cording to the circumstances and modes of preparation. In conclusion, the author states that when propylene gas is exposed to fuming muriatic acid it is slowly absorbed. The action takes place more readily at a higher temperature. The product is a neutral liquid insoluble in waler and identical with the chlorid of propyl C6H7Cl.—Ann. de Chimie et de Physique, xliii, 385, April, 1855. 2. On the theory of the Compounds of Glycerine-The Lipyl theory of Berzelius has long since ceased to afford a satisfactory explanation of the chemical relations of glycerine, and the discoveries of Berthelot in particular, have rendered a new theory indispensible. Wurtz proposes to consider glycerine as a tribasic alcohol, that is, as containing 3 eqs. of hydrogen replaceable by 3 groups. Glycerine may be reduced to the type of 3(H2O2) if we suppose C6H5 capable of replac ing 3 eqs. of hydrogen, then we shall have It is clear that this tribasic alcohol must yield 3 species of ether, since if R represents the radical of an acid, 1, 2 or 3 eqs. of hydrogen in the above formula may be replaced by 1, 2 or 3 eqs. of R. Thus the three species of stearine will have the formulas, while there will be three chlorhydric ethers having the formulas All these combinations, as well as a triacid nitrate, a biacid sulphate and a uniacid phosphate, have been obtained already. As the radical CsHs is tribasic and equivalent to 3 eqs. of hydrogen, we ought to ex pect an ether having the formula C6H5 O2 02 and this has been ob. 02 tained by Berthelot and Luca. In conclusion, Wurtz points out that there ought to exist 3 glyceric ammonias, in which 1, 2, or 3 eqs. of NH may be supposed to replace 1, 2, or 3 eqs. of O2, just as ethylamine may be considered as derived from alcohol by replacing O2 in C4H6O2 by NH.-Ann de Chimie et de Physique, xliii, 492. [NOTE.It is easy to see that all the above results may be equally well explained by employing for glycerine the formula C6H5O3+3HO, and that it is not necessary to refer it to the type of water at all. Wurtz's view is based upon Gerhardt's theory that all acids may be considered as water with a single double or treble equivalent, a certain number of equivalents of hydrogen being replaced by other radicals. We may consider glycerine with the formula C6H5O3+3HO, as havSECOND SERIES, Vol. XX, No. 59.-Sept. 1855. 34 ing the same relation to alcohol with the formula C4H5O+HO which SbO3+3HO bears to KO+HO. The 3 stearines above mentioned will have on this view the formulas C6H5O3+C36H3503, 2HO. C6H5O3+2C36 Hз5Oз, HO. C6H5O3+3C36 H3503; while the glycerine ether of Berthelot and Luca will be C6H5O3+C6H5O3, or more simply C6H5Oз, bearing the same relation to C4H5O which SbO3 bears to ZnO. We ought to expect by the action of dehydra ting agents upon glycerine to obtain the body C6H4O2, since C6H503, 3H0-4HO C6H4O2, and in like manner we should have the reac tions C6H5O3, 3HO-5HO C6H3O, and C6H5O3, 3HO-6HO= C6H2. Moreover we should have the acids C6H6O8, and C6H4010, produced by successive substitutions of O2 for H2 just as acetic acid is produced from alcohol by a similar substitution.-W. G.] : 3. On some new bodies belonging to the Propionyl Series.-ZININ has communicated the results of an investigation of the compounds of Propionyl which possess much interest and importance. It will be remembered that propionyl is the radical of propionic acid and is homologous with acetyl, its formula being C6H5. By the action of the iodid of this radical upon the salts of silver, Zinin has succeeded in prepar ing an entirely new class of ethers of which the acetate, benzoate and carbonate are described. Acetate of Propionyl C6H5O+C4H 303 (not to be confounded with acetate of propyl, C6H7O+C4H3O3) is a colorless liquid, lighter than and but slightly soluble in water, but soluble in all proportions in alcohol and ether. It has a neutral reaction, a sharp odor like that of acetate of ethyl, and a sharp etherial taste it boils at 150° C. Benzoate of propionyl is an oily liquid heavier than water and smelling like benzoic ether its formula is C6H5O+C14H5O3 and it boils at 242° C. Carbonate of propionyl is an oily etherial liquid lighter than water. The new ethers above described are all decompo sed by contact with caustic potash either dry or in a concentrated aqueous solution. The decomposition is precisely similar to that of the cor responding ethyl compounds, the products being salts of potash and a volatile liquid soluble in water and having a faint odor but strongly at tacking the lungs and eyes. The author does not give the constitution of this body, but it is doubtless the propionic aldehyde, the reaction in the case of the acetate being represented by the equation C6H5O, C H3O3+KO, HO-KO, C4H3O3+C6H5O, HO. The iodid of propionyl readily attacks mercury-much more easily than the iodids of methyl and ethyl. The product is the iodid of a new radical and has the formula C6H5Hg21; it is therefore analogous to ethyl-mercury, methyl-mercury, &c. By double decomposition with the salts of silver it gives well defined crystalline salts. Hence the analogy between propionyl and ethyl is clearly established.