Scientific American Supplement No. 324 (page 2)

sublimate, and scented with orange flower water.

2. _Eau de Blanc de Perles_.–The bottle contains 120 grammes of a weak alkaline solution, with a thick deposit of 15 per cent. of carbonate of lead, and scented with otto of roses and geranium.

3. _Nouveau Blanc de Perle, Extra Fin_.–(Lubin, Paris.)–The bottles contains 35 grammes of a liquid consisting of water, holding in suspension about equal parts of zinc oxide, magnesic carbonate, and powdered talc, perfumed with otto of roses.

4. _Lait de Perles_.–A close imitation of No. 3, the bottle holding nearly three times the quantity for the same price. The amount of the precipitate in this case is 20 per cent.

5. _Lait de Perles_.–(Legrand, Paris).–The bottles contain 65 grammes of a thick white fluid, the precipitate from which consists of zinc oxide and bismuth oxychloride, and is scented with rose water.

6. _Lait Antiphelique_.–(Candes and Co., Paris.)–Each bottle contains 140 grammes of a milky fluid, smelling strongly of camphor, and having an acid reaction. It contains alcohol, camphor, ammonic chloride, half per cent. of corrosive sublimate, albumen, and a little free hydrochloric acid.

7. _Lait de Concombres_.–The bottle contains 160 grammes of a very inelegantly made emulsion, smelling of very common rose-water, with an unpleasant twang about it, and giving a strongly alkaline reaction. It consists of soap, glycerin, and cotton seed oil, made into a semi-emulsion.

8. _Creme de Fleurs des Lys; Blanc de Ville Onctueux_.–About 30 grammes of a kind of weak ointment contained in a small pomatum pot prettily ornamented. It is simply a salve made of wax oil, and possibly lard, mixed with a large proportion of zinc oxide, and smelling of inferior otto of roses.

9. _Pate de Velonas_.-This paste consists of almond, and possibly other meal mixed with soap powder, and has a strong alkaline reaction. It is scented with orris-root.

10. _Rouge Vegetal_.–The box contains 81/2 grammes of raspberry colored powder, consisting chiefly of China clay and talc, tinted to the proper depth with extract of cochineal.

11. _Rouge Extra Fin Fonce_.–A small square bottle containing 11 grammes of a deep red solution, smelling of otto of roses and ammonia. It consists of a solution of carmine in ammonia, with an addition of a certain amount of alcohol.

12. _Rouge de Dorin_.–_Extract des Fleurs des Indes_.–A round pot containing a porcelain disk, covered with about 6 grammes of a bright red paste, which is a mixture of carthamin or safflower with talc. This rouge, which differs from all the others, is harmless and effectual, but must bear a high profit seeing that the ingredients cost only a few half-pence, while it sells in St. Petersburg at about 4s. 9d. a pot.

13. _Etui Mysterieux ou Boite de Maintenon_.–A prettily got-up box containing red and white paint, and two sticks of black and blue cosmetic for the eyebrows and veins, with camel’s hair pencils for applying the latter. Sells in St. Petersburg at 6s. 4d.

14. _Philidore_.–_Remede Specifique pour oter les Pellicules de la tete, etc_.–The bottle contains 100 grammes of a strong alkaline solution smelling strongly of ammonia, and containing potash, ammonia, alcohol, glycerin, and eau de cologne.

15. _Colorigene Rigaud_.–A blue bottle containing 160 grammes of a clear fluid with a slight black deposit, consisting of a mixture of equal parts of a 14 per cent. solution of sodic hyposulphate, and a 4 per cent. solution of lead acetate. Of course the longer this solution is kept the more lead sulphate it deposits. It sells in St. Petersburg at 8s. per bottle. It is also stated to be much more powerful if used in conjunction with the _Pommade Miranda Rigaud_. This beats Mrs. Allen completely out of the field.–_Pharmaceutische Zeitschrift fuer Russland_.

* * * * *

ON THE MYDRIATIC ALKALOIDS.

By ALBERT LADENBURG.

We translate the following important article, says the _Chemists’ Journal_, from the _Moniteur Scientifique_ of last month. It may be explained for the sake of our student readers that the word _mydriatic_ is derived from the Greek _mudriasis_, which means paralysis of the pupil.

The synthetical researches which I have undertaken with a view to explain the constitution of atropine have shown me the necessity of studying the connection of atropine with the other alkaloids, which have an analogous physiological action. According to the early researches we could not discover any of these relationships which only become evident when we come to study the new discoveries which have been made in connection with the tropines, to which class belong both duboisine and hyoscyamine, which, although differing from atropine, are equally mydriatic in their action.

I.–ATROPINE.

Discovered by Mein in 1831 in the roots of belladonna. More thoroughly studied some time after by Geiger and Hesse, who confirmed Mein’s results. Liebig next published an analysis of the alkaloid, which was afterward shown to be incorrect. He consequently modified his formula, and gave the following as the composition of atropine; C_{17}H_{23}NO_{3}. Liebig’s amended analysis was afterward confirmed by Planta, who further showed that the alkaloid itself melted at 194 deg. F., and its double gold salt at 275 deg. F. It is worthy of remark that the first figure was considered correct until my researches proved the contrary. The physiological action of atropine, especially in relation to the eye, has been most carefully studied by several celebrated ophthalmologists, such as Graef, Donders, Bezold, and Bloebaum. Its chemical properties have also been the object of very extensive researches by Pfeiffer, Kraut, and Lassen. Pfeiffer first discovered that benzoic acid was one of the products of decomposition of atropine, and Kraut split atropine by means of baryta water into atropic acid, C_{9}H_{6}O_{2}, and tropine, C_{8}O_{15}NO. Lassen, who used hydrochloric acid, discovered the true products of the splitting up of atropine, viz., tropic acid, C_{9}H_{8}O_{3}, and tropine, C_{8}H_{15}N, and proved at the same time that atropic acid is easily formed by the action of boiling baryta water on tropic acid, while hydrochloric acid at all temperatures forms isatropic acid, an isomer of atropic acid. Kraut confirmed these results, and showed that atropic acid as well as cinnamic acid gives benzoic acid by oxidation, and hydratropic acid (the isomer of phenylpropionic acid) by reduction with sodium amalgam. These results are sufficient to show that tropic acid may have one of the following two formulae.

I II

CH_{2}OH CH_{3}
/ /
C_{4}H_{5}CH or C_{8}H_{5}–C–OH \ \
OOHO COOH

Fittig and Wurster, who discovered atrolactic acid, C_{2}H_{10}O_{3}, an isomer of tropic acid, gives tropic acid the second formula, while Burgheimar and myself have shown that it is the true formula of atrolactic acid. Lately we have succeeded in performing the complete synthesis of atropic acid, and the artificial preparation of atropine has been greatly facilitated since I have shown that we can easily reconstruct atropine by starting from its products of decomposition, tropic acid, and tropine.

Before my researches nothing was known of the constitution of tropine. New unpublished researches into this problem have shown that it closely resembles neurine,[1] a body which I hope will speedily lead us to the complete synthesis of atropine.

[Footnote 1: As we shall probably hear a great deal about this alkaloid, it may be as well to state that, although found in the brain and liver, it may be prepared synthetically by the action of ethylene oxide, (CH_{2})_{2}O, water, H_{2}O, and trimethyiamine, N(CH_{3})_{3}. Its constitution is that of trimethyl-ethylene-hydrate-ammonic-hydrate, and has the following constitutional formula:

{ (CH_{2})_{2}OH
{ CH_{3}
N { CH_{3}
{ CH_{3}
{ OH

or in other words, it is the hydrate of trimethyl-hydrethylene-ammonium.]

