EXHIBITION OE OBJECTS RELATING TO PHARMACY. 
235 
chloric or hydriodic) have been added, is introduced into the cylinder, the stoppers 
are screwed in, and the bellows, etc., adjusted, the whole is next filled with 
perfectly pure atmospheric air, and the bellows are then worked for a consider¬ 
able period. Subsequent examination of the liquid in the well will prove that 
a minute quantity of ammonia has been formed by the decomposition of water 
and the union of its hydrogen with nitrogen from the air. The experiment may be 
A'aried in several ways, even substitution-avnnonias being thus obtainable; the intro¬ 
duction of ether, for instance, gives traces of ethylcnnine. This apparatus is adapted, 
also, for the convenient illustration of many reactions, hitherto difficult to exemplify 
at the lecture table, and for the preparation of a great variety of substances. Al¬ 
cohol is readily obtained by filling the cylinder with olefiant gas, and the little well 
with strong sulphuric acid, before bringing the “diffuser” into play. 
Squiee, Petee, London. 
Set of Imperial weights, with metrical equivalents engraved thereon; set 
of decimal grain weights. 
Stanfoed, E. C. C., Glasgoio. 
Specimens illustrating Stanford’s patent process of treating seaweed by de¬ 
structive distillation.-—Vide paper in Pharm Journ., n. s. vol. iii. p. 495. 
These specimens illustrate the method of distilling seaweed, and substituting for 
a fused ash, called kelp, a highly porous charcoal, the former being a vitreous 
mass, prepared in contact with air at a high temperature, from which most of the 
iodine has been dissipated; the latter carbonized at a low red-heat, in closed iron 
retorts, retains the whole of the iodine existing in the seaweed. This process is 
carried out by the British Seaweed Company, Limited, in works in the outer He¬ 
brides ; one in the Island of Tyree, and another in the Island of N. Uist. The'char- 
coal prepared here is shipped to other works on the Bowling Canal, near Glasgow, 
and there lixiviated. The specimens illustrate the original sea Tangle, which is 
thrown up in the winter in large stems, about 8 feet long and inch diameter ; 
these, when dried, shrink to about \ inch diameter, and closely resemble horn; 
after carbonization, these expand to about f inch diameter, forming a highly porous 
charcoal, containing about 40 per cent, salts. Through the lixiviation of this char¬ 
coal, fine colourless specimens of salts are obtained. Those exhibited are all com¬ 
mercial specimens, and consist of muriate of potash, 97 per cent.; sulphate of 
potash salt, containing 17 per cent, alkali; iodine, bromine, iodide of potassium, and 
bromide of potassium. The commercial specimens of iodine and bromine are very 
pure ; the latter, the manufacture of which, from this source, was introduced into 
this country by Mr. Stanford, is now made on a large scale in Scotland. The 
muriate is obtained unusually pure by this process, 80 per cent, being the usual 
standard. The salt also contains a large proportion of alkali, 8 per cent, being not 
uncommon. The products of distillation exhibited are:—Muriate and sulphate of 
ammonia, tar, oils, and pitch from the tar, and acetone naphtha. Gas is also pro¬ 
duced, and used to light the factories in the outer Hebrides. The charcoal, from 
its high porosity, is introduced as a decolorizer and deodorizer; its chemical com¬ 
position resembles that of animal rather than that of vegetable charcoal, and 
the products of distillation are closely analogous to those of bone. This is es¬ 
pecially interesting, as tangle, being a pure alga, is close to the border line separat¬ 
ing the animal from the vegetable kingdom. For the filtration of water and dis¬ 
infection of sewage, this charcoal affords a convenient substitute for animal char¬ 
coal, at one-fourth the price. ^ 
Sutton, Eeancis, Nonoich. 
Twelve Mohr’s burettes, graduated in cubic centimetres and decerns, with 
Erdmann’s floats ; two revolving stands of new and convenient shape, to 
carry six burettes each; stoppered graduated flasks and test mixers ; 
standard vohimetric solutions of the British Pharmacopoeia; new blow¬ 
ing burette for solutions which are affected by the india-rubber in the 
usual Mohr’s burette, such as permanganate of potash, etc. 
The graduation of*these instruments is guaranteed to be very correct. 
