SCIENCE. 



257 



Moldavian. 



Urpeth. 



Utah. 



Newberry. 

 86.15 

 '3-75 



99-9° 



Malajuti. Schrotter. Johnson. 



Carbon 85/75 86.20 86.80 



Hydrogen 'S-'S *3.77 14.06 



ioc. 90 99-97 100.86 



It is supposed to be a compound of several members 

 of the paraffine series, which are represen'ed by the 

 general formula C B H 2ll + -2, and perhaps containing- cer- 

 tain of the olefines C„ H 2n , a very tull description of the 

 chemical co nposition of a nodule ot ozocerite found at 

 Kinghornness, Scotland, was given in a paper read by 

 W. Ivison Macadam, at the Sheffield meeting of the 

 Brit.sh Association,* last year. 



Process of Manufacture. The crude mineral 

 (ozocerite) is melted with water in order to remove any 

 sand or other earthy impurities with which it is likely to 

 be mixed. It is then run into cakes weighing about two 

 pounds each. Another authority states that crude 

 hydrocarboa is first melted and drawn off ; the residue 

 boiled with water, to the surface of which any remaining 

 ozocerite rises ; the whole allowed to stand for several 

 hours for any suspended impurities to settle out. The 

 melted wax which was drawn off is poured into moulds, 

 which hold from ioo to 120 pounds. These cakes are 

 then shipped to the various factories in England, Mol- 

 davia and Vienna, where it is purified and converted into 

 illuminating oils and paiaffine. A portion of it is directly 

 treated on the island of Swatoi Astrow, in the Caspian 

 Sea, near the Peninsula of Apscheron. There it is dis- 

 tilled in flat bottomed iron retorts provided with leaden 

 worms, each of these retorts holding from 1,500 to 2,000 

 pounds. 



Sixty-eight per cent, of distillate is obtained, sixty parts 

 of which are paraffine and eighty parts oil. According 

 to Grabowsky, the products of such a working may be 

 tabulated as : 



Benzine 2 to 8 per cent. 



Naptha 15 to 20 " " 



Paraffine 36 to 50 " " 



Heavy lubricating oils 15 to 20 " " 



Coke 10 to 20 " " 



The oil thus obtained is yellow, opalescent, possesses 

 an ethereal odor, and has a density varying between 0.75 

 and 0.81. Each distillate yields a quantity of a light 

 oil boiling below ioo°, which is used for purifying the 

 paraffine, as will be shown further on. The crude paraffine 

 thus obtained from the first distillation is yellow in 

 color and tolerably pure. It is treated by the hydraulic 

 press and the expressed oil redistilled in order to obtain 

 any remaining paraffine. The pressed paraffine is mel ed 

 and treated at from 170 to 180° with five per cent, of 

 sulphuric acid, washed, neutralized with lime, and then 

 rapidly distilled, then cast in plaques and again pressed. 

 The cakes thus obtained are treated with twenty-five per 

 cent, ot the 1 ght oil and again melted and pressed ; 

 finally, they are treated with steam for the purpose of 

 eliminat ng the last traces ot essential oil. The material 

 resulting from this treatment is a perfectly pure and 

 colorless substance, free from all odor, transparent, and 

 so hard as to exhibit in large blocks an almost metallic 

 sound. t 



An improved method of bleaching ceresine, paraffine, 

 petroleum, stearine and other fatty matters has been ! 

 patented in Germany withia a few months. The pro- 

 cess consists in heating ozocerite to l7o°-20O° C. About : 

 twenty per cent, of the hydroxides of aluminium, iron, | 

 manganese and magnesium or the silicates ot aluminium ! 

 and magnesium are added to the molten mass. The | 

 treatment is repeated stveral times with the clear liquid, 

 whicn separa.es up n standing. The residues are ihen 

 treated with steam to remove cresine and to restore the 

 hydroxides. 



TEXTILE FABRICS OF THE ANCIENT INHAB- 

 ITANTS OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.* 

 By Judge J. G. Henderson. 



He showed that the modern Indians and these ancient 

 people are bound together by a similarity in the instruments 

 and processes of spinning- and weaving. The materials 

 used were the bark of various trees, the nettle, and the hair 

 of the bear, buffalo, deer and dog. In working up the 

 vegetable substances, the bark was first macerated. After 

 being dried, it was spun in a multitude of ways. The 

 rudest process was rolling on the thigh. The next step 

 was a rude spindle which passed through various processes 

 of evolution to the modern spinning-wheel. The speaker 

 then proceeded to show the gradation of elaboration 

 through which the loom has passed into the process of 

 weaving. Judge Henderson's paper was illustrated by a 

 series of drawings, collection of raw materials, and models 

 of spindles and looms. 



OCCURRENCE OF TIN AT WINSLOW, ME.* 



By Proi-kssor C. H. Hitchcock. 



After exhibiting specimens of the ore, etc., which is or- 

 dinary tin-stone, and is associated with margarite, fiuveite, 

 beryl and arsenical pyrites, Professor Hitchcock observed 

 that there are twelve veins of this ore, in twenty feet of 

 rock, their geological relations being identical with those 

 of the tin veins of Cornwall. A bar of tin weighing four- 

 teen ounces was also shown ; it is the largest bar ever made 

 in this country. Professor Hitchcock considers this locality 

 the most promising tin-bearing locality yet discovered in the 

 United States. 



*See Chemitai News, vol. XI., p. 14 



MICROSCOPY. 



At a meeting of the State Microscopical Society of Illi- 

 nois, held at Chicago, on the Sth ultimo, a new Microscope 

 stand was exhibited by Mr. W. H. Bullock, specially 

 designed for lithological work. 



"The stage was made to rotate concentrically on the 

 same plan adopted in his large instruments, and was grad- 

 uated to read with a vernier to minutes. Both the minor 

 and sub-stage were mounted on graduated circles, and ar- 

 ranged so as to swing over the stage, e.ther separately or in 

 unison. The sub-stage was made in two cylindrical fittings. 

 The lower one carrying the polarizing prism, could be 

 readily swung to one side, while the upper carried the 

 achromatic condenser. The polarizing prism was mounted 

 with a circle graduated to degrees, and was fitted with a 

 stop for marking the position of the prism. The analyzer 

 was mounted above the objective, somewhat after the man- 

 ner of a Wenham prism, and could be slid in and out of 

 position with the same facility, and also carried, if desired, 

 a quartz film. It was, he said, a matter of great conven- 

 ience for the lithologist to be able to pass from the use of 

 ordinary to that of polarized light, without loss of time, and 

 with the instrument on exhibition, this change could be 

 effected in less lime than a change of objectives with a 

 double nose piece. The stand was also provided with a 

 goniometer eye-piece, which was fitted with a calc film and 

 and analyzing prism, both separable at pleasure." 



The instrument, as above described, appears to be well 

 adapted for the end in view, but we would remind Mr. Bul- 

 lock that Swift, of London, has arranged the polarizing prism 

 and the analyzer in equally convenient positions for instant 

 use ; the former he attached to his patent condenser, under 

 the stage, while the analyzer was fitted exactly as Mr. Bul- 

 lock described. Such instruments have been made for 

 upwards often years, and have been used in this country. 



Mr. Beck, of London, who was present, must have been 

 quite familiar with the instrument we have described. We 

 have always found the arrangement to work admirably, and 

 are surprised that makers do not generally adopt the system 

 in all Microscopes. 



* Read before the A. A. A. S., Boston, j88o. 



