284 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. I., No. 10. 



Janny from acetone and hydroxylaraine. From the 

 formation of benzyl iodide when its benzyl ether 

 was treated with hydriodie acid, the benzyl group 

 must be attached to the rest of the molecule by the 

 oxygen atom. — (i'ej-jc/iie deulsch. chem. gesellnch., 

 xvi. 170.) c. F. M. [596 



Acetoximic acids. — C. Schramm obtained repre- 

 sentatives of this class of bodies by the action of 

 hydroxyiamine chloride on isonitrosoethyl- and iso- 

 nitrosobenzyl-acetone. In general, the reaction may 

 be expressed by the equation 



X - CO K-a = NOH 



. I V + HjNOH - nCl = I + H.0 + HCl. 



Y - CNOH V - C = NOH 



— (Berichte deutsch. chem. gesellnch., xvi. ISO.) 

 c. F. M. [597 



METALLURGY. 



Mexican copper-smelting. — ■ A native process 

 of working copper ores is described by W. B. Deve- 

 reux, as now being practised in the state of Jalisco, 

 Mexico, and as producing very pure copper by using 

 two tons of charcoal to one ton of ore. A basin 

 eighteen inches in diameter, and three inches deep in 

 the centre, is made in the earth, and lined with oak- 

 ashes. Upon one side of the basin two tuyeres are 

 placed, which are blown by a hand-bellows. A log is 

 placed with one end across the basin at right angles 

 with the tuyeres, and is supported on a roller, so that 

 it can be fed up as fast as it is consumed. The char- 

 coal and calcined ore are placed on the side of the log 

 opposite to the tuyeres, and are renewed as fast as 

 they are burned and melted away. Three hundred 

 pounds of ore are said to be smelted in four hours. 

 The copper and cinder settle into the basin; and, 

 when the latter is full, the charcoal is scraped away. 

 The slag, as it cools on the surface, is lifted off in cakes 

 until the copper is exposed. Tbis is allowed to cool. 

 The cal;e of copper is then removed, and the opera- 

 tion begins again. The copper is so pure that it can 

 be rolled without cracking. The whole smelting pro- 

 cess is performed without the aid of a single tool that 

 cannot be obtained in the chase, in the woods, or in 

 the clay-bank. The calcining of the ore is done in 

 an English calciner, left on the location by a former 

 company. — ( Trans. Amer. inst. min.- eny. ; Col. meet- 

 ing, 1882. ) K. n. E. [598 



The patio process in San Dinas, Mex. — As 

 described by Richard E. Chism, the broken silver ore 

 is ground in an arrastre till there is no more grit. It 

 is then brought to the patio, or large, circular, concave, 

 paved floor. Here it is treated at intervals with 

 mercnry, salt, and sulphate of copper, and is stirred 

 and worked by the feet of mules. It is then exposed 

 to the sun for some days. Finally, the amalgam 

 formed is washed and retorted. The cheapness of the 

 plant is its great recommendation. This paper is a 

 carefully written description (giving figures) of the 

 process as it is at present used. — {Trans. Amer. inst. 

 min. en;/. ; Col. meeting, 18S2.) B. H. B. [599 



Charcoal-making in retorts. — In a paper on 

 charcoal as a fuel in metallurgy, John Birkinbine 

 states, that at the Bangor furnace, Mich., there are 

 fourteen kiins of eighty cords capacity, in which six- 

 teen thousand cords of wood are annually carbonized. 

 At the Elk Rapids furnace, Mich., there are twenty- 

 two one-hundred-cord kilns, in which forty thousand 

 cords of wood are each year converted into charcoal. 

 The acetic vapors are exhausted from all these kilns 

 by Peirce's patent method, and converted into acetate 

 of lime and methylic alcohol. The two plants pro- 

 duce daily seventeen thousand pounds of acetate of 

 lime, and two hundred and fifty gallons of alcohol. 



That the charcoal is not deteriorated by the collection 

 of the acetic vapors, is proven by the reports of the 

 managers of these plants, and by the remarkable 

 records made by both these furnaces. — ( Trans. Amer. 

 inst. min. eng. ; Col. meeting, 1882. ) [600 



AGKICULTURE. 

 Artificial and natural digestion of proteine. — 



Stutzer, having devised a method for the separation 

 of the true proteine of fodders from the non-proteid 

 nitrogenous matters, has applied this method to' the 

 study of the action of acidified pepsin solution on 

 the proteine of feeding-stuffs. As the general result 

 of his experiments, he finds that the nitrogenous 

 matters of fodders may he divided into two groups, 

 called by him proteine and nucleine; the former of 

 which is entirely digestible, and the latter entirely 

 indigestible. Stutzer's results on certain feeding- 

 stuffs agreed quite closely with those that have been 

 obtained in actual digestion experiments with ani- 

 mals, and suggested the possibility of thus artificially 

 determining the digestibility of this important class 

 of nutrients in a very simple manner; but no com- 

 parative experiments on identical samj^les were made. 

 This deficiency has been supplied by Pfeiffer, who 

 has compared the actual digestibility of meadow-hay 

 and lucerne-hay, by sheep, with the results obtained 

 by Stutzer's method. The results of three experi- 

 ments are given. In each case the actual digestibility 

 was somewhat less than that indicated by Stutzer's 

 method. 



A portion of the nitrogenous matter of the solid 

 excrements, however, consists of biiliary products, 

 and other matters not derivfed directly from the food, 

 and therefore not i^roperly classed with its indigesti- 

 ble matters. When this was taken into account in 

 calculating the actual digestibility, a closer agreement 

 was obtained than is shown by the above figures. 



On the other hand, however, the nucleine of the solid 

 excrements, as determined by Stutzer's method, was 

 twenty-five to thirty per cent less than the amount 

 found in the foddei-, showing that some of the latter 

 must have been digested. It would seem, then, so 

 far as conclusions can be drawn from three experi- 

 ments, that Stutzer's proposed method may serve to 

 give an approximation to the digestibility of the pro- 

 teine of a fodder, and possibly prove a useful addition 

 to the methods of fodder analysis, but that his arti- 

 ficial digestion does not correspond in all respects 

 with natural digestion. — {Biedermann's centr.-blatt, 

 18S2, 739. ) H. p. A. [601 



Digestive fluids of the horse. — Space permits 

 only a summary of the more important results ob- 

 tained in this valuable investigation by EUenberger 

 and Hofmeister. 



a. The saliva. The mixed saliva contains an ener- 

 getic diastatic ferment, which acts at once on cookeS 

 starch, but more slowly on uncooked. Potato-starch 

 is not saccharified during mastication, but minute 

 quantities of oat or barley starch may be. Both the 

 parotid and the submaxillary saliva have a diastatic 

 action, though it is not so energetic as that of the 

 mixed saliva. The action of the mixed saliva equals 

 ' the product of the actions of its components.' In 



