POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW. 
392 
bouquet to wine vinegars, whatever be their origin.— Vide Comptes Reiidas , 
lviii., No. 1. 
Is Oxygen a Tetra-atomic Element ? — This question would appear to be 
answered in the affirmative by M. Naquet, who conceives that he has 
established the tetra-atomic character of sulphur and selenium. In his 
opinion, the tetra-atomicity of the latter bodies being established, if we 
consider the many analogies which exist between sulphur and oxygen, 
and also the fact that the atomicity of a body may vary with the radical 
which it enters into combination with, as in the case of lead which is 
tetra-atomic with ethyl, and bi-atomic with chlorine, we are justified in 
supposing that oxygen belongs to the sulphur, selenium, and tellurium 
family. — Comptes Rendus , February 22nd, 1864. 
Action of Fungi on Solutions of Cane Sugar. — Under this heading, a 
valuable memoir was some time ago communicated to the French Academy 
by M. Bechamp. He points out a curious fact presented by a sugary 
solution which had been mixed with oxalate of potass, and which con- 
tained some fungous growths. The liquid was alkaline, but when treated 
with an acid it gave off carbonic acid. Hence it may be concluded, that 
under the influence of these plants the oxygen had decomposed the oxalic 
acid, and the sugar was transformed into glucose in an alkaline solution. — 
Comptes Rendus , Feb. 15th. 
Valerylene , a new Homologue of Acetylene, is the name given to a compound 
discovered by M. Reboul. It is obtained by heating for some hours to 
140° (centigrade), and in closed tubes brome-amylene, with a saturated 
alcoholic solution of potass. When water is added to the product, a sub- 
stance is separated, which consists of a mixture of valerylene alcohol and 
brome-amylene. The new compound may be separated from the alcohol 
by agitation with cold water, and from the amylene compound by distilla- 
tion at a low temperature. It is very volatile, and is not absorbed by the 
ammoniacal solution of sulphate of copper, although allowed to remain in 
contact with it for several days ; it is a colourless liquid less dense than 
water, in which it is almost insoluble, and has a peculiarly garlicky odour. 
It distils over at from 44 to 46° centigrade. Its formula is C 10 II S . 
Analysis gives it a composition of 87*31 of carbon, and 12*04 of hydrogen. 
It combines most energetically with bromine ; so much so that in allowing 
the combination to take place every precaution must be observed to keep 
the fluid at a temperature close on 32° Fahrenheit.— Comptes Rendus , 
January 25. 
Purification of Oxalic Acid. — The ordinary method consists in the suc- 
cessive crystallization of the commercial acid in distilled water. M. 
Maumene finds this process to be rather a means of rendering impure than 
of purifying the acid. He discovers a greater proportion of alkali in the 
crystals last obtained, than in those of the first series. He therefore re- 
commends the following process as the one best adapted to the object in 
view : — Dissolve the ordinary acid in sufficient water to give from ten or 
twenty to a hundred crystals, according to the degree of impurity. Let 
these crystals be laid aside. Next, evaporate the mother liquor, and sub- 
mit the crystals resulting from it to two or three successive crystallizations, 
