282 Progress in Science. [April, 



introduced g cwts. of wet sawdust, 107 cwts. of hydrochloric acid (sp. gr. 1-18), 

 and 30 cwts. of water ; after eleven hours' boiling 10/67 P er cent °f g ra P e sugar 

 was formed. The acid was then nearly saturated with chalk. Yeast was 

 added after the saccharine liquid had cooled down to 30 C, and the fermen- 

 tation finished in twenty-four hours. 26-5 litres of alcohol of 50 per cent at 

 15 : were obtained quite free from any smell of turpentine, and of excellent 

 taste. It appears that the preparation of alcohol from sawdust may be 

 successfully carried on industrially when it is precisely ascertained what 

 degree of dilution of acid is required, and how long the liquid has to be boiled 

 to convert all the cellulose into sugar. Fifty kilos, of the sawdust yield 

 12 litres of alcohol at 50 per cent. 



Messrs. Baerle, of Worms, have discovered soluble glass to be a valuable 

 washing powder and detergent. Take 40 parts of water, at a temperature of 

 50 to 57 C, and 1 part of soluble glass ; plunge the wool into the mixture, 

 stirring it for a few minutes. Then rinse the wool in cold or tepid water; it 

 will be found to be quite white and void of smell. Sheep also may be washed 

 with the same preparation, care being taken to cover the eyes of the animal 

 with a bandage, to perform the washing with the solution quickly, and to re- 

 move the surplus with tepid water. In the case of combed wool, it should be 

 first steeped into the solution, and afterwards. into another bath composed of 

 80 parts of water at 37° C, and 1 part of soluble glass. In this way the em- 

 ployment of soap or soda is not necessary. For laundry purposes a bath 

 must be prepared over night with 20 to 30 parts of water at 50° to 57° C, and 

 1 part of neutral soluble glass ; the linen is plunged into this bath and left until 

 the following morning, when, after the bath has been re-heated with additional 

 hot water, it is to be worked with a wooden stamp. The colour of the solution 

 shows when the fabric is clean. The operation is completed by rising with a 

 little soap ; but it is well to pass the fabric again through a weak solution, 

 consisting of 1 part of soluble glass to 50 parts of water at 45 to 50 C, and 

 then to rinse in fresh water. 



CHEMICAL SCIENXE. 



A new burette has been lately used in Paris. It consists of an upright tube 

 drawn out to a fine aperture below, like that of Mohr, and supported in the 

 same manner. The opening at top is fitted with a perforated cork, through 

 which plays a glass rod, reaching down to the bottom, and ground conically, 

 so as to fit water-tight into the tapering delivery-end of the burette. A lateral 

 aperture at the top serves to charge the instrument. This form is useful in 

 working with solutions of permanganate of potash, or other reagents which 

 attack the india-rubber which in Mohr's pattern connects the delivery-tube to 

 the body of the burette. 



MM. Samal and Berousonhave recently patented a new method of bleaching 

 animal textile fabrics, by means of a feeble solution of the sulphurets of so- 

 dium and potassium. These products remove the gum in preparing silk and 

 in scouring wool. In the first case the bath should be boiling; in the second, 

 the temperature of the alkaline sulphuret should not exceed 50 C. The more 

 difficult it may be to remove the gum and prepare the silk, the less the solution 

 should be sulphuretted ; in some instances the protosulphuret may be 

 employed. The aluminates of soda and potash have also been used in the 

 same manner. 



Errata. — P. 173, line 19 from bottom, for " land" read •' band" P. 201, line 

 26 from top, for " masses " read " maps." 



