PROCEEDINGS OF THE POLYTECHNIC ASSOCIATION. 371 



duties. Tlie Doctor also spoke of tlie gloves used by chemists, uiado from 

 the iniiuM-al asbestos. It lias the appearauce of a iibrous substance; it is 

 woven with cotton thread, and after the glove is made the thread is burnt 

 out and the fire-proof material remains. 



Mr. G. Bartlett thought the impression that line gloves were not made in 

 this country should be corrected. He understood that a leading tirm of 

 this city manufactured all tlieir own gloves, which ai/e said to be equal to 

 tliosc made in Paris. 



After selecting "The New Pneumatic Railway" as the subject for the 

 next discussion, the Association adjourned to Thursda}' evening next. 



American Lvstitcte Polytechnic Association, ) 

 October 13, 18(34. j 

 Chairman, Prof. S. D. Tillman; Secretary, Mr. B. Garvey. 

 The following interesting scicntiiic items were presented by the Chair- 

 man: 



\ Poisoning from Tobacco Leaves. 



^f. Gallavardin, in a jiaper " On poisoning by the application of tobacco 

 leaves to the skin," recites several cases, not fatal, however, in which seri- 

 ous illness followed the carrying of large quantities of tobacco next to the 

 skin Tliis item gave rise to a warm discussion. 



New Pi'ROMETER. 

 Messrs. Deville and Troost have used, in recent experiments, a porcelain 

 apparatus hj which the}' measured a temperature as high as 2786 degrees 

 I*\\hrenheit. At that point copper and silver seemed to be vaporized, and 

 feldspar ^-as fused, but wrought-iron showed no signs of fusion. 



Influence of Alcohol on the Human System. 



M. Perrin, in his experiments on the effect of alcohol taken in moderate 

 quantities, finds that less carbonic acid was exhaled from the lungs when 

 wine was taken. The amount of urea generated was about the same as 

 when wine was not used. He believes, with other prominent chemists, that 

 alcohol is not assimilated, but it aff(;cts nutrition by lessening the expendi- 

 ture <jf material. , 



Chinese Wax. , 



This is a compact substance, imported from China, and said to be the 

 product of an insect called coccus pdasijiensis. It melts, at 181 deg , while 

 pure beeswax melts at 149 deg. Both contain cerotic acid. 



Lactoproteine. 



This is the provisional name given by Messrs. Milton and Commaille, of 

 France, for a new albumenoid found in cow's milk. They separated the 

 casein by means of acetic acid, filtered the liquor, heated it, and then ob- 

 tained a substance having the characteristics of albumen, and containing 

 the same quantity of nitrogen. The amount of this substance is small, but 

 may be precipitated by the careful adcjitiou of acid nitrate of mercury. 



