106 



CHEMISTRY. 



ger has isolated a well-characterized alkaloid, 

 which he calls tetanine, from the liquid used 

 for cultivating a bacillus which has been sup- 

 posed to cause tetanus traumaticus in animals. 

 His experiments raise the question whether 

 the bacillus or the tetanine is the immediate 

 cause of the disorder. It remains to be deter- 

 mined whether the alkaloid is a secretion or 

 other product of the life of the bacillus, when 

 the bacillus would be the primary cause and 

 the tetanine the secondary or immediate cause 

 of disease ; or, whether it is a direct result 

 of chemical action in the cultivating liquid. 



About 300 cases of cheese-poisoning having 

 occurred in Michigan in 1883-'84, all traceable 

 to the eating of twelve different cheeses, Vic- 

 tor C. Vaughn examined specimens of all the 

 cheeses, in order to detect the toxic agent. 

 The cheeses were in good condition, with 

 nothing in the taste or odor to excite suspi- 

 cion ; but from a freshly-cut surface there ex- 

 uded numerous drops of a slightly opalescent 

 fluid, which reddened litmus instantly and in- 

 tensely. It was also observed that when 

 samples of this cheese and of a good cheese 

 were placed before a cat or a dog, the animal 

 would invariably select the good cheese; while 

 it would eat the poisonous cheese if no other 

 were offered. From an alcoholic extract of 

 the cheese a residue was collected which pro- 

 duced the symptoms of poisoning, but from 

 which the poison itself could not be separated. 

 The aqueous extract was also poisonous, but 

 when evaporated at the boiling-point of water, 

 carried off the poison with the vapor, proving 

 the poison to be volatile. Distillation at a low 

 temperature likewise seemed to cause a decom- 

 position of the poison. It was, however, sepa- 

 rated by spontaneous evaporation in needle- 

 shaped crystals, having a penetrating, old- 

 cheesy odor, like that which Hussemann and 

 Boehm have observed in poisonous sausage. 

 If the crystals are allowed to stand exposed to 

 the air at ordinary temperature, they decom- 

 pose with the formation of an organic acid. 

 The substance, which is called tyrotoxicon, is 

 soluble in water, alcohol, chloroform, and 

 ether. The smallness of the amounts obtained 

 and the rapid decomposition have prevented 

 definite analysis. The only certain test for 

 the poisons is the physiological one. A few 

 drops of an aqueous solution of the crystals 

 placed upon the tongue produce the symptoms 

 characteristic of poisonous cheese: dryness of 

 the throat, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. 

 The same poison recognized by its crystalline 

 appearance and its physiological effects, was 

 isolated from milk which had stood in a glass- 

 stoppered bottle for about six months. Normal 

 milk placed in perfectly clean bottles secured 

 with glass-stoppers, developed the poison in 

 about three months. In the case of the poi- 

 soning of a number of persons by ice-cream, 

 the effect was traced to tjrotoxicon ; and in this 

 instance the poison was found to have been 

 formed after exposure, under favorable bac- 



teriological conditions, for only a few hours. It 

 is known that milk, while undergoing the lac- 

 tic-acid fermentation, does not possess any 

 such poisonous properties as belong to tyrotoxi- 

 con ; and there is no evidence that the poison 

 is connected with the ordinary decomposition 

 of milk. It is probably the product of a pe- 

 culiar bacterial fermentation. 



A new amorphous modification of arsenic 

 has been obtained by Geuther, by slowly adding 

 cold water to a mixture of arsenic trichloride 

 and phosphorus trichloride, and heating the 

 whole to boiling. It is brownish black in col- 

 or, and has a specific gravity of 3'70 ; ordinary 

 amorphous arsenic is black, and has a specific 

 gravity of 4*71. 



Mr. Fletcher has obtained a third crystalline 

 form of carbon by treating an Australian me- 

 teoric iron with aqua regia. Bright opaque 

 grayish-black crystals remained, having a me- 

 tallic luster, and presenting forms belonging 

 to the cubic system. The hardness is con- 

 siderably greater than that of graphite, which 

 the crystals otherwise resemble in density, col- 

 or, and streak, but their sharply-defined cu- 

 bic forms are quite different from the indis- 

 tinct tabular crystals of graphite. 



W. F. Hillebrand has described a new min- 

 eral from Tombstone, Arizona, which is called 

 Emmonsite. It is yellowish green, tran 

 cent, and occurs in crystalline scales and 

 patches in a brownish gangue, composed of 

 lead- carbonate, quartz, and a brown substance 

 containing iron, tellurium, and water. It is 

 probably monoclinic, and slightly pleochroic. 

 Its specific gravity is about 5. In composition 

 it is a hydrated telluride of iron, usually con- 

 taining a trace of selenium. 



A new chlorobromide of silicon chlorotri- 

 bromide, SiClBr 3 has been isolated by Prof. 

 Emerson Reynolds from crude silicon tetra- 

 bromide. It is a liquid which fumes in the 

 air, and on addition of water is decomposed 

 into a mixture of silicic, hydrobromic, and hy- 

 drochloric acids. It is of considerable theo- 

 retical interest, inasmuch as it completes a se- 

 ries of compounds in which chlorine and bro- 

 mine mutually replace each other, and the 

 end-members of which are formed by the tet- 

 rachloride and tetrabromide of silicon, re- 

 spectively, as follow: SiCh, SiCUBr, SiC] 3 Br s , 

 SiClBr 3 , and SiBr 4 . This series is now perfectly 

 analogous to the one formed by the compounds 

 of chlorine and bromine with carbon. 



Gottig has described two new hydrates of 

 potassium hydroxide, which were obtained 

 from alcoholic solutions having different spe- 

 cific gravities. The hydrate from the stronger 

 solution forms large prismatic crystals, and gives 

 the formula (KOH) 2 (H 2 O) 8 . The other hy- 

 drate, (KOH)a (H a O) 6 , forms exceedingly long 

 needles which split in drying into fine fila- 

 ments, causing the mass to resemble cotton- 

 wool ; and on complete drying these unite again 

 to form a hard, compact mass. 



Kew Processes. Mr. Castner's new process for 



