242" 
ON  PIPITZAHOIC  AC'I1>; 
pure  as  the  majority  of  the  globules,  and  probably  contain  some 
iron. 
A  large  globule  of  aluminium,  weighing  3.8  grm.,  appeared' 
when  cut  through  to  be  distinctly  brittle,  for  about  half  a  line 
from  the  exterior,  while  the  inner  part  was  soft  and  malleable. 
Sometimes  there  were  cavities  inside  the  globules. 
Ddville  has  obtained  aluminium  in  a  crystalline  state,  and  I 
have  likewise  observed  this  in  some  instances.  One  large  globule 
had  quite  a  radiated  crystalline  structure  at  the  part  which  was- 
lowest  during  the  cooling.  Deville  is  of  opinion  that  he  has 
obtained  octohedrons ;  but,  according  to  the  examination  of  my 
brother,  the  crystalline  structure  does  not  appear  to  be  that  of 
the  regular  system. 
In  an  attempt  to  melt,  without  any  flux,  a  somewhat  impure 
globule  of  aluminium  which  had  been  flattened,  small  globules 
were  protruded  from  the  surface.  The  impure  metal  being  least 
fusible,  the  pure  metal  mixed  with  it  melts,  expands,  and  is  forced 
out  of  the  mass,  as  is  the  case  with  impure  bismuth. 
I  have  already  remarked  that  cryolite  is  used  in  Berlin,  under 
the  name  of  "  mineral  soda,"  for  the  preparation  of  caustic  soda 
lye.  Powdered  cryolite  is  perfectly,  decomposed  when  heated 
with  caustic  lime  and  water  at  the  boiling  point.  The  fluoride 
of  calcium  produced  does  not  retain  any  aluminium,  the  whole 
of  which  is  dissolved  as  alumina  by  the  soda,  which,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  free  from  fluorine,  or  contains  only  very  minute  traces 
of  it. — Lond.  Pharm.  Jour.,  Feb.  1856,  from  Annalen  der 
Physik  und  Ohemie. 
PIPITZAHOIC  ACID. 
Pipitzahoic  Acid  is  the  name  given  to  a  substance  recently 
extracted  by  M.  Rio  de  la  Loza,  Professor  of  Chemistry,  of 
Mexico,  from  a  root  known  in  some  parts  of  the  Mexican  republic 
as  Raiz  del  Pipitzalioac*  This  root,  specimens  of  which,  together 
*The  learned  body  in  Mexico  to  whom  the  first  account  of  this  substance 
was  submitted  changed  the  name  of  the  acid,  in  honor  of  its  discoverer, 
from  Pipitzahoic  to  Riolozic.  As  the  former  name  is  more  in  accordance 
with  established  custom,  and  as  we  find  the  acid  described  in  Germany 
under  that  designation,  we  prefer  it  (barbarous  though  it  is)  to  that  pre- 
po&ed  by  the  Mexican  savans. 
