CHEMISTRY. 



Ill 



The ' colorless liquid, smelling of amyl 



.'.nlmlric acid. Its vapor impresses 

 ic uiili an insupportable bitterness, 

 -, \\ith cyanhydric acid, a sense of 

 i in the throat. It hoils at 137 0., 

 iitl\ attacked by alkalies, but acids 

 it into formic acid and amylaniinc. 

 intermediate products are formed iu 

 ivaetion. Anhydrous phosphoric acid, as 

 is \\cll known, readily converts the salts of 

 ammonia, the fatty acids, into the corre- 

 sponding nitrilcs. It \vas therefore, natural 

 that tlie cyanides might he formed 

 h\ a .similar reaction; so that, for example, 

 !e of amylamino would yield cyanide of 

 amyl. |)r. Ilot'inaiin found, however, that the 

 action of phosphoric: acid in these cases did 

 n.t yield the results expected. On the other 

 hand, the author calls attention to the fact that, 

 in the preparation of the nitriles by the ac- 

 tion of sulphomethylate of potassium upon 

 cyanide of potassium, the raw nitrile obtained 

 has a most offensive odor, while the nitriles 

 obtained by the action of phosphoric acid upon 

 salts of ammonia have a very agreeable aro- 

 matic smell. He considers it probable that 

 there exists a corresponding isomeric series of 

 sulpho-cyanides.-(ylmmc<m Journal of Science, 

 November.) 



''<" Properties of the Sulphites. A 

 new process for the preservation of meat, by 

 means of a solution of bisulphite of calcium, 

 : -jen brought out in England. The anti- 

 properties of the sulphite of calcium 

 long been known to chemists, but it re- 

 mained to present the article in its advanta- 

 geous form of the more soluble bisulphite. 

 It is easily obtained free from sulphate, and if 

 any sulphate should afterward be formed by 

 oxidation, no unpleasant taste would be noticed 

 by the consumer ; in which respect the article 

 ;>erior to sulphite of sodium. The low 

 equivalent of calcium is also in its favor. The 

 ordinary preservative solution is made as fol- 

 lows : Dissolve about a pint of common salt in 

 lour gallons of clear cold water, add half a 

 gallon of the bisulphite and mix well; if the 

 meat, etc., to be treated is required to be pre- 

 ; for n very long time, a little solution of 

 gelatine or white of egg may be added with ad- 

 vantage. All kinds of meat may be kept per- 

 fectly -\\eet by simply soaking the joints in this 

 solution for ten minutes, and then hanging them 

 up, wetting them again with the solution once 

 a day. It is said that beef and mutton treated 

 by this process keep good for twelve days, with 

 the temperature varying between 80 and 100 

 !'., the original odor and flavor remaining unim- 

 paired at the end of that time. In twenty- 

 six hours portions of the same animal matter, 

 unprepared, were absolutely putrid. 



I'pon the general question of the antiseptic 

 properties of the sulphites, an interesting paper 

 by Dr. I'olli was read to the British Associa- 

 tion, at its annual meeting in 18G7. The 

 doctor had more particularly investigated the 



action of the sulphites of lime, of magnesia, and 

 of soda, hyposulphite of magnesia, and granu- 

 lated sulphite. These substances were found 

 to possess all the properties of sulphurous acid, 

 with the advantage that their action was more 

 uniform and certain and constant. In experi- 

 menting on animals and himself, he found that 

 largo doses could be taken without risk. On 

 killing animals treated with sulphites, and 

 others not so treated, he found that the former 

 were most slow to decompose, and. indeed, re- 

 mained quite fresh when the others were 

 putrescent and offensive. Another series of 

 experiments showed that in one class the ad- 

 ministration of the sulphites was sufficient to 

 effect a more or less rapid cure in cases where 

 blood-poisoning was present, as in fevers. The 

 author did not attribute this to any curative 

 power in the sulphites, but to the fact that 

 they arrested decomposition, and by so doing 

 allowed the animal to recover by the recupera- 

 tive power existing in its own constitution. 

 He thought his observations conclusive as to 

 the excellent influence of the sulphites on the 

 septic diseases, and remarked that it was for 

 the purpose of thus benefiting others that he 

 had brought his researches under the attention 

 of the scientific world. 



Adamantine Anthracite Carbon. In the 

 name of M. le Comte de Douhet, Dumas re- 

 cently presented to the French Academy of 

 Sciences some nodules of mineral carbon, re- 

 markable for their hardness. They were found 

 by Douhet in the hands of a merchant, who 

 supposed them to have come from Brazil. 

 These nodules consisted of singularly concen- 

 tric layers, susceptible of a fine lustre when pol- 

 ished on the lapidary's wheel, having a density 

 of 1.66, and yielding the following results upon 

 analysis: carbon, 97.5; hydrogen, 0.5; oxy- 

 gen, 1.5 ; ash, 0.5 = 100 which is the compo- 

 sition of anthracite. The nodules may be still 

 further described as globular, mammillated, 

 and occasionally possessing a perfect cleavage ; 

 though fragile and brittle, they will scratch all 

 the hardest gems, including the diamond, 

 though common anthracite will not scratch 

 even glass. "When facets are cut upon it, this 

 singular mineral reflects and disperses light 

 with the white lustre characteristic of the dia- 

 mond. The mineral being opaque, cannot de- 

 compose light. These properties of hardness 

 and lustre contrast strangely with the feeble 

 density, anthracite appearance, and composi- 

 tion of this substance. 



At a subsequent session of the Academy, 

 Dumas read a note from Mene, calling atten- 

 tion to some specimens of carbon presenting a 

 similar appearance, which he had obtained ar- 

 tificially by heating in the muffle of a cupel 

 furnace for a long time the anthracite coal of 

 Creuzot. It thus acquired a metallic lustre, 

 steel-gray color, and scratched glass and steel 

 with the cry of the diamond ; its density was 

 1.637; and its composition, carbon, 96.8, vol- 

 atile matter, 1.0, ash, 2.2 = 100. Mene also 



