CONVERSION  OF  LACTIN  INTO  OXALIC  ACID.  445 
OIL  OF  CAJUPUT  AS  A  M^ANS  OF  DISTINGUISHING  BETWEEN 
AMBER  AND  COPAL. 
By  Harry  Napier  Draper,  f.c.s. 
Several  oxygenated  volatile  oils,  notably  those  of  lavender, 
rosemary  and  peppermint,  possess  the  property  of  softening 
copal  resin  in  the  cold,  and  of  dissolving  it  at  higher  tempera- 
tures, to  a  greater  or  less  extent.  Oil  of  cajuput,  however, 
-  readily  dissolves  copal  at  the  ordinary  temperature,  forming  a 
perfectly  transparent  solution,  from  which  the  oil  evaporates, 
leaving  a  very  brilliant  coating  of  the  resin.  Amber  is  totally 
insoluble  in  oil  of  cajuput,  even  at  the  boiling  point  of  the  latter ; 
and,  as  some  of  the  specimens  of  copal  often  simulate  and  are  mis- 
taken for  amber,  this  different  behaviour  may  serve  as  a  ready 
means  of  distinguishing  between  the  two  resins.  I  may  add, 
as  a  fact  also  possessing  some  technical  interest,  that  the  solution 
of  copal  in  cajuput  oil  is  easily  miscible  with  alcohol. —  Chem. 
News,  London,  April  5,  1862. 
THE  CONVERSION  OF  LACTIN  INTO  OXALIC  ACID 
BY  MUCEDINOUS  FUNGI. 
The  following  letter  from  Mr.  E.  M.  Rimmington,  Bradford, 
appeared  in  the  Lancet  of  May  10th: — 
Whilst  engaged  in  repeating  the  experiments  of  Pasteur  respect- 
ing spontaneous  generation,  I  have  been  led  to  the  discovery  of 
a  very  singular  and  unexpected  metamorphosis  in  milk  by  the 
agency  of  a  mucedinous  fungus  ;  the  conversion  of  the  lactin  into 
oxalic  acid,  and  consequent  formation  of  oxalate  of  lime.  Be- 
lieving this  to  be  not  only  an  interesting  but  an  important  fact 
(from  its  bearing  on  some  other  questions,)  and  having  fortu- 
nately preserved  a  record  of  the  experiment,  I  am  enabled  to 
give  the  entire  history  of  it. 
On  the  37th  of  September  of  last  year  I  poured  into  a  test- 
glass  some  milk  which  had  been  previously  boiled  and  kept  in  a 
flask  some  months  ;  the  milk  at  the  time  being  perfectly  sweet 
and  good.  The  glass  was  then  tied  over  with  writing-paper  and 
set  aside.    In  the  course  of  eight  or  ten  days  afterwards,  a  few 
