Chemistry and Physics. 421 
—— but the products of the distillation of solid wood furnished 
7 SRY. 
To avoid the high heat necessary in distillation, by which the bases 
are decomposed, and the quantity of ammonia increased—experiments 
fi 
guano were ee tried, and the action of sulphuric acid upon beans, 
with ae resu 
ier, proposes bacteiastion as a still more eligible process for 
Is alksioics, as the action is less energetic. ‘The fact that beans and 
_ bones do not yield the same products by distillation, is adduced as ev- 
_ idence that the vegetable and animal substances having the same com- 
position are yet not identical. oe bag - 3 
9. Preparation of Hydrobromic and Hydriodic Acids; by E. H. 
Meng, sa eas Rendus, April. 1849 ; Chem. Gaz., July, 1849).—The 
ss now proposed for these two acids is free from alte being 
-heither costly, difficult nor dangerous, as are the usual modes 
In this procegs, crystallized hypophosphite of lime, obtained i in prepar- 
ing phosphuretted hydrogen from phosphuret of calcium, may be used, 
but from its being more readily obtained, sulphite of soda is to be pre- 
ferred. The crystallized sulphite is to be first dipped in water and the 
iodine or bromine added to it in a suitable vessel. The reaction is aid- 
‘ed by heat, and the gases are obtained pure, if a cotton or asbestus 
plug is placed in the neck of the vessel to intercept vapors of bromine 
or iodine 
The sulphite aids the decomposition of water by a iodine or bro- 
mine, the latter taking the hydrogen, the former the o 
proportions for the above bec are 1 water, 3 iodine or bro- 
mine, 6 crystallized sulphite of soda. 23 
0. Passage of Hydrogen Gas hen solid bodies ; by M. ‘Lov -, 
(Ann. de Chim. et de Phys., Sept., 1849. )—M. Louyet, finds that a hoe 
op current of hydrogen from a capillary jet under a pressure of 40 
to 45 inches of water, will pass through a sheet of paper, continuing as 
a sirion on the other side, inflaming o or igniting spongy platinum, as if 
no obstacle existed. 
Gold, tin and silver leaf, even when double, exhibit the same prop- 
erty, as also a thin film of gutta peri 3 but the thinnest glass which 
oes lown was found impermea G. C. 
On t 5 abt of Silver, Lead aba Copper in Sea-water, and in 
Plants and Animals; by MM. Matacutt, DurocHer and Sarsgav, 
(Comptes Rendus, Dec., 1849; Phil. Mag., Feb., 1850.)—MM. Malaguti 
and Durocher having proved the wide diffusion of silver in metallic 
minerals, particularly in the sulphurets, ete are converted by salt 
water into chlorids, the present research was undertaken with a view to 
ascertain the extent of the distribution. 
Sea-water taken at a distance of some leagues from St. Malo, was 
found to contain -000,000,001 of silver; the ash of Fucus serratus and 
‘Ceramoides contained ‘000,001. Rock salt of Lorraine was found to 
Contain silver, indicating its presence in the ancient ocean 
This wide distribution of the metal induced a search “for it in the 
ashes of terrestrial plants and in animals, the blood of them being satu- 
« 
x 
. 
