5. CHEMISTRY.

M. MARTIN has made some experiments upon the preservation of meat by means of ether. He placed in six tin boxes uncooked beef, surrounded by little tufts of cotton wool soaked in sulphuric ether; the boxes were then soldered tight, and exposed to the rays of the sun. Every three months a box was opened. Each piece of meat weighed a kilogramme. At the end of three months there was no alteration either in weight or form. The meat thus preserved does not undergo the putrid fermentation; it is strongly impregnated with ether, and the odour remains after numerous washings with cold water. When cooked the meat possesses a peculiar savour, probably due, M. Martin says, to the formation of a new ether: the fibre is disintegrated. The process is not applicable to the preservation of food, but other animal matters might perhaps be advantageously treated by it.

An ingenious method of testing fatty matters, founded upon the solubility of rosaniline in certain fatty acids, has been devised by M. Jacobsen; it is applicable, among other things, to the examination of cod-liver oil. A little piece of dry rosaniline placed in a sample of perfectly neutral oil, agitated and heated upon the waterbath, remains undissolved, but if placed in a rancid oil, a red tint is rapidly developed. Oleic acid and the other fatty acids dissolve rosaniline in large quantity, and become opaque from the depth of the tint, because oleate of rosaniline is soluble, in all proportions, in oils and other fatty substances. This property enables the presence of fatty acids in oils to be detected. For instance in commerce we have had, for some years, pretended white cod-liver oils, which are only fatty fluids from very young animals, or veritable cod-liver oil which has been agitated with potash, allowed to repose, and filtered. Since the therapeutic effects of cod-liver oil depend essentially upon the amount of free fatty acids which it contains, neither of these white oils can be valuable. Genuine cod-liver oil agitated with a little rosaniline is promptly coloured red in the cold, and if heated upon the sand-bath the colour is very deep, while the bad specimens already referred to remain perfectly uncoloured.

When an oil which is only slightly rancid contains but a small amount of fatty acids, the coloration often does not become sensible at first. In this case it is better to prepare a solution of rosaniline in absolute alcohol, add a few drops of this to the oil to be examined, and heat on the water-bath until all the alcohol has been evaporated. If no fatty acid exist, the rosaniline soon separates and rises to the surface, or when the oil is too thick, rests in suspension as a brown powder. Samples of ordinary oil occurring in commerce have given the following results:-Olive oil and

that of sweet almonds remained uncoloured by rosaniline; poppy oil became slightly red; linseed oil became strongly coloured, its natural colour rendering the tint brownish; palm-oil gave a coloration still more intense. It is sufficient to mix olive oil with 5 per cent. of oleic acid to obtain with rosaniline a tint equal to that of raspberry juice.

Mr. E. Smith has given the following very simple test for the presence of a free acid:-Dissolve chloride of silver in just sufficient ammonia to make a clear solution. If a little of the test be added to ordinary spring water, the carbonic acid present in the latter will neutralize the ammonia and precipitate the chloride. This forms a good lecture experiment, the test being a very delicate one.

We hear that a new source of thallium has been discovered in the flue dust obtained from a sulphuric acid works in Holland, where pyrites from Suhrort is burned. This flue dust contains about 1 per cent. of thallium.

Drs. Crum Brown and T. R. Fraser have made an interesting discovery upon the influence of direct chemical addition upon the physiological action of substances. The bodies which they have chosen for examination are the more active of the vegetable alkaloids, and the chemical operation of which they have studied the effect has been the direct addition of iodide of methyl. It was shown by How, that when iodide of methyl acts upon strychnine, brucine, morphia, and other alkaloids, it adds itself to them, and beautiful crystalline bodies are produced, which differ considerably in character from the salts of the alkaloids. The authors have already examined the physiological action of the bodies produced by the addition of iodide of methyl to strychnine, brucine, morphia, thebaia, codein, and nicotine.

It is well known that doses of strychnine, varying from onetwentieth to one-thirtieth of a grain, rapidly produce in rabbits most violent convulsions, and in a few minutes kill the animal; the phenomena produced being due to a localization of its action on the cord. It was found that twelve grains of iodide of methyl-strychnine, when administered (by subcutaneous injection) to rabbits weighing three pounds, produced no effect whatever. Fifteen grains produced symptoms, and twenty killed; but the animal died with symptoms altogether different from those produced by strychnine. In place of violent and spasmodic convulsions and muscular rigidity, the appearances were those of paralysis with complete general flaccidity. The spinal motor nerves were either paralysed or speedily became so; and, instead of the speedy occurrence of muscular rigidity, the muscles remained flaccid, contractile, and alkaline for several hours. In short, by the addition of methyl to strychnine the toxic properties of the latter are diminished about 140 times; and the

body produced possesses the physiological action of curare, viz. paralysis of the end organs of the motor nerves. Similarly, Brown and Fraser have discovered that the toxic properties of brucine, thebaia, and codeine are immensely diminished by the addition of methyl; and that the bodies produced, instead of being, as all three of these alkaloids are, strongly convulsent, possess, on the contrary, the physiological action of curare. Morphine, as is well known, possesses both soporific and convulsent properties; its toxic action is much diminished by the addition of methyl; its convulsent action is destroyed, but its soporific action remains.

