188 
VARIETIES. 
M.  Chevreul  agreed  with  M.  Bouet,  but  insisted  that  light  was  an  active 
agent  in  decomposition  only  when  air  was  present ;  and  among  other 
things  he  insisted  on  the  importance  of  light  in  a  sanitary  point  of  view, 
the  salubrity  of  a  house  greatly  depending  on  the  free  admission  of  light 
as  well  as  air. 
Luca  found,  however,  [Ibid.  t.  liii.  p.  298)  that  gun-cotton  which  had 
been  kept  in  the  dark  had  undergone  decomposition  with  the  evolution  of 
nitrous  vapors.  Nearly  the  whole  of  this  "  modified"  cotton  he  found 
to  be  soluble  in  alcohol  and  in  water— 14  per  cent,  in  the  former  and  78 
per  cent,  in  the  latter.  The  products  of  the  decomposition  he  intends  to 
study  further. —  Chem.  News,  London. 
Blue  Color  from  Cotton  Seed  Oil. — Cotton  seed  oil  is  bleached  by  treat- 
ment with  either  carbonate  of  soda  or  caustic  lime.  In  both  cases  a  con- 
siderable residue  is  left  after  drawing  off  the  bleached  oil.  This  residue 
is  treated  with  sulphuric  acid,  and  distilled  at  a  high  temperature.  There 
is  then  left,  according  to  M.  Kuhlmann  (Comptes  Rendus,  t.  liii.  p.  444;) 
a  compact  mass  of  a  deep  greenish  blue  color.  On  further  treatment  of 
this  mass  with  strong  sulphuric  acid,  the  green  tint  disappears,  and  a 
very  intense  pure  blue  color  is  produced.  Other  acids,  phosphoric  and 
hydrochloric,  will  bring  about  the  same  change.  The  blue  mass  is  a  mix- 
ture of  the  colored  substances  with  some  sulphuric  acid,  sulphate  of  soda, 
and  fats.  The  two  former  may  be  removed  by  washing  with  water  ;  the 
latter  by  treatment  with  naphtha.  Alcohol  now  dissolves  the  blue  color, 
and  water  precipitates  it  from  the  solution  chemically  pure. 
According  to  the  mean  of  the  results  of  three  analyses,  the  composition 
of  the  new  body  was 
C  70-24 
H  8  35 
0  21-41  : 
results  which  nearly  agree  with  the  formula  C34H24O8  .  The  new  matter 
could  not  be  obtained  crystallized. 
Unhappily,  M.  Kuhlmann  has  not  yet  been  able  to  dye  with  this  color, 
but  he  does  not  despair  of  fixing  it. — Ibid. 
Chlorate  of  Potash  as  a  Rem,edy  for  Foetid  Breath.— Many  persons  com- 
plain of  foetid  breath  who  cannot  attribute  it  to  bad  teeth  or  neglect  to 
keep  them  clean  ;  the  gums  and  mucous  membrane  of  the  mouth  are  per- 
fectly healthy.  The  bad  odor  must  come  either  from  the  lungs  or  the 
stomach,  and  nine  case  out  of  ten  it  comes  from  the  latter.  In  this  case 
we  have  a  simple,  prompt  and  certain  remedy  in  the  chlorate  of  potash. 
Take,  three  hours  after  eating,  a  teaspoonful  of  a  solution  of  six  grammes 
of  the  chlorate  in  a  hundred  of  sweetened  water,  and  at  the  same  time 
rinse  the  mouth  with  the  solution. — Boston  Med.  and  Surg.  Jour,  from 
Gaz.  des  Hop. 
