34 Chemical Notices from Foreign Sources. ~~ {Sopucss Kews,
of water. This process involves a large outlay of capital sulting from the ulterior a&ion of the regenerated comand
 occupies a very considerable space, and, moreover, pounds, but no hydrocarbons.
it is a very unscientific or “rule-of-thumb” process, giving Essence of Angelica.—M. Nauden.—The chief cona
 product of very uncertain composition. What is Te stiiuent of this essence is an isomer of the oil of turpen-Echo
 a oth, SoRamng about 0 Ber Ent tne, Cotta 11 coupes Hg, boing at 175 an
a g = .
:arbonic acid. If such an article could be produced ata 08 @ smell o ope ts SE o=0 Be stalar
moderate price, it would be a great boon to soap makers, Mssnad of Purifying Arsenica opper.—J. dt
and I am certain it would command a large sale. As far Lhe author operates on a basic hearth of lime an oat
as I can ascertain, there is only one works in England cording to the process of Riley and Drache, an &
producing caustic potash, and their produ& is certainly pi operation he uses a false Tn ° heniariesing: the
very pure, but the price is proportionately high; doubt. With peroxide eee a reng Whe ff carbonic
less it is very costly to manufacture this high-strengthed -P8OtS this false hearth is heated and gives o h
article. There may be obstacles in connedion with the ?2cid and a part of its oxygen. These Bases bones ihe
manufacture of this article, but I have no doubt the skill 1ass of half-melted copper.” When the bath is sufficiently
and perseverance of our chemists would overcome these !/92id the lime and the manganese oxide thus formed rise
difficulties. —I am, &c . :brough the copper and dissolve the arsenic acid, which
: yn RJT passes into the slag. To expel the last aac the copper
; ta is allowed to become pasty in a current of air, and is
St Helens, January 17, 1882. then re-melted with hw itn of basic fluxes till
- entirely purified.
THE NEW ALKALOID—HOMO-QUININE. ——
To the Editor of the Chemical News.
S1r,—Mr. David Howard, by his letter in the CHEMICAL
NEWS, vol. xlv., p. 21, seems to imply that the note by
Mr. Barret and myself (vol. xlv., p.6) casts some doubt on
‘he existence of homo-quinine. I beg to point out, therefore,
 that we did not give expression to any such doubt.
Mr. Howard is a high authority on such matters, and we
nad no desire to call in question his results. We merely
directed attention to a compound that may be easily
‘formed in working cuprea barks, and, from its property of
crystallising from ether, might be mistaken for the new
alkaloid.—I am, &c.,
C. H. Woop.
Mildmay Chambers, 82, Bishopsgate St., E.C.,
[anuary 17, 1882.

Bulletin de la Société Chimique de Paris,
Tone 36, Nos. 6 and 7.
Russian Chemical Society.—Meeting of Feb. 5/17,
t881.—The President communicated the following researches
 conducted in the laboratory of the University of
Moscow :—On dipropyl-oxalic acid, by M. Rafalsky; on
the fumaric and terephthalic acids, by M, Lapine ; on the
petroleum of the Caucasus, by MM. Markownikoff and
Dglobline.
M. Petouhoff communicated a paper on the redu®ion of
carbonic anhydride by sulphur,
M. Menschutkine explained a method of determining
the chemical value of the components of the alcohols. He
also presented to the Society, on behalf of M. Tommasi,
1 dissocioscope,—an instrument for showing the dissocia-:ion
 of ammoniacal salts.
M. Lavroff announced that he had not succeeded in
preparing carbon oxychloride by M. Paterno’s method,
M. Chichkoff called the attention of the Society to cercain
 regularities presented by the atomic weights of the
elements. On occasion of this communication—
M. Boutlerow announced: that he had urdertaken re.
searches on this subje®, which he proposed to continue.
He remarked that on the one hand the researches of M.
Stas have clearly established that the majority of the
atomic weights could not be presented by whole numbers.
On the other hand, the majority of the atomic weights
differ from whole numbers so slightly that this fa& can
scarcely be regarded as accidental. "May it not be admitted
 that under certain conditions the atomic weights
nay be really expressed by whole numbers with reference
to H=1? That is to say can we not admit that the
atomic weights present values capable under given conlitions
 of varying within certain limits. Such a hypothesis
 would not be absolutely inadmissible, for the atomic
juantity of an element is in reality merely the vehicle of
a determinate quantity of chemical energy ; but the value
of such a quantity must be determined not merely by the
mass, but also by the velocity. This latter being changeable,
 the mass may likewise be modified, so long as the
chemical value remains invariable. However this may
de the absolute invariability of the atomic weights is an
a priori hypothesis which has not yet been based upon
exact experiments. M. Stas, when verifying the constancy
of the composition of ammonium chloride prepared by
different processes, evidently entertained ideas of the
same order. It is therefore not useless to check experimentally
 the invariability of the atomic weights, and on
this account the author has undertaken the determination
of the weights of white phosphorus and red phosphorus.
M. Wagner communicated a general method of prepar-Ing
 the secondary alcohols.
M. Butlerow announced that he had repeated the ex.

CHEMICAL NOTICES FROM FOREIGN
SOURCES.

NoTE.~—~All degrees of temperature are Centigrade, unless otherwise
expressed.

Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances, de I' Académie
des Sciences. No. 26, December 26, 1881.
Mode of Action of Soluble Ferments.—A. Wurtz.
—The author's experiments show that the two soluble
ferments, pepsine and papaine, whilst becoming fixed in
the insoluble state upon certain albumenoid bodies, modify
these latter, so that they can become hydrated at a temperature
 of 46° by the ation of pure water, forming true
septones.
Contradtions and Expansions Produced by Eleéric
Tensions in Hemihedral Crystals with Inclined Surfaces.—J.
 and P. Curie.— When the two extremities of the
axis of a hemihedral crystal are charged with opposite
slectricities it undergoes along that axis, either contrac-‘ion
 or expansion, according to the dire@ion in which the
sled@ric tension has been applied.
Influence of Heat and of the Proportions of Glycerin
on the Decomposition of Oxalic Acid.—M. Lorin.—
The etherification of formic and oxalic acids in this kind
of experiments is a secondary accident.
Decomposition of Certain Metallic Acetates in
Presence of Water : Production of Crystalline
Mineral Species.—]. Riban.—The acetates are not decomposed
 in the same manner as the formiates (Comptes
Rendus, xciii., pp. 1023 and 1082), evolving carbonic acid
and marsh-gas, but are resolved into acid and metallic
oxides, sometimes well crystallised, and some oases ree