-Bull. de St. Petersb., xiii, 360-363. Chemisch. Pharm. Central Blatt., May, 1855. 4. On the artificial formation of Oil of Mustard.-ZININ has made the interesting discovery that the volatile oil of mustard is the sulphocyanid of propionyl, and that it may easily be formed artificially by distilling an alcoholic solution of sulpho-cyanid of potassium with Ber thelot's iodid of propionyl. (Am. Journal Sci., xix, 270). The oily fluid which separates from the distillate on the addition of water when redistilled gives a liquid passing over between 145° and 150°, and possessing all the physical and chemical properties of the etherial oil of mustard. The reaction is represented by the equation C6H5l+KCy S2 C6H5Cy S2+KI.-Bull. de Petersburg quoted in Journal für prakt. Chemie, No 8, 504, 1855. [NOTE. It will be remembered that the oil of mustard has long been considered as the sulphocyanid of the radical ally! C6H5, and that the oil of garlic is a mixture of the oxyd and sulphid of the same radical. Zinin's discovery proves the identity of allyl and propionyl, and puts it in our power to obtain artificially the oil of garlic and the very curi ous compounds which it forms with metallic chlorids, sulphids, &c. Thus C6H5I distilled with a solution of KS should give C6H5S and Kl. I will furthermore remark that the body having the constitution C12H11, and which may be called iodid of capronyl, must give by distillation with RS the oil of assafetida, which in a pure state appears to be simply C12H11S. Zinin's researches have done so much toward completing the theory of the compound radicals of the acetyl type, that it is worth while to examine in this place the parallelism which exists between the acetyl and ethyl series. To do this we shall place the types of the two series in a tabular form. Tersulphid of ethyl C4H5S3 Acetic acid C4H4O4, and the oil of the Dutch chemists C4H4Cl 2 have no analogues in the ethyl series.-W. G.]. 5. Preparation of Metallic Lithium.-BUNSEN has continued his investigations on the alkaline and earthy metals and has succeeded in isolating lithium upon a sufficiently large scale to admit of an accurate determination of its chemical and physical properties. Lithium is more easily prepared than the other metals belonging to the same class, and its separation forms an easy and certain lecture room experiment. Chlorid of lithium is to be fused in a small thick porcelain crucible over a Berzelius lamp and decomposed by a current of from 4 to 6 Bunsen's elements. The current passes from a point of gas-carbon through the fused chlorid to an iron wire as thick as a knitting needle. After a few seconds a small silver-white fused regulus forms and adheres to the wire gaining in a few minutes the size of a small pea. The mass is to be removed from the fused chlorid by passing under it a small iron spoon, and withdrawing the spoon and the wire electrode together so that the metal shall remain covered with a varnish of the fused chlorid. The spoon is then to be cooled under naphtha and the metal scraped off with a penknife. As these operations may be repeated every three minutes, an ounce of chlorid of lithium may be reduced in a short time. Lithium is a white metal having the color of silver, but a freshly cut surface presently becomes yellowish from oxydation. Fused at 180° and quickly pressed up between two glass surfaces, lithium gives a mirror which perfectly resembles polished silver in color and lustre: its streak upon the touchstone is gray while that of calcium, barium, or strontium is gold-yellow. During the oxydation of this last the yellow color passes for a moment into copper red; this is not the case with calcium and barium. Lithium is a very tough metal and can easily be drawn to a wire like lead, but its tenacity is much less than that of the latter metal. Lithium fuses at 180°, is not volatile at a red heat, and can be welded at ordinary temperatures. Its density is 0-5936, and it is the lightest of all solid bodies. If we take its equivalent as 81-7 (0-100) its atomic volume is 137. Lithium is less oxydizable than sodium and potassium; it takes fire at a temperature which is far above 180° C. and burns quietly without sparks and with a white and unusually intense light. The elevation of temperature is here so great that a piece of lithium weighing only 0.005 gr. will melt a hole of 36 milli metres in a piece of mica upon which it moves with a serpentine mo tion. Strontium and calcium burn in a similar manner, with a yellowish light however, and not so quietly, but with sparks and a hissing noise. Lithium burns in oxygen, chlorine, bromine, carbonic acid, vapor of iodine, and upon fused sulphur, like calcium and strontium, with extraor dinary brilliancy and intense white light. Upon water lithium floats and oxydizes like sodium, but without fusing. Fuming or common