116 



CHEMISTRY. (NEW PROCESSES.) 



isolate from bismuth, but which they call polonium. 

 In experimenting with pitchblende they discovered 

 a substance having still more than polonium the 

 ju.wer of discharging electrified bodies at a dis- 

 tance by making the air a conductor, and of in- 

 stantly impressing sensitive plates, and which has 

 900 times more active properties than uranium. The 

 authors and M. Bemont, who has also studied this 

 substance, have named it radium. 



Hamilton P. Cady, of the University of Kansas, 

 has obtained, by adding iodine to liquid ammonia, 

 a dark, opaque liquid which changes to olive green 

 and deposits a dark-green crystalline precipitate. 

 This substance, dried over sulphuric acid, dissolves 

 in ether, alcohol, and chloroform, but is insoluble in 

 dilute acids, and is decomposed by them, generally 

 with explosive violence. It is instantly decomposed 

 I iy strong acids. Potassium-iodide solution dis- 

 solves the crystals, and they are decomposed and 

 dissolved by hydrogen sulphide, sulphurous acid, 

 and potassium hydroxide. The composition of the 

 sutistance agrees well with the formula HN 8 I, and 

 the formation of the compound is supposed to take 

 place according to the equation 11NH 8 + 91 = 

 HN,I + 8XIM. 



In a third contribution to the Royal Society by 

 K. T. Baker and FI. G. Smith respecting the essential 

 oils of the genus Eucalyptus, the species investigat- 

 ed are arranged according to their chemical, eco- 

 nomic, and botanical affinities. It is shown that the 

 essential oil of the red stringy bark Eucalyptus ma- 

 crorrAyncAa,besidescontaininga large percentage of 

 edesmol (the stearoptene of eucalyptus oil), gives an 

 oil of excellent quality, containing more than 50 per 

 cent, of eucalyptol, and answering all the require- 

 ments of the British Pharmacopeia excepting that 

 of specific gravity. 



Well-burnt charcoal reacts readily, with consider- 

 able rise of temperature, with fuming nitric acid. 

 When boiled for twenty-four hours with this acid, 

 G. Dickson and T. H. Easterfield found that the 

 charcoal passed entirely into solution and, on dilu- 

 tion with water, a black, amorphous substance was 

 precipitated, while mellitic and non-crystalline 

 acids remained in solution. The black, amorphous 

 substance resembled the mellogen of Bartoli and 

 Papasogli. It was easily soluble in alkali, and on 

 oxidation by alkaline permanganate yielded oxalic 

 and mellitic acids in about equal proportions. From 

 charcoal 25 per cent, of its weight of crystalline 

 ammonium mellitate can be obtained. Coal gives 

 only a small yield of rnellitic acid. 



A new dyestuff is described by Mr. Henry G. 

 Smith, of Australia, as obtained from the leaves of 

 the " red stringy bark," Eucalyptus macrorrhyncha. 

 This material, which in some respects is allied to 

 aromdendrin, is described as belonging to the quer- 

 cetin group of dyes. Myrticolorin, as this new dye 

 is named by the author, is a glucoside of quercetin, 

 and breaks up, on boiling with dilute sulphuric 

 acid, into quercetin and a sugar. 



New Processes. A new process for the manu- 

 facture of salts of the higher oxides described by 



[. N. Warren consists in the conversion of such 

 alloys as spiegeleisen, ferromanganese, chromeisen, 

 etc., by the direct contact of aqueous solutions of 

 the alkalies, aided by electric energy, into their cor- 

 responding salts, such as chromates, manganates, 

 fti-. The baths for the conversion of these alloys 

 have so far been constructed of glass and partially 

 covered with graphite plates, which constitute the 

 negative electrolyte, while the alloy in question is 

 attached to the positive. 



In the electrolytic process for preparing potassium 

 chlorate at Villers-sur-Hermes, in Switzerland, thin 

 platinum-iridium anodes and iron cathodes are 

 employed, and the solution is maintained, by the 



heat evolved by the passage of the current, at a 

 temperature of from 50 to 60 C. The electrolytic 

 cell is divided by a diaphragm of porous earthen- 

 ware into a smaller cathode and a larger anode 

 compartment, in order to prevent as far as possible 

 the reduction of the chlorate by the hydrogen 

 evolved at the cathode. With the proper electric 

 current, the caustic potash formed at the cathode is 

 transferred to the anode compartment fast enough 

 to absorb all the chlorine evolved. The potassium 

 chlorate crystallizes out in the anode compartment, 

 its solubility being diminished by the employment 

 of a saturated solution of potassium chloride as 

 electrolyte. The diaphragm may be dispensed 

 with, according to Oertel, if the solution is alkaline, 

 because in that case potassium chlorate is not re- 

 duced, to any appreciable extent, by nascent hydro- 

 gen. 



In the manufacture of phosphorus in the electric 

 furnace siliceous material is added to the naturally 

 occurring phosphates which are used to furnish a 

 readily fusible slag. The finely powdered mixture 

 of these substances with carbon is fed in through a 

 hopper at the top of a brick-lined trough, through 

 opposite sides of which the carbon electrodes ana 

 introduced. The fused slag collects at the bottom 

 of the furnace, whence it is run off from time to 

 time the same as from a blast furnace, while th'j 

 mixture of phosphorus vapor and carbonic oxidi 

 passes to the condensing apparatus through an 

 opening placed near the top of the furnace. More 

 than 80 per cent, of the phosphorus contained in 

 the materials is obtained. The loss that occurs is 

 largely due to the presence of iron, which combines 

 with phosphorus to form a phosphide that remains 

 in the slag. 



It is observed by M. P. Yvon that when coarsely 

 powdered carbide of calcium is brought into con- 

 tact with concentrated alcohol (from 90 to 95 per 

 cent.) the carbide is attacked with considerable 

 vigor, and continues to give off acetylene as long as 

 any water remains in the alcohol. When the latter 

 is quite anhydrous the disengagement of gas ceases. 

 The use of carbide of calcium, therefore, enables us 

 to determine whether or not an alcohol is anhydrous. 

 It also furnishes a method of preparing absolute 

 alcohol, for which a quantity of alcohol of 90 or 95 

 per cent, strength is placed in a flask and one 

 fourth its weight of powdered carbide of calcium is 

 added. The disengagement of gas, at first very 

 vigorous, soon calms down. The flask is next fre- 

 quently shaken up during two or three hours, and 

 afterward left alone for twelve hours. The mix- 

 ture is then transferred to a distilling apparatus 

 and the separation of the alcohol is proceeded wit i, 

 the first portions collected being put aside, because 

 they contain small quantities of acetylene in solu- 

 tion ; or, all the alcohol may be collected in the 

 same receptacle, and afterward shaken up with a 

 small quantity of dried sulphate of copper, which 

 takes up all the acetylene held in solution. A 

 second distillation can then be proceeded wiv.h 

 without separating the acetylide of copper which 

 is formed. 



In the electrolysis of potassium and sodium 

 chlorides, to produce, according to the conditions 

 employed, caustic alkalies and chlorine, hypochlo- 

 rites or chlorates, it is necessary to keep the primary 

 products of the decomposition separate, and this 

 is accomplished either by the use of a porous dia- 

 phragm or by means of mercury. It is not easy to 

 make a diaphragm that shall be sufficiently durable 

 with a solution of caustic soda on one side of it and 

 of chlorine on the other, but diaphragms are suc- 

 cessfully used. A more serious drawback is the 

 impossibility of separating the caustic alkali from 

 the chloride, but this is avoided to a great extent 





