CHEMISTRY. 



91 



Olermont and Trommel. Suppose that there 

 is a mixture of arsenic, antimony, and tin ; 

 then the authors would convert the whole 

 into sulphides by treatment with sulphuretted 

 hydrogen, after having acidulated with hydro- 

 chloric acid, adding also tartaric acid for the 

 sake of the antimony. When the mixture is 

 saturated it is allowed to stand in a warm place 

 till the odor of sulphuretted hydrogen is no 

 longer perceptible, and is then thrown upon 

 a filter and washed with much care, as the 

 least residue of hydrochloric acid would cause 

 a loss of arsenic in the state of chloride. The 

 whole is then transferred into a flask full of 

 water, and heated to a boil. The reaction is 

 more rapid in a retort through which a current 

 of air is passed. If the quantity of arsenic does 

 not exceed two decigrammes, the distillation 

 of 500 to 600 c. c. of water suffices for the com- 



Elete dissociation of the sulphides. The residue 

 i then filtered, and the entire quantity of the 

 arsenions acid is found in the filtrate, and de- 

 termined by the ordinary methods. 



Action of Water on Metallic Alloys contain- 

 ing Carbon. By acting on spiegeleisen with 

 dilute sulphuric acid, Cloez has succeeded in 

 forming bodies resembling the petroleum hy- 

 drocarbons. On trying the action of pure 

 water at 100 C. no results were obtained, 

 while at 250 0., with superheated steam, a 

 certain action was perceived, which increased 

 with the temperature, being completed at a 

 dark-red heat. The hydrocarbons, however, 

 were again decomposed. The same author 

 later tested a series of manganese alloys, and 

 found that the best results were obtained by 

 means of one containing roughly Mn 85, Fe 6, 

 C 3-5, graphite 4, Si M. Small portions of 

 this, treated with boiling water, decomposed 

 the latter with the evolution of hydrogen, oily 

 drops being simultaneously formed ; and the 

 gas, burning with a luminous flame, showed 

 the presence of hydrocarbons. Another alloy 

 of nearly similar composition gave the fol- 

 lowing results : the flask contained slightly 

 alkaline water with a mixture of iron and 

 manganese oxides in suspension ; the liquid 

 hydrocarbons in the condenser were similar 

 to those previously found, the gases also burn- 

 ing with luminous flames. He has thus shown 

 that water alone at the proper temperature 

 decomposes manganese-iron alloys containing 

 carbon. 



Nature of the so-called Elements. In view 

 of Mr. Norman Lockyer's reported discovery 

 of the composite nature of many of the so- 

 called "elements," it is of interest to note the 

 opinion of a prominent chemical writer touch- 

 ing this matter a short time before the publi- 

 cation of the alleged discovery. Professor Pat- 

 tison Muir writes : 



I think that I am not in error in saying that the 

 minds of most persons are imbued more or less 

 deeply with the idea that nature is ultimately very 

 simple ; that could we but grasp the great laws of 

 nature, we should find them extremely simple, al- 

 though the results of their actions are so wonderfully 



complex. This belief appears to be deeply rooted 

 in most minds ; yet, if we are to study nature aright, 

 we must set it aside. We must be content to take 

 Nature as she is ; i. e., we must do our best to amass 

 facts, and from these we must draw the conclusions 

 warranted by the facts. Now, as our knowledge of 

 Nature extends, do we find that she becomes to us 

 more and more simple? Yes, and No. It has been 

 now and again given to a gifted few to pierce through 

 the maze of tangled facts and to espy the great prin- 

 ciple which binds them into an harmonious whole. 

 But, even in the case of these great generalizations, 

 exact experiment and observation frequently show 

 that little details have been overlooked that the 

 great simple law is too simple that there are dis- 

 crepancies, very small, it is true, but still there they 

 are, demanding an explanation, telling us that our 

 law does not express the whole of nature's facts. 

 Nature appears to be truly infinite ; and it is well 

 to remember that we^ can never get sensibly nearer a 

 knowledge of an infinity. This idea of the simplicity 

 of nature is very apt to lead us to adopt the hypoth- 

 esis of the non-elementary nature of the elements 

 without sufficient evidence. The idea that all the 

 elements are really compounds of one primary form 

 of matter is a most fascinating idea, it seems to be so 

 much in keeping with the simplicity of nature ; it is 

 so symmetrical, it surely must be true. This is just 

 how the old alchemists reasoned ; we must absolutely 

 forbid these a priori conclusions to influence us as 

 students of nature. The hypothesis of the compound 

 nature of the elements, of the existence of but one, 

 or even of a few primary forms of matter, fits in with 

 the nebular hypothesis of the formation of the worlds, 

 but have we facts to support it ? If one can only come 

 back to facts, we need not fear to start what may 

 appear to be wild and romantic theories. 



The outcome of the whole matter is this : we want 

 more knowledge ; our facts are few and vague ; there 

 is room for almost unlimited work. Ask Nature ; 

 trust her : be skeptical of your own interpretations 

 of her answers. 



Perhaps even more worthy of note are the 

 remarks made by Mr. Herbert Spencer, some 

 years ago, on the bearings of spectroscopic 

 research on the nature of the elements : 



Spectrum analysis yields results wholly irrecon- 

 eilable with the assumption that the conventionally 

 named simple substances are really simple. Each 

 yields a spectrum having lines varying in numher 

 from two to eighty or more, every one of which im- 

 plies the intercepting of ethereal undulations of a 

 pertain order by something oscillating in unison or 

 in harmony with them. Were iron absolutely ele- 

 mentary, it is not conceivable that its atom could 

 intercept ethereal undulations of eighty different 

 orders ; though it does not follow that its molecule 

 contains as many separate atoms as there are lines 

 in the spectrum, it must clearly be a complex mole- 

 cule. Still more clearly is this general implication 

 confirmed by facts furnished by nitrogen, the spec- 

 trum of which has two quite different sorts of lines, 

 and changes from one sort to the other as the tem- 

 perature is varied. The evidence thus gained points 

 to the conclusion that out of some primordial units 

 the so-called elements arise, by compounding and 

 recompounding ; just as by the compounding and 

 recompounding of so-called elements there arise 

 oxides and acids and salts. 



The Determination of Organic Matter hi 

 Water- Analysis. The important question of 

 determining the organic purity of drinking- 

 water was the subject of discussion at one of 

 the meetings of the London Chemical Society, 

 when a very elaborate paper was read by Dr. 

 Meymott Tidy. He considered at length the ad- 



