404 Scientific Intelligence. 
peated if necessary. The accumulated mercury of five years of 
the author’s laboratory, some of which had been used to amalga- 
mate zincs and was semi-solid, was completely purified in an after- 
poon in this way. The loss is small, two kilograms of mercury, 
after three treatinents with 100 c.c. of the acid solution, washing 
heating to 150° and weighing, lost only 10 grams. —Ber 
879 G. F. B 
5. ikosyle me, a Seplibscunrbab Jrom the Paraffin of Brown 
1 iat Sean and Haw WLICZEK have examined the chlor-deriva- 
produce the chloride it was at first treated with ree its weight 
of phosphoric chloride diluted with carbon tetrachloride, and 
heated in a sealed tube to 215°. But subsequently it was ae 
the Sraien was liquid. ter washing with water, it was sepa- 
rated from the unacted-on paraftin aby cooling to —15° C, and 
fractionated in vacuo. An oily liquid was obtained in this way 
which boiled at 225° to 230° and afforded on analysis the formula 
C,,H,,Cl, having evidently been produced from the body C,,H,,Cl, 
by loss of ae Distillation at the ordinary pressure decomposed 
it further, C,H,,CI=C,,H,+HCl The hydrocarbon thus ob- 
tained boiled at 314°— 315°, and the authors propose for it the 
name eikosylene. Its specific gravity is ‘O-8181, but its vapor. den- 
sity could not be determined, since it totally decomposed at 440°. 
It acts like an olefine, combining actively with halogens, forming 
a chloride C,,H,,Cl, and a corresponding bromide. It belongs | ~ 
the san gues series, being homologous with cetylene ©,,H,, it 
ighest member. The evidence that the hydrocarbon C,,H, 
mixed nara with others of higher boiling point, constitutes the 
paraffin of brown coal, seems well established.—Ber. Be se 
_— xil, 69, Jan. 1879, 
6. On the Teuigocontion of Starch into Dextrose in ie ‘Cold. 
—It is known that starch is slowly transformed into dextrose when 
boiled for a long time with water. Rrean has made some obser- 
vations which seem to show that the same result may take place 
in the cold, though much more graduall A solution made by 
boiling one part of finely divided starch in 100 of water saturated 
with salt, and oe is imputrescible and may be preserved for 
along time. After a year the author’s solution appeared less sen- 
sitive to iodine, and after three or four years, it was not colored 
ba this reagent. It was neutral, limpid, contained no trace of any 
organized terment, reduced energetically the copper test and was 
browned by alkalies. Determined by the copper test, every 100 
¢.c. contained 0°111 gram dextrose; but using ferricyanide of potas- 
