drachms of strong hydrochloric acid immediately added. Into the solution thus formed, a test-solution of bichromate of potash is poured from a graduated tube until the blue colour of the indigo has disappeared. The quality of the indigo is estimated from the quantity of bichromate of potash thus used. NOTE ON THE PRESENCE OF ALUMINA IN THE URINE. BY LIONEL S. BEALE, M.B. Several cases are described in which, on adding solution of nitrate of cobalt to the ash obtained from urine, and heating it in the blowpipe flame, a blue head was produced, from which the presence of alumina was inferred. ON THE REACTION OF GLYCOCOLL WITH POTASH. BY PROFESSOR HOrsford. Mr. E. Riley having stated, in a paper published in the Quarterly Journal of the Chemical Society, that he had failed to obtain the deep red colour by heating glycocoll with a concentrated solution of caustic potash, to which Professor Horsford had previously referred in 1846, the Professor explains in this communication the manner in which the reaction may be produced. November 15th, 1852. ROBERT PORRETT, ESQ., TREASURER, IN THE CHAIR. George Hamilton, Esq., of Liverpool; and Stephen Darby, Esq., of Leadenhall Street, were duly elected Fellows of the Society. ON THE CONSTITUTION OF STEARINE. BY PATRICK DUFFY. This paper contains several ultimate and proximate analyses of stearine from mutton fat. For the proximate analyses the stearine was saponified, and the products, viz., stearic acid and glycerine, estimated. From the results obtained, and those furnished by Chevreul, it is inferred that an equivalent of stearine, or other similar fat, on being converted into acid by saponification, loses two equivalents of carbon, and that a given quantity of acid contains more oxygen and less hydrogen than the portion of fat from which it is derived. This conclusion is inconsistent with the view which regards the fats as salts containing glycerine or oxide of lipyl as base. It contains also analyses of stearine from beef fat, showing its identity with that from niutton; an account of the formation of the stearates of ethyl and amyl, by acting on stearine with the ethylate and amylate respectively of the inorganic alkalies; also of the palmitates of these radicals by acting on palmitine in a similar manner; together with an account of the production of a new substance by the action of perchloride of phosphorus on glycerine. ON THE COMPOUNDS OF SEVERAL ESSENTIAL OILS WITH THE ALKALINE BISULPHITES. BY C. BERTAGNINÉ. An inquiry into the deportment of a great number of essential oils with the alkaline bisulphites led to the following results:-The volatile oils having the characters of aldehydes, and which are more generally known as hydrides, such as hydride of benzoyl, salicyl, &c., and also the class of compounds, of which aldehyde itself is the prototype, possess the property of readily forming crystalline compounds with the bisulphites of the alkalies. These compounds are composed of one equivalent of the aldehyde, one equivalent of the alkaline bisulphite, and a variable number of equivalents of water. Essential oils not belonging to the family of aldehydes do not form similar compounds. December 6th, 1852. ROBERT WARINGTON, ESQ., VICE-PRESIDENT, IN THE CHAIR. BY PROFESSOR WÖHLER. The compounds described in this communication are the oxychloride, bromide, oxybromide, iodide, and oxyiodide of tellurethyl, and the sulphate and oxalate of oxide of tellurethyl. No compound could be obtained with cyanogen. Hydrofluoric acid yields a soluble fluorine compound which may be crystallized by evaporation. ANALYTICAL NOTES. BY A. B. NORTHCOTE AND A. H. CHURCH. 1. On the Action of Caustic Potassa on the Phosphates. Experiments were undertaken on this subject, with the view of discovering a better method than that generally adopted for estimating phosphoric acid, the results ob tained when the iron precipitate, suspected to contain phosphoric acid, is dissolved in hydrochloric acid, treated with tartaric acid and ammonia, and subsequently a salt of magnesia is added to precipitate the phosphoric acid, being found frequently to lead to erroneous conclusions. It has hitherto been thought that the phosphate of sesquioxide of iron is but imperfectly attacked by solutions of the caustic alkalies, but the extent of the decomposition that can be thus effected had not been submitted to a careful experimental inquiry. From the experiments made by the authors of this communication, it appears, that by boiling the precipitated phosphate of iron with a sufficient excess of potash, the phosphoric acid is completely transferred to the latter base; and this method of proceeding is therefore recommended in the quantitative determination of phosphoric acid. It is proposed, that the alkaline solution should be deprived of alumina, which might be introduced with the potash, by the addition of silicate of potash, and subsequently of excess of hydrochloric acid and of ammonia. The filtered solution will then contain the whole of the phosphoric acid, which may readily be precipitated by a salt of magnesia. 