williams presented a sworn rp- 

 of their researches upon the subject, in 

 which they testify as follows: 



proceeded, in the first instance, to obtain 

 sainpli-.s of tin- nil- in the tunnels, and we collected 

 tin-in mi three separate occasions, namely: First, 

 iiimicdiutelv after the trains had ceased running at 

 niu'ht ; wcondly, just before they commenced 

 running in the morning; and, thirdly, in tho after- 



noon between four and five o'clock, the period of 

 the day when there in generally the largest amount 

 of traffic. 



The samples, twenty-eight in number, were taken 

 at different places in each tunnel, and at <L 

 altitudes; twine near the crown of the arch, tome 

 near the ground, and others on a level with the 

 heads of the passengers. These samples were ana- 

 lyzed for sulphurous acid, carbonic acid, carbonic 

 oxide, coal-gas, and oxygen. 



The presence of sulphurous acid was sought for 

 by the most delicate chemical test with which we 

 are acquainted - } namely, its action upon iodic acid 

 and starch, which we have ascertained is capable of 

 showing the presence of one part by volume of sul- 

 phurous aei.| in 100,000 parts of air, but we could 

 not in any case discover by such test the presence 

 of this acia ; from which we conclude that its volume 

 was less than the above in the tunnels. The pro- 

 portion of carbonic acid by volume in 10,000 parts 

 of the air in the several tunnels and stations was as 

 follows : 



Max. Min. Mean. 



Tunnel between Bishop's Road and Edgware Road, 2 A. M. September 3d 4.1 4.1 4.1 



T> j j T> i ( 1 to 3 A. M. September 3d. . . 5.2 4.3 4.8 



Tunnel between Edgware Road and Baker) g to 4 A. M. September 6th -... 5.4 4.7 5.0 



Mnvt { 4 P. M. September 7th 6.7 



Baker Street Station, 4 P. ic. September 10th 6.2 



TunnelbetweenBakerStreetandPor^ 



ad J4P. M. September 7th ,. .. 6.9 



r> _ii j r> j j n 1 1 to 3 A. M. September 3d 6.0 5.1 5.5 



Tunnel between Portland Road and Gower J 2 to 4 A M Se tcmber cth 6>1 4.5 6pl 



et ; ' ( 4 p. M. September 7th 12.7 



Oower Street Station, 4 p. M. September 7th . . 5.7 



Tunnel between Gower Street and King's J JgU: ISlSKei::::::::::::::: 6.J 4.3 t! 

 * I 4 p. M. September 7th 9.1 



The amounts of carbo-hydrogen (coal-gas) and of 8. Dwelling-houses by Day. 



carbonic oxide present were so small as to be barely From 5.4 to 12.7 Average 7.8 



discoverable by the most delicate processes of analy- 4 Dwelling-houses by Night. 



sis. Lastly, we ascertained that the amount of oxy- j n a s t u 'dy near table 11.8 



gen in the air of tho tunnels and stations was not in ' ce jii n g 15.6 



any case deficient. Bedroom at night. . .'.'.'. ! '. . .2s!o 



These results prove that in no instance was the window open 8.0 



air found to be vitiated to any material extent, _ _ ... 



although it will be seen that the air taken in the 5 - 1 { . r % i \ t . < " 



afternoon was less pure than that taken at night. baltpetnere 80.0 



The researches of Regnault, Bunsen, and other Another at ditto 58.0 



eminent chemists, and more recently those of Dr. Workhouse ward . 12o.O 



Angus Smith, show that what may be termed Lodging-house in City 100.0 



"model or normal atmospheric air" in citie's and 6. Schools by Day. 



large towns consists in every 10,000 parts by volume Various in France 27 to 47 Average 36.0 



of Oxygen 2,096 in Germany... 20 to 56 " 39.2 



Nitrogen 7,900 in England .... 9.7 to 31 " 21.5 



Carbonic acid 7 MUU and Workshops. 



10000 28.3 to 80.0 Average 29.1 



Dr. Letheby also submitted a table,' giving 8 ' *to at XigM. ugiQl ^ Ay 12 8 



the amount of carbonic acid per 10 000 of air 9 CornM Mn ^ 



in different places, of which the following are Average of good 8.0 



instances : " of bad. ........'..'. .V. ........ '.'.'.19! 09 



1. t'itiesand Towns. After a brief consultation, the jury returned 



k ondon - : fro , m 2-8 to 4.3 Average8.4 a ver dict that the deceased died from natural 



Munich ?*::::::.. ..." causes; thus clearing the Metropolitan Railway 



Madrid.... .....!. "3.0 to 8.0 " 5^2 from the imputation of killing its passengers by 



Paris " 3.6 to 5.1 " 4.9 foul air. 



2. Places of Public Retort. Experiments in Crystallization. Artificial 

 Court of Chancery (doors closed) 19.8 apatite and Wagnerite have been produced by 



(doors open) 4.8 Devillo and Caron. Lechartier has succeeded 



tt 6 riS io-82-Avera g e ! ^preparing a group of minerals isomorphous 



(Manchester).10.2 to 27.3 " 14.8 with the apatite and Wagnente group, but oon- 



(Paris) 23 to 43 " 83.0 taining arsenic instead of phosphoric acid. Ibis 



