Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  1 
Dec,  1876.  / 
Varieties. 
567 
Chloride  of  Lead  Disinfectant —The  London  Lancet  directs  attention  to 
the  value  of  chloride  of  lead  as  a  deodorizer.  The  manner  of  its  use  is  to  dissolve 
half  a  drachm  of  the  nitrate  in  a  pint  of  boiling  water,  and  pour  this  solution  into  a 
bucket  of  water  in  which  two  drachms  of  sodic  chloride  (common  salt)  have  been 
dissolved.  After  chemical  action  has  taken  place,  the  clear  supernatant  liquid  is  an 
odorless  saturated  solution  of  chloride  of  lead.  If  this  solution  be  thrown  into  a 
sink  or  vault  from  time  to  time,  the  disagreeable  odors  will  soon  be  destroyed.  A 
ship's  bilge  was  completely  disinfected  in  this  way  by  simply  dissolving  half  an 
ounce  of  nitrate  of  lead  in  boiling  water,  and  pouring  it  into  the  bilge  water,  which 
itself  supplied  the  necessary  sodic  chloride.  Cloths  wet  with  this  solution,  and  hung 
in  fever  and  accident  wards  of  hospitals,  are  said  to  keep  the  atmosphere  sweet  and 
healthy. — Scient.  Amer.>  December  2,  1876. 
To  Distinguish  between  Cotton  and  Wool  in  Fabrics. — Ravel  out  the 
suspected  cotton  fibre  from  the  wool  and  apply  flame.  The  cotton  will  burn  with 
a  flash,  the  wool  will  curl  up,  carbonize  and  emit  a  burnt,  disagreeable  smell.  Even 
to  the  naked  eye  the  cotton  is  noticeably  different  from  the  filaments  of  wool,  and 
under  the  magnifier  this  difference  comes  out  strongly.  The  cotton  is  a  flattened, 
more  or  less  twisted  band,  having  a  very  striking  resemblance  to  hair,  which,  in 
reality,  it  is  ;  since,  in  the  condition  of  elongated  cells,  it  lines  the  inner  surface  of 
the  pod.  The  wool  may  be  recognized  at  once  by  the  zigzag  transverse  markings 
on  its  fibres.  The  surface  of  the  wool  is  covered  with  these  furrowed  and  twistedi 
fine  cross  lines,  of  which  there  are  2,000  to  4,000  in  an  inch.  On  this  structure- 
depends  its  felting  property.  Finally,  a  simple  and  very  striking  chemical  test  may 
be  applied.  The  mixed  goods  are  unraveled,  a  little  of  the  cotton  fibre  put  into  one 
dish  and  the  woolen  in  another,  and  a  drop  of  strong  nitric  acid  added.  The  cot- 
ton will  be  little  or  not  at  all  affected;  the  wool,  on  the  contrary,  will  be  changed 
to  a  bright  yellow.  The  color  is  due  to  the  development  of  a  picrate. — Scient. 
Amer.j  December  2,  1876. 
Distinctive  Reaction  between  Reds  from  Artificial  Alizarin  and 
those  from  Extract  on  Madder. — By  M.  J.  Wagner. — The  author  finds  that 
extract  reds  are  very  much  injured  by  a  mixture  of  soda  and  potassic  ferricyanide, 
whilst  artificial  alizarin-reds  are  scarcely  affected.  This  difference  is  doubtless  due 
to  the  presence  of  purpurin  in  the  extract  which  is  destroyed  by  this  reaction. — 
Chem.  Neivs,  Oct.  27,  1876,  from  Bulletin  de  Mulhouse. 
English  Dealings  with  Food  Adulterations. — If  there  is  any  one  subject 
on  which  the  British  public  is  extremely  sensitive,  it  is  the  quality  and  purity  of  its 
food  and  drink.  No  country,  we  believe,  has  such  stringent  legislative  enactments 
against  adulterations  ;  and  the  legal  formalities  for  their  enforcement  are  made  so 
few  and  simple  that  the  aggrieved  consumers  now  waste  no  time  in  vain  denuncia- 
tions, but  summon  the  offending  grocer  or  butterman  forthwith  before  the  nearest 
magistrate  to  answer  for  the  fraud. 
