236 Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 



roform C^ H^ CF, it ought to give rise by means of chlorine to the 

 following series : 



C* H^ CP hydrochlorate of methylen 



C'* H* CI* chloride of hydrochlorate of methylen 



C* W C16 chloroforme 



C* Cl^ chloride of carbon. 

 " I have made many attempts," says M. Dumas, " to ascertain the 

 production of these various bodies ;" and he adds, " according to the 

 details of the experiments, the gas of the acetates acts under the in- 

 fluence of chlorine as the law of substitutions and the theory of 

 types had previously indicated, for the body C* H^ is converted into 

 C* CIS . it being well understood that this conclusion relates only 

 to the gas of the acetates, no experiments having been made with 

 pond gas ; and he has but little experimented with the gas from 

 alcohol, which may be merely a mixture. M. Dumas maintains 

 purely and simply his preceding conclusions : acetic acid and chlo- 

 roacetic acid belong to the same type, and the same exists with re- 

 spect to chloroforme and the carburetted hydrogen of the acetates ; 

 for acetic acid produces the carburetted gas, under the circumstances 

 in which chloroacetic acid yields chloroforme ; and the chloroforme, 

 as well as the carburetted gas of the acetates, is converted by the 

 action of chlorine into a chloride of carbon C* Cl^, which belongs to 

 the same type as they. — L'Institut, No. 318. 



HYDKOCARBURET OF BROMINE. 

 M. Pelouze and M. Millon by subjecting to the action of bromine 

 the carburetted hydrogen obtained from the decomjDosition of alco- 

 hol by barytes, hydrocarburet of bromine corresponding to the liquor 

 of the Dutch chemists, M. Pelouze stated it as his opinion that this 

 compound, which is perfectly identical with that obtained from olefi- 

 ant gas, could not be explained by the law of substitutions. He 

 adds, that in his opinion, this law, when it is well known, is only a 

 particular case of the theory of chemical equivalents ; and that he 

 has undertaken with M. Millon, some experiments to support his 

 opinion in this respect. — L'Institut, No. 318. 



NATIVE SULPHATE OF MAGNESIA. 



Indiana, one of the United States, contains a great number of 

 grottos ; one of these, near the Ohio, is celebrated for the masses of 

 Epsom salt which are found in it. The mountain in which it is 

 placed is 400 feet high, and is formed of limestone. The summit 

 is covered with cedars and oaks. The entrance to the grotto is half- 

 way up the mountain ; it is from 12 to 15 feet wide, and 3 to 4 in 

 height. The descent is easily made into a spacious chamber, about 

 a quarter of a mile long ; its height varies from 4 to 20 feet, and its 

 width from 10 to 20. The roof is sometimes flat and sometimes 

 arched. At the extremity of the grotto it bifurcates ; the bifurca- 

 tion on the right side is short ; that on the left hand leads by some 