The fusing point of atropine is not 194 deg. F., as stated by Planta, but 237 deg. F. Crystallized from not too dilute alcohol it forms crystals which are aggregations of prisms. Toluene, alcohol, and chloroform all dissolve atropine readily. Its double gold salt is very characteristic. It is generally precipitated in the form of an oil which solidifies rapidly and may be crystallized from hot water after the addition of a little hydrochloric acid. This clouds in cooling, and after a certain time it separates in small crystals of indeterminate form which unite in warty concretions. After drying the salt forms a dull powder, melting between 275 deg. F. and 280 deg. F. It also melts in boiling water, and its aqueous solution exposed to the light is partially reduced, 100 grammes of water acidulated with 10 cubic centimeters of 1.190 deg. solution of hydrochloric acid dissolves 0.137 gramme of the gold salt at 136 deg. F. to 140 deg. F.

I should fancy that the above particulars are sufficent to completely differentiate atropine from all the other mydriatic alkaloids.

II.–THE ATROPINE OF DATURA STRAMONIUM.

Planta has already tried to show that atropine is identical with the daturine obtained by Geiger and Hesse, founding his opinion on facts which we nowadays look upon as doubtful. This identity was generally admitted by all chemists. The pharmacologists, headed by Soubeiran, Erhardt, Schroff, and Poehl, were much more reserved in their judgment. I thought it as well, therefore, to recommence the study of daturine, the more so as I had already determined the incorrectness of the long accepted point of fusion of atropine, and that my researches on hyoscyamine convinced me that this base is an isomer of atropine, although very analogous to it. I have also shown that Merck’s daturine differs from atropine, and is merely pure hyoscyamine. A short time afterward there appeared a paper by Schmidt which again asserted the identity of daturine and atropine. I therefore requested Mr. Merck, of Darmstadt, to send me all the bases which he obtained from datura. This eminent manufacturer was good enough to comply with my request, and sent me two products, one of which was marked “light daturine,” the other “heavy daturine,” the separation of which was effected in the following manner: The solution of crude daturine in concentrated alcohol was mixed with a little hot water; this treatment caused the deposition of the “heavy daturine,” while the “light daturine” remained in the mother liquor. The “heavy daturine,” of which only a small quantity is obtainable, is far from being a body of definite composition, that is to say, it is a mixture of atropine and hyoscyamine. If we convert the base into a double gold salt we obtain by a single crystallization a dull looking salt, melting at from 275 deg. F. to 280 deg. F., the appearance of which is very different to that of atropine. I have succeeded in splitting up “heavy daturine” by two different methods. By recrystallizing the gold salt six times from boiling water, the salt of hyoscyamine, which melts at from 316 deg. F. to 323 deg. F., crystallizes our first, and by the successive evaporation of the mother liquor at last obtain the pure gold salt of atropine, which melts at 275 deg. F. to 280 deg. F. If we only want to isolate the atropine, it is better to crystallize the free base two or three times from alcohol at 50 per cent., always taking the earliest formed crystals.

These facts prove the presence of atropine in datura; but while Planta and Schmidt assert that only this alkaloid is found in the plant, I have proved that the proportion of atropine in it is but small, while its richness in hyoscyamine is great. I think, therefore, that both Planta and Schmidt must have worked with a mixture of atropine and hyoscyamine. It is true that Schmidt had received pure atropine under the name of daturine, for I have proved most conclusively that the so-called daturine supplied by Trommsdorff, of Erfurt, is pure atropine and nothing else. It has no action whatever on polarized light.

III.–HYOSCYAMINE FROM HYOSCYAMUS.

Discovered by Geiger and Hesse in 1833. It was first obtained in the form of needles, which were much more soluble than atropine. In the pure state it forms a viscous mass with a repulsive odor. These researches were repeated by Thibout, Kletinski, Ludwig, Lading, Bucheim, Wagymar, and Renard.

Hoehn and Reichardt have recently studied hyoscyamine in a very complete manner. They have obtained the body in the form of warty concretions as soft as wax, and melting at 194 deg. F., having a formula according to them of C_{15}H_{23}NO_{3}. They have also studied the splitting up of the alkaloid by means of baryta water, and have obtained an acid which they have named hyoscinic acid, and which melts at about 219 deg. F., and a basic body, hyoscine, C_{6}H_{13}N. They represent the reaction as follows:

C_{15}H_{23}NO_{3} = C_{9}H_{10}O_{3} + C_{6}H_{13}N.

According to this view hyoscyamine ought to be the hyoscinate of hyoscine, or at any rate an isomer of this body. It is to be remarked that they compare hyoscinic acid not with tropic acid, of which it possesses the composition, but with atropic acid, C_{9}H_{8}O_{2}. I have worked with the hyoscyamine of both Merck and Trommsdorff, as well as with a product which I obtained from hyoscyamus seeds myself. The best way of purifying the alkaloid is by recrystallizing its gold salt several times, so as to obtain it in brilliant yellow plates, melting at 320 deg. F. By passing a stream of hydrosulphuric acid gas through the liquor the gold is precipitated in the form of sulphide. The liquid is filtered and evaporated, precipitated by an excess of a strong solution of potassium carbonate, and the alkaloid extracted by chloroform. The solution is dried over carbonate of potassium, and part of the chloroform is distilled off. By leaving the solution to evaporate spontaneously the alkaloid is obtained in silky crystals. The crystals are then dissolved in alcohol, which, on being poured into water, parts with them in the same form.

Hyoscyamine crystallizes in the acicular form, with greater difficulty even than atropine, it also forms less compact crystals. Its fusing point is 149.6 deg. F. I have not yet succeeded in crystallizing any of its more simple salts. The double platinum salt melts at 392 deg. F., with decomposition. The double gold salt, which has been described above, does not melt in boiling water, and its aqueous solution is reduced neither by boiling nor by long exposure to light. By leaving the hot saturated solution to cool it does not cloud, but the double salt separates pretty rapidly in the form of plates.

One liter of water containing 10 cubic centimeters of hydrochloric acid at 1.19 deg. dissolves 65 centigrammes of the salt at 146 deg. F.

These characteristics allow us to differentiate atropine and hyoscyamine, the reactions of which are almost identical, as will be seen from the following table, which shows the action of weak solutions of the acids named on the hydrochlorates of the bases:

_Reagents_. _Hyoscyamine_. _Atropine_.

Picric acid. An oil solidifying Crystalline precipitate. immediately into
tabular crystals.

Mercuropotassic White cheesy Same. iodide. precipitate.

Iodized potassic An immediate A brown oil crystallizing iodide. precipitate of after a time. periodate.

Mercuric chloride. Same as picric acid. Same.

Tannic acid. Slight cloud. Cloud hardly visible.

Platinum chloride. O. O.

_(To be continued.)_

* * * * *

DETECTION OF SMALL QUANTITIES OF MORPHIA.

By A. JORISSEN.

The solution of morphia, free from foreign bodies, is evaporated to dryness, and the residue is heated on the water bath with a few drops of sulphuric acid. A minute crystal of ferrous sulphate is then added, bruised with a glass rod, stirred up in the liquid, heated for a minute longer, and poured into a white porcelain capsule, containing 2 to 3 c.c. strong ammonia. The morphia solution sinks to the bottom, and where the liquids touch there is formed a red color, passing into violet at the margin, while the ammoniacal stratum takes a pure blue. The reaction is very distinct to 0.0006 grm. Codeine does not give this reaction. If sulphuric acid at 190 deg. to 200 deg. is allowed to act upon morphia, there is ultimately formed an opaque black green mass. If this is poured dropwise into much water, the mixture turns bluish, and if it is then shaken up with ether or chloroform, the form takes a purple and the latter a very permanent blue. Codeine gives the same reaction, but no other of the alkaloids. This reaction can be obtained very distinctly with 0.0004 grm. of morphia.

* * * * *

ON THE ESTIMATION OF MANGANESE BY TITRATION.

[Footnote: _From Jernkontorets Annaler_, vol. xxxvi.–_Iron_.]

By C. G. SARNSTROM.

