88 



CHEMISTRY. 



purification which it is not necessary to de- 

 scribe. In the Forty-first Street works the 

 process is made continuous by admitting the air 

 to one series of retorts at the same moment that 

 the steam is let into another series, from which 

 the air, deprived of a portion of its oxygen, has 

 already been shut off. The manganates can 

 he used over and over again, and, theoretically, 

 require no renewal. The oxygen thus pro- 

 duced is delivered through pipes, like common 

 street gas, and, when used in connection with 

 the latter on the familiar plan of the oxy- 

 hydrogen-light, produces a flame of intense 

 brilliancy and beauty, white, like sunlight, and 

 showing objects in their true colors. After 

 making many experiments to determine the 

 best material for a pencil upon which to im- 



ne the gases at their point of combustion, 

 u Motay found that oxide of zirconium 

 offered the best advantages ; and that substance 

 is now used with his light in preference to cal- 

 cium or magnesia. The zirconia pencils are 

 about one-eighth of an inch thick, and require 

 renewal not oftener than once a month when 

 in constant use. This new oxyhydrogen-light 

 is gradually being introduced into large edifices 

 in this city, and gives general satisfaction. The 

 actual cost is the practical point yet to be deter- 

 mined ; but the company claim that the use of 

 their gas, with the diminished amount of street 

 gas that will be necessary in connection with 

 it, will result in a great saving of the present 

 expense, and give an infinitely better light. It 

 is proposed to lay pipes through the city for 

 the delivery of this gas to consumers now using 

 the street gas; and unless the company are 

 greatly disappointed in their expectations, this 

 city will soon be the best-lighted one in the 

 world, and the new oxyhydrogen-light will 

 take the place of other existing means of arti- 

 ficial illumination in cities and towns. 



Sulphide-of- Carbon Light. M. de Wistanley 

 has invented an apparatus, consisting of a 

 water-bath, heated by a Bunsen gas-burner, 

 within which bath is placed a vessel to hold 

 bisulphide of carbon, the outer and inner ves- 

 sels being firmly soldered together, and the 

 outer vessel being provided with a neck to 

 hold a thermometer serving to indicate the 

 temperature at which the bisulphide of carbon 

 in the inner^ vessel boils. 



The inner vessel is provided with a neck, 

 closed by a well-fitting cap when the apparatus 

 is in use, for the introduction of the fluid bisul- 

 phide of carbon ; besides this, there is soldered 

 to the inner vessel a gas-pipe of small bore, 

 which pipe projects at a convenient height 

 above the outer vessel ; to this pipe is soldered 

 and connected at right angles another pipe, 

 provided with a stop-cock, and further con- 

 nected, by means of elastic tubing, with a gas- 

 holder containing oxygen gas made from 

 chlorate of potash. After the application of 

 gas-flame beneath the water-bath, the ther- 

 mometer is watched, until it indicates that the 

 vapor of the bisulphide of carbon is issuing 



from the burner (from the gas-pipe connected 

 with the inner vessel) ; the heat is allowed to 

 continue beneath the water-bath until the 

 flame reaches the flaring-point, when it is less- 

 ened almost to extinction. The oxygen gas 

 is then cautiously introduced, upon which the 

 flame at once diminishes in size and increases 

 greatly in brilliancy. This light is proposed 

 for use in photography on account of its great 

 actinism ; as a source of intense heat, it may 

 also perhaps be recommended. British Jour- 

 nal of Photography. 



Substitution of /Sodium for Phosphorus in 

 Lucifer Matches. Dr. H. Flack, of Dresden, 

 has made a series of experiments, with a view 

 to obtain a non-poisonous paste for application 

 to lucifer matches. He ascertained that sodi- 

 um, when minutely divided along with explo- 

 sive substances, becomes highly inflammable 

 when simply moistened with water. The fol- 

 lowing mixture fulfilled the desired purpose 

 the best. On being touched with a moistened 

 glass rod, it ignited like gunpowder : 



6.0 grammes of sodium, = 4.65 per cent. 



66.0 " nitrate of potash =61.39 " 



36.5 " sulphide of antimony.. =33.96 " 



Provided that during its manufacture this mixture 

 is kept thoroughly dry, it has been found to answer 

 admirably well. The mode of making it up is briefly 

 as follows : Pure solid paraffin is put into a well- 

 stoppered glass flask, and melted over a sand bath. 

 when fluid, clean pieces of sodium are added, and 

 liquefied under the paraffin. As soo"n as the metal is 

 thoroughly liquefied, the flask is closed and shaken 

 for about ten minutes, which has the effect of granu- 

 lating the metal, or rather reducing it to a fine pow- 

 der. The metal is then poured out of the flask along 

 with the paraffin, and the sodium taken out of the 

 paraffin by means of a clean dry spoon : from 30 to 35 

 per cent, of paraffin remains adhering to the metal ; 

 this, however, does not impair its inflammability, 

 while it tends to preserve the metal. Owing to this 

 increase, instead of 5 grammes, 6.6 grammes of the 

 metallic powder thus obtained must be weighed off'. 

 The incorporation with the other ingredients, pre- 

 viously well dried and warm, is effected under petro- 

 leum in metallic mortars, but each of the substances 

 is first mixed with some petroleunij and pulverized 

 separately before being triturated with the sodium ; 

 instead of gum or glue, caoutchouc, previously soaked 

 in light petroleum-oil at 110 C. for ten or twelve 

 hours, is used as mass to form an adhesive paste with 

 the other materials. According to several accounts 

 from Germany, this plan of substituting sodium for 

 phosphorus has been favorably taken up by some of 

 the largest and leading manufacturers of lucifer and 

 fusee matches. There is said to be not the least dan- 

 ger in the transport. 



Ozone and /Sea-Phosphorescence. Dr. J. 

 Moffat has laid before the British Association 

 a theory, establishing a connection between 

 the phosphorescence of the sea and the varia- 

 tion of ozone in the atmosphere. He was led 

 to its adoption by observations, taken between 

 latitudes 58 and 79 K, and longitudes 6 E. 

 and 67 W., as presented in the annexed tables: 



TABLE I. 



Showing the Amount of Ozone with (at Sea} 



BAROMETER. 



DIRECTIONS OF THE WIND. 



PHOSPHOI 



CENC8. 



Increasing. Decreasing. N. to E. S. E. S. to VV. N. W. None. Brilliant. 



2.9 4.7 1.6 2.7 3.7 3.2 2.4 3.0 



