2o6 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XI. No. 271 



made of a buffalo-horn, and ornamented with a white weasel's 

 skin. 



— A bottle thrown overboard near Pernambuco, Brazil, July 28, 

 1885, to assist in tracing the direction of ocean-currents, was found 

 at Little Cayman, W.I., March l, 1888, about thirty-two hundred 

 miles from the starting-point. A note made upon this report at 

 the Hydrographic Office, Navy Department, Washington, says that 

 the bottle probably drifted along the Spanish IVIain into the Gulf of 

 Darien, thence due north across the Caribbean Sea, passing around 

 Jamaica between it and San Domingo and Cuba, and thence about 

 west by north to Little Cayman, passing over a distance of about 

 four thousand miles. Taking the average of the current at two 

 knots an hour, the voyage occupied less than two and one-half 

 months ; so that the bottle was probably on the beach at Little 

 Cayman more than two years before it was discovered. 



itnication will be furnished 

 onant with the character o/ 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



*»* Carrespondetits are requested to be as brief as possible, Th 

 in allcases required as proof of fcood faith. 



Twenty copies of the number containing his communication 

 free to any correspondent on request. 



The editor will be glad to publish any querit 

 ike journal. 



Formation of the Explosive Chloride of Nitrogen by 

 Electrolysis. 



On the 14th of this month I made the discovery that the chlo- 

 ride of nitrogen, a dangerously unstable compound, is formed 

 during the electrolysis of a solution of ammonium chloride (sal- 

 ammoniac). The difficulty and uncertainty of its formation by 

 electrolytic analysis will be understood when it is remembered that 

 nitrogen chloride is the resulting product only when numerous 

 powerful chemical affinities are in equilibrium. 



The operation may be successfully conducted as follows : a 

 saturated solution of ammonium chloride (temperature 7° C.) con- 

 tained in a suitable apparatus is electrolyzed between platinum 

 electrodes, care being taken to shield the solution from direct sun- 

 light. After the decomposition has proceeded for some time, — 

 chlorine being evolved at the positive electrode in minute bubbles, 

 which are absorbed by the solution, — small particles of a light- 

 yellow liquid, with a most peculiar oily appearance, will be observed 

 to collect on the surface. These soon combine to form small glob- 

 ules, which sink slowly to the bottom of the vessel. If a warm 

 solution be electrolyzed in a brightly lighted room, no such results 

 will be obtained ; the nascent chlorine decomposing the solvent 

 water to form hydrochloric acid. 



As this substance is one of a class of compounds which explode 

 violently by a rapid dissociation of their constituent elements, the 

 following precautions are necessary to insure safety : ist, the 

 temperature of the solution must not be allowed to rise above 10° C; 

 2d, the apparatus must be of the strongest construction, scrupu- 

 lously clean, and not exposed to an intense light ; 3d, if a power- 

 ful battery is used, it must be disconnected from the apparatus 

 immediately upon the formation of the first drop of the explosive; 

 and, 4th, it is prudent for the operator to protect himself by means 

 of globes and a strong mask. 



The chloride of nitrogen as thus prepared is a highly volatile, 

 limpid, oily liquid, with an extremely pungent odor. It evaporates 

 rapidly when exposed to the air, producing an unwholesome vapor. 

 The stability of this substance seems to be in an inverse ratio to 

 the rapidity of its formation, the maximum of safety being at- 

 tained by the production of about four drops an hour. If the 

 electro-motive force of the battery be but little in excess of that re- 

 quired for complete electrolysis, the explosive may be allowed to 

 collect in the apparatus, where it will be gradually and harmlessly 

 decomposed by the electric current. 



This dangerous compound was first prepared in the year 181 1, 

 by Pierre Louis Dulong, an eminent French physicist, during a 

 series of experiments on the chlorine compounds. Owing to the 

 serious injuries he received on that occasion, Dulong thought it 

 best to keep the discovery a secret, lest others should be tempted 

 to repeat his perilous experiments. This precaution had, however. 



an unfortunate result ; as Sir Humphry Davy, a few years later 

 having rediscovered the same compound, and being ignorant of its 

 nature, was also injured by its violence. 



