Foreign Literature and Science. 385 



nearly saturated solution of sub. carbonate of potash rose 

 4.45 inches ; concentrated muratic acid 3.35 inches ; one 

 part of sugar in 4 of water to 3.25 ; one part of alcohol in 

 10 of water to 3.2 ; concentrated alcohol to 1.95. In an- 

 other tube in which water rose to .4 inches, nitric acid rose 

 to .3 ; pure fish oil to .15 ; oil of lavender to .15. 



In a tube in which cold water rose to 2.45, boiling water 

 rose only to 2.05; cold concentrated alcohol .95; boiling 

 .875; water, mixed with snow 2.25, heated to 70° F. 2.1 ; at 

 the boiling point 1.8. — Bui. Univ. Juittet, 1827. - 



22. Intense Light. — It is stated by M. Pleischl, that hy- 

 drate of lime, pulverised and exposed upon charcoal to a 

 stream of oxygen, through a blow-pipe with an orifice ^ inch 

 in diameter, fed by a common lamp, gives the most intense 

 light. He attributes this to a sort of pulverulent atmos- 

 phere, which the lime disengages at that temperature. Sub- 

 stances which do not emit molecules in a gaseous state can- 

 not produce so vivid an incandescence. — Idem. 



23. Solubility of Silex. — When the liquor of flints is treat- 

 ed with an excess of acid, silex remains in the liquor com- 

 bined with the acid. The carbonic acid even has the prop- 

 erty of holding silex in solution, especially at a certain tem- 

 perature. It is in this state, that silex is found in a great 

 number of mineral waters, from which it is deposited only at 

 the surface, as the water cools and the carbonic acid escapes. 

 The solubility of silex, recently precipitated, in carbonic 

 acid, is the cause of its presence remaining so long unsus- 

 pected in a great number of combinations. — Ibid. 



24. Theory of Nitrification. — M. Longchamps has en- 

 deavored to prove (Annales de Chimie et de Phys. Sept. 

 1826,) that the oxygen and azote of the air, in contact with 

 calcareous substances, sufficiently porous, under the influ- 

 ence of humidity and heat, are competent for the produc- 

 tion of nitric acid, without the concurrence of animal mat- 

 ters. Gay Lussac has disputed this point with M. Long- 

 champs, (Annales de Chimie de Janvier 1827,) which has oc- 

 casioned an animated controversy between them, and a let- 

 ter from the latter to the minister of war, the marquis de 

 Clermont- Tonnere, requesting him to name a commission to 



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