Mabch 30, 1S83.] 



SCIENCE. 



227 



(0H)3 (OH), (OH), (OH), 



P — O-P = P-PtCl, -P. 



The formula P., . PtCl.^ . (OH) 3 is structurally un- 

 symmetric, and must be doubled; so that we have 

 Pi. 2PtCl, . (OH) 10, or 



(OH), (OH). 

 (0H)3 HP-p_p-PH (0H)3 = 

 \ / \ / 



O O 



(0H)2(0H), 

 (0H)3 = P-P-P-PH (0H)3. 

 \ / \ / 



PtCl, PtCU 



Finally, in the acid Pj O., . PtCl . (OH),, we have 

 Pt CI = 3 CI, and therefore 2 Pt CI = 3 0. Hence, 

 doubling;, we have P4 O4 . O3 . (OHjg, and, struc- 

 turally, 



(OH) (OH) 

 (0H)2 = PO-0-PO-O-PO-O-PO = (OH), = 



(OH) (OH) 

 (OH)., = PO PO PO PO = (OH).,. 



\ /~~~~xr^\ / 



Pt ci---^'^^'~-~-pt CI 



It is easy to see that in the last four acids we may 

 expect to find a marked influence of position, de- 

 pending upon the different modes of union of the 

 hydrosyl." — {Harvard chem. club; meeting March. 

 13. ) [488 



METALLURGY. 



Action of sunlight upon silver amalgamation. 



— By the process as usually conducted, native sul- 

 phide of silver is converted into chloride by treatment 

 with mixed sulphate of copper and common salt. 

 The chloride so formed is decomposed and amalga- 

 mated by mercury. M. P. Laur, of Rodez, has inves- 

 tigated this matter in the laboratory. In a glass 

 vessel he placed a solution of common salt and 

 sulphate of copper; a porous vessel filled with mer- 

 cury was suspended in it, and a platinum electrode 

 dipped into the mercury ; the second electrode was 

 a leaf of sulphide of silver, and was dipped into the 

 copper solution. The electrodes were coniiected with 

 a galvanometer, and the needle was found to swing 

 according to the intensity of the light. The cupric 

 chloride was changed by the mercury to cuprous 

 chloride; and the latter acted upon the silver sulphide 

 only in the presence of sunlight. — {Iron, Dec. 22, 

 18S2.) K. H. R. [489 



Petroleum as a blast-furnace fuel. — E. W. 

 Shippen, of Meadville, recently built a small blast- 

 furnace for testing petroleum. The furnace was 35 

 ft. high, 3 ft. hearth, .5 ft. bosh. It was fired with 

 dried wood, iron-ore, and limestone. Hot oil was 

 injected at the tuyeres under 16 lbs. pressure in the 

 form of a spray. Tlie white-hot charcoal, when 

 struck by the hot oil, turned as black as if cold water 

 had been thrown upon it. The experiment does not 

 appear to have been a success. — {Iron, Dec. 29, 

 1882.) K. H. K. [490 



Aluminum. — A recent patent by Mr. Morris of 

 TJddington, N.B., claims to have solved a problem 

 which has long baffled the skill of technical chemists. 

 By heating an intimate mixture of alumina and 

 charcoal in a current of carbon dioxide, Mr. Morris 

 says that metallic aluminum is produced. The metal 

 is purified from carbon and alumina by a second 

 fusion. — (3^atere, Dec. 21, 1882.) e. h. r. [491 



GEOLOGY. 



Lithology. 

 Crystals of serpentine. — Professor H. C. Lewis 

 called attention to some interesting crystals of ser- 

 pentine which occur in deweylite from Way's felspar 

 quarry, Delaware. The crystals have a gray color, a 

 pearly lustre, and an eminent basal cleavage almost 

 micaceous. They polarize light, and are optically 

 biaxial with a small axial angle, being probably or- 

 thorhombic. The blowpipe examination and analysis 

 proved the mineral to have the composition of serpen- 

 tine. The deweylite contains rounded masses of fel- 

 spar partially altered into deweylite, together with 

 sharp cleavage fragments of quartz, such as would be 

 produced by throwing a heated crystal of quartz into 

 cold water. The micaceous serpentine was the residt 

 of the alteration of mica, but, being crystallized, was 

 not a true pseudomorph. The two points to which he 

 desired to call special attention were the occurrence 

 of serpentine in the crystallized state, and the direct 

 alteration of graphic granite into magnesian minerals. 

 — {Acad. nat. sc. Philad.; meeting March 13.) [492 



MINERALOGY. 



Bournonite. — A mineral resembling tetrahedrite, 

 from Park county. Col., analyzed by W. T. Page, 

 agreed essentially in composition with bournonite, 

 and can be regarded as a variety in which most of the 

 lead has been replaced by copper and zinc. — {Chem. 

 neios, xlvi. 21.5.) s. L. p. [493 



Dopplerite. — Very carefully selected material of 

 this organic mineral from Aussee, in Styria, has been 

 investigated by W. Demel. He shows that the ash 

 consists mostly of oxide of calcium, which is in chem- 

 ical combination with the organic substance. The 

 composition of the whole cannot be expressed by a 

 simple formula ; but the organic part is of an acid 

 nature, agreeing with the formula Ci.iH,4 0fi. — 

 {Berl. berichte, xv. 2961.) s. L. p. [494 



Native iron. — Small grains of iron accompanying 

 gold from the gold-washings in Brush creek, Mont- 

 gomery county Va., have been analyzed by W. T. 

 Page. Absence of cobalt and nickel shows that they 

 are probably not of meteoric origin ; and evidence is 

 given that they are grains of native iron, and not de- 

 rived from the tools of workmen. Similar grains 

 have also been separated and analyzed from auriferous 

 sand from Burke county, N.C. — {Chem. news, xlvi. 

 20.5.) s. L. p. [495 



Fergusonite. — This mineral, in fragments of 

 tetragonal crystals from Burke county, N. C, has 

 been analyzecl by W. H. Seamon. From the analysis 

 he derives the ortho-niobate formula R'" Nb O4. — 

 ( Chem,. news, xlvi. 20-5. ) s. Jy. p. [496 



Orthite. — This mineral from Mitchel county, 

 N.C., oc'curring in flattened crystals, has been ana- 

 lyzed by W. H. .Seamon. The results of analysis 

 showed a very small content of the cerium metals and 

 a large quantity of calcium oxide. The formula de- 

 rived was that of an ortho-silicate. — ( Chem, news, 

 xlvi. 215.) s. L. p. [497 



Mimetite. — Colorless crystals of this mineral from 

 Eureka, Nev., gave F. A. Marsie, upon analysis, 

 the usual formula, 3 PbsAsjOs, PbCl,. — {Chem. 

 news, xlvi. 215.) s. L. p. [498 



METEOROLOGY. 



Barometric laws. — An important contribution 



to this branch of meteorology has been mac^ by Dr. 



Koppen of the Deutsclie seewarte. Reviewing the 



work of Ley, as expressed by him in the eleven pos- 



