this was a mixture of the non-nitrogenised found traces of ammonia in the air, and body with the undecomposed original sub- that the prssence of this compound has been stance. All my attempts to obtain a suffi- detected in rain, snow and hail. The ex cient quantity of the non-nitrogenised compound in a state of purity failed; I found it to be entirely insoluble in alcohol, woodspirit, or ether. In the commencement of this paper a granular substance was mentioned, which was left behind on purifying the crude product of the action of ammonia upon oil of bitter almonds with alcohol. It remains only to state that this substance, both by the study of its physical properties, and by analysis, was found to be identical with a substance lately obtained by Messrs. Laurent and Gerhardt in the treatment of oil of bitter almonds with ammonia. I. 0.1135 grm. of substance gave: 0-338 carbonic acid, and 0.0568 " ,, water. II. 0-2339 ,, substance gave: 24.00 c.c. of nitrogen. at 12° С. and 760°mm. Bar. These numbers lead to the following percentage, which I contrast with the theoretical value of the formula:C30H12N2. 12 Theory. Experiment. 30 equivs. of Carbon..180 81.8 ,, Hydrogen 12 5.4 ,, Nitrogen 28 12-8 2 81-21 220 100.0 98.96 This substance forms by the coalesence of 2 equivalents of oil of bitter almonds and 1 equivalent of cyanide of ammonium, from which 4 equivalents of water are separated: 2 C14H6O2+NH4Cy=C30H12N2+4 HO. periments performed last year by M. Ville on air collected at 10 metres above the ground of a garden would seem, however, to demonstrate that the air contains little or no ammonia. Although the results announced by this chemist cannot be disputed, it might be supposed that the air on the surface of the earth, which is in more immediate contact with vegetables, might, perhaps, present differences in this respect. It was with the view of verifying this assertion that M. Lassaigne tried the following experiment in the botanical Garden of the School of Alfort, at 1.50m. from the ground, and at a distance from any habitation. The apparatus employed consisted as follows: In a glass tube placed vertically, corked at each end with corks perforated with several holes, was placed a flask with a large mouth, uncorked, and containing a small quantity of pure concentrated hydrochloric acid. This apparatus, held up by means of a support, was left in the garden under cypress trees and thuyas, in order to shelter it from the too great heat of the sun, from the 1st to the 7th of June. It was visited every day, and the internal and ex5.55 ternal surfaces of the glass tube were care12.20 fully examined. Three days after the commencement of the experiment, there was observed, on the external surface of the tube, towards the end opposed to the direction of the wind which had prevailed during the experiment (north-cast), a slight whitish, pulverulent deposit, which was detached by rubbing with the finger, and had a sharp taste. Four days after, the apparatus was dismounted and the external part on which this saline deposit was found washed with a small quantity of distilled water. The washing water was divided into two parts; one, tested with nitrate of silver, immediately showed the presence of the combined nitric acid; the other, on the addition of bichloride of platinum, and being left to spontaneous evaporation furnished yellow crystals of ammoniacal bichloride of platinum which cold water did not immediately redissolve. By boiling it for a considerable time with hydrochloric acid, it is divided in accordance with its formation, into hydrocyanic acid and oil of bitter almonds, which distil over, ammonia remaining with the hydrochloric acid. According to Messrs. Laurent and Gerhardt, it is very probable that this substance is identical with the benzhydramide, but imperfectly investigated by the latter chemists, and which still figures in all the chemical manuals. In conclusion, I beg to tender my sincere thanks to Professor Hofmann, for the valuable assistance which he has afforded me during this investigation.-Quarterly Jl. of the Chemical Society. The remaining portion of the washing liquid was placed in a watch glass, and left to spontaneous evaporation under a large funnel exposed to the direct action of the EXISTENCE OF AMMONIA IN THE solar rays. On the bottom of the glass there AIR. BY M. J. L. LASSAIGNE. remained a crystallisation, in transparent, dendritic needles, of hydrochlorate of ammonia, the true form of which was demon IT is known that several chemists have strated by means of a microscope. In the apparatus employed for this experiment, it is easy to account for the formation of this salt by the union of the hydrochloric acid gas which is slowly disengaged by the holes in the corks of the glass tube, and which condensed the ammoniacal gas which the continual currents brought in contact with the sides of this vessel. The condensation of the hydrochlorate of ammonia showed itself more abundant towards the lower opening of the tube. In the foregoing experiment, the dryness of the air doubtless favored the appearance of the chemical phenomenon which detects in so simple a manner the presence of small quanitites of ammonia in the