Miscellanies. 373 



French translation of Berzelius' Treatise on Chemistry, of which the 

 article in the Bulletin is a notice. Having referred to the account of 

 Van Bemmelen's Experiments, given by Berzelius, it appears that the 

 cause assigned by their author to explain his results, was objected to 

 and that an explanation was still wanting : in search of this I engaged 

 in a series of experiments still in progress. For the present I would 

 call your attention to a portion of the facts exhibited by these exper- 

 iments, which seem to me, interesting. 



Van Bemmelen found that a sticjc of phosphorus powdered with 

 resin or with sulphur and placed on cotton under the receiver of an 

 air-pump, or exhausting the receiver was inflamed ; and that the 

 same effect was produced by wrapping a stick of phosphorus in 

 cotton ; then placing it under the receiver and exhausting the latter. 



Its inflammation occurs when phosphorus alone is placed un- 

 der the receiver and the air within is rarefied. These experiments I 

 have repeated many times. The inflammation produced by rosin 

 is remarkably different from that which takes place when sulphur is 

 used. 



In addition to the substances just mentioned as producing the in- 

 flammation of phosphorus under the partially exhausted receiver of 

 an air-pump, I find that the same effect is produced by powdering 

 with finely divided, 

 Charcoal. 



Spongy Platinum. Hydrate of Potassa. Carbonate of Lime. 



Antimony. Lime. Nitrate of Potassa. 



Arsenic. Magnesia. Nitrate of Lead. 



Hydrate of Baryta. Sil. Fluate of Lime 

 Per Sulphuret of Mercury. (Fluor Spar.) 



Sulphuret of Antimony. Silica. Muriate of Platinum 



and Ammonia. 

 Per-oxide of Mercury. Chloride of Sodium. Boracic Acid. 

 Per-oxide of Lead. Muriate of Ammonia. 



Per-oxide of Manganese. Chloride of Lime. 



The temperature being about 60°, Fah. or above that point. 



Proceeding to an extension of the experiments to air of the natural 

 density at different temperatures, I found that at about 60° F., Car- 

 bon, in the form of animal charcoal or of lampblack, causes the inflam- 

 mation of a stick of phosphorus powdered with it : this takes place 

 either in the open air or in a close receiver of a moderate size. The 

 fusion of phosphorus is produced at about the same temperature by, 