nitric acid oxydises lithium so violently that it often fuses and takes fire. Calcium and strontium, on the other hand, are only attacked by dilute nitric acid, but scarcely at all by it when fuming and even boiling. Muriatic and dilute sulphuric acid dissolve lithium as well as calcium and stron tium, with a violent evolution of gas; concentrated sulphuric acid has however very little action in the cold. Silica, glass, and porcelain, are reduced by lithium under 200° C., but by calcium and strontium only at a red heat. The density of metallic calcium prepared from the pure chlorid, was found to be 1.5778 as a mean of three experiments: the corresponding atomic volume is 158. The density of strontium as prepared from the pure chlorid and hammered out was found to be 2-5416 which corresponds to an atomic volume of 216. The author's former statement that calcium and strontium have a white color, is inaccurate. They both show under the polishing steel, as well as when reduced at a red heat and freshly cut, a beautiful gold yellow color. With respect to hardness, the metals belonging to this class may be arranged in the following order, each being scratched by those which succeed it. Na, K, Li, Pb, Ca, S2. The order of their electrical relations is as follows, +K Na Li Ca Sr Mg-. From this it is evident that the electro-chemical position of strontium and calcium is different from what has been sup posed. The dependance of the reducing power of the galvanic current upon its density, to which Bunsen first directed attention, has been very clearly shewn in the present investigation. The best arrangement is similar to that formerly described, and consists of a porcelain cru cible containing a porous cell, the fused chlorid standing much higher in the cell than in the crucible. The chlorine pole is a sheet iron cyl inder placed outside the cell and the metal pole an iron wire passing through an earthen pipe stem within the cell, but not reaching the bottom. The heat is to be so regulated that the upper surface of the fused chlorid in the porous cell remains solid, so that the reduced metal can collect under it without touching the cell itself.-Ann. der Chemie und Pharmacie, xciv, 107, April, 1855. II. MINERALOGY AND GEOLOGY. W. G. 1. Hunt's Wilsonite a Scapolite; extract from a letter from E. J. CHAPMAN 10 Professor DANA.-Your surmises, as expressed in the last edition of the System of Mineralogy and in your letter to me of last month, have proved to be perfectly correct. The so-called Wilsonite is undoubtedly an altered variety of scapolite, notwithstanding my former measurements and the apparently oblique cleavage of the mineral or rock-mass. Before your letter reached me, I had arrived at the conclusion, in repeating my earlier investigations, that this oblique structure arose from rock-cleavage, so to say, or, as you express it, from the presence of joints. Being determined, if possible, to set the matter at rest, I took steps to procure some large specimens of the substance; and these I have now broken up and subjected to a very close examination. I find, that besides the more facile cleavages, there are others in the same general or vertical direction, but with exceedingly. variable inclinations. All of these arise from a kind of composition parallel to the principal axis; and hence the variable measurements, and the error into which I was led in considering the substance to be triclinic. The specimens at that time at my disposal were not sufficient to enable me to detect this; but it is now quite evident that the cleayage planes belong entirely to the two forms I and ii. I enclose you some small specimens on which I had marked the positions of these forms, in order that you may test the justness of my observations.* The planes ii are the more readily obtainable of the two, but they scarcely admit, at least so it seems to me, of satisfactory measurement, the inclination oscillating around 90°. The I planes, however, are smooth and pearly, and give without the slightest doubt an angle of 90°. Besides which, the inclination of I on ii equals 135° exactly, in several of the fragments that I have measured; and hence, of course, iiii must equal 90°. Here, then, the dimetric crystallization of the substance is fully proved, and the cleavage directions shewn to be those of Scapolite. In illustration of what I have stated respecting composition, I may mention that I have also obtained a cleavage plane lying between i and I, exactly in the same zone, and giving with it an angle of 126 or thereabouts-an impossible angle (as being less than 135°) unless caused by composition. You may remark the peculiarity in question in one of the specimens forwarded to you with this letter; and also an instance of cross composition-using the term in a wide sense-on the back of another specimen. In this manner I have found my former angles repeated more than once.-As you are aware, I have alway * The specimens confirm the statements of Prof. Chapman.—— J. D. D. |