Liquefied Sulphurous Acid, 195 



vember. The bed which had been watered with the solu- 

 tion, and only three times during the season, produced po- 

 tatoes six inches long, twelve in circumference, and weigh- 

 ing nearly two pounds. The others were in general only 

 half as large, and theirstalks in the santie proportion. Three 

 or four waterings of this fluid at distant periods, are consider- 

 ed sufficient- Its action is ascribed by M. Lemaire-Lisancourt^ 

 who communicates the account, to what he calls electro-or-' 

 ganic influence. When applied to animal organization, it is 

 said to arrest gangrene and ulcers, and to favour the cica- 

 trization of wounds. — Idem, Feb, 1824. 



32. Diamond. — It appears, from specimens which now 

 exist in several European cabinets, that the veritable gangue 

 ®f the Brazilian diamond is a brown oxide of iron. — Idem, 



33. Atmospheric tides. — It appears, agreeably to the dis- 

 coveries of Colonel Wright, that in the neighbourhood of 

 the equator the diurnal, rise and fall of the Barometer (twice 

 in twenty-four hours) are so regular that it might almost 

 serve as an instrument for measuring time. Various other 

 philosophersjparticularlyGodin, Bouguer, Lacondamine, and 

 Humboldt, had noticed this diurnal movement long before. — 

 Idem, Mars 1824. 



34. Liquefied sulphurous acid. — M. Bussy states that he 

 obtains this acid in a liquid state exempt from water, by 

 passing the gas, first through a tube filled with fragments of 

 melted muriate of lime, into a matras surrounded with two 

 parts of pounded ice, and one of marine salt. The gas is 

 liquefied completely under the simple pressure of the atmos- 

 phere, and at a temperature not below eighteen or twenty de- 

 grees centigrade. Thus obtained,it is a colourless,transparent 

 and very volatile fluid, heavier than water. It boils at ten de- 

 grees centigrade, but may be preserved liquid, without extra- 

 ordinary pressure, because the portion which volatilizes re- 

 duces the temperature far below the point of ebullition. 

 Poured on the hand, it produces intense cold, and volatilizes 

 completely. Poured into water, a portion flies oflT, and an- 

 other dissolves and at length collects at the bottom, in drops 

 like a heavy oil. If it then be touched with a rod, it is 

 reduced to vapour, and occasions a kind of ebullition ; the 



