47° 
Varieties. 
(Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
t      Sept.,  1877. 
rate  and  a  little  sodium  carbonate  the  iron  is  completely  oxidised,  while  very  little 
bismuth  is  lost  5  for  the  fused  mass  does  not  become  alkaline  as  in  the  case  where 
nitre  is  used  as  flux ;  2  to  5  per  cent,  of  sodium  carbonate  should  be  added,  and  the 
fusion  should  last  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour.  No  method  of  separating  bismuth  from 
iron  by  the  wet  method  was  successful,  except  by  crystallizing  the  double  chloride 
of  bismuth  and  the  alkalies,  and  by  precipitating  the  bismuth  from  a  slightly  acid 
solution  with  oxalic  acid.  The  bismuth  oxylate,  Bi2(C204)34-i5H20  comes  down 
absolutely  free  from  iron.  Too  large  an  excess  of  oxalic  acid  should  be  avoided,  for 
the  oxalate  is  slightly  soluble  in  the  acid  ;  the  precipitate  should  not  be  allowed  to 
stand  too  long  in  contact  with  water,  else  the  basic  oxalate  is  formed  which  retains 
the  iron.  The  oxalate  in  ignition  yields  metallic  bismuth. 
This  process  has  not  been  attempted  quantitatively. 
The  only  method  of  separating  silver  from  bismuth  is  to  oxidise  the  bismuth  and 
leave  metallic  silver. 
Bismuth  is  best  precipitated  as  sulphide.  The  liquid  is  then  warmed  and  the  sul- 
phide cakes  together  and  may  be  easily  filtered  and  washed.  On  ignition  in  air  it  is 
converted  into  bismuth  oxide,  and  may  be  weighed  as  such. — Hans  Thiirach. 
Jour.  Chem.  Soc,  March,  from  J.  prakt.  Chem. 
Artificial  Gold. — Take  100  parts  (by  weight)  of  pure  copper,  14  parts  zinc  or  tin, 
6  parts  magnesia,  3 '6  parts  sal-ammoniac,  i*8  parts  quicklime,  9  parts  cream  pf  tar- 
tar. Melt  the  copper  and  add  gradually  the  magnesia,  sal-ammoniac,  quicklime 
and  cream  of  tartar,  each  by  itself  in  the  form  of  powder.  Stir  the  whole  for  half 
an  hour,  add  the  zinc  or  tin  in  small  pieces,  and  stir  again  till  the  whole  is  melted. 
Cover  the  crucible  and  keep  the  mixture  in  a  molten  condition  for  thirty-five  min- 
utes. Remove  the  dross  and  pour  the  metal  into  moulds.  It  has  a  fine  grain,  is 
malleable  and  does  not  easily  tarnish. — Jour.  Frank.  Ins.,  Aug.,  from  Phonix. 
Electro-chemical  Deposition  of  Aluminium,  Magnesium,  Cadmium,  Bismuth, 
Antimony  and  Palladium.  By  Arm.  Bertrand. — Aluminium  is  deposited  on  a 
copper  plate  in  granules  from  aluminium-ammonium  chloride.  The  deposit  may 
be  polished.    Chlorine  is  evolved  at  the  positive  pole. 
Magnesium. — An  adherent  homogeneous  deposit  of  magnesium  may  be  obtained 
by  electrolysing  magnesium-ammonium  chloride  with  a  very  powerful  current. 
Cadmium. — A  spongy  deposit  of  cadmium  is  obtained  from  its  chloride,  to  which 
a  few  drops  of  sulphuric  acid  have  been  added.  Cadmium-ammonium  chloride 
gives  a  gray  non  adherent  deposit,  chlorine  being  evolved ;  a  similar  deposit  was 
obtained  from  cadmium  calcium  chloride ;  cadmium  bromide  acidulated  with  weak 
sulphuric  acid  gives  a  coherent  mass,  susceptible  of  polish.  If  an  iron  wire  be  used 
as  a  negative,  and  a  copper  wire  as  positive  electrode,  the  cadmium  is  deposited  in 
long  brilliant  needles.  A  good  result  is  also  obtained  with  acidified  cadmium-am- 
monium bromide.  Cadmium-ammonium  iodide  yields  a  spongy  mass.  The  sul- 
phate gives  a  coherent  deposit,  capable  of  receiving  a  fine  polish.  A  non-coherent 
deposit  was  obtained  from  the  double  sulphate  of  cadmium  and  ammonium. 
