Polytechnic Association Proceedings. 637 



(X)AL m POLAND. 



Borings along the line of railway in Poland have led to the dis- 

 covery of five seams of coal. The last was found at Dombrofi*. 



NEW DYES. 



Messrs. Girard and De Laire have obtained a patent in France 

 for extracting three new dyes from the black residuum formerly 

 thi-own away in the manufacture of rosanaline. 



TO DETECT FEEE ALKALI IN SOAP. 



If the soap contains rosin, Puscher recommends adding neutral 

 sub-nitrate of mercury to a solution of the soap. To a solution 

 of the soap containing no rosin, calomel or corrosive sublimate may 

 be added, which results in the formation of the black sub-oxide of 

 mercury. 



TO CLEAN STEEL PENS. 



When a pen has been used until it appears to be spoiled, place 

 it over a. flame (a gaslight, for instance,) for say a quarter of a 

 minute, then dip it into water, and it will be again fit for use. A 

 new pen, which is found too hard to write with, will become softer 

 by being thus heated. 



TANNING. 



The report of the commissioners having charge of this depart- 

 ment of the Paris Exposition, have arrived at a conclusion which 

 will meet the approval of practical chemists regarding the various 

 processes for rapid tanning, namely: That no definite advantage 

 has yet been found in these processes, and the period required 

 remains about the same as before. 



SUGAR IN MUSCLE. 



Dr. Rankee, of Munich, has, by recent experiments, coufiimed 

 the discovery made by Meissner, that a true, fermentable sugar 

 exists in the muscle, which is increased by muscular action (tetani- 

 sation caused by strychnine or electricity); and further, that the 

 liver hiis no efiect in causing this increase; for the sugar is proved 

 to arise in the muscle itself, and not from muscular substance. 



NICOTINE. 



Mr. Melseus, a Belgian chemist, finds the proportion of nicotine 

 in tobacco varies greatly in different specimens. That grown in 

 France contains nearly eight per cent, while in that from Havana 

 only two per cent of nicotine is found. He advises smokers to 