2. On the Behaviour of some Oxides with Caustic Potassa in the presence of Sesquioxide of Chromium. The influence of the association of sesquioxide of chromium with metallic oxides, which by themselves are insoluble in solution of caustic potash, is well known; the insoluble oxides being, in some cases, rendered soluble when thus associated, while in other cases they communicate their insolubility to the otherwise soluble oxide of chromium. The object of the inquiry instituted with reference to these results was to ascertain the exact conditions under which complete solution or precipitation of the associated oxides occurs. It was found that complete solution takes place when the chromium, as sesquioxide, is associated with 40 per cent. of iron as sesquioxide, with 12.5 per cent. of manganese; 20 per cent. of cobalt, or 25 per cent. of nickel as protoxides; and that complete precipitation takes place when the chromium, as sesquioxide, is associated with 80 per cent. of iron, as sesquioxide; 60 per cent. of manganese; 50 per cent. of cobalt, or 50 per cent. of nickel, as protoxides. When cobalt and nickel, however, are thus rendered soluble the result is not permanent, and ultimately not only does the oxide of cobalt or nickel become insoluble, but it then carries down with it some of the oxide of chromium. The other metallic oxides soluble in caustic potash were not found to influence, or to be influenced in, the reaction of solution of caustic potash, by the presence of sesquioxide of iron. TOXICOLOGY.-EXTRAORDINARY ALLEGATION. ON Monday, the 20th of December, Mary Holly, a laundress, obtained a summons against Mr. Edward Messer, clerk to Messrs. Jansen, solicitors, Tokenhouse Yard, for the alleged offence of "unlawfully administering to the complainant some deleterious substance," in the year 1849. On Thursday, the 23rd, the case came on for hearing before Mr. Alderman Wilson. Mary Holly deposed, that she was laundress to the chambers, 4, Tokenhouse Yard, in 1849. In November of that year, defendant gave her, at her request, 1lb. of arrowroot, obtained from the house of Corbyn and Co., Holborn. She gave some to her sister and took some herself; several children also had some of it. She was taken ill about an hour afterwards, with sickness, swimming in the head, and violent perspirations. The other persons who took part of the arrowroot suffered similar symptoms. She stated that she was under medical treatment for above two months, that she suspected something deleterious in the arrowroot, and mentioned this to the defendant, who said, "Do you think I want to poison you?" and proposed to take some himself for supper, to convince her that her fears were unfounded. 358 She said she had soon afterwards applied several times for a summons against the defendant but could not obtain one. Four witnesses having been called to substantiate portions of the above statement, Mr. H. H. Salter deposed, that in 1851 complainant came to him for advice, and he described the symptoms as resembling those which are occasioned by taking some irritant substance. The effects of such poisons might last for years. He tasted it, and Mr. W. Baker, principal witness against the defendant, said he had tested the arrowroot for arsenic and corrosive sublimate, but found none. found it bitter, leaving a heat on the tongue. He washed it, and found a brown sediment, which he compared with NUX VOMICA, and found it precisely similar. Alderman Wilson.-That is not a dangerous chemical, for there is an immense quantity of it used in beer. Witness.