112 



CHEMISTEY. 



nitrous vapors, the reaction being left feebly al- 

 kaline. The bulk of the alumina and silica is 

 thrown down. The filtrate yields, on the addi- 

 tion of nitrate of baryta, a precipitate, vana- 

 cliate of baryta, -from which the vanadic acid 

 is easily separated. To make fine vanadic ink, 

 one part of pyrogallol is ground very fine with 

 three parts of gum-arabic and three parts vana- 

 diate of ammonia, with the addition of rain- 

 water. 



Preservation of Wine. M. Paul Bert has 

 discovered that wines may be kept for an in- 

 definite length of time without becoming sour, 

 if they be subjected to the action of compressed 

 air, or, what is the same thing, so far as the pre- 

 vention of acetification is concerned, to super- 

 oxygenated air. He put some spores of Myco- 

 derma vini and of M. aceti in new wine which 

 had been subjected to the action of air super- 

 oxygenated to a degree equal to a pressure 

 of thirty atmospheres. The bottle containing 

 the wine was then carefully sealed. Later, 

 when the cork was drawn, the wine was found 

 to be perfectly free from acidity ; it had pre- 

 served all its bouquet ; was but* slightly bit- 

 ter, and was flatter, less alcoholic, than wine 

 not treated with oxygenized air. There was 

 no trace left of the Mycoderma. Thus these 

 ferments had been killed by the excess of oxy- 

 gen. At the same time the organic matters 

 had been slowly oxidized, and the wine resem- 

 bled wines that have grown too old. Possibly, 

 by the use of oxygen, new wine might acquire 

 some of the qualities of wines that have re- 

 mained in cellars for a number of years. 



Experiments on the Cultivation of the Sugar- 

 Beet. Prof. 0. Anthony Goessmann, of the 

 Massachusetts Agricultural College, communi- 

 cates to the American Chemist the following 

 notes of his experiments on the cultivation of 

 the sugar-beet. A piece of land, 287 feet long 

 and 150 feet wide, running from north to 

 south, and consisting of a brown, sandy loam, 

 which had been* well manured with stable- 

 manure two seasons previous, was divided 

 into six plats of equal size. These plats ran 

 from east to west across the main field ; from 

 two to three feet of space was left between 

 adjoining lots. Each lot was separately ma- 

 nured; all manures were applied at the same 

 time, about two weeks before planting the 

 seeds. The various kinds of sugar-beets were 

 planted in rows running from north to south, 

 passing thus through all the plats treated with 

 different fertilizers. 



Plat No. 1 received no fertilizer. 



No. 2 received crude potassium sulphate from Stass- 

 furt, at the rate of 300 Ibs. per acre. This potash 

 fertilizer contained 54 per cent, of potassium sul- 

 phate, or 29.3 potassium oxide. 



No. 3 was treated with kainite and superphosphate 

 of bone-meal, at the rate of 300 Ibs. each per acre. 

 The former . contained 28 per cent, of sulphate of 

 potassa (equal to '15. 2 potassium oxide), and the 

 latter from 10 to 11 per cent, of soluble phosphoric 

 acid. 



No. 4 was manured with a blood-guano containing 

 potash at the rate of 1,200. Ibs. per acre. 



No. 5 received at the rate of 1,200 Ibs. of blood- 

 guano (per acre) withoiit potash. 



No. 6, which represented the most northern por- 

 tion of the experimental field, was manured on the 

 7th of May, 1873, with fresh horse-manure at the rate 

 of 14 tons per acre. 



All the seeds were planted on the 16th of May, 

 1873. Four kinds of seed were turned to account ; 

 they consisted of the two kinds of seeds Vilmorin 

 and Electoral raised during the previous year upon 

 the College farm ; a white sugar-beet received from 

 Freeport, Illinois ; and Button's improved English 

 sugar-beet. The examination of the roots was be- 

 gun on the 6th of October, 1873, and carried on for 

 two successive weeks. The roots selected for testing 

 were of a corresponding size, and their weight from 

 twelve ounces to two pounds apiece. 

 Percentage of Cane-Sugar found in the Juice of fhe 

 Boots raised from the following Seeds : 



The influence of fresh stable manure in the first 

 year is too striking to be passed over without recog- 

 nizing its decidedly injurious character. Even a 

 light sandy loam cannot entirely destroy its peculiar 

 reaction on the composition of the roots. 



New Process for measuring the Alcohol in 

 Wines. If, to a known volume ofyater, larger 

 and larger quantities of alcohol ate added, the 

 density and the superficial tension of the mixt- 

 ures obtained are simultaneously diminished, 

 and consequently there is an increase in the 

 number of drops which they form if allowed 

 to flow slowly from a given aperture. If this 

 aperture has constant dimensions, the number 

 of drops corresponding to each alcoholic mixt- 

 ure is constant also. The difference between 

 the numbers thus found is large enough to fur- 

 nish a basis for a very sensitive alcoholometric 

 method. The instrument proposed is a pipette 

 holding 5 c.c. It is filled with the alcoholic 

 liquid under examination, and the number of 

 drops escaping is counted. From this number 

 the proportion of alcohol is calculated by the 

 aid of tables which the author has drawn up. 

 Slight traces of liquids more diffusible than 

 alcohol, such as acetic ether, greatly increase 

 the number of drops. 



Spontaneous Combustion of Charcoal. When 

 the charcoal intended for use in the manufact- 

 ure of gunpowder is taken from the iron cyl- 

 inders in which it is prepared, it is first placed 

 in iron coolers provided with tight-fitting lids, 

 and allowed to stand for twenty-four hours 

 before it is put into the store-bins. Buf if, 

 says A. F. Hargreaves, of the London Chemical 

 Society, the charcoal is ground twenty-four 

 hours after burning, and is placed in iron cool- 

 ers with the lids off, the temperature gradually 

 rises, and in less than thirty-six hours after- 



