CHEVALIER, MICHEL. 



CHILI. 



137 



ter, but the organic carbon estimation ia trustworthy ; 

 the nrjfiitiif niin^'i-ii ill-termination, however, scarcely 

 y ifli In absolutely trustworthy evidence on which to 

 WOnd mi opinion as to the probable source of the or- 

 ganic mutter. The oxygen process avoids the errors 

 in. i'K'iital to evaporation ; its results are constant and 

 t-xtn 'in. -ly delicate: it draws a sharp line between pu- 

 tresoent or probably pernicious and non-putrescent or 

 probably harmless organic matter. By it a bad water 

 would never be passed aa good. As far as the three 

 processes are concerned, the oxygen and combustion 

 processes give closely concordant results, while those 

 yidtled by the ammonia process are often at direct 

 variance with both. 



New JElementt. Toward the end of last year 

 M. Marignac discovered in erbia, which up to 

 that time had been considered as the oxide of 

 a single metal, erbium, the oxide of a new ele- 

 ment, which he called ytterbium. On March 

 24, 1879, M. Nilson announced the discovery 

 of another new element, which he had ex- 

 tracted from ytterbia, and which he named 

 scandium. M. Cleve some weeks later found 

 the same metal in the gadolinite and yttrotita- 

 nite of Norway. He has examined its charac- 

 ters, and finds that it occurs only in minute 

 quantities, and forms but one oxide, scandia, 

 which has the formula ScaOi, and is a perfect- 

 ly white, light, infusible powder, resembling 

 magnesia. The strongest acids attack it witli 

 difficulty, though it is more soluble in acids 

 than is alumina. It dissolves more readily in 

 hydrochloric than nitric acid, and is insoluble 

 in an excess of ammonia or of caustic potash. 

 The specific gravity of scandia is given approxi- 

 mately as 3'8. Its hydrate is a white bulky 

 precipitate resembling hydrate of alumina. 

 The atomic weight of scandium is 45'12. M. 

 C16ve also announces the probable existence 

 of two other new metals in erbia, to which he 

 has given the provisional names of thallium 

 and holmium. 



A New Volatile Alkaloid. In a preliminary 

 note in the "American Chemical Journal," 

 Mr. W. L. Dudley reports the discovery of a 

 volatile alkaloid in Spigelia marilandica or 

 pinkroot, the existence of which he was led to 

 suspect by the circumstance that the peculiar 

 medicinal properties of the plant are apt to 

 deteriorate with time. The several steps of 

 the process by which the new alkaloid was 

 isolated are given by the author, together with 

 some of the more important reactions which 

 serve to distinguish it from other volatile alka- 

 loids. The investigation is not yet completed, 

 " but enough was done to distinctly indicate 

 the presence of a new volatile base, to which 

 I naturally apply the name spigelina" 



CHEVALIER, MICHEL, a French political 

 economist, born January 13, 1806, died No- 

 vember 28, 1879. He was educated at the 

 Polytechnic School and the School of Mines, 

 and shortly before the Revolution of July, 1880, 

 was appointed engineer in the department of 

 Nord. Ardently embracing the doctrines of 

 Fourier and St. Simon, he wrote several arti- 

 cles for the " Organisatenr." and then became 

 editor-in-chief of the u Globe," which was the 



organ of the St. Simonists. Upon the outbreak 

 of their schism he followed Enfautin, and took 

 a leading part in the preparation of the " I.i- 

 vre Nouveau." The cirular announcing the 

 death of Madame Enfantin, mother of "Notre 

 Pere Supreme," was signed by " Michel Che- 

 valier, Apotre." He was a cardinal in Enfan- 

 tiu's sacred college, and in 1835 was sentenced 

 to twelve months' imprisonment. M. Thiers 

 procured his release at the end of six months, 

 and his dispatch to the United States to study 

 railway and water communications. Ho wrote 

 a series of letters to the " Journal des D6bats," 

 which were afterward collected and published 

 under the title "Lettres sur l'Am6rique du 

 Nord " (2 vols., 4th edit., 1842), and attracted 

 much attention. In 1837 he was sent to Eng- 

 land to report on the commercial crisis, and 

 upon his return published " Des Intfirets Ma- 

 t6riels en France, Travaux Publics, Routes, 

 Canaux, Chemins de Fer" (7th edit., 1843). 

 He was successively appointed Councilor of 

 State in 1838, Professor of Political Economy 

 in the College de France in 1840, and Chief En- 

 gineer of Mines in 1841 ; and in 1845 he was 

 elected a deputy from Aveyron. In the Cham- 

 ber he voted with the Conservative majority, 

 while at the same time he advocated the most 

 liberal industrial ideas in the "Journal des D6- 

 bats." After the Revolution of 1848, he com- 

 bated the socialistic theories of Louis Blanc, 

 and in his " Lettres sur 1'Organisation du Tra- 

 vail" (1848) defended the old system of politi- 

 cal economy, which was then bitterly attacked 

 by the different new schools. He accepted the 

 Empire in 1852, and was appointed an ordinary 

 Councilor of State ; but the protectionists pre- 

 vented his readmission to the Supreme Coun- 

 cil of Commerce. He was an ardent free- 

 trader, and took a leading part in negotiating 

 the Anglo-French commercial treaty of 1860, 

 after which he was elevated to the Senate. He 

 presided over the French juries at the South 

 feensington Exhibition of 1862, and edited the 

 reports on the Paris Exhibition of 1867. Af- 

 ter the overthrow of the Empire he took no 

 part in political affairs, which with him were 

 always subordinate to political economy. At 

 the time of the Californian and Australian gold 

 discoveries he advocated a silver standard, but 

 of late years was an opponent of Cernuschi's 

 plan of bimetallism. Among his principal 

 works are : " Cours d'Economie Politique " 

 (8 vols., 1842-'50; new edit, of vol. iii., under 

 the title "La Monnaie," 1866), "Essais de 

 Politique Industrielle " (1843), and " Examen 

 du Systeme Protecteur " (1851) ; besides works 

 on the United Stiites, the war in Mexico, an- 

 cient and modern Mexico, and on the Isthmus 

 of Panama. Many of his works have been 

 translated into English. 



CHILI (REpfrBUCA DE CHILE). The most 

 recent phases of the pending Patagonian ques- 

 tion between Chili and her eastern neighbor 

 have been recorded in the article ARGENTINE 

 REPUBLIC in the present volume; but it will 



