200 
POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW. 
which he referred above are Saccharomycetes, which has no less than seven 
species, and one which he calls Carpozyma , which forms but a single species 
that is met with on nearly all fruits, and is named C. apiculatum. 
Dr. Braithwaite on the British Mosses . — i( Science Gossip ” for March con- 
tains two very excellent papers by Dr. Braithwaite on the structure of the 
British mosses. They are accompanied by illustrations, and are admirably 
adapted to those who do not understand the subject. The author has avoided 
scientific expressions as much as possible ; and has given advice as to the 
collecting, examining, preserving, and classifying the various species which 
the collector may have gathered in his country walks. Further, Mr. Hard- 
wick (the publisher) has arranged to supply a mounted specimen illustrative 
of Dr. Braithwaite’s paper and of the list of British mosses now preparing, 
for the small sum of sixpence. 
CHEMISTRY. 
Peculiar Production of Ozone. — Professor H. Croft gives, in the 11 Chemical 
News,” February 23, an account of an anomalous production of this com- 
pound which he has experienced. He states, that about six years ago, 
when evaporating some syrupy iodic acid, prepared according to Millon’s 
process, over sulphuric acid, he noticed that when the acid began to crystal- 
lise, the air in the jar (covering the drying-dish) had a strong smell of 
ozone, or active oxygen. A couple of years afterwards, on again making 
iodic acid, this observation recurred to his mind, and he carefully tested the 
air in the jar during the evaporation; no trace of ozone could be detected 
until the acid began to crystallise, when the smell of ozone became imme- 
diately perceptible, and all the usual tests for that body succeeded perfectly. 
During the last month he has had occasion to convert two ounces of iodine 
into iodic acid, and exactly the same result has been observed. 
Action of Nitric Acid on Charcoal; a New Compound. — Mr. Andrew 
Scott states, in the 11 Chemical News,” February 16, that having spent apart 
of the last few months in investigating the action of nitric acid on charcoal 
from various sources, he has obtained a compound containing over 30 per 
cent, of carbon, 2 to 3 per cent, of hydrogen, the remainder being chiefly 
nitrogen. It is a black amorphous substance, very soluble in water, alcohol, 
ether, &c. It is very deliquescent, absorbing 20 per cent, of its weight of 
water in a few days, and becoming a dark liquid, the water being again 
expelled in a short time at the temperature of the water-bath. When 
heated on platinum foil it takes fire, the combustion spreading rapidly 
through the mass. Heated in a test-tube it melts, swells considerably, and 
gives off nitrous fumes. It combines with alkalies, and the solutions give 
precipitates with most of the metallic salts. Its watery solution is also pre- 
cipitated by hydrochloric and sulphuric acids. He has prepared this body 
from willow charcoal, coke from crude paraffin oil, bone charcoal, and from 
mineral charcoal found in ordinary household coal. 
Electrization of Sulphide of C avion. — In the u Comptes Rendus,” January 
15, M. Sidot states, that when pure sulphide of carbon is placed along with 