In view of the fact that the salts of ammonia are present in the 

 oxidizing liquids of so many electrical batteries in use at the present 

 day, the subject has, I think, considerable practical importance. 

 May not this dangerously explosive compound be formed, under 

 certain circumstances, by the electrolytic actions necessary for the 

 proper working of the battery } Perhaps some of the readers of 

 Science will be able to furnish information on this point. 



In the mean time I will continue these investigations to ascertain, 

 if possible, the nature and quantity of the remaining products of 

 the decomposition, the action of different solvents, and the results 

 to be obtained by substituting other ammoniacal salts for ammo- 

 nium chloride. I will also observe more closely the nature of the 

 explosive, and its behavior when acted upon by high potential elec- 

 tric currents. William B. H.\le. 



Clinton, Ontario, Can., April i8. 



Indian Graves. 



On the 17th of April some men were employed in scraping out 

 a cellar on West Oneida Street in Baldwinsville, N.Y., and threw 

 out several Indian skeletons. The scraper broke these badly, es- 

 pecially the skulls, but yet some interesting facts could be observed. 

 I was able to get tolerable horizontal measurements of two skulls ; 

 the circuuiference of one being 2of inches, and of the other 19* 

 inches. But for being broken, another was in very fine condition. 

 It was that of a young person. 



That this was a case of horizontal burial seemed probable, but 

 was made certain the next day by the careful opening of another 

 grave a few feet away. In this case the skeleton lay with its feet 

 to the north, the knees being drawn up ; the hands were brought 

 up to the neck ; and, while the head lay to the south, the face was 

 turned to the west, the body having been placed on its side. In 

 previous gradings and successive ploughings, the earth had been 

 partly removed and the skull shattered. The soil was of fine gravel 

 and sand, sloping to the south, and on the hill a little to the north 

 had been an Indian village. No relics were found with the bodies, 

 nor do they seem common in these horizontal burials here. 



This was on the north side of Seneca River. In the autumn of 

 18S6 I witnessed the opening of another burial-ground in the vil- 

 lage on the south side. The size, condition, and position of the 

 skeletons were much the same, and I was able to make several 

 careful measurements. This was close by a level site of an early 

 Indian village, affording much earthenware. The soil was a clear 

 sand loam, unmixed with gravel ; but under almost every skeleton 

 was a small stone. There were no relics ; and, though the skele- 

 tons lay on one side horizontally, there was some coufusion, and 

 apparently no attempt to face the west. 



Four modes of Indian burial are known in Onondaga County, 

 and possibly five. The oldest seems to have been the horizontal 

 mode, not at full length, but with the limbs drawn up, and with no 

 articles in the grave. In a single instance a kind of mound-burial 

 has been found, where the bodies were laid horizontally, with some 

 articles, and the earth heaped over them in a mound of considera- 

 ble size. I was fortunate enough to get a picture of this before its 

 removal. The third made was that of the early Onondagas, who 

 entered the county early in the seventeenth century. Before they 

 came into central New York, they probably used ossuaries, like the 

 Hurons, but there are no known instances around their later homes. 

 When the French entered Onondaga, the local mode was to put the 

 body in a sitting posture, placing some articles with it. Under 

 European influence, this gradually changed, and the burial was 

 much as with us, a century ago. In other places there have been 

 other modes, as in the burial of several, one above another, in Ca- 

 yuga County, and reported circular burials elsewhere. One curious 

 grave has been brought to my attention by Otisco Lake. In this 

 were two kinds of paint, and two long tubes of light-green clay, 

 resembling the green gypseous shales, with flint arrow-heads. Two 

 skeletons lay side by side, and the rare relics point to an early day. 



W. M. Beauchamp. 



Baldwinsville, N.Y., April i8. 



