484 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. [December 17 ,1870. 
facts (?) of tlie Hallier theory are considerably shaken 
by this report, and we shall wait patiently in the 
full anticipation that future observations will con¬ 
firm and strengthen the results obtained by Mr. 
Lems, and destroy the whole theory of the fungoid 
origin of cholera. It is scarcely possible that such 
a series of observations could have been carefully 
and zealously performed without affording interest¬ 
ing facts in the conduct and development of “ low 
life.” Many such will be found recorded in these 
pages, and of these we may mention the observa¬ 
tions on Penicillium, illustrated by Plate XXI. A 
preparation set aside for cultivation exhibited “ 011 
the fourth day tufts of Penicillium of two varieties, 
P. glaueum and P. viride. This continued until the 
ninth day, when a few of the filaments springing up 
in the midst of the Penicillium were tipped with a 
dewdrop-like dilatation excessively delicate,—a mere 
distended pellicle. In some cases they seemed to 
be derived from the same filament as others bear¬ 
ing the ordinary branching spores of Penicillium, 
but of this I could not be positive. This kind of 
fructification increased rapidly, and on the four¬ 
teenth day spores had undoubtedly developed within 
the pellicle.” This example of the production of a 
species of Mucor from Penicillium corroborates a 
similar observation of our own, in the development 
of a new and delicate species of Mucor from Peni¬ 
cillium roseum, as detailed elsewhere. The micro¬ 
scopical student will find in the excellent figures 
with which this report is copiously illustrated, and 
in the details of observations, much that is exceed¬ 
ingly valuable. It is a misfortune and a mistake 
not to publish it in London as well as in Calcutta. 
ON THE COMBINATIONS OF CARBONIC 
ANHYDRIDE WITH AMMONIA AND WATER. 
EY EDWARD DIVERS, M.D. 
{Continued from page 44G.) 
“ Carbonate of Ammonia" of Commerce. 
It will be more convenient to defer for the present 
the consideration of the manufacture of the commercial 
carbonate. 
Form. —All I wish to point out under this heading is 
that the variations in the appearance of the substance, 
whether between one sample and another, or between 
different layers of the same sample, are not proofs of 
any material difference in composition. It may be very 
compact with a more or less conchoidal fracture, or in 
softer cakes of prisms arranged uniformly perpendi¬ 
cular to the surface of deposition, or in white nearly 
opaque layers, and yet differ no more in composition 
than two samples of similar appearance. On the other 
hand, similarity in appearance is no proof of identity in 
composition. Some of the evidence I have on this point 
is given in the succeeding paragraphs. 
Chemical Composition .-—No one has attributed to the 
commercial carbonate anything like an unvarying com¬ 
position, but it seems to be universally accepted that 
this does usually approximate pretty closely to that 
expressed by the formula— 
(C0 2 ) 3 (OH 2 ) 2 (NH 3 ) 4 , 
which has in 100 parts— 
Carbonic anhydride . . . . 55-93 
Ammonia.28-81 
Water.15-26 
And it cannot be denied that in the main the pub¬ 
lished analyses of it indicate that such is its approximate 
composition. 
The following table contains all the published results 
of analyses that I have come across:— 
Date. 
Carb. anby. 
Aram. 
Bergman* * * § .... 
1774 
45* 
43- 
Dalton*. 
1813 
59- 
24-5 
Uref. 
1817 
54-5 
30-5 
Phillipsj .... 
1819 
54-2 
29-3 
Thomson § .... 
1820 
55-70 
26-17 
John Davy* . . . 
1834 
54-58 
27-39 
Rose*. 
1840 
-- 
28-66 
)) . 
—— 
— 
30-70 
D • • • • • 
— 
50*55 
— 
» • • • • • 
— 
53-40 
—. 
D . 
— 
56-23 
— 
Ure || . 
1853 
55-89 
28-86 
Dalton deduced from his numbers the atomic compo¬ 
sition since universally adopted; and if those numbers 
are compared with those ho used to express the composi¬ 
tion of the acid carbonate, they are found to agree 
closely enough with the calculated numbers. 
I have analysed several samples of the carbonate at 
present in commerce, and have found that it is very uni¬ 
form in composition with one special exception, and that 
this composition is no longer that represented by the 
formula 
(C 0 2 ) 3 (0 H 2 ) 2 (N H 3 ) 4 , 
but by that expressed by the simpler formula, 
(C0 2 ) 2 0H 2 (NH 3 ) 3 . 
This formula, represented by the symbols of the old 
atomic weights, becomes more complex than the other 
formula similarly represented ; thus, 
1st formula, old notation . . (C0 2 ) 3 (0H) 2 (NH 3 ) 2 . 
2nd formula, old notation . (U0 2 ) 4 (0H) 2 (NH 3 ) 3 . 
This, I think, had some influence on the selection of 
the formula. For Ui'e’s analysis, which both here and 
abroad seems to have been the first which enabled che¬ 
mists to adopt a formula for the commercial carbonate, 
agrees much more closely with the second formula than 
with the first. But then the first could be represented 
by the formula of an ammonium salt, thus, 
2NH 4 0,3 C0 2 , 
while the second could not. However, the results of 
other analyses corresponded more nearly with the for¬ 
mula adopted, and so strengthened the grounds of its 
selection. 
The samples I have analysed w r ere purchased at inter¬ 
vals over a period of two years or more, of different 
firms (though not of the manufacturers direct), at diffe¬ 
rent prices and of different qualities. Small fragments, 
quite free from decomposed portions, were broken from 
the inside of lumps just before they were used for ana¬ 
lysis. The following are the details and results of my 
analyses 
The contents of one of the 7 lb. jars usually made up 
for the use of dispensing chemists was found to consist of 
fragments of a cake exhibiting different layers: (a) , the 
outer laj T er, constituting the greater thickness of the 
cake, compact, translucent, imperfectly crystalline and 
of conchoidal fracture; (b), a much thinner layer, friable, 
semi-opaque; (e), a layer, apparently the innermost of 
the cake, hardly 2 millimetres thick, very translucent, 
prismatically crystalline 
I. 1-085 grms. of (a) yielded, with hydrochloric acid, 
•5952 grm. of carbonic anhydride to soda-lime ; 
II. IT64)0 grams of (a) neutralized a volume of stan¬ 
dard sulphuric acid, equivalent to -3783 gram of am¬ 
monia ; 
* Memoir already quoted. 
f ‘ Annals of Philosophy,’ vol. x. p. 203. 
X ‘ Quarterly Journal of Literature, Science and Art,’ vol. 
vii. p. 294. 
§ ‘ A System of Chemistry,’ vol. ii. p. 413, sixth edition. 
| ‘ A Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines,’ fourth 
edition. Art. “ Carbonate of Ammonia.” 
