CHKMISTRY. 



sible is limited, the liquid being in stable equilib- 

 rium except toward a ready formed crystal. To 

 tins he gives the name meta*tal>l<. At 



lower temperatures no nuclei are necessary, and the 

 crystals form spontaneously. He concludes that 

 when a system piam from any given oondit. 

 a more stable one it will not pass int.. the state 

 which under the circumstances is the most M 

 but int.. that which is nearest t. th.- .-ru-mal state, 

 .-iiu by Zeltnsky with two hydrocarbons 

 obtained by rsdttotfoa from hi-xnmrth>:- 



one by means of line ami hydrochloric a. id. and 

 the other by zinc and hvdn.du- acid prove that 

 the former is the true hexamethylene, while the 

 second is identical with methyljH-ntamcthylene. 

 iiexamethrlene ring, therefore, under the in- 

 fluence of hydriodio add at 28o r. changes into a 

 more stable i.-- i nature of this 



ijs agrees with , . ." ac- 



whteh the jentamethylene ring is more 

 stable than any other. 



Kxperiments ,-n the relative transparency of the 

 alkali metals to the RBntgen rays, recorded by I'r -f. 

 ivangoni indicate lithium as the most trans- 

 IMUVIII metal; but iU transparency <!.., -x not increase 

 with the thickness. An anomaly exhibited in the 

 greater transparency of sodium 'relative to potas- 

 sium suggests that the transparency for thes. 

 is a function of atomic weight as we'll as of density. 



Liquid sidjthur at 440 C. absorbs hydrogen sul- 

 phide, and gives it out on solidifying. This, M. A. 

 II. IVIabon observes, can hardly be a true case of a 

 solution of a gas in a liquid, for ft is found that the 

 amount absorbed increases with the temperature, 

 and is given out only on solidifying, while no gas is 

 given out by the solution in liquid sulphur, even 

 into a vacuum. 



V v ^ i. uires. In his work on gadolinite 

 and samarskite earths, Delafontaine came to the 

 lied in 1878 and 1880, that the 

 yellow oxide erbia discovered by Mi minder in 1843 

 contained two earths, which he called f rfn'n and. 

 philimna. The individuality of philippia was de- 

 nied oy two English chemists; but M. Marignac 

 mentioned it in a paper on the samarskite earths in 

 1880, and Mr. \V. Crookcs. who first rejected it, has 

 mentioned it amone some of his fractional products 

 of yttria. The author has since made an invcstiga- 

 tioii of the fergusonite earths, which, though in- 

 complete, enables him, as he believes, to show that 

 the characteristics of philippiutn are such as to d< - 

 serve the attention of those who are diwii in- the 

 periodic law and the necessary modificati..' 

 MendeleelTs classification of elements. Philippiutn 

 has been found in gadolinite. samarskite, and the 

 Texas mineral described as fergusonite. It is more 

 closely allied to cerium and terbium than to any 

 other of the yttrium and cerium metals. Its equiva- 

 lent, the color of its subnitrates and that of the 

 philippic salts, and the solubility of its formiate, 

 separate it from terbium. These characteristics and 

 the solution of potaasiom-phflippo sulphate in po- 

 tassium-sulphate solutions distinguish it from the 

 two c M. Brauner and M. S.-hnt/.-nt. 



It ap|Kar* in two sets of compounds, the phili; 

 and the philippic, corresponding to a white n< -id 

 and an orange oxide. The salts of the first series 

 an- aolofiesm, ndtf - iMe, p simlly erystallin \v.-il. 

 and correspond to the lanthanum and yttrium salts. 

 Philippic oxide has a deep orange- nl color. Al- 

 though philippiutn shows a very close resemblance 

 nu in and cerium, the constitution of its com- 

 pounds remains to be established by crystallography 

 or otherwise. 



