354 
Decomposition  of  Chloroform. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
July,  1893. 
article  unvarnished  is  used  for  the  production  of  statuettes  and  other 
articles.  On  earthenware  prepared  from  asbestos,  enamel  is  easily 
applied,  and,  when  finished,  presents  a  very  attractive  appearance. 
Employed  as  filters  for  water,  wine,  beer,  alcohol,  etc.,  the  results 
are  superior  to  any  obtained  by  other  descriptions  of  earthenware. 
Uninjured  by  acids,  they  can  be  used  for  the  strongest,  and  as 
insulators  they  are  much  superior  to  glass.  Finally,  as  pipeclay, 
asbestos  produces  an  excellent  pipe,  and  it  is  said  that  no  clay  yet 
used  with  this  object  has  produced  so  satisfactory  a  result  from 
the  smoker's  point  of  view.  It  is  only  a  very  short  time  that 
asbestos  earthenware  and  pottery  has  been  known,  and  already  its 
applications  are  found  to  be  very  numerous.  Each  day  appears 
to  find  a  new  discovery  in  the  quality  of  the  ware  and  a  new 
industrial  application.  As  regards  the  method  of  preparation  to- 
which  asbestos  is  subjected,  particularly  in  Canada,  the  following 
is  adopted  :  After  having  been  examined,  the  blocks  of  asbestos 
are  pounded  in  such  a  manner  as  not  to  break  the  fibres,  and  these 
latter  are  then  submitted  to  the  action  of  a  species  of  sieve,  in  order 
to  separate  the  long  from  the  short  fibres.  The  long  fibres  are 
treated  almost  in  the  same  way  as  ordinary  textiles,  with  this  differ- 
ence, that  as  they  cannot  be  felted  they  must  be  subjected  to  a  pro- 
cess of  "  concentration  "  before  being  spun.  It  is  this  that  renders 
the  manufacture  of  fine  asbestos  tissues  extremely  difficult. — Jour- 
nal of  the  Society  of  Arts. 
THE  DECOMPOSITION  OF  CHLOROFORM.1 
BY  DR.  CARL  SCHACHT  AND  DR.  E.  BILTZ. 
We  have  noticed  with  much  satisfaction  the  report  of  the  interest- 
ing paper  read  by  Mr.  David  Brown,  on  the  decomposition  of  chloro- 
form, at  an  evening  meeting  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  in  Edin- 
burgh last  March,2  as  it  shows  that  attention  is  being  directed  to 
this  important  subject.  We  hope  therefore  that  in  communicating 
some  particulars  in  regard  to  our  own  investigations  of  this  subject, 
they  may  be  received  in  a  similar  manner,  and  found  useful  in  serv- 
ing to  explain  some  of  the  difficulties  with  which  it  is  surrounded, 
1  Phar.  Jour,  and  Trans.,  June  io,  1893,  p.  1005. 
2  Pharm.  Jour .,  March  25,  p.  792  ;  Amer.  Jour.  Phar.,  May,  p.  24r. 
