Am-fc!7h6arm-}  Varieties.  87 
VARIETIES. 
The  Constitution  of  Phosphorous  Acid.  By  A.  Michaelis. — The  author 
defends  his  formula  for  phosphorous  acid,  HPO.(HO)2,  and  he  considers  that  Zim- 
mermanns  trisodium  phosphite  contains  one  atom  of  sodium  united  with  the  phos- 
phorus ;  hence  its  unstability. 
When  phosphorous  trichloride  is  dropped  into  boiling  water,  no  phosphorus 
separates,  but,  if  cold  water  is  employed,  a  clear  liquid  is  obtained,  which  soon  be- 
comes milky  from  separation  of  phosphorus.  This  is  explained  by  assuming  that 
In  the  case  of  cold  water,  an  acid  containing  P(OH)3  is  first  formed,  and  that  the 
bulk  of  this  soon  changes  into  its  isomeride,  phosphorous  acid,  HPO(HO)2,  but  at 
the  same  time  a  portion  splits  up  into  phosphoric  acid  and  free  phosphorus. — Deut. 
Chem.  Ges.  Ber.,  viii,  504-506. 
A  new  metal. — M.  Lecocq  de  Boisbaudran  has  announced  the  discovery,  by 
means  of  the  spectroscope,  of  a  new  chemical  element,  which  he  calls  "  gallium,"  and 
which  he  affirms  to  be  allied  to  zinc.  The  spectroscope  character  of  gallium  is  two 
violet  lines,  one  corresponding  to  wave  length  417,  and  the  other  to  404,  but  fainter. 
A  commission  of  the  French  Academy  has  been  appointed  to  report  on  the  discovery. 
Gallium  is  said  to  be  found  in  a  special  blende  from  Pierrefite  mining  works,  in  the 
Argeles  Valley. —  The  Amer.  Gas-Light  Jour.,  Jan.  3,  1876. 
Preservation  of  Fruit. — Fruit  is  kept  in  Russia  by  being  packed  in  creosot- 
ized  lime.  The  lime  is  slaked  in  water  in  which  a  little  creosote  has  been  dissolved, 
and  is  allowed  to  fall  to  powder.  The  latter  is  spread  over  the  bottom  of  a  deal 
box,  to  about  one  inch  in  thickness.  A  sheet  of  paper  is  laid  above,  and  then  the 
fruit.  Over  the  fruit  is  another  sheet  of  paper,  then  more  lime,  and  so  on  until  the 
box  is  full,  when  a  little  finely  powdered  charcoal  is  packed  in  the  corners,  and  the 
lid  tightly  closed.  Fruit  thus  enclosed  will,  it  is  said,  remain  good  for  a  year. — 
The  Amer.  Gas-Light  Jour.,  Nov.  2,  1875. 
Cucurbitaceous  Anthelmintics — Some  investigations  have  recently  been 
made  by  M.  Heckel  into  the  active  part  of  pumpkin  seeds.  These  seeds  have  been 
much  used  of  late  for  the  expulsion  of  the  tapeworm,  for  which  purpose  they  were 
employed  in  the  early  part  of  the  last  century.  The  mode  of  their  administration 
has  hitherto  been  to  give  the  bruised  seeds  in  large  quantities  suspended  in  water, 
the  outer  envelope  only  having  been  removed.  About  two  ounces  of  the  seed  was 
the  ordinary  dose.  It  is  probable  that  so  large  a  quantity  contains  much  inert 
matter.  Some  recent  observations  apparently  indicate  that  the  active  principle  is 
contained  only  in  the  embryo.  To  ascertain  whether  this  is  the  case  was  the  chief 
object  of  M.  Heckel's  observations.  He  first  administered,  in  two  cases  of  taenia, 
about  six  ounces  of  the  perisperm,  tegumentum  and  testa,  a  purgative  of  castor  oil 
having  first  been  administered.  The  tapeworm  was  not  expelled  in  any  case.  In 
two  other  cases  the  membrane  surrounding  the  embryo  was  given — about  an  ounce 
— preceded  and  followed  by  a  dose  of  castor  oil.    In  each  case  the  tapeworm  was 
