Extracts from Berzelius^s Annual Report for 1843. 197 



to the action of the air and of the sun's rays. The oil is bleached in 

 this way in ten or fifteen hours. 



Adulteration of the Volatile Oils with Alcohol. — M. Lipowitz 

 (Pharm. Cent. Blatt. 1842, 415) mixes two parts of the adulterated es- 

 sence with one of a saturated solution of common salt, and agitates the 

 two together after allowing some time for the separation to take place, 

 the extent of the adulteration may be determined by what remains of 

 the essence. 



An Easy Method of preparing the Ethers of the Vegetable Acids. — 

 M. Gaultin (Ann. der Chem. und Pharm. XL, iii) proposes a method 

 for preparing directly these ethers without the intervention of any min- 

 eral acid. He heats the acid in a tubulated retort to as high a temper- 

 ature as possible without decomposing or subliming it ; then lets fall 

 the alcohol drop by drop upon it ; the ether is immediately formed and 

 distils over. He has experimented with oxalic, citric, succinic and ben- 

 zoic acids. 



Gouty Calculus. — M. Marchand (Journ. fiir Prac. Chem. XXVI, 95) 

 has analyzed a gouty calculus formed in the articulation of the knee, 

 and found it composed as follows : 



Lithenate of soda, - 34"20 Animal matter, - - 32-53 



Lithenate of lime, - 2-12 Water, - - - - 6-80 



Carbonate of ammonia, 7"86 Loss, 2*37 



Common salt, - - - 14*12 



Mucilagenous Meteorite. — M. Mulder (Scheik Arderzock, 1st St. 

 34) has examined the mucilagenous matter that is found sometimes in 

 the morning upon the grass, the origin of which is not known. It has 

 been considered a tremella swollen by the dew, — also supposed to be a 

 body thrown from some falling star. The experiments of M. Mulder 

 put this question beyond a doubt, in proving that it is an animal muci- 

 lage, which has been swollen by water to the greatest degree, so that 

 the solid mucilage constitutes but a very small portion of the mass. 

 He found in it bone earth, a trace of proteine, a little lactate of soda, 

 and common salt. The elementary analysis gave — 



Carbon, - - 50-53 Nitrogen, - - 9-27 

 Hydrogen, - - 6-53 Oxygen, - - 33-67 



As to the origin of the mucilage, M. Mulder supposes that it is a mu- 

 cilage of frog's spav/n, swollen by water. 



