534  Iron  and  its  Constituents.  {Am'ilV.;!s^m' 
"  Spiegeleisen  "  with  the  above  acid,  are  allowed  to  pass  through  alco- 
hol or  concentrated  sulphuric  acid,  part  of  them  will  be  absorbed,  and 
may  be  separated  again,  on  dilution  with  water,  in  the  form  of  an  oily 
liquid  which  is  colorless,  possesses  a  strong,  rather  disagreeable  smell, 
and  consists  chiefly  of  the  hydrocarbons  of  the  ethylen  series,  Cn  H2  n. 
Besides  these  combinations,  the  characteristic  group  C10H16  of  the  vol- 
atile oils  has  also  been  found  to  be  an  admixture  of  the  hydrogen  gas 
liberated  in  this  process.  Resinous  bodies,  very  probably  products  of 
decomposition  of  the  foregoing  compounds,  are  found  in  the  carbona- 
ceous or  siliceous  residue  on  dissolving,  and  may  be  extracted  by  ether 
or  caustic  alkalies.  Sulphur  and  phosphorus  also  give  rise  to  the  form- 
ation of  organic  compounds  containing  these  elements. 
That  the  investigation  of  inorganic  bodies  may  sometimes  yield 
results  allowing  conclusions  on  the  most  complicated  organic  and  phy- 
siological processes  may  be  fairly  illustrated  by  the  following  instance  : 
As  many  physiologists  admit  the  carbon,  isolated  from  carbonic  acid 
by  the  green  parts  of  plants,  under  the  influence  of  solar  light,  to  be 
able,  in  its  nascent  state,  to  unite  with  water,  forming  a  carbo-hydrate, 
it  would  be  a  strong  support  of  this  theory  if  a  carbo-hydrate  could  be 
formed  synthetically  in  the  indicated  manner  and  at  a  low  temperature. 
That  this  primordial  hydrate  may  form  the  basis  of  the  numerous  other 
compounds,  elaborated  by  plants  on  ulterior  transformation,  is  far 
easier  to  believe  than  the  above  hypothesis,  without  any  experimental 
support.  P.  Schiitzenberger  and  A.  Bourgois  first  expressed  this  idea 
in  their  "Researches  on  the  Carbon  in  White  Cast  Iron,"  and  suc- 
ceeded in  forming  a  compound,  to  which  they  gave  the  formula 
C223H2Q.  It  can  be  constantly  obtained  by  treating  Spiegeleisen,  Fe4C, 
with  a  cold  solution  of  cupric  chloride,  when  the  following  reaction 
will  take  place:  Fe4C-r-4CuCl2=4FeCl2-j-C-|-Cu4.  The  carbonaceous 
residue  of  copper  is  then  treated  with  cold  ferric  chloride,  to  which 
some  hydrochloric  acid  has  been  added.  Copper  will  rapidly  dissolve, 
leaving  a  brownish-black  but  little  bulky  residue,  which,  dried  at  212° 
F.,  corresponds  to  the  above-mentioned  formula,  C22H603=C223  H20» 
May  I  be  allowed  to  conclude  this  paper  with  a  few  remarks  on 
ferrum  dialysatum  and  its  analysis.  The  demand  for  this  new  prepar- 
alion,  which  doubtless  will  take  the  place  of  most  of  the  other  ferru- 
ginous compounds,  chiefly  on  account  of  its  almost  entire  tastelessness, 