If we dissolve black oxide of manganese, permanganate of potash, or any other compound of manganese of a higher degree of oxidation than the protoxide in hydrochloric acid, we obtain, as is well known, a dark colored solution of perchloride of manganese, which, when heated to boiling loses color pretty rapidly, chlorine being given off, until finally only protochloride remains. This decomposition also proceeds at the common temperature, though much more slowly, and we may therefore say that manganese when dissolved in hydrochloric acid always tends to descend to its lowest, and, considered as a base, strongest degree of oxidation, which is not raised to a higher degree even by chameleon solution. In slightly acid, neutral, or alkaline solutions on the other hand, protoxide of manganese absorbs oxygen with great avidity and forms with it different compounds, according to the means of oxidation employed. Thus, for example, manganese is slowly deposited from an ammoniacal solution, when it is permitted to take up oxygen from the air, as hydrated sesquioxide, and from neutral or alkaline solutions, as hydrated peroxide on the addition of chlorine, bromine, or chameleon solution. For if to an acid solution of protochloride of manganese we add a solution of bicarbonate of soda, as long as carbonic acid escapes or till the free acid is saturated and the protochloride of manganese converted into carbonate of protoxide of manganese, which forms with bicarbonate of soda a soluble double salt, resembling the carbonate of lime and magnesia, we obtain a solution which is, indeed, acid from free carbonic acid, but has a slight alkaline reaction with litmus paper, and with the greatest ease deprives chameleon solution of its color, the permanganic acid being reduced and the protoxide of manganese being oxidized to peroxide, which is precipitated as hydrate. This reaction proceeds according to the formula,

3MnCO_{3} + 2KMnO_{4} + H_{2}O = 2KHCO_{3} + 5MnO_{2} + CO_{2}

and it may be employed for estimating the content of manganese by titration. As follows from the formula two equivalents of permanganate of potash are required for the titration of three equivalents of protoxide of manganese, which has also been established by direct experiments, as well as that the escape of carbonic acid indicated by the formula actually takes place. The precipitate of manganese is dissolved either in water to which 0.5 per cent. of hydrochloric acid has been added, or in boiling nitric acid. When manganese occurs along with iron, which in general is the case, we must take care that the iron in the solution is in the state of peroxide, which is precipitated on the addition of the bicarbonate of soda, and is allowed to remain as a precipitate, because it does not affect the titration injuriously. The removal of this precipitate by filtering would be more loss than gain, partly because there would be a risk of losing manganese in this way, partly because the precipitate of manganese, which occurs immediately on the addition of the chameleon solution, proceeds both more rapidly and with greater completeness in the presence of the iron precipitate than otherwise. This appears to be caused by the iron precipitate as it were inclosing, and mechanically drawing down the light manganese precipitate, provided a weak chemical union between the two precipitates does not even take place, depending on the tendency of peroxide of manganese to behave toward bases, as, for instance, hydrate of lime as an acid. Hence it thus follows that it ought to be arranged that a sufficient quantity of iron[1] (at least the same quantity as of manganese) be present in the liquid at titration, also that time be given for the precipitate to fall, so that the color of the solution may be observed between every addition of chameleon solution.

[Footnote 1: For this in case of need a solution of perchloride of iron free of manganese may be employed.]

When the content of manganese is large, it is sometimes rather long before the solution is ready for titration. The reason of this appears to be that a part of the manganese is first precipitated as hydrated sesquioxide, which is afterward oxidized to hydrated peroxide, for the upper portion of the liquid may sometimes be colored by chameleon, while the lower portion, which is in closer contact with the precipitate, is less colored or absolutely colorless. From this we also see how advisable it is to stir the liquid frequently during titration. Toward the close of it, it is also advantageous, when the contents of manganese are large, to warm the solution to about 50 deg. C., because the removal of color is thereby hastened. When the fluid, which is well stirred after each addition of chameleon, has obtained from it a perceptible color, which does not disappear after several stirrings, the whole of the manganese is precipitated and the color of the solution remains almost unchanged after the lapse of at least twelve hours.

When the content of manganese is large the solution may be divided into two equal portions, one of which is first to be roughly titrated to ascertain its content approximately, after which the whole is to be mixed together and the titration completed, which can thus be performed with greater speed and certainty. If too much chameleon has been added, one may titrate back with an accurately estimated solution of manganese, which is prepared most easily by evaporating fifteen cubic centimeters chameleon solution down to two or three cubic centimeters, boiling with two to three cubic centimeters hydrochloric acid so long as the smell of chlorine is observed, and then diluting the solution to ten cubic centimeters, when one cubic centimeter of it corresponds to the same measure of chameleon.

With respect to the delay which must take place during the titration in order to give the precipitate time to fall, it is advantageous, in order to save time, to work with several samples; but it is, in such a case, desirable to have a separate burette for each sample, in order to avoid noting every addition of the chameleon solution and afterward adding them up. If burettes are wanting, and one must be used for several samples, a Mohr’s burette with glass cock is the most convenient to use. For the titration of iron with chameleon solution, the latter is commonly used of such a strength that 0.01 gramme of iron corresponds to about one cubic centimeter of chameleon solution, which is obtained by dissolving 5.75 grammes permanganate of potash in 1,000 cubic centimeters water. The titration is determined by means of iron, a salt of iron or oxalic acid. A drop of such a solution, corresponding to about one-twentieth cubic centimeter, or 0.0001 gramme Mn, is sufficient to give a perceptible reddish color to 200 cubic centimeters of water.

As what takes place in the titration of iron with chameleon is indicated by the following formula,

10FeO + 2KMnO_{4} = 5Fe_{2}O_{3} + K_{2}O + 2MnO_{2},

it appears, on making a comparison with the formula given above, that ten equivalents of iron correspond to three equivalents of manganese, and that there is thus required for three equivalents manganese as much chameleon solution as for ten equivalents iron. When we know the titration of the chameleon solution for iron, that for manganese is obtained by multiplying the former by (3 x 55)/(10 x 56) =0.295. If, for instance, one cubic centimeter chameleon solution corresponds to 0.01 gramme iron, the figure for manganese is 0.01 x 0.295 = 0.00295 gramme per cubic centimeter.

We can of course also determine the titration for manganese in a chameleon solution with the greatest certainty by titrating a compound of manganese with an accurately estimated content of it, for instance, a spiegeleisen or ferromanganese; the test is carried out in the following way: The substance, which is to be examined for manganese, is dissolved by means of hydrochloric acid. If the manganese, as in slags, be combined with silica, it is frequently necessary first to fuse the specimen with soda. Iron ores and refinery cinders may indeed, if they are reduced to a very fine state of division, be commonly decomposed by boiling with hydrochloric acid with or without the addition of sulphuric acid, but the undissolved silica is generally rendered impure by manganese, which can only be removed by fusion with soda.

The dissolving of the fused mass in hydrochloric acid does not need to be carried to dryness for the separation of the soluble silica, but the boiling, after the addition of a little nitric acid, is only kept up until the iron passes into perchloride and the manganese into protochloride. The quantity, which ought to be taken for the test, depends on the accuracy with which it is desired to have the manganese estimated.

Of ferromanganese and other very manganiferous substances, in which the manganese need not be determined with greater exactness than to 0.1 per cent., only 0.01 gram. is taken for a test; but of common pig, wrought iron, steel, iron ore, slags, etc., there is taken 0.5 to 1 gramme according to the supposed content of manganese and the desired exactness of the estimation. For instance one gramme iron, which has passed through a metal sieve with holes half a millimeter in diameter, is placed in a beaker 125 mm. in height and 60 mm. in diameter, and has added to it twenty cubic centimeters of hydrochloric acid of 1.12 specific gravity, which, with a well-fitting glass cover, is boiled for half an hour, in order that the combined carbon may be driven off in the shape of gas. After at least the half of the hydrochloric acid has been boiled away, there are added at least five cubic centimeters nitric acid of 1.2 specific gravity, partly to bring the iron to peroxide, partly to destroy the organic matters formed from the carbon, which might possibly be remaining and might tend to remove the color of the chameleon solution. The boiling is now continued till near dryness, when five cubic centimeters hydrochloric acid are added, after which the solution is boiled as long as any reddish-yellow vapors of nitrous acid are observed. When these have disappeared a drop of the liquid taken up on a small glass rod is tested with an newly prepared solution of red prussiate of potash (2 grammes in 100 cubic centimeters water), to ascertain whether there is any protoxide of iron remaining. First, when no indication of blue or green is visible, the test shows a pure yellow, it is certain that there are no reducing substances in the solution.

