38 
PRELIMINARY  NOTICES  OF  A  NEW  METAL. 
been  ploughed  and  sown  with  timothy,  and  there  was  a  grove  a 
few  -rods  to  the  east.  Notwithstanding  these  unfavorable  cir- 
cumstances, I  took  a  rough  measurement  of  thirty  plants,  with- 
out selection,  as  follows :  Holding  a  card  over  each  plant  with 
its  edge  parallel  to  the  central  line  of  my  own  shadow,  I  marked 
upon  the  card  a  short  line  parallel  to  each  leaf  of  the  plant. 
Measuring  afterward  the  angle  which  each  mark  made  with  the 
edge  of  the  card,  and  subtracting  from  each  angle  the  azimuth 
of  the  sun  for  the  estimated  central  time  of  observation,  I  ob- 
tained the  following  results.  Only  one  plant,  bearing  four  old 
leaves,  gave  an  average  angle  with  the  meridian  of  more  than 
34°.  Their  mean  was  18°  west.  The  remaining  29  bore  91 
leaves  ;  which  made  with  the  meridian  the  following  angles, — 
viz.  :  Seven  made  angles  greater  than  35° ;  fifteen,  angles  be- 
tween 35g  and  20° ;  sixteen,  angles  between  20°  and  8° ; 
twenty-eight,  angles  between  8°  and  1° ;  and  twenty-five,  an- 
gles less  than  1°. 
Of  the  69  angles  less  than  20°  the  mean  is  N.  33'  E.,  i.  e. 
about  half  a  degree  east  of  the  meridian.  The  error  of  azimuth, 
from  my  want  of  means  to  determine  the  time  accurately,  may 
have  been  as  much  as  three  times  this  quantity.  One  half  the 
leaves  bear  within  about  half  a  point  of  north,  two-thirds  within 
a  point. 
The  magnetic  declination  was  about  6°  east.  The  observa- 
tions were  made  when  the  sun  was  about  on  the  magnetic  me- 
ridian.— Am.  Jour.  Science  and  Arts,  Nov.,  1863. 
PEELIMINAEY  NOTICES  OF  A  NEW  METAL. 
By  F.  Reich  and  Th.  Eichter. 
The  authors  have  found  a  new  metal  in  two  Freiberg  ores, 
which  were  composed  principally  of  arsenical  pyrites,  blende,  and 
some  galena,  together  with  silica,  manganese,  copper,  and  a  small 
proportion  of  tin  and  cadmium.  The  ores  were  first  roasted  to 
get  rid  of  the  greater  part  of  the  arsenic  and  sulphur,  then  mixed 
with  chlorhydric  acid,  evaporated  to  dryness  and  distilled.  The 
impure  chloride  of  zinc  obtained  was  examined  with  the  spectro- 
scope for  thallium.  No  green  line  was  seen,  but  the  authors  re- 
marked an  indigo-blue  line,  which  was  before  unknown. 
