CHEMISTRY. 



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the action of hydriodic acid on amorphous 

 It a|)|irars in crystals, colored reddish 

 nrple b\ ii small taint of free iodine, but, when 

 drifted, colorless, transparent, and somewhat 

 Kxposcd t light, they emit iodine. 

 ,elt i-t -i:{ ('. into a liijuid which boils un- 

 ixwed at 210 ('. 'I'hcy are exceedingly 

 pie, and are decomposed by the moisture 

 itrart. and are instantaneously decoin- 

 d in eoniiiet with water. Huron iodide burns 

 ily wlien lieateil in air or oxygen. 

 When boron iodide is acted upon by phos- 

 innis, boron phospho-di-iodide BPI a , is pro- 

 need, h is a deep red amorphous powder; 

 ells between 190 and 200 C. ; when heated in 

 \ariinm lie-ins to volatilize about 170, the 

 vapor condensing in the cooler part of the tube 

 in red crystals; is very hygroscopic and rapidly 

 leoomposed by water; burns spontaneously in 

 1 'orine ; and inflames when slightly warmed in 

 /gen. 



ond phospho-iodide of boron is repre- 

 mted by the formula BPI, and is formed by the 

 action of sodium or magnesium on a solution of 

 tlie di-iodide just described, or by heating that 

 sul >Mance to 160 C. in a current of hydrogen. 

 It is obtained as a bright-red powder, somewhat 

 -eopic. It volatilizes in a vacuum without 

 fusion at about 210 C., and the vapor condenses 

 when cooled into orange-colored crystals. Heated 

 i) redness, it decomposes into free iodine and 

 ihosphide of boron, BP. By the continued action 

 f dry hydrogen upon the heated compound, the 

 iodide and a portion of the phosphorus are re- 

 oved and u new phosphide of boron, B a P, is 

 itained. 



A specimen of iron-carbon-oxide was exhibited 

 at the British Association, obtained by Messrs. 

 Mond and Langer as an amber-colored liquid, 

 which, on standing, deposits tabular crystals of 

 a darker color and solidifies below 21 C. to a 

 mass of needle-shaped crystals. It boils at 102 

 ''.. but leaves a small quantity of green-colored 

 il behind. Several analyses 'and vapor-density 

 ^'terminations have been made, but it is not yet 

 rtain whether a pure substance has been ob- 

 ined or a mixture of several iron carbonyls. 

 Specimens of nickel-carbon-oxide and metallic 

 ickel obtained from it were exhibited by Ludwig 

 lond at the meeting of the British Association, 

 and an account was given of the discovery and 

 properties of the compound. Chemically, nickel 

 carbon yl is very inactive, and experiments made to 

 introduce thecarbonyl group by its means intoor- 

 ~-.nic substances had been uniformly unsuccess- 

 1. Kxperiments were described that had for 

 eir object the direct extraction of nickel from 

 ? ores by means of carbon monoxide. As long 

 as tin- nickel was combined with arsenic or sul- 

 phur the process was successful on a laboratory 

 le. The ore, matte, or speiss was calcined, 

 iueed by water gas at 450, cooled down to a 

 italile temperature, and treated with carbon 

 onoxide in a suitable apparatus. On exposing 

 heated surface to the gas containing nickei- 

 rbon-oxide, it is possible to produce direct from 

 such gas articles of solid nickel or goods plated 

 with nickel, resembling in every way those ob- 

 tained by galvanic deposition of metals, and re- 

 producing with the same exactitude and fineness 

 any design upon such articles. This result can 

 VOL. xxxi. 8 A 



also be obtained by immersing heated articles in 

 a solution of niekel-carbon-oxide in such solvents 

 as benzol, petroleum, tar oils, etc., or by apply- 

 ing such solution to the heated articles with the 

 brush or otherwise. 



Repeating the work of Messrs. Mond, Langer, 

 and Quinekc on the remarkable compound of 

 nickel and carbon monoxide, Ni(CO) 4 , M. Han- 

 riot has found it a highly poisonous substance, 

 far more deadly than carbon monoxide itself. 

 Blood poisoned by means of it exhibits the char- 

 acteristic absorption spectrum of blood contain- 

 ing carbon monoxide. The oxygen of the air 

 diminishes somewhat the poisonous action of the 

 compound, inasmuch as it promotes dissociation 

 into metallic nickel and carbon monoxide. 



Mr. Waldron Shapleigh exhibited at a recent 

 meeting of the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, 

 some forty specimens of salts of what are called 

 the rare earths, with minerals from which they 

 are obtaine'd, viz., samarskite, zircon crystals, 

 and monazite sand from North Carolina, mona- 

 zite sand from Brazil, gadolinite from Texas, 

 and allanite from Virginia. This was the first 

 time the salts of praseodymium and neodymium 

 have been shown and probably separated in this 

 country ; the separation of these elements is long 

 and tedious. 1 he specimens shown had under- 

 gone nearly 400 fractional distillations, and had 

 been in a state of constant preparation since 

 early in 1888. Tons of cerite and monazite sand 

 had been used, and tons of the salts of cerium and 

 lanthanum obtained, but the yield of praseo- 

 dymium was only a few kilogrammes. The per- 

 centage of neodymium was much higher. Zir- 

 conium, lanthanum, and cerium should no longer 

 be classed among rare earths, as hundreds of 

 tons of ores from which they are obtained have 

 been located in North Carolina, and there seems 

 no end to the deposits of monazite sand, one of 

 the richest ores, and containing most of the rare 

 earths. In Brazil it does not have to be mined, 

 as it is in the form of river sand. In North 

 Carolina it is found in washing for gold. 



A new crystalline carbohydrate, of the com- 

 position Ci^HOi8, called stachyose, has been 

 extracted by Drs. Von Planta and Schulze from 

 the bulbs of JStachys luberifera. The crystals 

 and their aqueous solution possess a faint, sweet, 

 sugar-like taste, and the solution in water, which 

 is of neutral reaction, rotates the plane of polari- 

 zation strongly to the right. From its proper- 

 ties it is assigned to the group of carbohydrates 

 called by Prof. Tollens crystallizable polysaccha- 

 rides, in which are included raffinose or mellitose, 

 gentianose, and lactosine. Stachyose resembles 

 Factosine very closely, especially in the forma- 

 tion of galactose on inversion, but is distinguished 

 from it by its lower dextro-rotatory power. 



An important scries of new compounds the 

 ketazines has been obtained by Prof. Curt ins, 

 resulting from the action of hydrazine hydrate 

 upon ketones. The simplest of these, which is 

 obtained by the action of hydrazine hydrate 

 upon acetone, is a clear liquid possessing a 

 sharp odor somewhat resembling that of alka- 

 loid coniine. By employing other ketones, a 

 large number, of" the Ketazines have been pre- 

 pared. Those containing fatty radicles are 

 liquids, and those containing aromatic groups 

 are solids. The lowest members only dissolve in 