If a trace of protoxide of iron remains in the solution another cubic centimeter of nitric acid ought to be added and the boiling continued so long as any reddish-yellow vapors are visible, more hydrochloric acid also being added to keep the solution from being dried up. The process is continued in this way until two tests have given no reaction of protoxide of iron, when the solution is diluted with water; but no dilution should take place until the oxidation is complete, because in the course of it the solution ought to be kept as concentrated as possible. Silica, and graphite when it is present, need not be removed by filtration, if it is not intended to estimate them, or there be no fear that the graphite is accompanied by any humous substance, or that any oily, viscous compound has been deposited on the sides of the beaker. In the last mentioned case the solution should be transferred into another beaker, and filtered, if graphite be present. When the solution is evaporated to dryness, the remainder has five cubic centimeters hydrochloric acid added to it, and the liquid is then brought to boiling in order that the perchloride of manganese possibly formed during the evaporation to dryness may be reduced to protochloride, after which the solution is diluted with water till it measures about 100 cubic centimeters. To this is now added in small portions and with constant stirring as much of a saturated solution of bicarbonate of soda (thirteen parts water dissolve one part salt), that all the iron is precipitated, after which, when the escape of carbonic acid has ceased, the solution is diluted with water till it measures 200 cubic centimeters and is then ready for titration.

A large excess of bicarbonate ought to be avoided, because in a solution of pure protochloride of manganese it renders the liquid milky and turbid; the addition of more water, however, makes it clear. The solution of bicarbonate must be free from organic substances which may tend to remove the color of the chameleon solution. To ascertain this, the latter is added to the former drop by drop so long as the color is removed.

If it be desired to estimate the silica in the same test, the iron, as when it is analyzed for silica, may be also dissolved in sulphuric acid, and afterward oxidized with nitric acid, after which the solution is boiled to near dryness, so that the organic substances are completely destroyed. In order afterward, to drive off the nitric acid and get the manganese with certainty reduced to protoxide, the solution is boiled with a little hydrochloric acid. In this way the solution goes on rapidly and conveniently, but the titration takes longer time than when the iron is dissolved in hydrochloric acid, because the iron precipitate is more voluminous, and, in consequence, longer in being deposited. To diminish this inconvenience the solution ought to be made larger. In such a case the rule for dissolving is, one gramme iron (more if the content of silica is small) is dissolved in a mixture of two cubic centimeters sulphuric acid of 1.83 specific gravity and twelve cubic centimeters of water in the way described above, and boiled until salt of iron begins to be deposited on the bottom of the beaker. Five cubic centimeters hydrochloric acid are now added, and the solution tested with red prussiate of potash for protoxide of iron, and the boiling continued till near dryness, when all the nitric acid is commonly driven off. Should nitrous acid still show itself, some more hydrochloric acid is added and the boiling continued.

As in dissolving in hydrochloric acid and oxidizing with nitric acid the solution ought to be twice tested for protoxide of iron, even although at the first test none can be discovered. The silica is taken upon a filter, dried, ignited, and weighed. The filtrate is treated with bicarbonate of soda, and titrated with chameleon solution in the way described above. If the content of manganese is small (under 0.5 per cent.) it is not necessary to warm the liquid before titration; but in proportion as the content of manganese is larger there is so much greater reason to hasten the removal of color by warming and constant stirring toward the close of the titration.

* * * * *

ON THE ESTIMATION AND SEPARATION OF MANGANESE.

[Footnote: Read before the American Chemical Society, Dec. 16, 1881]

By NELSON H. DARTON.

The element manganese having many peculiarities in its reactions with the other elements, is now extensively used in the arts, its combinations entering into and are used in many of the important processes; it is consequently often brought before the chemist in his analysis, and has to be determined in most cases with considerable accuracy. Many methods have been proposed for this, all of them of more or less value; those yielding the best results, however, requiring a considerable length of time for their execution, and involving so large an amount of manipulatory skill as to render them fairly impracticable to a chemist at all pressed for time, and receiving but a mere trifle for the results.

As I have had to make numerous estimations of manganese in various compounds, as a public analyst, I have been induced to investigate the volumetric methods at present in use to find their comparative values, and if possible to work out a new one, setting aside one or more of the difficulties met with in the use of the older ones. This paper is a part summary of the results. First, I will detail my process of estimation, then on the separation.

From all compounds of manganese, excepting those containing cobalt and nickel, the manganese is precipitated as binoxide; those containing these two elements are treated with phosphoric acid, or as noted under Separation.

A.–The Estimation. The binoxide of commerce, as taken from the mine, is well sampled, powdered, and dried at 100 deg.C. 0.5 gramme of this is taken and placed in a 250 c.c. flask; in analysis the binoxide on the filter, from the treatments noted under separation is thoroughly washed with warm water; it is then washed down in a flask, as above, after breaking the filter paper; sufficient water is added to one-third fill the flask, and about twice the approximate weight of the binoxide in the flask of oxalate of potassa; these are agitated together. A twice perforated stopper is fitted to this flask, carrying through one opening a 25 c c. pipette nearly filled with sulphuric acid, sp. gr. 1.4, the lower point of which just dips below the mixture in the flask, and the upper end, carrying a rubber tube and pinch cock to control the flow of acid. Through the other opening passes a glass tube bent at an acute angle and connected by a short rubber tube to an adjoining flask, two-thirds filled with decinormal baryta solutions. These connections are all made air tight. Sulphuric acid is allowed in small portions at a time to flow into the mixture. Carbonic acid is evolved, and, passing into the adjoining flask, is absorbed by the baryta, precipitating it as carbonate. To prevent the precipitate forming around or choking up the entrance tube, the flask must be agitated at short intervals to break it off. The reaction so familiar to us in other determinations is expressed thus:

MnO_{2}+KO,C_{2}O_{3}+2SO_{3} = MnO,SO_{3}+KO.SO_{3}+2CO_{2},

When no more carbonic acid is evolved, another tube from this last flask is connected with the aspirator, the pinch-cock of the pipette open, and air drawn through the apparatus for about half a minute, and thus all the carbonic acid evolved absorbed, or the flasks may be slightly heated. If danger of more carbonic acid being absorbed from the air is feared, and always in very accurate analysis, a potassa tube may be connected to the pipette before drawing the air through. The precipitate formed is allowed to settle, 50 c.c. of the supernatant solution is removed with a pipette and transferred to a beaker; 50 c.c. of decinormal nitric acid and some water is added with sufficient cochineal tincture. It is then titrated back with decinormal soda; from this is now readily deducted the amount of carbonic acid, and from that the MnO_{2}, holding in view that 44 parts of carbonic acid is equivalent to 43.5 of MnO_{2} or 98.87 per cent, and that 1 c.c. of the N/10 baryta solution is equivalent to 0.0022 grm. of CO_{2}.

If a carbonate, chloride, or nitrate, be present in the native binoxide, it must be removed with some sulphuric acid. This is afterward neutralized with a little caustic soda. This method yields the following results for its value in amount of manganese to 100: 99.91-99.902-99.895, and can be executed in about twenty minutes. Fifteen determinations can be carried on at once without loss of time, this, however, depending on the operator’s skill. I have made many assays, and assays by this method with similarly excellent results.

Of the other methods, Bunsen’s is acknowledged to be the most accurate, but is, of course, too troublesome to be used in technical work, although it is used in scientific analysis. Ordinary samples are not sufficiently accurate to allow the use of this method.

The methods of reducing with iron and titrating this with chromate of potassa, etc., have given a constant average of from 98.60-99.01. These results are fair, but hard to obtain expeditiously.

