CARE OF STOVES. 101 
mineral resins, or hydrocarbon compounds, of which Dana describes the compo- 
sition of seventy species. 
Many of these are very well known under the names of marsh gas, petrole- 
um, ozocerite, asphaltum, naphtha, paraffin, bitumen, amber, torbanite, coal, 
and its varieties. 
Some of these singular minerals are obtained only from bog and peat beds 
Some time ago Mr. Plant showed to the Section a quantity of one of these 
resinous minerals, which occurred under the bark of pine logs found in a moss 
at Handforth by Mr. P. G. Cunliffe. It proved to be known in Germany as 
Fichtelite, but had not before been known to occur in Great Britain. After- 
ward it was found in pine logs in the peat on Lindow Common. A waxy, 
greasy, or butter-like character is distinctive of these bog products. The one 
now exhibited was described first by Brazier in 1825, and was ae by Will- 
amson in 1845, its composition being given as 
Can omiey ys Ayre een Bien Wey ares 73.78 
FLY GROMEMIL Mr uta oh banisices tone B24 50 
OxXVOEME Mea LN erste te Mere Tigk yo 
When fresh from the bog it is soft ie like butter, but hardens in drying. 
The mass is dirty and bogstained on the outside, but inside pure white and free 
from impurities. It melts at 50° C., and becomes a yellow greasy resin; dissolves 
in alcohol or in ether, and then crystallizes in beautiful needles. When heated 
it gives off a peculiar odor like acroline. ‘By saponification with potash it yields 
an acid which Brazier proves to have a composition similar to palmetic acid. 
There is a mineral waxy resin called Guyaquillite, which is found in extensive 
deposits in the marshy plains near Guyaquil, in South America, which has a sim- 
ilar composition to bog butter. 
Johnson gives it as 
Carbomesemiprc ccm. “cutee ee On Ory 
Ely Gnogens ina. vateceave 1 Only 
OXV SSM TAU Veer, Rahn HSS TG 
It has been proved that the slow decomposition or change in the vegetable 
peat or moss will produce elements of which these hydrocarbons are made.— 
Chemical News. 
CARE OF STOVES. 
The season is at hand for removing stoves from the rooms they have warmed 
_ during the winter. A few words of caution may not be amiss. Iron is more 
sensitive to the hygrometric changes in the atmosphere than any other commonly 
used metal; at least it is more susceptible of permanent injury from dampness. 
_ The planished surface sheet iron, known as the Russia iron, resists these insidious 
approaches of the foe of metals much better than our common iron; but there is 
