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Selected Articles.. 
Pitayne. — (Pitayna?) The characters of this new vegetable 
alkali, which may be called Pitayne, on account of its source, 
are principally to possess no sensible bitterness in its pure and 
solid state; but this character is developed, whenever, being 
saturated by an acid, it is dissolved in water, alcohol or ether, 
in which it is very soluble. 
Pitayne melts at a temperature above 100° centigrade, 
emitting very bitter fumes, which condense in very delicate 
prisms, and afterwards an empyreumatic smell. Warm and 
concentrated nitric acid decomposes it ; but its combination 
with sulphuric acid, in the proportions of ninety-six parts to 
four of acid, yields a white, bitter and crystallizable salt, in the 
shape of divergent prisms, and presenting the figure of a face. 
With acetic acid, it produces a bitter and crystallizable salt. 
Journal de Pharmacie, October, 1835. E. D. 
ART. LXVIII. NEW CARBURET OF HYDROGEN. 
By MM. Dumas and Peligot. 
In our preceding memoir on methylene and spirit of wood, 
we established the existence of a new alcohol. Two carbu- 
rets of hydrogen O H 4 and O H 8 are known, each capable 
of forming two hydrates and a great number of ethereal 
combinations. A third is also known C 16 H 18 but its com- 
pounds have not been examined. To show the regularity of 
the series formed by that series of isomeric carburets of hy- 
drogen, we announce the discovery of another C 64 H 64 . Thus 
we have four carburets of hydrogen identical in composition, 
but in which the condensation of atoms is as 1, 2, 4, 16 which 
seems to indicate the existence of intermediate compounds, 
yet unknown. 
We obtained this new carburet of hydrogen in distilling 
ethal with vitreous or anhydrous phosphoric acid. It is a 
