208 



NATURE 



[July 2, 1891 



With a prism of the liquid, he cDuId trace the spectrum beyond 

 N on a fluorescein-solution. Besides the above-named proper- 

 ties, the substance has for boiling-point 277° C. ; it has no 

 offensive smell like carbon sulphide, and its index of refraction 

 varies much less with temperature than in the case of that 

 liquid. 



The material resources of the southern part of Maryland are 

 still so imperfectly known that a scientific expedition for the 

 investigation of the district was recently organized. The 

 expedition was formed under the joint auspices of the Johns 

 Hopkins University, the Maryland Agricultural College, and 

 the U.S. Geological Survey. An interesting report of the work 

 done has been published in one of the Johns Hopkins University 

 Circulars. 



Dr. Alfred Tuckerman has compiled an excellent " Bib- 

 liography of the Chemical Influence of Light," which has 

 been published as one of the Smithsonian miscellaneous collec- 

 tions. As the compiler had in view only the scientific aspects 

 of the subject, he has omitted nearly all the practical app lications, 

 including that of photography. An index to the literature of 

 photography is being prepared under the auspices of the com- 

 mittee for indexing chemical literature, of the American Associa- 

 tion for the Advancement of Science. 



The College of Science, Imperial University, Japan, has 

 issued the first part of the fourth volume of its Journal. It 

 opens with a paper on the foetal membranes of Chelonia, by K. 

 Mitsukuri. After this come the following articles : — On the 

 development of Araneina, by Kamakichi Kishinouye ; obser- 

 vations on fresh-water Polyzoa, by A. Oka ; on Diplozoon 

 nipponicunt, n. sp., by Seitaro Goto ; a new species of 

 Hymenomycetous Fungus injurious to the mulberry tree, by 

 Nobujiro Tanaka ; notes on the irritability of the stigma, by 

 M. Miyoshi ; notes on the development of the suprarenal 

 bodies in the mouse, by Masamaro Inaba. Each of the papers 

 is illustrated. 



Mr. C. C. Vevers, Leeds, has sent us a copy of the fourth 

 edition, illustrated, of his "Practical Amateur Photography." 

 The volume is described in the preface as "a simple text-book 

 for the beginner, and a handy work of reference for the advanced 

 photographer." Mr. Vevers has also published an illustrated 

 catalogue of photographic apparatus. 



The Manchester Microscopical Society has issued its Trans- 

 actions and Annual Report, 1890. The volume includes two 

 Presidential addresses by Prof. Milnes Marshall, papers and 

 communications read by the members, and a list of members. 



We have received from Mr. William F. Clay, Edinburgh, a 

 catalogue of scientific books which he offers for sale. The works 

 relate to chemistry and allied sciences. 



As briefly announced in our report of the last meeting of the 

 Paris Academy of Sciences a new compound of iron and carbon 

 monoxide has been obtained by M. Berthelot, analogous to the 

 nickel compound described last year by Messrs. Mond, Lang, 

 and Quincke. In order to obtain it, the iron requires to be in a 

 very finely divided state, and free from admixed oxide. It is 

 most suitably obtained by reducing dried precipitated ferric oxide 

 or oxide obtained by ignition of ferrous oxalate in a current of 

 pure hydrogen. When carbon monoxide is led over metallic 

 iron thus prepared, and the tube containing it gently warmed to 

 about 45° C, the reaction commences, and if the issuing gas, 

 after being washed through water, is ignited at a jet, the flame is 

 observed to be quite different from that of pure carbon monoxide, 

 being brilliantly luminous, almost white, and emitting rays 

 which furnish a definite spectrum. Moreover, if a cold porcelain 

 tile or evaporating basin is depressed upon the flame a deposit 

 of metallic iron more or less admixed with oxide is obtained, 

 NO. I 131, VOL. 44] 



indicating the existence in the issuing gas of the vapour of a 

 ferruginous compound. A drop of dilute hydrochloric acid at 

 once dissolves the stain, and the solution affords the ordinary 

 reactions of iron, yielding Prussian blue with potassium 

 ferrocyanide for instance. When the gases are passed through a 

 strictured tube, such as is employed in Marsh's arsenic apparatus, 

 a portion of which is heated to redness, an annular deposit of 

 metallic iron is obtained, containing a slight amount of admixed 

 carbon. M. Berthelot has not yet succeeded in obtaining 

 sufficient of the new compound to condense it to the liquid form, 

 but further experiments with that end in view are in progress. 

