Chemical  Notes. 
Am.  lour.  Pharnr. 
Mar.,  1879. 
cents  he  would  dispense  a  prescription  calling  for  quinia  sulphate  3i 
and  ferri  chlor.  3i  ;  and  for  25  cents  he  would  sell  a  dozen  of  two- 
grain  quinia  pills.  In  both  cases  the  price  charged  for  the  medicine 
was  lower  than  the  principal  ingredient  could  be  purchased  at  whole- 
sale. 
CHEMICAL  NOTES. 
By  Prof.  S.  P.  Sadtler. 
Inorganic  Chemistry. — F.  Jones,  in  a  paper  read  before  the  Eng- 
lish Chemical  Society,  Nov.  21st,  announces  the  preparation  of  a 
hydrogen  compound  of  boron.  By  heating  a  mixture  of  boric  oxide  with 
magnesium  dust,  and  after  treatment  of  the  magnesium  boride,  Mg3B2, 
formed  with  hydrochloric  and  nitric  acids,  is  obtained  a  colorless 
inflammable  gas,  which  burns  with  a  green  flame,  and  is  undoubtedly 
hydrogen  boride.  In  preparing  magnesium  boride,  2  equivalents  of 
magnesium  must  be  taken  for  every  1  equivalent  of  oxygen  in  the 
boric  oxide. — London  corresp.  in  Benchte,  XI,  p.  229. 
C.  Councler  has  prepared  a  number  of  the  organic  derivations  of 
boron,  with  a  view  of  throwing  light  upon  the  question  whether  boron 
■may  be  quinquivalent  as  well  as  trivalent.  All  of  the  organic  compounds 
seemed  to  indicate  only  the  trivalent  character  of  the  element.  He 
succeeded,  however,  in  preparing  boric  oxy  chloride,  BOCl3,  a  compound 
-exactly  analogous  to  POCl3,  and  he  therefore  considers  the  probability 
as  very  great  that  boron  is  to  be  classed  in  the  nitrogen  group  of  ele- 
ments, possessing  both  trivalent  and  quinquivalent  character. — Journal 
fur  pr.  Cb.y  1878,  p.  371. 
The  existence  of  the  hydrogen  boride  mentioned  above  was  not 
known  to  Councler  at  the  time  of  his  writing.  A  careful  study  of  its 
formation  would  undoubtedly  throw  much  light  upon  the  question. 
Th.  Salzer  calls  attention  to  the  explosive  character  of  a  mixture  of 
sal  ammoniac  and  ble aching-powder.  One  grm.  each  of  bleaching-pow- 
<ier  and  sal  ammoniac,  air-dried,  when  shaken  together,  are  sufficient 
to  liberate  copious  fumes  of  a  spontaneously  inflammable  gas.  This 
appears  to  be  owing  to  the  formation  of  ammonium  hypochlorite,  and 
not  to  any  possible  production  of  chloride  of  nitrogen. 
He  therefore  cautions  dealers  and  others  against  allowing  bleaching- 
