590 Royal Society : — Dr. Robert Lee on the 



appeared of the peculiar metallic lustre of coke. Even the 

 smallest pieces being placed on a platinum foil resisted for a 

 long time all the effects of the flame, but at length began to 

 ignite and to be consumed quickly, always leaving a grayish 

 or brownish residuum, which consisted of silica with a little 

 iron. 



As I treated those spongy ignited masses again with sul- 

 phuric and nitric acid, in the manner above mentioned, I 

 found their bulk considerably diminished; and after a repe- 

 tition of the same operation for the fourth time, the last trace 

 of graphite had disappeared, and the acid remained perfectly 

 clear. Diluted and saturated with caustic ammonia, a white, 

 light flocculent precipitate fell, and the whole liquid, evaporated 

 to dryness, and ignited, left a bi'ownish residuum consisting of 

 silica with a little alumina and iron. 



The graphite obviously had here been converted into car- 

 bonic acid by means of nitric acid ; but it is a very curious 

 fact, that this convei*sion takes place only under the above- 

 mentioned circumstances. 



Concentrated nitric acid, dropped on the red-hot graphite, 

 has not the slightest action on it; neither has sulphuric acid 

 dropped into boiling nitric acid. To obtain the expected 

 results, the above precept must be followed strictly, and the 

 crucible must be spacious, as with every drop of nitric acid 

 falling into the sulphuric acid a slight explosion takes place, 

 which might occasion the loss of some of the liquid. 



A somewhat probable explanation of the singular action of 

 both acids combined in this manner, seems to be, that the 

 boiling sulphuric acid absorbs the water from the nitric acid, 

 the oxygen of which is only able to combine with the carbon 

 of the supercarburet of silicon at the moment when the sul- 

 phuric acid combines with the water of the nitric acid. If 

 the residuum of gray cast iron dissolved in hydrochloric acid 

 be treated in the same way, all graphite scales disappear, and 

 only white silica remains. 



LXXXVII. Proceedings of Learned Societies. 



ROYAL SOCIETY. 



Dec. 5, "VTO paper read. 



1839. -L^ Dec. 12.—" On the Nerves of the Gravid Uterus." 

 By Robert Lee, M.D., F.R.S. 



The author, while dissecting a gravid uterus of seven months, on 

 the 8th of April, 1838, observed the trunk of a large nerve proceed- 

 ing upwards from the cervix to the body of that organ along with 