 The formation of this volatile compound of iron and carbon 

 monoxide will undoubtedly prove of great interest from a metal- 

 lurgical point of view, as it may assist in elucidating several of 

 the as yet little understood furnace reactions. M. Berthelot 

 further expresses the opinion that it may help to explain the 

 formation of bubble flaws in manufactured iron, which have so 

 frequently led to such unfortunate re-;ults. In addition to the 

 preparation of iron-carbonyl, M. Berthelot describes several new 

 reactions of nickel carbonyl. It will be remembered that this 

 substance is a liquid boiling at 46°, so volatile that, according to 

 M. Berthelot, its vapour tension at 16° is a quarter of an atmo- 

 sphere. A drop placed upon a glass plate rapidly volatilizes, the 

 portion last to disappear being for a few moments cooled down 

 by the evaporation of the first portion to such an extent as to 

 form beautiful little crystals. When suddenly heated to 70° it 

 detonates, the detonating reaction being expressei by the 

 equation Ni(C0)4 = 2CO.2 -i- 2C -f- Ni. When mixed with 

 oxygen, simple agitation of the tube containing it over mercury 

 brings about detonation. When oxygen is permitted to slowly 

 gain access to the liquid oxide, a solid substance is formed, which 

 is green if the oxygen is moist and brownish-yellow if dry. In 

 contact with oil of vitriol the liquid compound appears to be 

 unaffected for a few moments, but suddenly explodes with pro- 

 duction of flame. Nitric oxide reacts in a most beautiful manner, 

 either when passed into the liquid or its vapour, bright blue 

 fumes being produced of a complex compound, which eventually 

 subside, forming a blue solid. These blue vapours completely 

 fill the whole vessel, and their formation affords one of the 

 prettiest experiments yet described. 



Contemporaneously with the above work of M. Berthelot, 

 Mr. Mond and his co-workers have also been conducting 

 experiments with the view to the preparation of iron carbonyl, 

 which have been so successful that a brief account of them was 

 laid before the Chemical Society at their last meeting. Further 

 particulars of these experiments will be given as soon as pub- 

 lished. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Rhesus Monkey {Macacits rhesus ? ) from 

 India, presented by Mr. Albert Job ; an American Red Fox 

 {Canis fulviis) from North America, presented by Mr. W. 

 Reading ; a Two-spotted Paradoxure {Nandinia binotata) from 

 West Africa, presented by Mr. E. G. Parkinson ; a Sinaitic 

 Ibex {Capra sinaitic) from Palestine, presented by Sir James 

 Anderson ; two Gaimard's Rat-Kangaroos {Hypsiprymnus gai- 

 mardi) from Australia, presented by Mr. Walter Howker ; 

 a Cuckoo (Cucuhis canortis), British, presented by Mr. Stacy 

 Marks, R. A., F.Z. S. ; two Red-billed Tree Ducks {Dendrocygna 

 autumnalis) from America, presented by Mr. Keswick ; two 

 White-faced Tree Ducks {Dendrocygna viduata) from Brazil, 

 presented by Captain C. A. Findlay, R.N.R. ; a Common Viper 

 {Vipera berus), British, presented by Mr. J. Sargeant ; two 

 White-headed Sea-Eagles {Halial'tus leucocephalus) from North 

 America, deposited ; a Burchell's Zebra (Equtis burchelli cj ), a 

 Derbian Wallaby {Halmaturtis derbianus), three Common Night 

 Herons {Nycticorax griseus), bred in the Gardens. 



