PHARMACEUTICAL NOTICES. 
105 
Means of purifying Zinc, for making hydrogen in Toxi- 
cological Experiments. 
Mr. Alphonse Meillet, says:* — "By the following means I 
have invariably succeeded in obtaining chemically pure, at a 
single operation, so simple and abridged as to require only a 
quarter of an hour to purify several pounds of zinc. Melt 
the zinc of commerce in a common crucible, and throw it 
into a tolerably deep vessel of water, having care that the me- 
tal be very hot at the moment of running. This operation 
is not without its use, for the more granulated the zinc, the 
easier is it purified ; dry the grains and dispose them by 
layers in a Hessian crucible with one-fourth of their weight 
of nitrate of potash, using the precaution to place a slight ex- 
cess at the top and at the bottom. Cover the crucible, and 
secure the lid, then apply heat: a vivid deflagration takes place 
with great disengagement of light; after which remove the 
crucible from the fire, separate the dross with a tube, and 
lastly, run the zinc into an ingot mould. This zinc submit- 
ted to Marsh's apparatus during entire days has never given 
any stain, and in solution the most sensible reactives, such as 
Hydrosulphocyanic acid, have never indicated the least atom 
of iron." 
* Journal de Pharmacie. 
