Miscellany. 
85 
and sublime, while the platinum, in its nascent state, combines with 
mercury and remains at the bottom. The heat should be high enough to 
make the mercury boil. The amalgam, after having been pressed in soft 
leather, to remove the excess of mercury, is a soft solid, having the same 
kind of feel, and emitting the same sound when pressed between the fin- 
gers, as the amalgams of gold and silver. It is several times heavier 
than the platinum of which it was formed. 
Amer. Journ, Sci. and Arts. 
Creosote. M. Calderini of Milan, has given the following process for 
preparing creosote. The essential oil obtained by the destructive distil- 
lation of wood, is to be put into an iron vessel, and exposed to a gentle 
heat. The vessel is then to be taken from the fire, and slaked and sifted 
lime to be added gradually, and the mixture constantly stirred until the 
effervescence ceases, and the whole becomes a hard mass, which is to be 
allowed to cool, and then powdered. A cast iron retort is to be two- 
thirds filled with this powder and placed in a reverberatory furnace. A 
receiver is to be fitted to the retort at the moment when the white fumes 
which first come over, become yellowish. The distilled liquor is to be 
placed in a filter of paper moistened with water to permit only the 
aqueous part to pass, and the oil left is to be washed with pure water, 
which is to be allowed to filter. The oil, thus washed, is to be placed 
in an iron vessel, and aqua potassae of specific gravity 1.125, is to be 
added in the proportion of three parts to two of the oil. The mixture is 
then to be boiled for a moment with a gentle heat, after which it is to be 
taken from the fire, allowed to cool, filtered, and mixed with dilute sul- 
phuric acid, till it becomes slightly acid. The mixture is then to be left 
at rest, and an oily matter will be found floating on the top, which is im- 
pure creosote. This is to be collected, washed on a filter, put into a glass 
retort, placed in a sand bath, and distilled. The first portion is to be set 
aside, and what comes over afterwards, of a pale yellow colour, is creo- 
sote. The distillation is to be stopped when the drops become of a deeper 
colour. If the distilled creosote be not sufficiently pure, it is to be dis- 
solved in acqua potassae, and treated as before, always rejecting the first 
and last parts that come over, and this process is to be repeated until it 
becomes perfectly pure. When the creosote is obtained pure it is to be 
kept in well stopped bottles. It is known to be pure when it is colour- 
less, transparent, and of a specific gravity of 1.037, and possessed of 
great refrangibility. Edinburg Medical and Surgical Journal. 
Action of Potash on Organic Substances. From the experiments of Gay 
Lussac, it appears that a great variety of vegetable and animal substances 
treated with caustic potash or soda, at a temperature much below redness, 
