318  GLEANINGS  FROM  THE  GERMAN  JOURNALS, 
posed  in  contact  with  oxide  of  iron,  a  little  bicarbonate  of  soda 
is  added  to  neutralize  some  caustic  soda,  and  the  filtrate  is 
evaporated  and  allowed  to  crystallize,  so  long  as  pure  crystals 
are  formed  (Arch.  d.  Ph.  civ.  271,  272.) 
Purificatioii  of  Silver. — Lazar  Berlandt  dissolves  the  silver  in 
nitric  acid,  evaporates  to  dryness,  redissolves  in  water,  and  pre- 
cipitates by  protosulphate  of  iron.  The  whitish  grey  precipitate 
is  after  some  hours  washed  with  water,  acidulated  with  muriatic 
acid,  finally  with  distilled  water.— (Arch  d.  Ph.  civ.  279,  280,) 
Iron  reduced  by  G-alvanism. — Daniell's  battery  reduces  iron 
from  a  solution  of  its  protochloride  as  a  lead  grey  deposit,  which 
is  very  spongy  if  the  evolution  of  hydrogen  is  strong ;  it  is  then 
a  rather  light  powder,  very  soft,  extremely  ductile,  so  that  it 
may  be  converted  into  plates  between  the  finger  nails,  and  might 
probably  be  useful  for  medical  purposes,  as  it  yields  with  acids 
a  perfectly  inodorous  hydrogen. 
From  a  solution  of  the  chloride  with  J  chloride  of  ammonium 
a  silvery  deposit  is  obtained  under  the  same  circumstances, 
which  is  hard  like  steel,  brittle  like  glass,  and  becomes  ductile 
by  a  red  heat.  It  oxidizes  readily  in  moist  air,  but  retains  its 
lustre  in  dry  air.  Some  chemists  supposed  it  to  be  a  modifica- 
tion of  iron,  but  with  soda-lime  it  evolves  ammonia  and  consists 
of  98.51  Fe  and  1.49  N.— (H.  Kramer  in  Arch.  d.  Ph.  civ. 
284-286.) 
Mannite  in  Scorzonera  hispanica^  Linn. — Dr.  Witting  isolated 
from  the  root  of  this  plant  mannite. — (Arch.  d.  Ph.  civ.  286.) 
Solubility  of  Starch. — In  an  address  delivered  before  the 
Swiss  Apothecaries'  Association,  Dr.  FlQckinger  proved  that 
starch  is  soluble  in  cold  water  after  the  hulls  have  been  torn.  A 
solution  containing  ^  to  J  chloride  of  calcium,  dissolves  the 
starch,  and  may,  after  dilution  with  100  to  150  parts  of  water, 
be  filtered.  The  filtrate  is  precipitated  by  alcohol;  the  precipi- 
tate dries  to  colorless  translucent  pieces,  containing  about  10 
per  cent,  of  hygroscopic  water,  and,  after  drying  over  sulphuric 
acid,  of  a  spec.  grav.=  1.475.  While  still  moist,  the  precipi- 
tate is  soluble  in  warm  water  ;  after  drying,  boiling  water  dis- 
solves but  traces,  chloride  of  calcium  does  net  increase  its  solu- 
