236 Scientific Intelligence. 



colorless, very volatile oil, boiling at 82°. On standing a day it 

 begins to turn yellow and after two or three days it is greenish 

 yellow and gives off a greenish gas. When brought into contact 

 with flame, or by a sharp percussion, it explodes with great 

 violence, but in comparison with other oxides of chlorine it shows 

 great stability, and it may be poured on paper, wood or similar 

 organic matter with impunity, the oxide simply volatilizing in 

 the air. — Am. Chem. Jour., xxiii, 444. h. l. w. 



4. The Non-Existence of Trivalent Carbon. — In a recent num- 

 ber of this Journal (vol. x, p. 458) mention was made of the sup- 

 posed existence of triphenylmethyl, (C 6 H 5 ) 3 C, which would show 

 the existence of trivalent carbon. J. F. Norris has now discov- 

 ered facts which furnish an adequate explanation of Gomberg's 

 results without the necessity of introducing any new principles. 

 He believes that the compound formed by the action of zinc upon 

 triphenylchlormethane is probably diphenylphenylenemethane, 

 (C 6 H B ) 2 C:C 6 H 4 , an atom of hydrogen being removed along with 

 the chlorine atom. In spite of this new aspect of the matter, 

 Gomberg's results possess great interest. The trivalent carbon 

 formula was advanced merely as a preliminary suggestion.— Am. 

 Chem. Jour, xxv, 117. h. l. w. 



5. Diffusion of Gold in Solid Lead at Ordinary Temperature. — 

 By placing cylinders of solid lead upon disks of gold for a period 

 of lour years at a nearly constant temperature of about 18°, Sir 

 W. C. Roberts- Austin has found that gold passed into the lead. 

 In the lowest layer of '75 mm gold was present to the extent of 

 1 oz. 6 dwt. per ton, while in a slice 7 mm from the surface of con- 

 tact there were found \\ dwt. per ton. It is calculated that the 

 rate of diffusion is about 1/350,000 of that in molten lead. — Jour. 

 Chem. Soc, lxxx, II, 9. h. l. w. 



6. On Cerium. — The opinion expressed in recent literature that 

 cerium consists of at least two elements, is shown to be in all 

 probability without foundation by a careful investigation on the 

 large scale by G. B. Drossbach. 250 kilograms of commercial 

 cerium carbonate were subjected to a long series of operations in 

 order to remove impurities, and finally double salts of cerous 

 nitrate with ammonium nitrate were subjected to systematic frac- 

 tional recrystallization. In the course of seven months more 

 than two hundred crystallizations were made, and fractions 

 widely separated from one another showed no differences from 

 cerium preparations which could be obtained by the careful use 

 of older methods of purification. The cerium dioxide obtained 

 by igniting cerium nitrate in all cases showed a pale yellowish 

 tint. — Berichte, xxxiii, 3506. h. l. w. 



7. A Method for Crystallizing Substances icithout the Forma- 

 tion of Crusts upon the Surface of the Liquid. — When a sub- 

 stance is crystallized by the slow evaporation of its solution, 

 crusts are often formed at the surface, and as evaporation con- 

 tinues from such crusts, any impurities that the liquid may con- 

 tain are likely to be enclosed and thus contaminate the product. 



