128 Progress in Chemistry, [January, 



unwholesome form of organic matter being present, the germs become 

 developed with generation of small spherical cells and strings, which are easily 

 discoverable under the microscope, and, in extreme cases, cause a general 

 turbidity, with production of a butyric odour. Filtration through the finest 

 quality of Swedish paper was found to be ineffectual in keeping back this kind 

 of impurity; but treatment with animal charcoal and subsequent filtration 

 proved much more efficacious in removing this source of contamination. 



Recent events on the Continent have rendered all subjects connected with the 

 economy of food or of counteracting the effects of insufficient food of the 

 highest importance. A French experimenter, M. Rabuteau, suggests that a 

 man may live for several mdnths, and keep active, strong, and healthy, by 

 consuming daily 150 grms. of a mixture (dry) of powdered cocoa, 1000 grms. ; 

 infusion of coffee, 500 ; infusion of tea, 200 ; sugar, 500 grms. The two 

 infusions, as strong as can be made, to be evaporated to dryness previous to 

 being mixed with the rest of the substances, The whole weight of this 

 2220 grms. would be only about 1600, and would be sufficient food for ten 

 days ; when taken it is to be mixed with some boiling water. The author 

 states that it is highly agreeable, he having purposely experimented with this 

 mixture upon himself while abstaining from other food. 



Speaking of the great tinctorial power of some of the aniline dyes, Dr. 

 Hofmann quotes the following : — The solution of a salt of rosaniline, mixed 

 with a few drops of acetic acid, and so diluted with water as to have 1 part of 

 the rosaniline salt to 1,000,000 of water (1 milligrm. to 1 litre of liquid) is 

 deeply carmine-coloured, and yields a fluid capable of dyeing silk thread, 

 previously moistened with dilute acetic acid. When the coloured liquid is 

 diluted with water, so that 25,000,000 parts of that liquid are present (i-25th 

 of a milligrm. of the salt to the litre), the liquid is yet distinctly coloured ; and 

 silk, immersed in this bath for a quarter of an hour, is dyed a pale rose-colour 

 when removed from the liquid. Even 1 part of the rosaniline salt in 100,000,000 

 parts of water is visible, if the layer of liquid seen through is about half a 

 metre thick. 



Dr. Klein, a pupil and collaborator of Professor J acobi, of St. Petersburg, 

 states that the iron obtained by electrolysis is not, as has been often thought, 

 the pure metal, but, on the contrary, a compound of iron and hydrogen, which, 

 when heated to redness, gives off an enormous amount of that gas, and 

 becomes, while greatly increasing in bulk, a silver-white, very soft, ductile, 

 and malleable metal, which decomposes water readily below its boiling-point 

 and oxidises most rapidly. 



A lengthy memoir of a series of experiments on the venom of the Scorpio 

 occitanus, has recently been published by Dr. Jousset. The author draws, from 

 his experiments, the following conclusions : — The venom of the Scorpio 

 occitanus acts directly and solely upon the red blood globules. This action 

 consists in withdrawing from the globules their property of gliding over each 

 other. By losing this property, the blood globules become glued together, and, 

 by thus becoming an adhesive mass, obstruct the circulation of blood in the 

 capillary portion of the vascular system, thereby causing a stasis which is 

 altogether incompatible with the proper conditions of life. Since the action of 

 the scorpion's venom is purely chemical, and a certain quantity of it (the 

 venom) is required for exerting its action, it essentially differs from virus, which 

 acts as a ferment. 



Dr. W. Wenzell finds that a solution of 1 grain of permanganate of potash 

 in 2000 grms. of sulphuric acid is, par excellence, the test for the successful 

 demonstration of traces of strychnine. The limit of positive recognition by 

 the bichromate of potash and sulphuric acid test may be placed at i-ioo,oooth, 

 that of the chromic acid test at 1 -600,000th, and that of the permanganate at 

 i-goo,oooth. The discovery of this use of permanganate is due to Dr. Guy, of 

 London. 



