1 8  Chemical  Notes,  {"""jiT^lz:!" 
retort  or  flask,  connected  with  an  inverted  condenser,  the  upper  end  of 
which  connected  with  a  tube  for  drying  gases.  After  warming 
the  oil,  20  grams  of  iodine  were  gradually  dissolved  and  the  whole 
heated,  when  an  abundant  and  regular  evolution  of  gas  commenced. 
When  it  had  ceased  the  retort  was  allowed  to  cool  somewhat  and  a 
fresh  portion  of  iodine  added.  In  this  way  150  grams  of  iodine  were 
converted  into  145  to  150  grams  of  hydrogen  iodide.  Bromine  acts 
in  the  same  way  when  dropped  in  from  a  funnel  tube  provided  with 
stop-cock.  The  copaiba  oil  gradually  solidifies  during  this  reaction,  and 
cymol  was  recognized  among  the  products. — Ber.  der  Chem.  Ges.^  xii, 
p.  2059. 
On  the  Volatility  of  Platinum  in  Chlorine  Gas, — As  bearing  upon  the 
recent  results  of  Victor  Meyer,  on  the  behavior  of  chlorine  at  high 
temperatures,  F.  Seelheim  gives  some  experiments  made  by  him  upon 
the  volatility  of  platinum.  He  found  that  platinum,  heated  to  bright 
redness,  while  a  slow  stream  of  chlorine  gas  was  passed  over  it,  was 
volatilized,  and  well-defined  crystals  were  gotten  in  the  cooler  part  of 
the  tube.  Platinous  chloride  was  decomposed  when  heated  in  a  tube 
to  bright  redness,  and  crystals  of  platinum  were  also  gotten.  Now,  the 
observed  increase  in  volume  of  the  chlorine,  in  Victor  Meyer's  experi- 
ment, may  be  explained  in  part  by  this  volatilization  of  platinum  from 
the  platinous  chloride  used  without  any  necessity  of  supposing  a  decom- 
position of  the  chlorine. — Idem.^  xii,  p.  2066. 
On  the  Antiseptic  Action  of  the  Acids. — Miss  Nadina  Sieber  has  pub- 
lished the  results  of  a  series  of  experiments  which  were  made  to  estab- 
lish how  much  acid  was  necessary  to  prevent  decomposition  in  solu- 
tions charged  with  fermenting  materials.  It  was  found  that  the 
presence  of  0*5  per  cent,  of  hydrochloric,  sulphuric,  phosphoric  and 
acetic  acid  was  sufficient  to  prevent  perfectly  this  decomposition  ;  of 
butyric  acid  about  i  per  cent,  was  necessary,  and  of  lactic  acid  even 
more.  In  the  case  of  boracic  acid  even  4  per  cent,  was  not  sufficient 
to  completely  prevent  decomposition,  while  half  of  a  per  cent,  of 
phenol  had  pronounced  antiseptic  properties. — four,  fur  pr.  Chem..,  19, 
P-  433- 
Organic  Chemistry. —  On  the  Antiseptic  Properties  of  Pyrogallic  Acid. 
— V^.  Bovet  has  shown  i),  that  pyrogallic  acid  in  i  to  ij  per  cent, 
solution  hinders  the  decomposition  of  animal  tissue  ;  2),  that  in  2  to  l\ 
per  cent,  solution  a  material,  smelling  strongly  and  filled  with  bacteria,  is 
