548 
HABITS  OF  THE  CUTTLE  FISH. 
becomes  deeply  cyanuretted  without  loss ;  the  second  is  fusible, 
volatile,  and  becomes  cyanuretted  only  at  the  surface,  and  suf- 
fers by  volatilization  a  loss  which  amounts  to  50  per  cent.  After 
the  cyanide  of  barium  was  obtained,  the  grand  problem  for 
Messrs.  Margueritte  and  De  Sourdeval  to  resolve  was  the  trans- 
formation of  the  cyanide  into  ammonia  by  means  at  the  same 
time  simple,  rapid  and  inexpensive.  The  following  is  the  ope- 
ration : 
In  an  earthen  retort  is  calcined,  at  an  elevated  and  sustained 
temperature,  a  mixture  of  carbonate  of  baryta,  iron  filings  in 
the  proportion  of  about  30  per  cent.,  the  refuse  of  coal  tar,  and 
saw-dust.  This  produces  a  reduction  to  the  state  of  anhydrous 
baryta,  of  the  greater  part  of  the  carbonate  employed.  After- 
wards is  slowly  passed  a  current  of  air  across  the  porous  mass, 
the  oxygen  of  which  is  converted  into  carbonic  oxide  by  its  pas- 
sage over  a  column  of  incandescent  charcoal,  while  its  nitrogen, 
in  presence  of  the  charcoal  and  of  the  barium,  transforms  itself 
into  cyanogen  and  produces  considerable  quantities  of  cyanide. 
In  effect,  the  matter  sheltered  from  the  air  and  cooled,  and 
washed  with  boiling  water,  gives  with  the  salts  of  iron  an  abun- 
dant precipitate  of  Prussian  blue.  The  mixture  thus  calcined 
and  cyanuretted  is  received  into  a  cylinder  of  either  cast  or 
wrought  iron,  which  serves  both  as  an  extinguisher  and  as  an 
apparatus  for  the  transformation  of  the  cyanuret.  Through  this 
cylinder,  at  a  temperature  less  than  300^  (Centigrade)  is  passed 
a  current  of  steam,  which  disengages,  under  the  form  of  ammo- 
nia, all  the  nitrogen  contained  in  the  cyanide  of  barium.  It  is 
impossible  to  foresee  all  the  results  of  this  great  discovery. 
Among  other  things,  it  suggests  the  production  of  nitric  acid 
from  the  air  by  oxidizing  ammonia — London  Ohem.  News^ 
No.  46. 
HABITS  OF  THE  CUTTLE  FISH. 
Those  who  are  familiar  with  the  poulpes  and  cuttles  of  our 
coasts  will  readily  allow  that  there  is  something  more  than 
usually  repulsive  in  their  appearance.  Their  flabby,  corpse-like 
fleshiness,  now  lax  and  soft,  now  plumping  up,  their  changes  of 
color,  the  livid  hue  that  comes  and  goes  so  strangely,  the  long 
