CHEMISTRY. 



approximation to the real content of unsaponi- 

 fiable matter. The author's experience in the 

 case of pure wool fats has shown that there is 

 a tolerably constant relation between the results 

 obtained by extraction with benzoline and the 

 titration values, such relation depending on the 

 amount of cholesterin and similar bodies in the 

 grease. The connection is sufficiently constant 

 to allow of its use for determining the presence 

 of mineral oil or resin oil in wool fat, and thus 

 to give a valuable indication as to the purity or 

 otherwise of the sample. 



Free hydroxylamine, NHjOH, has been isolat- 

 ed by M. Lobry de Bruyn. From the preliminary 

 account which the author has published of his 

 method, it appears to have been obtained by the 

 successive treatment of hydroxylamine hydro- 

 chloride with methyl alcohol, sodium, and ether. 

 It is a very hygroscopic crystalline substance, 

 rapidly liquefying from the absorption of water 

 when exposed to the air, melting at 33 C., and 

 in the liquid state having the capability of rapid- 

 ly dissolving metallic salts ; is without odor, 

 heavier than water; decomposes violently when 

 rapidly heated upon platinum foil, with produc- 

 tion of a large sheet of bright-yellow flame, and 

 is very slightly soluble in liquid carbon com- 

 pounds. The vapor attacks corks, so that the 

 solid requires to be preserved in glass-stoppered 

 bottles. It appears also to act upon cellulose. 

 The pure crystals are very stable, but the solu- 

 tion is less so, it appearing to be affected by the 

 alkalinity of the glass of the vessel, for when 

 froe from dissolved alkali it is perfectly stable. 

 When warmed to a temperature of from 80 to 

 100 C. it is dangerously explosive. 



Diethylene diamine has been obtained by Dr. 

 J. Sieber, of Breslau, by the action of ethylene 

 dibromide upon ethylene diamine, a liquid boil- 

 ing at 123 C. Upon treating the product of 

 this reaction with caustic potash, an oily liquid 

 separated, consisting of a mixture of bases. The 

 separated liquid was dehydrated and then sub- 

 mitted to fractional distillation, when the por- 

 tion boiling between 168 and 175 C. was found 

 to consist of diethylene diamine admixed with a 

 little water. The affinity of the base for water 

 is so great that it was found impossible to re- 

 move the last traces of moisture. Diethylene 

 diamine, however, forms salts which can be iso- 

 lated in a state of purity, the analyses of which 

 prove the composition of the base. The hydro- 

 chloride crystallizes in beautiful white needles, 

 very soluble in water, but insoluble in alcohol. 

 The platino-chloride forms fine needle-shaped 

 crystals, readily soluble in hot water, but soluble 

 with difficulty in boiling alcohol. A beautiful 

 salt is also formed with mercuric chloride. It 

 consists of starlike aggregates of acicular crys- 

 tals, soluble in hot water, but reprecipitated by 

 the addition of alcohol. 



When ammoniacal solutions of vanadates are 

 treated with sulphureted hydrogen a beautiful 

 purple coloration is obtained, which has been 

 presumed to be due to the formation of sulpho- 

 salts. It has not been found possible, however, 

 to obtain such salts by crystallization in vacuum. 

 Ammonium sulphovanadate ((NH 4 ) 3 VS 4 ) has 

 been isolated in large crystals by Drs. Kriiss 

 and Ohumais, whose account of their work also 

 covers the preparation of several other sulpho- 



salts of vanadium. The process is by the action 

 of sulphureted hydrogen on solution of ammo- 

 nium metavanadate (NH 4 V0 8 ) in the strongest 

 ammonia. The crystals consist of opaque rhom- 

 bic prisms resembling those of potassium per- 

 manganate. Their faces are brilliant, and reflect 

 a steel bluish-violet color with a greenish tint 

 when the reflection is received at a certain angle. 

 The mother liquors from the first crystalliza- 

 tions deposit magnificent crystals on being al- 

 lowed to stand in dry air. The substance is 

 obtained more quickly and in large quantity by 

 substituting potassium or sodium vanadate for 

 the ammonium vanadate used in the original 

 process; but it is remarkable that no potassium 

 or sodium sulphovanadate is found in the prod- 

 uct. The crystals of ammonium sulphovanadate 

 are permanent in dry air but are slowly decom- 

 posed with evolution of sulphureted hydrogen in 

 moist air. They are readily soluble in water, 

 forming a solution that is colored intensely vio- 

 let even when very dilute. 



For the detection of the higher alcohols in 

 ethylic alcohol, M. C. Bardy first ascertains, by 

 treatment with sodium chloride, whether the 

 sample is rich in the higher alcohols or not. 

 Two cases may occur: First, the salt water re- 

 tains the whole of the original liquid in solu- 

 tion ; or, second, an oily layer collects at the 

 upper part of the tube. The procedure is the 

 same in both cases, only the quantity of alcohol 

 to be operated upon varies. The butyl ic ar.d 

 amylic alcohols are extracted by treatment with 

 carbon disulphide, washing with sulphuric acid, 

 and etherification with acetic acid. If the alco- 

 hol in question contains higher alcohols there 

 will be formed upon the surface of the liquid an 

 oily layer of acetic ethers more or less abundant. 

 These ethers are then estimated, and the per- 

 centage of butylic and amylic alcohols is calcu- 

 lated. If the mixture contains propylic alcohol, 

 it must be sought for in the salty alcoholic 

 liquid which has been exhausted with carbon 

 disulphide, by redistilling it. 



Palladium and platinum being precipitated 

 by the electric current from their solutions in 

 the presence of an excess of an alkaline phos- 

 phate and free phosphoric acid, while metallic 

 iridium under similar conditions is not precipi- 

 tated, Edgar F. Smith describes experiments 

 that show that the separation of palladium and 

 platinum from iridium can be effected in this 

 way without difficulty. 



The fact that strontium, as demonstrated by 

 his previous experiments, can be separated quan- 

 titatively from calcium by boiling the nitrates 

 with amyl alcohol, suggested to Mr. P. E. Brown- 

 ing a separation of barium from calcium by the 

 same general treatment. The process proved in 

 the experiments to be so rapid in execution and 

 so satisfactory in its results that the author be- 

 lieves it may be placed among good analytical 

 methods. 



Analyses of boiler incrustations made by Prof. 

 V. B. Lewes three years ago indicated that the 

 incrustations derived from fresh water consist 

 of impure carbonate of lime, those from sea 

 water of sulphate of lime, and those from brnck- 

 ish water of a mixture of the two. These differ- 

 ences in the deposits are important, because they 

 enable the shipowner to come to a conclusion 