purest air, as it exists in the midst of a garden. --Journal de Pharmacie, September, 1851. MEMOIR ON THE COMPOSITION OF RICINOLAMIDE AND THE PRODUCTION OF CAPRYLIC ALCOHOL. BY M. JULES BOUIS. CASTOR oil, which was first studied by MM. Bussy and Lecanu, has been made the subject of investigations by a great number of chemists, and yet its study still leaves much to be desired. Researches on this body, commenced in 1845, in the laboratory of M. Dumas, and since then continued in that of M. Peligot, have furnished me with results which the works of MM. Bussy, Tilley, Williamson, Svanberg and Kolmodin, Saülmuller and Playfair do not give. I propose to discuss them in a collected work, adding my own observations. In making known the formation of margaramide, M. Boullay announced that several oils undergo analogous transformation by the action of ammonia; but he has gone no farther, and I now present to the Academy the various products to which the action of ammonia on castor oil may give rise. Castor oil, put in contact with ammoniacal alcohol, or simply with liquid ammonia, forms a solid compound which represents the amide of ricinolic acid, and which I call ricinolamide. This amide is solid and white, crystallises in papillæ, is fusible at 150° F., insoluble in water, and soluble in alcohol and ether. It burns with a very smoky flame; it is not attacked by potassa | without heat; with heat it disengages ammonia when the potassa is very concentrated, and ricinolate of potassa is formed. This amide is decomposed without heat by the acids, ricinolic acid being separated, and an ammoniacal salt corresponding to the acid employed being formed. which represents ricinolate of ammonia less the elements of water. Ricinolic acid, obtained by saponification, is represented by C36H3406; the analysis of the salts of silver and baryta confirms this composition. The presence of this acid has been noticed by Svanberg and Kolmodin in castor oil. These results, which appear very simple and easily obtained, have occupied me for a long time, and I have several times abandoned these researches in despair of finding anything; this is owing to the formation in the reaction of secondary products, which cannot be avoided, unless we are forewarned of it. When, indeed, the amide is saponified by potassa, it is evident that the action takes place only at the moment when the potassa, losing its water, commences to fuse; a volatile liquid is then disengaged, hydrogen being produced at the same time. The mass being then redissolved in water and precipitated by hydrochloric acid, a mixture of acids floats on the surface, one liquid, and the other solid, which is the sebacic acid discovered by M. Thenard. The sebacic acid obtained is white, crystallises in bracteæ, and fuses at 260° F. The analyses of this acid agrees with the formula C20H1808. assigned to it by MM. Dumas and Peligot. Ricinolic acid and sebacic acid being always found associated in this reaction, it was important to ascertain whether these two acids formed part of the amide, or whether the sebacic acid was produced at the expence of the other. I ascertained that sebacic acid is a product of the decomposition of ricinolic acid, and this is proved by a direct experiment. Indeed, in distilling ricinolic acid or ricinolate of potassa over very concentrated potassa, sebate of potassa is formed, besides hydrogen and the volatile oil of which I shall speak further on. Hitherto sebacic acid has been prepared by the distillation of oleic acid or of certain fatty bodies containing oleïne. This operation, the odor of which is very repulsive, has the additional disadvantage of giving on'y very minute quantities of sebacic acid. Its preparation by means of ricinolamide would require too much time, the amide requiring two or three months to be properly formed. I then tried to obtain it directly by treating castor oil with very concentrated potassa, and the experiment succeeded perfectly. In this process, the disagreeable odor of the fatty bodies in decomposition is replaced by the sweet and aromatic odor of the volatile oil which is formed. This easy production of sebacic acid will enable chemists to complete the history of this body, which promises to furnish interesting results, as I have been enabled to prove with M. Carlet, who has assisted me in my researches. We propose to make a detailed study of it and to communicate the results to the Academy if they appear to us worthy of its approbation. In an industrial point of view, sebacic acid might be susceptible of useful applications, if as I do not doubt, it could be obtained at a low price. Its high melting point and easy combustibility will certainly admit of its being associated with more fusible substances for the manufacture of candles. The proportion of volatile oil appears to be constant; several experiments performed on different quantities of castor oil from various sources always furnished one-fifth of the weight of volatile oil. I will now briefly point out the nature of the volatile oil, reserving for a future communication the details which I cannot give now. It is a transparent, oleaginous liquid, staining paper like the essential oils, insoluble in