We may appropriately conclude our Chronicles of Chemistry by quoting the following very apposite remarks made by M. Dumas, the secretary of the Academy of Sciences, and one of the leading French chemists:-If every one of us took the fancy of combining with his name that of his great-grandfather, of his grandfather, of his father, and his mother, a singular complication would be found in our registers of births. A lifetime would be passed in learning the names of the persons with whom we were acquainted in our own neighbourhood. As to knowing the names of the inhabitants of a town, that would be an utter impossibility. This is, however, what our savants who pursue organic chemistry have to accomplish, so that their language has now arrived at a point of barbarism that cannot be surpassed. Now, would it not be desirable, in all points of view, to adopt a generic word, and to group around such word the names of species in proportion as science extends her conquests? I am particularly interested in organic chemistry, but I declare that time is entirely wanting to me to peruse, while comprehending them, the various memoirs on the science which come under my notice. The complication and insupportable length of the names employed are the sole causes of this.

6. ENGINEERING-CIVIL AND MECHANICAL. NOTWITHSTANDING the partial revival of trade since the last panic, the progress of public works in this country can hardly be said to have kept pace with the times; but it need scarcely be here stated that the only check has been caused by the unwillingness of capitalists to embark in such enterprises. Nevertheless we have, during the past year, witnessed a succession of railway loans being brought out on account of Russian lines, and other foreign loans appear at present to be more in favour than public works at home.

Shipbuilding. The revival of commerce has naturally led to a demand for ships; but in this branch of industry the Mersey and more northern ports have enjoyed almost a monopoly; the high

rate of wages consequent upon the greater cost of living in London, together with the working of the Trades Unions there, having almost succeeded in driving shipbuilding away from the Thames.

Docks and Harbours.-The extension of dock and harbour accommodation is perhaps the best possible sign of the prosperity of any nation, as it naturally indicates a demand for increased facilities for its external trade. Judged from this standard, the great mineral producing districts of South Wales bear testimony to the prosperity of this land; new docks are in course of construction at Newport and Cardiff; a second dock is about to be commenced at Llanelly; and the new harbour works at Pautcaul have recently been completed and opened. At Liverpool the new corn dock, which has been constructed on the site of the old Waterloo Dock, was opened on 4th July. on 4th July. On Friday the 9th June, the River Wear Commissioners opened their new docks, eleven acres in extent, by running in a fine steamer of 2,000 tons burden, and other large vessels were subsequently passed in, shortly after low water, showing what deep-water accommodation would be afforded at high water. At Blyth considerable improvements have been effected in the harbour by dredging operations, which have been going on for some months; the dredgers have now been placed over the bar in the entrance channel, with the view of facilitating the dispatch of vessels at neap tides.

A magnificent hydraulic-lift graving-dock, upon Mr. Edwin Clark's patent, is now under construction for the Indian Government, for the port of Bombay. It is intended principally for docking the East India transport vessels, and the pontoon provided for this purpose covers more than three-quarters of an acre in area. Another smaller dock of the same description is also about to be constructed for a company, who propose its erection at Jamaica, where accommodation of that sort is at present sadly wanted.

The Egyptian Government has recently signed a contract with an English company for the construction of important works in the harbour of Alexandria, comprising a breakwater, a mole, a line of quay, and a dry dock of sufficient dimensions to accommodate the largest class of vessels.

Railways.-The most important works recently undertaken in connection with railway extension in England are certainly those of the Midland Railway, between Bedford and London, which terminate at St. Pancras, close to the King's Cross Terminus of the Great Northern. It will be remembered that until recently the Midland Railway had its approach to the metropolis over the Great Northern line from Hitchin, at which point it was connected with the latter by a branch from Bedford. Starting from Bedford, the new line passes through Luton, St. Alban's, Hendon, and

Kentish Town to the Euston Road, a distance of about fifty miles. Along the last section of about 6 miles the line is laid with four sets of rails, by which means the passenger and goods traffic will be kept distinct; and along the whole distance from Bedford sufficient land has been taken up to admit of the same number of rails being laid all the way. It is, however, the immediate entrance to London, and the terminal works, which demand the chief notice. The entrance into the terminus is on a high level, and advantage has been taken of this in the construction of works connected with the coal traffic, which is likely to become a very large source of income to the company. Beneath the viaduct on which the railway runs, use has been made of the space afforded for storeage accommodation, the construction of stabling, &c., and the arches fronting the road have been fitted up as shops for the purpose of letting. In order to join the Metropolitan Railway it has been necessary also to construct a low-level line, which, running partly in cuttings and partly in tunnels, passes under the main line near the terminus, and runs into the Metropolitan at its King's Cross station. This line was opened for traffic on 13th July last, and it is expected that the main line will be opened in the course of October. The terminus consists of one huge span, in the shape of a pointed arch, no less than 240 feet wide, 100 feet high, and 700 feet long, covering altogether rather more than four acres of ground.

The Brecon and Merthyr Railway has at length been opened as far as the town of Merthyr Tydfil, and a junction for minerals and goods traffic has been made with the Taff Vale Railway. The Bala and Dolgelly line has also been formally opened. This line is in continuation of that between Bala and Corwen, and will form the nearest route from Liverpool, Chester, Manchester, &c., to Merionethshire, Carnarvonshire, and part of Cardiganshire.

The great engineering works in connection with the enlargement and improvement of Lime Street station at Liverpool, are being pushed forward. The immense roof, in one span, will stretch across the station to the width of 214 feet, its height will be 75 feet, and length 385 feet.

The Queensferry branch of the North British railway system has recently been opened throughout for passengers.

In India the Bhore Ghaut section of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway was reopened in sound and perfect condition on the 30th June.

The Eastern and Western sections of the Pacific Railway in America have been brought within 900 miles of each other, and it is expected that the whole will be opened for through traffic from New York to San Francisco on the 4th July next.

On the continent we have to note the opening of the Voltri