-I am aware it is so used, but I don't think it quite so harmless, for I had the cramp in my arms and legs all night from only drinking a glass of Bass's pale ale. I wished to try the effect of the arrowroot on some of the animals that are born blind, as nux vomica kills that class of animal instantly, and Mrs. Holly said she would try it on a bird, and in a few days she brought me a sparrow, which she stated the arrowroot had killed. The effects of nux vomica might last for years in the system. I mixed some nux vomica with some pure arrowroot, and then tasted it, and the similarity between that and the arrowroot brought to me by the complainant was so great, that I could not tell one from the other. Upon such evidence as this a respectable gentleman is accused of the very improbable offence of attempting to poison a poor woman, without any conceivable motive, in a manner so stupidly clumsy, that immediate detection would have been inevitable had the offence been committed. The charge is brought more than three years after the date of the alleged offence, during which time the suspected arrowroot has not been sealed up and in safe custody, but in the possession of the complainant. Messrs. Corbyn and Co. have taken on themselves the responsibility of proving the purity of the arrowroot when delivered by them to the defendant, who, as an act of charity, gave it to complainant. The case is adjourned, defendant giving bail, £100, for his appearance after the further examination of the arrowroot shall have been completed. We need scarcely remark, that whatever might be found in the arrowroot Now, could not possibly implicate the defendant, who has not had access to it for the last three years. The credulity of Alderman Wilson respecting the "immense quantities" of nux vomica used (as he has been told) in beer, and the absurd statement (we cannot call it evidence) of Mr. Baker, as to the imaginary effects of a glass of Bass's pale ale, show on what a slender thread justice hangs, and how easily an innocent person may be denounced or convicted by the ignorance of an alderman and a witness. BOOKS RECEIVED. QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF MICROSCOPICAL SCIENCE; including the Transactions of the By all those who use the microscope, either for scientific research or as a rational There are instructive to those who are commencing this pursuit. The present number also contains four excellent plates of engravings. The Transactions of the Microscopical Society being incorporated in this Journal, the reader will have the advantage of an early acquaintance with the proceedings of that body. There is also a department devoted to translated articles, which will show what is doing abroad. The successful attempts which have recently been made to apply the art of photography to the delineation of objects as viewed by the microscope, opens a new and most extensive field for the useful employment of this instrument. The importance of this new branch of microscopical manipulation can hardly be overestimated, and the simultaneous appearance of a Journal devoted to microscopical science, will no doubt prove favourable alike to the development of the details of the new process, and to its own success. THE EMIGRANT'S MEDICAL GUIDE. By JAMES FRASER, Surgeon, &c. Glasgow: James Hedderwick and Son. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd. London; Simpkin, Marshall, and Co. 1853. AN ESSAY ON THE POISON OF THE COBRA DI CAPELLO. BY JOHN COCKLE, A.M., M.D., &c. London: S. Highley and Son, Fleet Street. 1852. (Price 18.) ANCIENT AND MODERN COLOURS. From the Earliest Periods to the Present Time; with their Chemical and Artistical Properties. By WILLIAM LINTON. London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans. 1852. 8vo, pp. 80. TO CORRESPONDENTS. A Correspondent (Wednesbury).—Cachou Aromatisé.—Take of extract of liquorice and water, of each 33oz.; dissolve by the heat of a water-bath, and add Bengal catechu, in powder, 462 grs.; gum arabic, in powder, 231 grs.; evaporate to the consistence of an extract, and then incorporate the following substances, previously reduced to fine powder :-Mastic, cascarilla, charcoal, and orris root, of each 30 grs.; reduce the mass to a proper consistence, remove it from the fire, and then add English oil of peppermint 30 drops, tincture of ambergris and tincture of musk, of each 5 drops, pour it on an oiled slab, and spread it out, by means of a roller, to the thickness of a sixpenny piece; after it has cooled, apply some folds of blotting paper to absorb any adhering oil, moisten the surfaces with water, and then cover it with sheets of silver leaf. It must now be allowed to dry, then cut into very thin strips, and these again divided into small pieces, about the size of a fenugreek seed.-Journal de Pharmacie. A Member (Sittingbourne).-(1.) Colours for shop windows. See vol. x., p. 92. -(2.) Kidston and Co., Bishopsgate Street. H. 1. L.—(1.) There is no authorised formula for liquor opii sedativus-when prescribed, Battley's preparation is intended.-(2.) The minor examination should be passed first. There is no published Juvenis (Exeter).-"Vinum ferri citratis et quinæ." formula, but it is made to contain 5 grains of the citrate of quinine and iron in each fluid drachm. Chemicus.