- SCIENTIFIC NEWS. ^3 



has much metallic brilliancy, is brittle, and pofleffes in fmall 

 fcales a confiderable degree of elafticity. It larniflies on ex- 

 pofure to air, and becomes eatily oxided by heat. It then 

 acquires a blueidi afped. It detonates with nitrate of potafli, 

 and is highly infufible. All the denfe acids aft upon it with 

 confiderable energy. Scherer's Journ. IX. p. 49. p. 72. 



On the Precipitability of the Oxide of Bifmuth. 

 Mr. Buckholtz has found that the folution of bifmuth pre- Solution of bif- 

 pared in the cold is alone decompofable, by a*copious addition "'"'^li^y heat not 

 of water, but that no fuch efFe6t takes place in the folution ^ater, * ' 

 prepared by means of heat. He has alfo noticed that a folution 

 of this metal prepared in thee olde, depofits its oxide inacrj'f- 

 talline form merely by warming the folution gradually. 



SchererlX. p. 73. 



New Method of preparing phofphate of Soda. 



Mr. Funcke, apothecary at Linz, in Germany, hasdifcovered Preparation of 

 a new method of preparing phofphate of foda, in a more P^o^plia^e of 

 fficonomical, expeditious and eafy manner, than any of the 

 procetTes hitherto made ufe of by manufa6lurers or chemifts. 

 His procefs confifts, in faturating the excefs of lime contained 

 in calcined bones with dilute fulphuric acid, and then difTolv- 

 ing the remaining phofphate of lime in nitric acid. To this 

 folution, he adds a like quantity of fulphate of foda, and then 

 recovers the nitric acid by diftillation. The phofphate of foda 

 is then feparated from the fulphate of lime, by the affufion of 

 water, and cryftallization in the ufual manner. Scherer IX. 59. 



REMARK BY THE TRANSLATOR. (A.) 



This procefs feems to be much preferable to that now in ufe, 

 viz. to decompofe the bones of animals burned to whitenefs, by 

 fulphuric acid, and then prefenting foda to the difengaged phof- 

 phoric acid. For the phofphate of lime cannot be completely 

 decompofed by the afiufion of fulphuric acid ; on account of 

 this acid forming inftantly a portion of fulphate of lime: the 

 liberated phofphoric acid then produces with the remaining 

 undecompofed portion oF phofphate of lime, a fub-phofphate of 

 lime, which cannot be decompofed by fulphuric acid, and which 

 together with the fulphate of lime already produced, forms an 

 5 unmanageable 



