654 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAJI INSTITUTE. 



about 300,000 tons, valued at 30,000,000 francs. The greatest part is ob- 

 tained in Sicily, where it exists in a gypsum bed, layers of which extend 

 over a small portion of the island from Mount Etna to near Trapani; and 

 also in calcaires and clays more or less marl. In the first case the sulphur 

 exists in a state of mixture; sometimes in small parallel veins, and more 

 rarely in the form of crystals. These are often associated with cceledine, 

 or sulphate of strontium. In clay, on the contrary, it is found in globular 

 masses, which is also the case in similar bearings in Continental Italy. 

 Great improvements have been made in the method of extracting sulphur 

 from the calcareous gangue. It is always obtained by liquefaction, by 

 burning a portion of the ore The operation, formerly performed in small 

 furnaces, is now effected b^^ simply heaping the stones and covering them 

 with earth, as in charcoal burning. This mode diminishes the former losses 

 occasioned by the production of sulphuric acid, so that the yield of sulphur 

 is increased one-fifth. Formerly the burning could not be carried on near 

 dwellings and gardens, and it was often fatal to workmen. Now the ope- 

 ration is almost harmless, and is not confined to any place or period of the 

 year. The sulphur from Romagna and the Marches is refined at Rimini, and 

 is chiefly used for sulphuric acid, and lately for the treatment of the vine. 

 Its price varies considerably; in cakes it is about $43 per ton; in sticks, 

 $52. The value of the crude product of Sicily is from %Z to $5 per ton. 



Bismuth. 



The high price of this metal has induced M. Balard to extract it from an 

 old kind of printing type. He dissolves this type, consisting of an alloy of 

 bismuth, lead and tin, in nitric acid. The metastaunic acid is separated 

 by filtering, washed with acidulated water and dried; its tin is then re- 

 duced by charcoal. Into the remaining liquid, which consists of the ni- 

 trates of lead and bismuth, laminos of lead are plunged, which precipitate 

 the bismuth in a metallic state. The lead is then precipitated from the 

 liquor by the carbonate of soda. 



Shea Butter. 



This fatty matter, extracted from the fruit of the Bassia Parkei, and 

 used as food in Africa, has been recently analyzed by M. Oudemans. It 

 contains 10.30 of nearly pure stearic acid, and 29.70 of oleic acid. Its 

 point of fusion is 69 deg. C. 



Peroxide of Hydrogen. 



M. Schonbein states that this compound, which as oxygenated water is 

 very unstable, can be held at the boiling point for several hours without 

 being decomposed. It is formed by adding the peroxide of barium to boil- 

 ing water, slightly acidulated by hydrochloric acid, or by agitating boiling 

 water having in it one per cent, of sulphuric acid, vpith either the amalgam of 

 pasty lead, the amalgam of zinc, or shavings of cadmium. It is also formed 

 when boiling water, containing one per cent, of potash, is added to pyro- 

 gallic acid. 



