798 CHIZZLE. 
early part of June, but succeed best when pro- 
pagated in March; and they may be re-propa- 
gated throughout a corresponding range of time 
in autumn. In propagating and transplanting, 
eight or nine plants or bulbs may be put into 
each dibble-hole, and the dibble-holes may be 
about nine inches asunder ; andin gathering the 
plants for use, the leaves, as long as they con- 
tinue green, may, time after time, be shorn away 
near the surface of the ground, or the roots may, 
after the decay of the leaves, be taken up and 
placed in a store-room. 
CHIZZLE. Bran, or the husky portion of 
ground wheat. 
CHLORA. See Yutiow-wort. 
CHLORANTHUS. A small genus of ever- 
green, tropical plants, constituting the natural 
order Chloranthez or Chloranthacez. They are 
allied to the peppers, and are distinguished from 
the orders nearest them by their jointed-stems 
and their opposite leaves and intermediate sti- 
pules, Four species are known to botanists ; 
and three of these have been introduced to Bri- 
tain. The officinal species, Chloranthus officina- 
dis, is a very powerful stimulant; but neither 
this species nor any other possesses any horticul- 
tural interest. 
CHLORINE. The discovery of this gas was 
made in 1770, by Scheele, and named, by its dis- 
coverer, dephlogisticated marine acid. The term 
dephlogisticated had exactly the same import as 
that of oxygenated, soon afterwards introduced 
by Lavoisier. From its peculiar yellowish-green 
colour, the appellation of chlorine has been given 
to it. 
Chlorine gas is obtained by the action of mu- 
riatic acid on the peroxide of manganese. The 
most convenient method of preparing it is by 
mixing concentrated muriatic acid, contained in 
a glass flask, with half its weight of finely-pow- 
dered peroxide of manganese. On,the applica- 
tion of a moderate heat, the gas is evolved, and 
should be collected in inverted glass bottles, fill- 
ed with warm water. In order to comprehend 
the theory of this process, it must be premised 
that muriatic acid consists of chloride of hydro- 
gen. The peroxide of manganese is composed of 
manganese and oxygen. When these compounds 
react on one another, the peroxide of manganese 
gives up a portion of its oxygen to the hydrogen 
of the muriatic acid, in consequence of which 
water is generated, and chlorine (the other in- 
gredient in muriatic acid) is liberated. The 
method which is employed in the arts, and which 
is the most economical, is the following :—Three 
parts of common salt (muriate of soda) are inti- 
mately mingled with one of the peroxide of man- 
ganese, and to this mixture two parts of sulphuric 
acid, diluted with an equal weight of water, are 
then added. By the action of sulphuric acid on 
the muriate of soda, muriatic acid is disengaged, 
| which reacts, as before explained, upon the per- 
oxide of manganese; so that, instead of adding 
CHLORINE. 
muriatic acid directly to the manganese, the | 
materials for forming it are employed. 
Chlorine is gaseous under a common atmo- 
spheric pressure. It is twice and a half heavier 
than atmospheric air, or its specific gravity is 
2:5. The gas has a yellowish-green colour. Of 
all the gases, it is the most insupportable in its | 
action on the lungs. When pure, it occasions 
immediate death if an animal is immersed in it ; 
and even when largely diluted with common air, 
it cannot be respired with safety. It occasions | 
a severe sense of stricture at the breast, which 
renders it impossible to make a full inspiration. 
This continues for a considerable time after it 
has been inspired, and has often produced a per- 
manently injurious effect. When thoroughly 
dried, by exposure to fused chloride of calcium, 
it suffers no change, though cooled to 40°. When 
prepared over water, however, so as to contain a 
quantity of aqueous vapour, it condenses on the | 
sides of the vessel even at a temperature of 40°; | 
and, if surrounded by snow or ice, it shoots into | 
acicular crystals of a bright-yellow colour, and 
sometimes two inches in length, which remain | 
attached to the sides of the vessel. This solid is | 
a hydrate of chlorine, and, when heated to 50°, 
it melts into a yellowish oily fluid. Chlorine is | 
absorbed by water, in a quantity which increases 
as the temperature diminishes. At 50°, the 
water takes up about twice its volume. The so- | 
lution has a yellowish-green colour, and its odour | 
is that of the gas itself. Its taste is rather styp- | 
tic than sour, and the liquid, like the gas, has | 
the property of destroying the vegetable colours. 
Hence it may be employed in bleaching. It is 
not changed by a boiling temperature. Solution 
of chlorine is decomposed, however, by exposure 
to the solar light; the chlorine attracts hydrogen 
from the water, forming muriatic acid, which re- 
mains dissolved, and pure oxygen is disengaged. 
Chlorine gas supports the combustion of a num- 
ber of inflammable substances. A lighted taper 
burns in it, though feebly, with a red flame ; 
phosphorus takes fire when immersed in it; and | 
a number of the metals, as antimony, arsenic, 
copper, and others, if introduced into it in leaves 
or filings, burn spontaneously. Potassium and 
sodium burn vividly in it. In these cases, the 
inflammable or metallic substances are believed 
simply to unite with the chlorine. Chlorine 
combines with many of these bases in more than 
one proportion. When in one proportion, the 
compound is called a chloride; when in two, a 
bi-chloride, or a deuto-chloride, &. Whenever a 
metallic chloride, which is soluble in water, is 
thrown into that fluid, it is conceived to be in- 
stantly converted into a muriate; the water 
present is decomposed, its oxygen goes to the 
metallic base, and its hydrogen to the chlorine, 
and a muriate of an alkali, earth, or metallic ox- 
ide, is formed. Thus common salt, when dry, is 
a chloride of sodium: it is no salt, containing 
neither acid nor alkali, but, whenever it is dis- 