water, soluble in alcohol, ether and acetic acid. Its odor is aromatic and agreeable. This liquid burns with a very beautiful white flame. Its density is equal to 0.823 at 66° F.; it boils without decomposition at 356° F., under the pressure of 0-760m. Its composition agrees with the formula- Its theoretical vapor density is equal to 4.49; experiment gave 4.50=4 vol. of vapor. Sulphuric acid dissolves the volatile oil, and gives rise to crystalline salts of lime | and baryta, soluble in water. same properties as that obtained with sulphuric acid. Its vapor density was found equal to 3.82=4 vol. Chloride of calcium dissolves in the volatile oil, and furnishes very fine transparent crystals, decomposable by the action of heat, or by the addition of water, into chloride of calcium and volatile oil. The combination is less soluble hot than cold. The action of nitric acid varies according to its state of concentration; with the dilute acid, I converted all the volatile oil into a volatile liquid acid, but the prolonged action of the acid gave pimelic, lipic, succinic, and butyric acids. Acetic acid and hydrochloric acid convert the volatile oil into ethers possessing a very aromatic odor of fruit. The ethers are decomposed by potassa, regenerating the volatile oil and forming a salt corresponding to the acid employed. Quick lime, at a high temperature, decomposes the oil into hydrogen and gaseous hydrocarbons. Potassa lime or soda lime has no action on the volatile oil at 482° F.; but beyond that there is a disengagement of very pure hydrogen, and a volatile acid which remains combined with the potassa is formed. All these facts demonstrate, in an evident manner, that the volatile oil should be ranked in the class of alcohols. The new alcohol is caprylic alcohol, C16 H1802, and naturally ranks between amylic alcohol and ethalic alcohol, to form the series. C2H4O2 methylic alcohol, The manner in which caprylic alcohol is formed is easily perceived, and is deduced from the following equation: C36H34O6+2(KO, HO) = C20H1604 Ricinolic acid. K2 Sebate of potassa. +C16H18O2+2H. Caprylic alcohol. Sulphuric acid converts it, with heat, into a carburet of hydrogen isomeric with carburetted hydrogen gas and amylene. This - Comptes Rendus. carburetted hydrogen gas is very fluid, lighter than water, burns with a very beautiful flame and boils without decomposition at 257° F. This carburetted hydrogen is represented by C16H16. Its calculated vapor density is equal to 3.86; experiment gives 3.90=4 volumes of vapor. Fused chloride of zinc produces several isomeric carburets of hydrogen, differing | from each other in their state of condensation; but the most abundant and most volatile boils at 257° F., and possesses the ON THE EQUIVALENT OF PHOSPHORUS. BY A. SCHRÖTTER. (From a letter to Dr. A. W. Hofmann.) I HAVE already informed you of my being at present engaged in determining the equivalents of phosphorus and of some other elements of the same group; and I have also : obtained, gives rise to a corresponding error of 0.0187 in the equivalent, the true equivalent of phosphorus may be taken at 31. In fact, all the sources of error in the experiments tend to diminish the quantity of oxygen consumed (which quantity is made the denominator of the fraction above alluded to), and therefore to render the equivalent somewhat too high. The mere circumstance, that in all the experiments a little phosphorus may have fused into the glass etched by the phosphoric acid, and thus have escaped combustion, suffices to explain the small excess obtained. From this it is evident that the number 31.60, given by Berzelius, approaches nearer to the true equivalent of phosphorus than that found at a later period by Pelouze, namely 32. Further details you will find in the paper which will appear in the second part of the third volume of the "Denkschriften der K. Academie." - Quarterly Journal of the Chemical Society. The amorphous phosphorus employed for ON THE MINERAL WATERS OF these experiments was perfectly pure, and was used in fragments, and not in powder; the fragments having been exposed for some time to a temperature of 150°, in some cases in carbonic acid gas, in others in hydrogen. The combustion-tube being fixed between two series of drying-tubes, one of which stood in connection with two gasholders, the other with the atmosphere, the combustion could be so regulated that not the slightest loss was incurred. A tube filled with anhydrous phosphoric acid inserted in place of the combustion tube, showed not the slightest increase in weight after a current of air had been drawn through the apparatus for some time. The entire removal of the oxygen remaining after the combustions was effected by passing a current of atmospheric air from the second gas-holder. A correction for the weight of the air in the tube was not necessary, since all the numbers in the table are differential numbers, and consequently only a slight error would be introduced into the results by the variation of temperature and pressure during the progress of the experiments. In order to remove every trace of a lower oxide, the phosphoric acid was sublimed in an atmosphere of oxygen. The close approximation