O. O. Boucher, of Ulverston. England, has pub- 

 lished his reasons for sup posing that a new element 

 or new elements other than the substances usu- 



ally found mav exist in ca<t-in.n and blast-furnace 



i lie sulislaiice in question obtained 



from cast iron is a black powder, slightly soluble in 

 cold irochloric and sulphuric acids, and 



very little ,i.lc on boiling in those acids. 



It i soluble in dilute and strong nitric and. and 

 .Me in aqii.i i leaied in a cur- 



rent d into a yellow 



. Its properties are further d.-eribeil 'm the 

 antli The substance in boiler du-t is 



similar to this in every re>pect but one. It ha- the 

 same aspect and form'- an ..\idc similar in a| 

 ance, which produces the same chemical changes 

 with tin- reagents e\p, rnm-nted upon. -\ccpt \\iih 

 the bichloride of tin. It i- pr.-ent in boikrdus! in 

 so minute quantities as to l>< mon- dillicult to sepa- 

 rate than in thecas. .dchi-misis 

 have pointed out similarities in properties and 



ttoM of this inbstaiioe M described by Mr. i.oucher 



with those of certain other substances whose j-res- 

 ence in cast iron is common, and are IP 

 to accept the hypothesis of a new element. 



The di-eoVery of a IleW seljrs ,,f rompolU; 



very great Interest i- announced by MM. ('on-tam 

 and A. von Han en. It was known th.v 

 troly/ing the alkaline carbonates, M a ('(>j, we ob- 

 tain hydrogen and the hydrate of the constituent 

 base at the cathode, and at the anode oxygen and 

 carbonic acid, which recmnbines with a part of the 

 base to form bicarbonate. The authors ha 



I that if we electroly/e a saturated solution of 

 carbonate of potash and gradually lower the tem- 

 perature, the disengagement of oxygen gradually 

 diminis|i(>s at the anode, and finally ceases about 

 lo c. : and further, instead of a crystalline W- 



carlM.nate being formed, we have a bluish ani(r- 

 phous jKiwder. shown by anal\sis to , 

 KaC^Oajthis is |.rr<-;irl"Uiate of pota mm. In 

 explanation of its formation it is assumed that 

 the carbonate of potassium in sain rated solution 

 first becomes dissociated into ions K and 1. 

 when electrolysis intervenes the two ions !'<>, 

 unite to form" the body !<,('.,(>,. The ph. ; 

 non does not occur in dilute solutions, as tli- 

 b'.nate of potassium splits up into the io: 

 and CO,. The carbonate obtained in the manner 

 described above should be quickly thn.wn on a fil- 

 ter and dried over phosphoric anhydride. From 

 certain reaotioni de-crib-d in their paper tin- au- 

 thors conclude that the new lody js in reality the 

 neutral carbonate of a higher oxide, peroxide of 



potassium. It besides produces ill the presence of 



acids, like the higher alkaline oxides and the alka- 

 line earths, peroxide of hydrogen. 



L. I'runier ob^rves that in the study of the 

 preparation of ordinary ether by means of -\i\- 

 phuric acid and alcohol most workers have omitted 



to take ailV Iiotiee of tile presence of Slllphollic 



and their derivatives. This group of 1 todies is, 

 however, to be found in notable (juant it ies in <-,,m- 

 mercial ethers. It is also found in considerable 

 proportions in the oils that have been n-ed in the 

 rectification of the raw product. Ily direct experi- 

 ment it is possible to prove the formation of A 

 sulphonic derivatives, especially toward tin end "f 

 the operation. To separate the derivative- actually 

 formed by the action of sulphuric acid, it sufli 



nlphonio acjrl with dilute sulphuric acid to 

 1 10 ('.. then add a little alcohol. P.y tin's Ml , 

 small quantity of ordinary ether is formed, an' 1 

 eral sulphonic derivativ- - :ng volatilities, 



some of which even distill over with the ether. 

 They are formed in greatest abundance when the 

 temJKrature exceeds 140 C., and, above all, if undi- 

 luted sulphuric acid is used. 



allic rubidium, as observed in the experi- 

 ments of A. W. Titherley, behaves like the other 



