54 
contained in the National Library, has 
been lately publifheds This is a conti- 
nuation of the four volumes publifhed by 
the celebrated Academy of Infcriptions 
and Belles Lettres under the monarchy. 
This eminent bedy, in 1785, conceived 
the laudable plan of examining all the an- 
cient manufcripts in their own poffeffion, 
and in the different libraries in France, 
-and named eight of their body as a com- 
- mittee for this purpofe. The firft volume 
of the Notices et Extraits appeared in 1787, 
and the third ini79c. ‘The fourth was 
ready for the prefs in 1793, but the con- 
fulion of the times, and efpecially the fup- 
pteffion of the academy in 1793, delayed 
its publication for fome years. Of late 
this plan has been continued with much 
zeal by the Inftitute, and the prefent vo- 
lume contains 43 articles concerning va- 
rious Arabic, Perfian, Turkifh, Mant- 
chew, ‘Tartarian, Greek, Latin, and 
French manufcripts, chiefly the work- of 
members of the Inftitute. The value of the 
whole colle&tion may be conceived by the 
fa&t that before the revolution it contained 
more -than eighty thoufand manufcripts, 
and it has been fince enriched by numer- 
ous contributions from Belgium, [taly, 
befides many private libraries. 
It will give fatisfaétion to the friends of 
humanity to learn that the excellent inftitu- 
tion of the mott refpeStable and valuable 
Filles dela Charite, which had been difperied 
during the revolutionary troubles in Paris, 
is about to be re-eftablifhed. C. Sasa- 
Tier, prefect of the department of the 
Seine, has had the good fortune te recall 
to their benevoicnt office of attending the 
fick poor in the different hofpitals of this 
city, feveral of thefe efimable women. 
This re-union has been much affifted by 
the zeal of Mademe Verninac, who has 
fought for her former companions, who 
had taken refuge in the different provinces, 
and has united them in a fociety, over 
which fhe prefides, where they find fecu- 
rity, and convenience, and opportunity 
to refume their former charitable labours. 
VauQueLin has been extending his 
remarks on the malat of lime, which he 
has lately difeovered in confiderable quan- 
tity in the native juices of feveral fucculent 
vegetables. Thofe plants that furnifh it 
in the greateft abandance are, the houfe- 
leek, and feveral fpecies of fedum, craf- 
fala and aloe. The prefence of this falt 
in the expreffed juice of any plant is de- 
teSted by the following properties. 1. It 
reddens certain vegetable blues, as’ acids ~ 
in general do. 2. It yields a ccpious 
precipitate with the alkalme carbonats. 
| Literary ‘and Phil: fophical Intclligence:- 
[Feb. r, 
3. Itis precipitated by oxalat of ammonia, 
by fulphuric acid, by lime-water. 4. It 
yields a bulky, light, flocculent precip 
tate with acetite of lead, which is ealily 
refoluble by vinegar. : é 
, An excellent memoir, by Fourcroy 
and VauQueELIN, has lately been pub- 
lifhed in the Anzales de Chemie, proving 
the identity. of the three’ empyreumatic 
acids, the pyro-ligneous, pyro-tartarous 
and pyro-mucous, and eftablifhing what 
had before been affirmed by Gren, that 
thefe differ from the acetous acid only by 
holding in folution a little empyreumatic 
oil. Common vinegar, heated with a few 
drops of oil, produced frem the dry diftil- 
lation of wood or tartar, is converted into 
an empyreumatic acid, and mm like manner 
the acid of wood is convertible by re&tif- 
cation into acetous acid ; hence alfo it fol- - 
lows thatthe acetous fermentation is by ne- 
means abfolutely effential to the produc- _ 
tion of vinegar. ; ; 
A chemical fact worth noticing lately 
occurred to Cit. Capet. The materials 
for the preparation of fulphuric ether, viz. 
alcohol and fulphuric acid being mixed 
together, were clofely cork:d up ina bot- 
tle and left untouched in 2 ccol place for 
thirty hours; at the end of this time the 
bottom of the veflel was found covered with 
beautiful needie-formed cryftals of oxalic 
acid. ¢ 
M. AsiLpcaarb has lately been mak-. ~ 
ing fome experiments to afcertain the re- 
lative proportions of carbon in venous and 
arterial blood. One hundred parts of the 
venous blood of a horfe, dried in a gentle 
heat, yielded 26 parts of dry pulverulene 
matter: the fame, quantity of arterial 
blood, from the fame horfe, yielded 25  . 
parts. For the decompofition by detona-_ 
tion in Kirwan’s method, of an ounce of 
of nitre, were required 190 grains of ve-_ 
nous blood and 160 of arterial. One 
ounce of venous blood decompofed by heat, 
without accefs of air, furnifhed rich 
grains of charcoal: the fame quantity of - 
arterial blood yielded only 874 grains. . 
The decompoiition of an ounce ot nitre re~_ 
quired 148 grains of charcoal from venous 
blood, and t19 grains of that from arte- ~ 
rial blood. Having feparated the red par-~ 
ticles by wafhing, from the ferum and fi-_ 
brin, and dried them, it was found that 
136 grains were necefiary to alcalize an_ 
ounce of nitre. Of the fibrin feparated ~ 
from the ferum, 202 grains were required _ 
for the fame purpofe. pate 
J. A. ANToNIo, an Italian: phyfician, 
has meade it known, that he has found . " 
olive-ou to be a certain remedy for the 
Sying- 