Of the methods of precipitating the compounds of the protoxide and estimating the acid, that of the phosphate is by far the most accurate, titrating with uranium solution; 99.82 is a nearly constant average with me, much depending on the operator’s familiarity with the uranium process.

The methods of Lenssen, or ferricyanide of potassium method, yields very widely differing results. I have found the figures of Fresenius about the same as my own in this case; that is from 98.00-100.10.

B.–On the Separation. First, from its soluble simple combinations with the acids or bases containing no iron or cobalt; if they are present, it is treated as is noted later. If sulphuric acid is present it must be separated by treating the solution of the compound with barium chloride and filtering. A nearly neutral solution is prepared in water or hydrochloric acid and placed in a flask. Here it is treated with chlorine by passing a current of that gas through it as long as it causes a precipitate and for some time afterward. It is then discontinued, the mixture allowed to deposit for a few moments, and about two-thirds of the supernatant solution decanted; it is mixed with some more water, and these decantations repeated until they pass away without reaction, or by filtering it and washing on the filter; it is then dissolved in hot hydrochloric acid, this nearly neutralized, a solution of sesquichloride of iron is added, and again treated with an excess of chlorine. After washing it is transferred to the flasks of the apparatus mentioned in the first part of this paper, and estimated. Myself and several others have found this always to be a true MnO_{2}, and not a varying mixture of protosesquioxide and binoxide, and will thus yield accurate results. This reprecipitation may sometimes be dispensed with by adding the iron salt before the first precipitation, but it of course depends upon the other elements present.

From Compounds containing Cobalt, Cobalt and Nickel, Iron and group III., together or with other elements.–Group III. and sesqui. iron are separated by agitation with baryta carbonate, some chloride of ammonia being added to prevent nickel and cobalt precipitation traces, and filtering. If cobalt is present we treat this filtrate with nitrite of potassa, etc., to separate it (that is, if it and nickel are to be separated and estimated in the same sample; but if they are to be estimated as one, or not separated, the treatment with nitrite, etc., is not used). The filtrate from this last is directly treated with chlorine. If nickel and cobalt are not to be estimated in this sample, the solution, as chlorides, is mixed with some chloride of ammonium and ammonia, then with a fair excess of phosphoric acid, a sufficient quantity more of ammonia to render the mixture alkaline. The precipitate formed is transferred to the filter and well washed with water containing NH_{3}Cl and NH_{4}O, then dissolved in hydrochloric acid and reprecipitated with ammonia, filtering and washing as before. It is again dissolved in HCl and titrated with uranium solution, or decomposed by tin, as noted below, and the manganese precipitated as binoxide with chlorine, and determined. The latter method is hardly practicable, and I never have time to use it, as the titration and all together yields a value of 99.80 in most cases, if accurately executed.

From the bases of groups V. and VI. these are separated by hydrogen sulphide, from iron in alloys, ores, etc., and in general the iron is separated as basic acetate, and the manganese afterward precipitated with chlorine. Bromine is generally used in place of chlorine, the use of which chemists claim as troublesome; but in a number of examinations I have found it to yield more satisfactory results than bromine, which is much more expensive.

From the acids in insoluble and a few other compounds, chromic, arsenic, and arsenious acids, by fusion with carbonate of soda in presence of carbonic acid gas; borate of manganese is readily decomposed when the boracic acid is to be determined by boiling with solution of potassa, dissolving the residue in hydrochloric acid and precipitating the manganese as binoxide. This boiling, however, is seldom needed, as the borate is soluble in HCl.

From phosphoric acid I always use Girard’s method of treatment with tin, using it rasped, and it yields much more accurate results with but little manipulation. When the other acids mentioned above are present in the compound, we treat it as directed there.

From silicic acid, by evaporation with hydrochloric acid.

From sulphur or iodine, by decomposing with sulphuric acid and separating this with baryta chloride.

* * * * *

RESEARCHES ON ANIMALS CONTAINING CHLOROPHYL.

[Footnote: Abstract of a paper “On the Nature and Functions of the ‘Yellow Cells’ of Radiolarians and Coelenterates,” read to the Royal Society of Edinburgh, on January 14, 1882, and published by permission of the Council.–_Nature_.]

It is now nearly forty years since the presence of chlorophyl in certain species of planarian worms was recognized by Schultze. Later observers concluded that the green color of certain infusorians, of the common fresh water hydra and of the fresh water sponge, was due to the same pigment, but little more attention was paid to the subject until 1870, when Ray Lankester applied the spectroscope to its investigation. He thus considerably extended the list of chlorophyl containing animals, and his results are summarized in Sachs’ Botany (Eng. ed.). His list includes, besides the animals already mentioned, two species of Radiolarians, the common green sea anemone (_Anthea cereus_, var. _Smaragdina_), the remarkable Gephyrean, _Bonellia viridis_, a Polychaete worm, _Chaetoperus_, and even a Crustacean, _Idotea viridis_.

The main interest of the question of course lies in its bearing on the long-disputed relations between plants and animals; for, since neither locomotion nor irritability is peculiar to animals; since many insectivorous plants habitually digest solid food; since cellulose, that most characteristic of vegetable products, is practically identical with the tunicin of Ascidians, it becomes of the greatest interest to know whether the chlorophyl of animals preserves its ordinary vegetable function of effecting or aiding the decomposition of carbonic anhydride and the synthetic production of starch. For although it had long been known that _Euglena_ evolved oxygen in sunlight, the animal nature of such an organism was merely thereby rendered more doubtful than ever. In 1878 I had the good fortune to find at Roscoff the material for the solution of the problem in the grass-green planarian, _Convoluta schultzii_, of which multitudes are to be found in certain localities on the coast, lying on the sand, covered only by an inch or two of water, and apparently basking in the sun. It was only necessary to expose a quantity of these animals to direct sunlight to observe the rapid evolution of bubbles of gas, which, when collected and analyzed, yielded from 45 to 55 per cent. of oxygen. Both chemical and histological observations showed the abundant presence of starch in the green cells, and thus these planarians, and presumably also _Hydra spongilla_, etc., were proved to be truly “vegetating animals.”

Being at Naples early in the spring of 1879, I exposed to sunlight some of the reputedly chlorophyl containing animals to be obtained there, namely, _Bonellia viridis_ and _Idotea viridis_, while Krukenberg had meanwhile been making the same experiment with _Bonellia_ and _Anthea_ at Trieste. Our results were totally negative, but so far as _Bonellia_ was concerned this was not to be wondered at since the later spectroscopic investigations of Sorby and Schenk had fully confirmed the opinion of Lacaze-Duthiers as to the complete distinctness of its pigment from chlorophyl. Krukenberg, too, who follows these investigators in terming it _bonellein_, has recently figured the spectra of Anthea-green, and this also seems to differ considerably from chlorophyl, while I am strongly of the opinion that the pigment of the green crustaceans is, if possible, even more distinct, having not improbably a merely protective resemblance.

It is now necessary to pass to the discussion of a widely distinct subject–the long outstanding enigma of the nature and functions of the “yellow cells” of Radiolarians. These bodies were first so called by Huxley in his description of _Thallassicolla_, and are small bodies of distinctly cellular nature, with a cell wall, well defined nucleus, and protoplasmic contents saturated by a yellow pigment. They multiply rapidly by transverse division, and are present in almost all Radiolarians, but in very variable number. Johnnes Muller at first supposed them to be concerned with reproduction, but afterward gave up this view. In his famous monograph of the Radiolarians, Haeckel suggests that they are probably secreting cells or digestive glands in the simplest form, and compares them to the liver-cells of Amphioxus, and the “liver-cells” described by Vogt in _Velella_ and _Porpita_. Later he made the remarkable discovery that starch was present in notable quantity in these yellow cells, and considered this as confirming his view that these cells were in some way related to the function of nutrition. In 1871 a very remarkable contribution to our knowledge of the Radiolarians was published by Cienkowski, who strongly expressed the opinion that these yellow cells were parasitic algae, pointing out that our only evidence of their Radiolarian nature was furnished by their constant occurrence in most members of the group. He showed that they were capable not only of surviving the death of the Radiolarian, but even of multipying, and of passing through an encysted and an amoeboid state, and urged their mode of development and the great variability of their numbers within the same species as further evidence of his view.

