5  46  Chemical  Notes.  { '"'N'oT^rso""  • 
shaking  up  the  solution  with  Millon's  base,  the  product  obtained  by 
the  action  of  ammonia  upon  mercuric  oxide.  Endemann  and  Pro- 
chazka  propose  to  use  this  reaction  for  the  preparation  of  chemically 
pure  soda.  For  this  purpose,  they  shake  up  some  2  liters  of  soda  solu- 
tion with  30  grams  of  the  base  once  or  twice  daily  for  a  week.  As 
the  free  ammonia  cannot  be  completely  removed  from  Millon's  base  by 
washing,  it  is  neutralized  by  adding  mercuric  oxide  to  the  soda  solu- 
tion.—  Chem.  Industrie,  iii,  p.  273. 
Preparation  of  pure  Phosphoric  Acid. — According  to  A.  Ditte,  pure 
phosphoric  acid  may  be  easily  obtained  by  saturating  a  solution  of 
sodium  phosphate  with  hydrochloric  acid  gas,  decanting  the  clear  liquid 
from  the  precipitated  common  salt  and  distilling  ofF  the  excess  of  hydro- 
chloric acid.  —  Comptes  Rendus.^  90,  p.  1 163. 
Red  Antimony. — As  the  opinions  concerning  the  composition  of  red 
antinu  ny  still  differ,  in  spite  of  the  manifold  investigations  recently 
made,  and  several  new  text-books  class  it  among  the  oxysulphides, 
and  others  among  the  trisu'phides  of  antimony,  N.  Teclu  has  under- 
taken a  series  of  careful  analyses  of  this  compound,  so  as  to  enable 
him  to  decide  this  point  and  also  to  determine  whether  the  product 
prepared,  according  to  Wagner's  method,  from  tartar,  differs  in  com- 
position from  that  obtained  from  chloride  of  antimony.  It  was  found 
that  red  antimony  in  both  cases  consists  merely  of  antimony  and  sul- 
phur, its  composition  being  Sb2S3.  Its  formation  by  both  methods  may 
be  illustrated  by  the  following  equations  : 
( 1 )  2C,H,KSb07  +  3S203Na2+  H20=Sb2S3+3SO,Na2+ 2C,H,K06. 
(2)  2SbCl3+3S,03Na,+  H,0=Sb,S3  +  3SO,Na,H-6HCl. 
The  formation  of  sulphurous  acid,  which  is  invariably  observed  dur- 
ing the  preparation  of  this  compound,  and  the  presence  of  free  sulphur 
in  the  product  after  extraction  with  carbon  disulphide,  point  to  the  sim- 
ultaneous result  of  a  secondary  process,  which  consists  in  the  decom- 
position of  sodium  thiosulphate  by  means  of  tartaric  or  hydrochloric 
acid. — Dingier' s  Polytech.  Jour.^  236,  p.  336. 
Detection  of  Water  in  Alcohol  and  Ether. — C.  Mann  gives  the  follow- 
ing process  :  Mix  2  parts  citric  acid  and  i  part  of  molybdic  acid  ;  heat 
until  incipient  fusion  and  warm  with  40  parts  of  water.  Filter-paper 
dipped  in  this  and  dried  at  100°  is  blue.  In  alcohol  or  ether  free  from 
water  the  color  remains  unchanged,  but  if  water  be  present  the  paper 
will  lose  its  color,  especially  if  warmed. — Ibid..,  236,  p.  430. 
Vapor-density  of  Chlorine. — Victor  Meyer  gives  the  results  of  some 
