388 Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 



Our readers will remember that Faraday and Mitscherlich have de- 

 scribed another compound, consisting of 



2 atoms phosphorus + I atom sulphur. 



Brewster's Journal. — Ann. de Chim. xliii. p. 25. 



PREPARATION OF PHOSPHORUS. 



Wohler recommends, as likely to give phosphorus at a very cheap 

 rate, to distil by a strong heat ivory-black, with half its weight of fine 

 sand and charcoal powder. A silicate of lime is formed, and the car- 

 bonic oxide and phosphorus come over. — Brewster's Journal. — Pog- 

 gendorf. — Ann. de Phys. xvii. p. 178. 



AMMONIACAL DEUTOCHLORIDE OF TITANIUM. BY M. ROSE. 



When dry ammoniacal gas is passed over deutochloride of titanium, 

 there is strong action, accompanied with the evolution of heat, and a 

 brownish red powder is formed. This powder combines with the por- 

 tion of deutochloride which remains unacted upon, and is not further 

 attacked by the ammoniacal gas • the mixture is to be well shaken, 

 and when the ammonia, as detected by the smell, is in excess, the 

 operation is finished. 



When in contact with the air the compound becomes white ; it 

 liquefies in moist air. It is not perfectly soluble in water. According 

 to analysis it consists of 84*71 of deutochloride of titanium and 15"29 

 of ammonia. — Hensman's Repertoire, vol.iii. p. 304. 



ON AN ALLEGED ERROR IN THE CALCULATIONS OF THE LATE 

 ECLIPSE OF THE MOON. 



To the Editors of the Philosophical Magazine and Annals. 

 Gentlemen, Bristol, Small-Street Court, Sept. 28, 1830. 



L take the liberty of troubling you with the following letter, 

 which is a copy (or nearly so) of one sent to the Literary Gazette, 

 which the editor declined inserting. I submit it to you for inser- 

 tion or rejection, as you may think fit. 



The occasion of it was briefly as follows. The late eclipse of 

 the " labouring moon" had given birth to a couple of articles in 

 the Literary Gazette, one by C. H.Adams of Edmonton; the other 

 by J. T. B. of Deptford, both complaining of great inaccuracy in the 

 calculations of our almanacs in relation to that eclipse, and re- 

 flecting discredit on the science of astronomj' itself. The latter 

 gentleman says (Literary Gazette, 11th of September), after al- 

 luding to the unfavourable state of the weather on the evening of 

 the eclipse, " The only observation made was at 10 h 15 m , at which 

 time a portion of the western limb of the moon was distinctly seen 

 to be illuminated. — 27'4 m after the time predicted for the beginning 

 of total darkness." . ..." It is, however, due to the Nautical Al- 

 manac, and other British astronomical works of a similar nature, 

 to state that the times of the phenomena of this eclipse, as given by 

 them, agree nearly with those in the Connaissance des Terns and 

 Encke's Berlin Ephemeris, both of which are deservedly held in the 

 highest estimation." He then quotes from the computations of the 



three 



