A^nX'w£™' }       Adulterated  Heavy  Magnesia.  1 3 
writer  is  that  some  foreign  salts  were  presented  in  the  solution  from 
which  it  was  crystallized,  which  interfered  with  their  proper  devel- 
opment. 
On  one  occasion,  in  obtaining  crystals  from  a  large  quantity  of 
solution,  50  or  60  gallons,  a  similar  effect  was  noticed,  there  being 
present  in  the  solution,  besides  pure  permanganate,  chloride  and  sul- 
phate of  potassium.  The  crystals,  on  examination,  proved  to  be 
the  double  salt  of  perchlorate  and  permanganate. 
ADULTERATED  HEAVY  MAGNESIA. 
By  Richard  Y.  Mattison. 
A  short  time  ago  I  had  occasion  to  purchase  a  quantity  of  heavy 
magnesia,  and  the  order  was  given  one  of  our  large  wholesale  houses 
to  fill.  The  quantity  sent  me  presented  a  fine  appearance,  and  a  por- 
tion of  it  was  put  up  in  Z'v  and  3ii  packages  for  dispensing,  some  of 
which  was  returned  with  the  remark,  "  There  must  be  some  mistake 
here;  this  does  not  taste  like  magnesia!"  Upon  examining  a  portion 
of  the  package  presented  I  was  struck  with  the  peculiar  taste,  which 
was  strongly  saline  and  cooling,  bearing  some  resemblance  to  that  of 
tartaric  acid  when  in  combination  with  an  alkaline  base.  Upon  exam- 
ining the  remainder,  which  had  not  been  placed  in  packages,  it  was 
found  to  be  of  the  same  character. 
The  physical  properties  of  the  powder,  differing  so  widely  from 
pure  magnesia,  suggested  the  propriety  of  a  chemical  investigation, 
and  it  was  analyzed  at  the  College  laboratory,  under  the  supervision 
of  Prof.  Maisch.  The  powder,  submitted  to  the  action  of  boiling 
water  and  the  mixture  filtered,  gave  a  filtrate  of  a  strong  alkaline 
reaction  with  turmeric  paper,  and  yielding  no  precipitate  upon  cooling; 
after  the  addition  of  ammonium  chloride  and  oxalate,  a  slight  tur- 
bidity was  produced,  indicating  the  presence  of  a  little  calcium.  The 
magnesium  salt  dissolved  was  thrown  out  of  the  filtrate  by  the  addi- 
tion of  solutions  of  ammonium  hydrate  and  ammonium  orthophosphate 
and  boiling.  The  abundant  precipitate  produced  by  these  reagents 
gave  evidence  that  this  almost  insoluble  alkaline  earth  had  entered 
very  largely  into  solution.  This  precipitate  was  removed  by  filtration, 
evaporated  and  calcined  in  a  porcelain  crucible  with  a  few  drops  of 
nitric  acid  added  occasionally,  until  reduced  to  whiteness,  and  all 
traces  of  ammonium  had  disappeared.    The  portion  remaining  in  the 
