580 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. I., No. 20. 



Arsenious sulphide is oxidized completely into arsenic 

 acid and sulphuric acid. A special form of apparatus 

 was devised by the authors for determining sulphur 

 in sulphides. Hydric sulphide was set free by an acid, 

 and carried forward by a current of carbonic dioxide 

 into a tube filled with glass beads. An ammoniacal 

 solution of hydric peroxide was allowed to drop into 

 this tube, thereby oxidizing tlie hydric sulphide to 

 sulphuric acid, which was drawn out at the bottom 

 of the tube by means of a stop-cock. By this method 

 accurate results were obtained in the analysis of the 

 sulplxides of antimony, tin, cadmium, iron, and of 

 baric sulphite and hyposulphite. — {Berichte deutsch. 

 chem. gesellsch., -K.\i. lOQl.) c. f. m. [1108 



( Organic.) 

 Derivatives of chinoline. — The study of the 

 derivatives of chinoline and their constitution is con- 

 tinued by several chemists. W. La Coste prepared 

 p-nitrocliinoline (1 : 6) from p-nitraniline, p-nitra- 

 celanilide, and glycerine, and p-dimethylamido- 

 chinoline from dimethylamido-p-phenylendiamine 

 and nitrobenzol. o-nitrochinoline was made from 

 o-nitraniline. m-nitraniline gave m-phenanthroline, 

 identical with the product obtained by Skraup (Sci- 

 ence, i. 283). At the same time there was formed an 

 oxyphenanthroline whose constitution may be repre- 

 sented by the following reactions : — 



HC — CH 



O. Fischer prepared oxyhydroethyl- and methyl- 

 chinoline by the action of the corresponding alkyl 

 iodides on a-oxyhydrochinoline. In studying the 

 therapeutic properties of the oxycliinoline derivatives, 

 it was found tliat oxychinoline possessed poisonous 

 properties, and that tlie chlorides of the correspond- 

 ing hydro-compounds exerted an action similar to that 

 of chinine. p-oxychinoline and certain of its deriva- 

 tives were examined by C. Kiemersclimied. L. Hoff- 

 man and W. Konigs prepared tetrahydrochinoline 

 by reduction of chinoline with tin and hydro- 

 chloric acid. By tlie action of nitrous acid this sub- 

 stance gave a nitroso-amine (C(|H, ,iN— N"0) which 

 formed nitronitrosotetraliydrochinoline 



/ / NO, \ 



I C„Ho ( ) 



\ \ N - NO/ 



when treated with nitric acid. The corresponding 

 hydrazine was obtained by reduction. Indol was one 

 of the products of the dry distillation of tetrahydro- 

 chinoline. — {Berichte deutsch. chem. yesellsch., xvi. 

 669,721,727.) c. f. m. [1109 



AGEICULTURE. 

 Digestibility of moistened and cooked fodder. 



— In continuation of earlier researches on this point, 

 G. Kiihn has compared the digestibility of three sam- 

 ples of hay and three samples of wlieat-bran, when fed 

 dry, to that of the same fodders variously treated. 

 Moistening the hay or bran immediately before feed- 

 ing witli a iiuantity of cold water insufficient to 

 satisfy the thirst of the animals (steers) had no rec- 

 ognizable effect on the digestibility. Moistening the 

 bran with cold water twenty-four hours before feed- 

 ing had no effect on its digestibility, provided the 

 quantity of water was so limited that the amount 

 drunk by the animals did not fall below about fifty 

 per cent of that drunk when the ration was given dry. 



When the amount of water used to moisten the bran 

 largely exceeded the limit just mentioned, indica- 

 tions of a decreased digestibility of the crude proteine 

 of the total ration were observed. Treating the bran 

 with boiling water twenty-four hours before feeding 

 caused, an undoubted decrease in the digestibility of 

 its crude proteine, wliich was greater tlie liigher tlie 

 initial temperature, and tlie longer the action of 

 the heat continued. The otlier constituents of the 

 bran were unaffected. Giving tlie bran stirred into 

 water as drink, along witli dry liay, had no notice- 

 able effect on tlie digestibility of the total ration, com- 

 pared with that observed when similarly prepared 

 bran was mixed with the hay. Tlie experiments gave 

 also the interesting and important result, that the ex- 

 tent to which the same fodder is digested by the same 

 animal may vary at different times. A new source 

 of error in digestion experiments is thus brought to 

 light, and one which must receive serious considera- 

 tion in all future experiments, and lead to new cau- 

 tion in accepting the results of old ones, especially in 

 the case of concentrated fodders, since the calcula- 

 tion of the digestibility of the latter is based on the 

 assumption of unaltered digestibility of a coarse fod- 

 der for two consecutive periods. These experiments 

 are worthy of notice also for the care and conscien- 

 tiousness with which the limits of possible error are 

 taken account of in the discussion of the results. 

 Tliey afford, in this respect, an excellent example of 

 really scientific investigation, and contrast favorably 

 in this particular witli many agricultural experi- 

 ments. — (Landw. vers.-staL, xxix. 1.) h. p. a. 



[1110 

 Bottled milk. — Milk preserved by Scherff's pro- 

 cess (heating in closed bottles to 100°-120° G. for one 

 or two hours) differs from fresh milk in certain 

 respects. It is not coagulated by rennet, and when 

 acidified, or allowed to become sour, it yields a fine, 

 granular coagulum. These differences have been 

 attributed to chemical changes in the albuminoids 

 of the milk, produced by the heat; but Fleischman 

 and Morgen fail to find in such bottled milk any 

 peptones or other products of the decomposition of 

 proteids, or any evidence of a chemical alteration. 

 It appears to be. a trifle less readily acted on by pep- 

 sin than fresh milk. The good results obtained by 

 its use for sick children are ascribed to the granular 

 coagulum whicli it yields in the stomacli, and its 

 freedom from all germs. — (Landw. vers.-stat., xxviii. 

 321.) H. P. A. [1111 



Soil-temperatures. — In continuation of previous 

 researches, E. and H. Becquerel have taken the tem- 

 perature of two soils at different depths twice daily 

 during the year 1882. One soil was naked, and the 

 other covered with turf. 



At a depth of 0.0.5 m., the turfed soil was the 

 warmer at 6 a.m. At 3 P.M. the naked (sandy) soil 

 was the warmer during tlie warm months, while 

 during the cold months the reverse was the case: 

 in other words, the range of temperature was less 

 under tlie turf. At greater depths this effect became 

 less marked, and on the average tlie turfed soil was 

 0.1°-0.7° warmer than the naked one. — [Comptes 

 rencJus, xcvi. 1107.) h. p. a. [1112 



Reduction of nitrates. — The reduction of ni- 

 trates by means of an organized ferment, which has 

 been observed by Springer (Science, i. p. 115), has 

 also been the subject of experiments by Gayon and 

 Dupetit, Deherain and Maquenne, and de Eodionoff. 

 The action of the ferment is prevented by oxygen 

 and by disinfectants, and heat destroys the ferment. 

 Large quantities of free nitrogen are produced in 



