40 
PRELIMINARY  NOTICE  OF  A  NEW  EARTH. 
The  yield  at  Bouchet,  after  the  working  had  become  regular, 
was  165-25  per  cent. 
Though  unable  to  draw  from  these  numbers  any  conclusion 
as  to  the  theory  of  the  formation  of  pyroxylon,  we  cannot  pass 
over  in  silence  a  circumstance  as  important  as  the  yield,  so  as 
to  speak  identical  'with  it,  obtained  on  a  large  scale  in  the  two 
factories, 
(To  fce  continued ) 
PRELIMINARY  NOTICE  OF  A  NEW  EARTH. 
By  M.  Ch.  Bischof. 
In  treating  a  calcareous  mineral  by  the  ordinary  re-agents,  M. 
Oh.  Bischof  has  discovered  an  earthy  substance  wljich,  by  its 
chemical  properties,  appears  to  differ  from  all  the  other  known 
earths.  The  following  are  the  different  characters  assigned  to 
it  by  the  author : 
The  new  earth  is  precipitated  by  sulphide  of  ammonium  ;  it 
is  more  completely  precipitated  by  potash  than  by  ammonia. 
The  precipitate  is  bluish  white,  gelatinous,  and  dissolves  sensi- 
bly in  water.  An  addition  of  tartaric  acid  does  not  prevent  it 
forming.  It  is  almost  completely  soluble  in  carbonate  of  am- 
monia. This  solution  is  precipitated  by  oxalic  acid.  When 
this  precipitate  is  intimately  mixed  with  carbon,  and  the  mix- 
ture heated  in  a  current  of  dry  chlorine,  the  chloride  of  the 
new  base  is  seen  to  volatilise;  the  sublimate  obtained  is  more 
volatile  than  chloride  of  iron.  But  what  characterises  more 
particularly  this  substance  is  the  manner  its  chloride  comports 
itself  at  a  high  temperature.  Heated  strongly,  the  sale  splits 
into  a  portion  which  sublimes  in  form  of  a  white  deposit,  and  a 
portion  which  remains  and  which  presents  the  characters  of  a 
base. 
The  blowpipe  and  spectroscope  failed  to  give  any  decisive 
reactions.  The  volatility  of  the  chloride,  and  the  solubility  of 
the  Oxide  in  water  have  prevented  M.  Ch.  Bischof  obtaining  a 
large  quantity  of  the  earth  in  question,  but  he  promises  a  fur-  • 
ther  communication. — Chem.  News,  October  22,  1864,  from 
Cosmos,  October,  1864. 