-Liquid blister-R powdered cantharides, 5 ounces; sulphuric ether, 15 ounces. Toynbee. J. P. (Salford).-(1.) The price of "Griffin's Chemical Recreations" is 7s. 6d.(2.) We do not recommend works on the practice of medicine.-Griffin, Baker Street. M. W. M. (Liverpool).—Castor oil pomade.-R Castor oil 4 oz., prepared lard 2 oz., white wax 6 drs., essence of bergamot 2 drs., oil of lavender 20 drops, eau de Cologne dr. Stir till cold.-Beasley. F. A. R. (Hull).—(1.) The natural system.-(2.) See page 321. S. G. O. (York) observes, that certain houses are offering spiritus de theris nitrici at 2s. per lb. (1s. 11d. by the carboy), the usual price of the wholesale houses being 28. 4d. to 28. 8d. The low-priced spirit is stated by the vendors, on their honour, to be made with duty-paid spirit, and of sp. gr. .850. The other houses declare that it cannot be made at 2s.; which appears to be borne out by a calculation of the price of the ingredients and expense of making. S. G. O. wishes us to explain this incongruity. [Persons who would defraud the revenue by using illicitly distilled spirit, would not hesitate to defraud their customers by making a "deviation from veracity."] R. A. P. S. (Maidenhead).-See page 314. Secundus. (Chipping Norton).-See page 314. Probably March or April next. Equus complains of the imputation of apathy in Assistants, and says the fault is with the employers, who do not encourage their young men to study. "A Sufferer, in the West of England, wishes to confirm a statement of a Correspondent in our last number, page 311, respecting the education of Apprentices, observing that in some shops the hours are from A.M. until midnight, no time being allowed for study. [This may be the case in some places now; but, in future, care will be taken by the parents or guardians of Apprentices to make proper conditions with regard to education.] Chemicus (Lincoln).—We are obliged by the receipt of the paragraph, and intend to take an early opportunity of adverting to the subject. J. G. (Chatham).-Under the new bye-law. Apply to the Secretary, Mr. Smith, 17, Bloomsbury Square. R. A. D. (Hatton Garden).-Chloric ether is a mixture of chloroform one part, with rectified spirit of wine four or five parts. Amator Scientia.-The pharmaciens in France are better educated than the Chemists and Druggists in England. They are, therefore, better paid for their services. Travellers may take their own medicine chests into France if they please.—(2.) Pil. Rhei. co. gr. v.-(3.) According to circumstances.-(4.) Very good. A.Z. (Newcastle). - Pil coccia, when mixed with castor-oil instead of syrup, is less liable to become hard. Nil Desperandum.—(1.) An apprentice is bound in honour, if not in law, to serve for the term specified in his indenture, although he may exceed twenty-one years of age. (2.) The terms Chinoidine and Quinidine are synonymous.-(3.) Ether does not form a precipitate in solution of prussiate of potash. If the ether contains much spirit, however, this, by rendering the salt insoluble, may precipitate it.— (4.) Belfour's Class-book of Botany is the most recent. A Regular Subscriber (Whitehaven).—See page 348 of this number. Aliquis should study some elementary work on Chemistry, in which the subjects to which he refers are fully explained. It would occupy too much space to give such an explanation here. J. B. (Cockermouth) sends us a sample of tartaric acid, which was supplied to him as such, and which contains a quantity of sugar. W. M. (Cardiff).-There is no method known by which gum arabic can be dissolved in naphtha. W. B. H. (Bristol).-We presume the "pitch oil" referred to in Dr. Wilson's paper is the crude product of the distillation of tar, which contains creosote. J. A., R. A. P. Ŝ.-The following recipe is given in Gray's Supplement for the browning of gun barrels :-Take of Nitric acid, Sweet spirit of nitre, aa ss. Spirit of wine, j. Sulphate of copper, 3ij. Tincture of chloride of iron, 3j. Louis (Congleton).-Next month. CORRIGENDA. Vol. xii. page 268, 24th line from the top, for Yemn read Yemen. page 270, 5th line from the bottom, for den read Aden. page 270, same line, for shoot read shoots. In our last Number, page 261, fifteen lines from the top, for 1852 read 1842. Instructions from Members and Associates, respecting the transmission of the Journal, to Mr. SMITH, Secretary, 17, Bloomsbury Square, before the 20th of the month. Advertisements (not later than the 23rd of the month) to Mr. CHURchill, Princes Street, Soho. Other communications to the Editor, 15, Laugham Place. |