r 



260 ■ Correspondence of J. Nickles. 



between the coast at Calais and Ostende and the Englisli coast at 

 Dover was broken by a vessel dragging its ancbor over them. 

 For some time after tliis, England had no commnnication with the 

 continent except by the way of Holland. The Calais connection 

 has now been reestablished. The enmneer chared with this 



Q^^V.^^ ^^^.^ 



work made use of the opportunity to examine the cable at the 

 place of rupture, and he states that the conducting wires were 

 perfectly uninjured in their envelop of gutta percha notwith- 

 standing the five years' immersion in sea-water. 



Scientific Voyages. — Since the scientific expedition was sent out 

 last year to the northern seas by the French prince, an Aus- 

 trian prince has projected a similar expedition; and more wise 

 than his confrere of France, he has equipped it with a scientific 

 corps. The corps will consist of distinguished and competent 

 men, such as Dr. Scherzer, Moritz Wagner, Frauenfeld, Hoch- 

 stetter, Zelebor. 



The following is the plan of the voyage. The frigate leaves 

 Trieste early in March, 1857. It will visit the principal ports 

 of South America, double the Cape of Good Hope, touch at 

 Ceylon^ visit the English, French and Dutch possessions in India, 

 the accessible ports of China^ thence pass to Oceanica, touch at 

 N"ew Caledonia, Australia, ISTew Zealand, Tahiti, etc., coast along 

 Central and South America, and traversing the straits of Magel- 

 lan, return to Trieste, in the spring of 1859. This is the first 

 Austrian Exploring Expedition. The vessel is the frigate No- 

 vara, of 44 guns. 



Chemical Facts. Dijf event states of Sulphur. — Among the chem- 

 ical researches in France during the last few months, we would 

 refer to those of Berthelot on sulphur^ the allotropic states of 

 which element have appeared to be numerous and varied. Ber- 

 thelot reduces all to two principal states, viz. that of octahedral sul- 

 j:>Awr, soluble in sulphuret of carbon, and that of amorphous sulphij', 

 insoluble in this sulphuret. The former he calls electro-negative 

 sulphur, for it acts ahvays as a supporter of combustion, and 

 separates from compounds in which it plays an electro-negative 

 part (as SIX, S-C). The insoluble sulphur, on the contrary, is 

 combustible or electro-positive^ and separates from compounds in 

 which it plays an electro-positive part (S0% S0% 8^0% S^OO- 

 Under a similar relation, Berthelot brings with reason the allo- 

 tropic states of selenium and phosphorus, which have, as is 

 known, each a state soluble and insoluble in sulphuret of carbon. 

 The two conditions of oxygen, ozone and ordinary oxygen, are 

 to be considered as dependant on different electrical states, the 

 ozone electro-negative, and ordinary oxygen electro-positive. 



Now that the true principle has been indicated, it will be easy 

 to find analogous facts, for it is one that will prove to be fertile 

 in its applications. 





