78 



AGRICULTURAL CHKMISTRY. 



by passing fused caustic vegetable alkali, 

 (the pure alkali of the druggists,) through 

 iron turnings, strongly ignited in a gun 

 barrel, or by the eiectrizalion of pot-ash by 

 a strong voltaic battery. 



25. Sodium may be made in a similar 

 manner to potassium. Soda or the mine- 

 ral alkali being substituted for the vegeta- 

 ble alkali. It is of specific gravity 940. 

 It is very combustible. When thrown 

 upon water, it swims on its surface, hisses 

 violently, and dissolves, but does not in- 

 flame. The number representing it is 8S. 



26. Barium has as yet been procured 

 only by electrical powers and in very mi- 

 nute quantities, so that its properties have 

 not been accurately examined. The num- 

 ber representing it appears to be 130. 



Strontium the 27, Calcium the 28, 

 Magnesium the 29, Silicum, the 30, «/?/- 

 uminum the 31, Zirconum the 32, Gla- 

 cinu77i the 33, and I/triumihe 34, of the 

 undecompounded bodies, like barium, 

 have either not been procured absolutely 

 pure or only in such minute quantities that 

 their properties are little known; they are 

 formed either by electrical powers, or b}' 

 the agency of potassium, from the different 

 earths whose names they bear, with the 

 change of the termination in znn; and the 

 numbers representing them are believed to 

 be 90 Strontium, 40 Calcium, 38 Magne- 

 sium, 31 Silicum, 33 Aluminum, 70 Zir- 

 conum, 39 Glacinum, 111 Ittrium. 



Of the remaining thirteen simple bo- 

 dies, twelve are metals, most of which, 

 like those just mentioned, can only be 

 procured with great difficulty; and the 

 substances in general from which they are 

 procured are very rare in nature. They 

 are Palladium, Rhodium, Osniiurn, 

 Iridium, Colubium, Chromium, Mo- 

 lybdenum, Ceriuyn, Tellurium, Timg- 

 stenum. Titanium, Uranium. The 

 forty-seventh body has not as yet been 

 produced in a state sufficiently pure to ad- 

 mit of a minute examination. It is the 

 principle whicli gives character to the acid 

 called fluoric acid, and may be named 

 Fluon, and is probably analogous to phos- 

 phorous or sulphur. The numbers repre- 

 senting these last thirteen bodies have not 

 yet been determined with sufficient accu- 

 racy to render a reference to them of any 

 utility. 



The undecompounded substances unite 



with each other, and the most remarkable 

 compounds are formed by the combination 

 of oxygen and chlorine with inflammable 

 bodies and n;etals; and these combinations 

 usually take place with much energy, and 

 are associated with fire. 



ANTHRACITE COAL USED FOR DRIVING 

 STEAMBOATS AND LOCOMOTIVES. 



A writer in the United States Gazette, 

 states that Anthracite Coal is used in the 

 large Steamboat which plies between Port- 

 land and Boston, and that very little al- 

 teration had been made in the furnace to 

 change it from a wood to a coal burner. 

 The grate had been raised some inches, 

 and a fan-wheel was rigged in front of the 

 fire. The whole was conducted with ease 

 and without any difficulty consequent upon 

 the hardness of the coal. The same wri- 

 ter states, that a single company in the 

 State of Maryland has purchased this year 

 from a Pennsylvania coal company, SOOO 

 tons of Anthracite coal for the use of their 

 steam-engines. This is a subject of great 

 importance to the whole United States, 

 and particularly to Pennsylvania, where 

 so much wealth lies in her coal-fields. 

 There is certainly reason to believe that 

 anthracite coal might be used in any situa- 

 tion where a sufficient degree of rapidity 

 is given to the current of air which sup- 

 plies the fire, and a proper temperature 

 conveyed to the air; so that when_^it first 

 comes in contact with the fire, it may be 

 in the best possible condition to cause ig- 

 nition. This can only be discovered by 

 experiments. The most suitable form for 

 the furnace, and this surrounded by a body 

 which conducts heat slowly, and a rapid 

 supply of air of the most proper temper- 

 ature, are the objects required. — W. 



CURE FOR HYDROPHOBIA. 



Take two spoonsfull of fresh Chloride 

 of Lime in powder, mixed with half-a-pint 

 of water, w^ith this wash, keep the wound 

 constantly bathed and frequenl}^ renewed^ 

 The chlorine gas possesses the power ]^< 

 decomposing this tremendous poison, ant 

 renders mild and harmless, that venor 

 against whose resistless attack, the artillery 

 of medical science has been so long direct^ 

 ed in vain. It is necessary that this wast 

 should be applied as soon as possible aftei 

 the infliction of the bite. — Liverpool Pa. 