The next important work was that of Richard Hertwig, who inclined to think that these cells sometimes developed from the protoplasm of the Radiolarian, and failing to verify the observations of Cienkowski, maintained the opinion of Haeckel that the yellow cells “fur den Stoffwechsel der Radiolarien von Bedeutung sind.” In a later publication (1879) he, however, hesitates to decide as to the nature of the yellow cells, but suggests two considerations as favoring the view of their parasitic nature–first, that yellow cells are to be found in Radiolarians which possess only a single nucleus, and secondly, that they are absent in a good many species altogether.

A later investigator, Dr. Brandt, of Berlin, although failing to confirm Haeckel’s observations as to the presence of starch, has completely corroborated the main discovery of Cienkowski, since he finds the yellow cells to survive for no less than two months after the death of the Radiolarian, and even to continue to live in the gelatinous investment from which the protoplasm had long departed in the form of swarm-spores. He sum up the evidence strongly in favor of their parasitic nature.

Meanwhile similar bodies were being described by the investigators of other groups. Haeckel had already compared the yellow cells of Radiolarians to the so-called liver-cells of _Velella_; but the brothers Hertwig first recalled attention to the subject in 1879 by expressing their opinion that the well-known “pigment bodies” which occur in the endoderm cells of the tentacles of many sea-anemones were also parasitic algae. This opinion was founded on their occasional occurrence outside the body of the anemone, on their irregular distribution in various species, and on their resemblance to the yellow cells of Radiolarians. But they did not succeed in demonstrating the presence of starch, cellulose, or chlorophyl. The last of this long series of researches is that of Hamann (1881), who investigates the similar structures which occur in the oral region of the Rhizostome jelly-fishes. While agreeing with Cienkowski as to the parasitic nature of the yellow cells of Radiolarians, he holds strongly that those of anemones and jelly-fishes are unicellular glands.

In the hope of clearing up these contradictions, I returned to Naples in October last, and first convinced myself of the accuracy of the observation of Cienkowski and Brandt as to the survival of the yellow cells in the bodies of dead Radiolarians, and their assumption of the encysted and the amoeboid states. Their mode of division, too, is thoroughly algoid. One finds, not unfrequently, groups of three and four closely resembling _Protococcus_. Starch is invariably present; the wall is true plant-cellulose, yielding a magnificent blue with iodine and sulphuric acid, and the yellow coloring matter is identical with that of diatoms, and yields the same greenish residue after treatment with alcohol. So, too, in Velella, in sea-anemones, and in medusae; in all cases the protoplasm and nucleus, the cellulose, starch, and chlorophyl, can be made out in the most perfectly distinct way. The failure of former observers with these reactions, in which I at first also shared, has been simply due to neglect of the ordinary botanical precautions. Such reactions will not succeed until the animal tissue has been treated with alcohol and macerated for some hours in a weak solution of caustic potash. Then, after neutralizing the alkali by means of dilute acetic acid, and adding a weak solution of iodine, followed by strong sulphuric acid, the presence of starch and cellulose can be successively demonstrated. Thus, then, the chemical composition, as well as the structure and mode of division of these yellow cells, are those of unicellular algae, and I accordingly propose the generic name of _Philozoon_, and distinguish four species, differing slightly in size, color, mode of division, behavior with reagents, etc., for which the name of _P. radiolarum, P. siphonophorum, P. actiniarum_, and _P. medusarum_, according to their habitat, may be conveniently adopted. It now remains to inquire what is their mode of life, and what their function.

I next exposed a quantity of Radiolarians (chiefly _Collozoum_) to sunshine, and was delighted to find them soon studded with tiny gas-bubbles. Though it was not possible to obtain enough for a quantitative analysis, I was able to satisfy myself that the gas was not absorbed by caustic potash, but was partly taken up by pyrogallic acid, that is to say, that little or no carbonic acid was present, but that a fair amount of oxygen was present, diluted of course by nitrogen. The exposure of a shoal of the beautiful blue pelagic Siphonophore, _Velella_, for a few hours, enabled me to collect a large quantity of gas, which yielded from 24 to 25 per cent. of oxygen, that subsequently squeezed out from the interior of the chambered cartilaginous float, giving only 5 per cent. But the most startling result was obtained by the exposure of the common _Anthea cereus_, which yielded great quantities of gas containing on an average from 32 to 38 per cent. of oxygen.

At first sight it might seem impossible to reconcile this copious evolution of oxygen with the completely negative results obtained from the same animal by so careful an experimenter as Krukenberg, yet the difficulty is more apparent than real. After considerable difficulty I was able to obtain a large and beautiful specimen of _Anthea cereus_, var. _smaragdina_, which is a far more beautiful green than that with which I had been before operating–the dingy brownish-olive variety, _plumosa_. The former owes its color to a green pigment diffused chiefly through the ectoderm, but has comparatively few algae in its endoderm; while in the latter the pigment is present in much smaller quantity; but the endoderm cells are crowded by algae. An ordinary specimen of _plumosa_ was also taken, and the two were placed in similar vessels side by side, and exposed to full sunshine; by afternoon the specimen of _plumosa_ had yielded gas enough for an analysis, while the larger and finer _smaragdina_ had scarcely produced a bubble. Two varieties of _Ceriactis aurantiaca_, one with, the other without, yellow cells, were next exposed, with a precisely similar result. The complete dependence of the evolution of oxygen upon the presence of algae, and its complete independence of the pigment proper to the animal, were still further demonstrated by exposing as many as possible of those anemones known to contain yellow cells (_Aiptasia chamaeleon, Helianthus troglodytes_, etc.) side by side with a large number of forms from which these are absent (_Actinia mesembryanthemum, Sagastia parasitica, Cerianthus_, etc.). The former never failed to yield abundant gas rich in oxygen, while in the latter series not a single bubble ever appeared.

Thus, then, the coloring matter described as chlorophyl by Lankester has really been mainly derived from that of the endodermal algae of the variety _plumosa_, which predominates at Naples; while the anthea-green of Krukenberg must mainly consist of the green pigment of the ectoderm, since the Trieste variety evidently does not contain algae in any great quantity. But since the Naples variety contains a certain amount of ordinary green pigment, and since the Trieste variety is tolerably sure to contain some algae, both spectroscopists have been operating on a mixture of two wholly distinct pigments–diatom-yellow and anthea-green.

But what is the physiological relationship of the plants and animal thus so curiously and intimately associated? Every one knows that all the colorless cells of a plant share the starch formed by the green cells; and it seems impossible to doubt that the endoderm cell or the Radiolarian, which actually incloses the vegetable cell, must similarly profit by its labors. In other words, when the vegetable cell dissolves its own starch, some must needs pass out by osmose into the surrounding animal cell; nor must it be forgotten that the latter possesses abundance of amylolytic ferment. Then, too, the _Philozoon_ is subservient in another way to the nutritive function of the animal, for after its short life it dies and is digested; the yellow bodies supposed by various observers to be developing cells being nothing but dead algae in progress of solution and disappearance.

Again, the animal cell is constantly producing carbonic acid and nitrogenous waste, but these are the first necessities of life to our alga, which removes them, so performing an intracellular renal function, and of course reaping an abundant reward, as its rapid rate of multiplication shows.

Nor do the services of the _Philozoon_ end here; for during sunlight it is constantly evolving nascent oxygen directly into the surrounding animal protoplasm, and thus we have actually foreign chlorophyl performing the respiratory function of native haemoglobin! And the resemblance becomes closer when we bear in mind that haemoglobin sometimes lies as a stationary deposit in certain tissues, like the tongue muscles of certain mollusks, or the nerve cord of _Aphrodite_ and Nemerteans.