existing between the numbers obtained, is the clearest proof that all causes of error were reduced to a minimum. If it be also remembered that an error of 1 milligramme in the denominator of the fraction by which the equivalent is BADEN-BADEN. BY DR. SHERIDAN MUSPRATT, F.R.S.E, &c. PROFESSOR OF THE COLLEGE OF CHEMISTRY, LIVERPOOL. BADEN is embosomed among hills, forming an offset of the Black Forest range, and seated on the banks of the Oos, an insignificant stream, which once, however formed the boundary line between the Franks and Alemanni. It is famous for its beauty, but more so for its mineral springs, the most renowned in Germany, which were known to, and apppreciated by the Romans, who fixed a colony in Baden, and called it Civitas Aurelia Aquensis. These springs are very much frequented, and their water is used internally and externally in all kinds of diseases, more especially for liver, mesenterick, and uterine complaints or obstructions: in fact, in 1845, nearly 40,000 persons resorted to them. The undoubted benefit derived from mineral waters in various diseases, attracted the attention of Chemists from a very early date, to the composition of medicinal springs. A great number, of analyses has been made of sich waters, but most of them are imperfect, owing to the crude state of analytical chemistry when they were performed. As yet, our speculations, regarding the part played by each constituent of mineral waters, are very vague, often in consequence of want of system in the arrangement of the various elements. So long as results are The water as it flows from the Ursprung-cubes of chloride of sodium appeared in not tabulated according to some rule, it is impossible for the physician to institute a correct comparison, or to be able to judge upon which ingredient their effect mainly depends. There are thirteen thermal springs in Baden, which gush out of the rock at the foot of the Schneckengarten. A fine templelike structure is erected over the Ursprung | -principal spring- one of the hottest and most copious sources. The massive vault which encloses the spring is of Roman construction. It is strange that there is no English work wherein an analysis of the waters of BadenBaden is given. In order to have this deficiency remedied, I think it proper to furnish your Society with the analysis, which may prove interesting to others further pursuing the subject. Qualitative Analysis of the Water. A fourth portion of the liquid was treated with hydrochloric acid, and evaporated to dryness over a naked lamp; on treating the residuary mass with water an insoluble part remained-silicic acid. A fifth portion of the liquid with the chloride of ammonium and oxalate of ammonia, gave a white precipitate of oxalate of lime. The filtrate from the oxalate of lime precipitate was divided into two portions; one gave slight indications of magnesia when treated with ammonia and phosphate of soda; and the other portion when evaporated to dryness, yielded a residue which when treated before the blowpipe, colored the flame intensely yellow, and gave, after being heated to redness with an alcoholic solution of bichloride of platinum, indications of potassa. By separating the carbonate of lime and evaporating the filtrate nearly to dryness, principal spring-has a temperature of 67 5° C=15-35°F., the temperature of the surrounding air being 75° F.; it is clear, and possesses a very faint animal odor, a trace of sulphide of hydrogen (?) and does not affect vegetal color: it has a slight saline or more properly speaking a brothy taste. The annexed experiments showed the several ingredients of the mineral water. When the water was boiled for some time a small white crystalline precipitate subsided. The qualitative analysis was, therefore, divided into two parts. Ist. The analysis of the crystalline precipitate. 2nd. The analysis of the substance in solution. 1st The precipitate was treated with hydrochloric acid, which dissolved it all with effervesence, proving the presence of earthy carbonates and the absence of Sulphate of lime. A portion of the hydrochloric solution treated with sulphocyanide of potassium gave a faint red coloring, indicative of iron. The precipitate did not contain any magnesia. - 2nd. Analysis of the Substances in Solution. A portion of the liquid filtered from the crystalline precipitate when evaporated to dryness did not effervesce with hydrochloric acid, proving the absence of alkaline carbonates. A second portion of the liquid afforded on the addition of nitrate of baryta, a slight white precipitate insoluble in hydrochloric acid, indicating sulphuric acid. A third portion of the solution gave, with nitrate of silver, a copious white precipitate, easily soluble in ammonia, proving the presence of chlorides and the absence of iodides. company with silky crystals of sulphate of lime formed by double decomposition. If the liquid be evaporated to dryness, the residue on exposure readily deliquesces, showing the presence of chloride of calcium. The substances present, and their respective amounts, in the imperial gallon, are the following. Grains per Imperial Gallon. 3-487 3-493 94-064 9-3991 ..... .. .. matter, &c....... Mere traces. |