256 Miscellaneous Notes. 



standing a pale yellow, pretty well defined precipitate falls to the 

 bottom. Corn spirit, if free from acetic and other ethers, shows a 

 similar behavior, and after standing six to nine hours the pre- 

 cipitation is still more marked, and the superior liquid is perfectly 

 clear and as bright as pure alcohol. With spirit obtained from 

 potatoes, and therefore containing amylic alcohol treated in the 

 same manner, the mixture does not become nearly so milky, but is 

 bluish white, and upon standing nine to twelve hours a very 

 slight precipitation takes place, only about one third as much as 

 in the former^ and the precipitation is pure white in color. The 

 liquid portion of the mixture is also not entirely clear or water 

 bright, but shows bluish white opalescence of several hours 

 duration. A spirit containing traces of acetic ether, in which 

 the odor of the fusil oil is masked, behaves similarly. (A. H. M.) 



Application of Prof. Lodge's Electric Spark. — A wonderful 

 instance of the manner in which a scientific discovery can 

 be turned to practical advantage has recently occurred. At the 

 Montreal meeting of the British Association, Prof. Lodge gave 

 a' lecture on "Dust", and pointed out a new observation due 

 to himself and Mr. J. W. Clark. These two gentlemen had 

 made the curious discovery that the passage of electric sparks 

 through a dust-laden atmosphere would quickly cause the dust to 

 settle down. During the lecture alluded to, a bell-glass filled 

 with magnesium smoke was subjected to experiment, and the 

 contained air rapidly became clear when the sparks were passed 

 through it. So much for the scientific discovery. Now for its 

 application. The head of a firm of lead smelters in Wales read a 

 report of this lecture. He knew what difficulty there was in re- 

 taining the fume of volatilized lead from the smelting works, and 

 in preventing its escaping from the flues to poison the atmosphere 

 outside, besides robbing the smelter. He determined to see 

 whether the electric spark would not cause the fume to fall in 

 the same way that it acted upon the dust. An experimental 

 shaft made of barrels, with windows in it, and an electric machine 

 by which sparks could be sent through the fume, soon demon- 

 strated that the thing could be done. (A. H. M.) 



Cirsine. — A notice of a new Alkaloid, which has been named 

 " Cirsine," discovered by E. B. Shuttleworth, of Toronto, in the 

 flower heads of the Canada thistle, Cirsium arvense, was read 

 at the semi-annual meeting of the Ontario College of Pharmacy, 

 held at Belleville, last month. The method of analysis was that 

 of Drugendorff, and the Alkaloid was not found to be soluble in 

 petroleum ether, but most readily in alcohol. It was stated that 

 thistle flowers are an important constituent in a well-known patent 

 medicine, and it is quite possible that the active principle, when 

 isolated, may be found to have powerful remedial properties. 



(A.H.M.) 