The importance of this respiratory function is best seen by comparing as specimens the common red and white Gorgonia, which are usually considered as being mere varieties of the same species, _G. verrucosa_. The red variety is absolutely free from _Philozoon_, which could not exist in such deeply colored light, while the white variety, which I am inclined to think is usually the larger and better grown of the two, is perfectly crammed. Just as with the anemones above referred to, the red variety evolves no oxygen in sunlight, while the white yields an abundance, and we have thus two widely contrasted _physiological varieties_, as I may call them, without the least morphological difference. The white specimen, placed in spirit, yields a strong solution of chlorophyl; the red, again, yields a red solution, which was at once recognized as being tetronerythrin by my friend M. Merejkowsky, who was at the same time investigating the distribution and properties of that remarkable pigment, so widely distributed in the animal kingdom. This substance, which was first discovered in the red spots which decorate the heads of certain birds, has recently been shown by Krukenberg to be one of the most important of the coloring matter of sponges, while Merejkowsky now finds it in fishes and in almost all classes of invertebrate animals. It has been strongly suspected to be an oxygen-carrying pigment, an idea to which the present observation seems to me to yield considerable support. It is moreover readily bleached by light, another analogy to chlorophyl, as we know from Pringsheim’s researches.

When one exposes an aquarium full of _Anthea_ to sunlight, the creatures, hitherto almost motionless, begin to wave their arms, as if pleasantly stimulated by the oxygen which is being developed in their tissues. Specimens which I kept exposed to direct sunshine for days together in a shallow vessel placed on a white slab, soon acquired a dark, unhealthy hue, as if being oxygenated too rapidly, although I protected them from any undue rise of temperature by keeping up a flow of cold water. So, too, I found that Radiolarians were killed by a day’s exposure to sunshine, even in cool water, and it is to the need for escaping this too rapid oxidation that I ascribe their remarkable habit of leaving the surface and sinking into deep water early in the day.

It is easy, too, to obtain direct proof of this absorption of a great part of the evolved oxygen by the animal tissues through which it has to pass. The gas evolved by a green alga (_Ulva_) in sunlight may contain as much as 70 per cent. of oxygen, that evolved by brown algae (_Haliseris_) 45 per cent., that from diatoms about 42 per cent.; that, however, obtained from the animals containing _Philozoon_ yielded a very much lower percentage of oxygen, e.g. _Velella_ 24 per cent., white _Gorgonia_ 24 per cent., _Ceriactis_ 21 per cent., while Anthea, which contains most algae, gave from 32 to 38 per cent. This difference is naturally to be accounted for by the avidity for oxygen of the animal cells.

Thus, then, for a vegetable cell no more ideal existence can be imagined than that within the body of an animal cell of sufficient active vitality to manure it with carbonic acid and nitrogen waste, yet of sufficient transparency to allow the free entrance of the necessary light. And conversely, for an animal cell there can be no more ideal existence than to contain a vegetable cell, constantly removing its waste products, supplying it with oxygen and starch, and being digestible after death. For our present knowledge of the power of intracellular digestion possessed by the endoderm cells of the lower invertebrates removes all difficulties both as to the mode of entrance of the algae, and its fate when dead. In short, we have here the relation of the animal and the vegetable world reduced to the simplest and closest conceivable form.

It must be by this time sufficiently obvious that this remarkable association of plant and animal is by no means to be termed a case of parasitism. If so, the animals so infested would be weakened, whereas their exceptional success in the struggle for existence is evident. _Anthea cereus_, which contains most algae, probably far outnumbers all the other species of sea-anemones put together, and the Radiolarians which contain yellow cells are far more abundant than those which are destitute of them. So, too, the young gonophores of Velella, which bud off from the parent colony and start in life with a provision of _Philozoon_ (far better than a yolk-sac) survive a fortnight or more in a small bottle–far longer than the other small pelagic animals. Such instances, which might easily be multiplied, show that the association is beneficial to the animals concerned.

The nearest analogue to this remarkable partnership is to be found in the vegetable kingdom, where, as the researches of Schwendener, Bornet, and Stahl have shown, we have certain algae and fungi associating themselves into the colonies we are accustomed to call lichens, so that we may not unfairly call our agricultural Radiolarians and anemones _animal lichens_. And if there be any parasitism in the matter, it is by no means of the alga upon the animal, but of the animal, like the fungus, upon the alga. Such an association is far more complex than that of the fungus and alga in the lichen, and indeed stands unique in physiology as the highest development, not of parasitism, but of the reciprocity between the animal and vegetable kingdoms. Thus, then, the list of supposed chlorophyl containing animals with which we started, breaks up into three categories; first those which do not contain chlorophyl at all, but green pigments of unknown function (_Bonelia<,
Idotea_, etc.); secondly, those vegetating by their own intrinsic chlorophyl (_Convoluta_, _Hydra_, _Spongilia_); thirdly, those vegetating by proxy, if one may so speak, rearing copious algae in their own tissues, and profiting in every way by the vital activities of these.

PATRICK GEDDES.

* * * * *

COMPRESSED OIL GAS FOR LIGHTING CARS, STEAMBOATS, AND BUOYS.

We give in the accompanying figures the arrangement of the different apparatus necessary for the manufacture and compression of illuminating gas on the system of Mr. Pintsch, as well as the arrangements adopted by the inventor for the lighting of railway cars and buoys. This system has been adopted to some extent in both Germany and England, and is also being introduced into France.

[Illustration: WORKS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF OIL GAS.–ELEVATION AND PLAN.]

The Pintsch gas is prepared by the distillation of heavy oils in a furnace composed of two superposed retorts. The oil to be volatilized is contained in a vertical reservoir B, which carries a bent pipe that enters the upper retort, A. The flow of the oil is regulated in this conduit by means of a micrometer screw which permits of varying the supply according to the temperature of the retorts. In order to facilitate the vaporization, the flow of oil starts from a cast-iron trough, C, and from thence spreads in a thin and uniform layer in the retort. The residua of distillation remain almost entirely in the reservoir, O, from whence they are easily removed. The vapor from the oil which is disengaged in the vessel, A, goes to the lower retort, D, in which the transformation of the matter is thoroughly completed. On leaving the latter, the gas enters the drum, E, at the lower part of the furnace. To prevent the choking up of the pipe, R, the latter is provided with a joint permitting of dilatation. The gas on leaving E goes to the condenser, G G, where it is freed from its tar. The latter flows out, and the gas proceeds to the washer, J, and the purifiers, I and I, to be purified. The amount of production is registered by the meter, L.

When the gas is to be utilized for lighting railway cars or buoys, it is compressed in the accumulators, T, which are large cylindrical reservoirs of riveted or welded iron plate.

Compression is effected by means of a pump, F or F’, which sucks the gas into a desiccating cylinder, M, connected with the gasometer of the works The pump, F, which is used when the production is larger than usual, has two compressing cylinders of different diameters, one measuring 170 millimeters and the other 100. The piston has a stroke of 320 millimeters. The two compressing cylinders are double acting, and communicate with each other by valves so arranged as to prevent injurious spaces. The gas drawn from the gasometer is first compressed in the larger cylinder to a pressure of about 4 atmospheres; then it passes into the second cylinder, whence it is forced into the accumulators under a pressure varying from 10 to 12 atmospheres.

For a not very large production, the small pump suffices. This has a single compressing cylinder connected directly with the piston rod, upon which acts the steam coming from the boiler, K. This pump compresses the gas to a pressure of 10 atmospheres, and is capable of storing seven cubic meters of it per hour.

The carburets of hydrogen which separate in a liquid state through the effect of the compression of the gas are retained in a cylindrical receptacle, V, which is located between the pump and the accumulators, T.

Besides the necessary safety apparatus, there is disposed in front of the condensers a special valve, N, which allows the gas to escape into the air if the retorts or the purifying apparatus get choked up.

