274 Messrs. Litton and Schnederman on the 



cistern of water at my house. I have also since obtained from 

 the borders of Litchfield County, in this state, the true black 

 squirrel, (Sciurus niger, Linn.,) very rare with us. 



I would also add, that a lohite fox was last winter killed in 

 Oxford. The fur was coarse, like hair, and very short, but in 

 other respects it resembled, by description of those who saw it, 

 the arctic fox, Vulpex lagopas of Richardson. And Richard- 

 son describes this species as " having short white hair in summer." 

 It is more than probable, therefore, this was the true arctic fox, 

 though far south of his usual running. I hope yet to see the 

 skin. Fur purchasers who have seen it, describe it as of little 

 or no value for their purpose. 



It is believed that in the course of a few weeks, I shall be able 

 to complete my catalogues of the third, fourth, and fifth classes, 

 viz. Reptiles, Fishes, and Mollusca of Connecticut. 



Art. IV. — A double Sulphite of the Protoxide of Platinum and 

 Soda, a new salt ; discovered and investigated by A. Litton, 

 and Schnederman.* 



This compound is formed, when a solution of the bichloride 

 of platinum is saturated by sulphurous acid, and afterwards neu- 

 tralizing the fluid with the carbonate of soda. By this process 

 is produced a very voluminous and almost colorless precipitate, 

 which, as investigation showed, is a double salt of the sulphite 

 of the protoxide of platinum and the sulphite of soda. 



This salt is, when dry, an amorphous, white powder; when 

 moist however, it has a yellowish tinge, which is the deeper, the 

 more the solution is concentrated out of which it is precipitated. 

 In cold water it is very slightly soluble. The solution is color- 

 less, neutral, and leaves by evaporation, a white, varnish-like 

 mass. In warm water it is somewhat more soluble, since the 

 warm saturated solution, upon cooling, becomes slightly troubled 

 and untransparent. In alcohol it is insoluble. From its solu- 

 tion in water, it is precipitated by the addition of the chloride of 

 sodium, as a white, fleecy precipitate. It acts in a similar man- 

 ner with many other, though not all salts, and the compound, 

 when thus thrown down, is perfectly white. 



* Communicated to this Journal, by Prof. Litton. 