When the oil gas is not compressed it possesses an illuminating power four times greater than that obtained from coal gas; and, while the latter loses the greater part of its luminous power by compression, the former loses only an eighth. It is this property that renders the oil gas eminently fitted for lighting cars, and it is for this reason that several large European railway companies have adopted it.

APPLICATION TO CARS.

We show in the accompanying engravings the mode of installation that the inventor has finally adopted for railway purposes. Each car is furnished, perpendicularly to its length, with a reservoir, a, containing the supply of gas under a pressure of 6 or 7 atmospheres. The gas is introduced into this reservoir by means of a valve, which is put in communication with the mouths of supply pipes placed along a platform. The pipes are provided with a stopcock and their mouths are closed by a cap. To fill the car reservoir it is only necessary to connect the mouths of the supply pipes with the valves of the cars by means of rubber tubing–an operation which takes about one minute for each car.

[Illustration: LIGHTING OF RAIWAY CARS]

When it is necessary to supply cars at certain points where there are no gas works, there is attached to the train a special car on which are placed two or three accumulators, which thus transport a supply of the compressed gas to distances that are often very far removed from the source of supply.

The reservoir of each car, containing a certain supply of gas, communicates with a regulator, b, the importance of which we scarcely need point out. This apparatus consists: (1) of a cast-iron cup, A, closed at the top by a membrane, B, which is impervious to gas; (2) of a rod, C, connected at one end with the membrane, and at the other with a lever, D; (3) of a regulating valve resting on the lever, and of a spring, E, which renders the internal mechanism independent of the motions of the car. The lever, acting for the opening and closing of the valve, serves to admit gas into the regulator through the aperture, F. This latter is so calculated as to allow the passage of a quantity of gas corresponding to a pressure of 16 millimeters. As soon as such a pressure is reached in the regulator, the membrane rises and acts on the lever, and the latter closes the valve. When the pressure diminishes, as a consequence of the consumption of gas, the spring, E, carries the lever to its initial position and another admission of gas takes place. Communication between the regulator and the lamps is effected by means of a pipe, z, of 7 millimeters diameter (provided with a cock, d, which permits of extinguishing all the lamps at once, and by special branches for each lamp. The lamps used differ little in external form from those at present employed. The body is of cast-iron; the cover, funnel, and chimney are of tin; and the burner is of steatite. The products of combustion are led outside through a flattened chimney, t, resting at o on the center of the reflector. The air enters through the cover of the lamp and reaches the interior through a series of apertures in the circumference of the cast-iron bell which supports the reflector. There is no communication whatever between the interior of the lamp and the interior of the car, and thus there is no danger of passengers being annoyed by the odor of gas. By means of a peculiar apparatus, f, the flame may be reduced to a minimum without being extinguished. This arrangement is at the disposition of the conductor or within reach of the passengers. For facilitating cleaning, the lamps are arranged so as to turn on a hinge-joint, m; so that, on removing the reflector, o, it is only necessary to raise the arm that carries the burner, r in order to clean the base, s, without any difficulty.

On several railways both the palace and postals cars are also heated by compressed oil gas; and lately an application has been made of the gas for supplying the headlights of locomotives (see figure), and for the signals placed at the rear of trains. But one of the most interesting applications of oil is that of

LIGHTING BUOYS,

in which case it is compressed into large reservoirs placed on a boat. The buoys employed are generally of from 90 to 285 cubic feet capacity, affording a lighting for from 35 to 100 days.

To the upper part of the buoy there is affixed a firmly supported tube carrying at its extremity the lantern, c. The gas compressed to 6 or 7 atmospheres in the body of the buoy passes, before reaching the burner, into a regulator analogous to the one installed on railway cars, but modified in such a way as to operate with regularity whatever be the inclination of the buoy. In the section showing the details of the lantern on a large scale the direction taken by the air is indicated by arrows, as is also the direction taken by the products of combustion. These latter escape at m, through apertures in the cap of the apparatus.

[Illustration: COMPRESSED OIL GAS FOR LIGHTING CARS STEAMBOTS, AND BUOYS.]

The regulator, B, in the interior of the lantern, brings to a uniform pressure the inclosed gas, whose pressure continues diminishing as a consequence of the consumption. The lantern is protected against wind and waves by very thick convex glasses set into metallic cross-bars, c. The flame is located in the focus of a Fresnel lens, b, consisting of superposed prismatic rings, and adjusted at its lower part with a circle, d, while a conical ring, e makes a joint at its other extremity. This ring is held by the top piece of the lantern through the intermedium of six spiral springs, c’ c”. Under the focus of the flame there is placed a conical reflector of German silver, t.

The buoy is filled through an aperture, k, in the side of the upper tube. This aperture is provided with a valve which allows of the buoy being charged by connecting it with the accumulators located on a boat built especially for this service. As soon as the gas reaches 6 or 7 atmospheres the cocks of the buoy and reservoir are closed, and the connecting tube is removed. The consumption of gas in the lantern is. 1,230 cubic inches per hour. This being known it is very easy to calculate from the capacity of the buoy how often it is necessary to charge it.

A large number of buoys on the Pintsch system are already in use.

The oil gas is likewise applicable to the illumination of lighthouses, and among those that are now being lighted in that way we may cite the one in the port of Pillau, near Koenigsberg. Several large steamers are likewise being lighted on this plan. In such an application of oil gas the management of the apparatus is very easy, and the permanence of the illuminating power of the gas gives every facility for the lighting of the boat, whatever be the duration of the trip.

Although Mr. Pintsch’s process of manufacture has been but recently introduced into France, it has received a number of applications that permits us to foresee the future that is in store for it. The Railway Company of the West has contracted for the lighting of 250 first-class cars that run within the precincts of the city; the State Railways have 56 cars lighted in this way running between Nantes and Bordeaux and between Saintes and Limoges; and the Line of the East has just applied the system to 80 of its cars.

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DELICATE TEST FOR OXYGEN.

T. W. Engelmann proposes, in the _Botanische Zeitung_, a new test, of an extremely delicate nature, for determining the presence of very minute quantities of oxygen, namely: its power of exciting the motility of bacteria. If any of the smaller species, especially _Bacterium termo_, are brought to rest, and then introduced into a fluid in which there is the minutest trace of free oxygen, they will immediately begin to move about freely; and if the oxygen is gradually introduced, their motion will be set up only in those parts of the drop which the oxygen reaches. In this way Engelmann was able to determine the evolution of oxygen by _Euglena_ and by chlorophyl granules.

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DETERMINATION OF SMALL QUANTITIES OF ARSENIC IN SULPHUR.

By H SCHAEPPI.

Ten grms. of sulphur, pulverized as finely as possible, are covered with hot water and a few drops of nitric acid digested for some time, filtered, and washed till the washings have no longer an acid reaction. Thus calcium chloride and sulphate are removed, and calcium sulphide, if present, is destroyed. The sulphur thus prepared is covered with water at 70 deg. to 80 deg., a few drops of ammonia are added, and the mixture is digested for a quarter of an hour. All the arsenic present as sulphide is dissolved, and the ammoniacal liquid is variously treated according to the degree of accuracy required. For perfectly accurate determinations the ammoniacal solution is mixed with silver nitrate, and all the sulphur present in the state of arsenic sulphide is thrown down as silver sulphide, acidified with nitric acid, filtered, and washed. The precipitate of silver sulphide is dissolved in hot nitric acid and determined as silver chloride. From the weight of the latter the arsenic sulphide is calculated. As a less accurate but more rapid method, the ammoniacal solution of arsenic sulphide is cautiously neutralized with pure dilute nitric acid and considerably diluted. It is then titrated with decinormal silver nitrate till a drop of the solution is turned brown with neutral chromate. The arsenic is easily calculated from the quantity of silver nitrate consumed. For very rough determinations it is sufficient to treat ten grms. of finely-ground sulphur with nitric acid, to extract with ammonia, and to add silver nitrate. From the intensity of the color, or the quantity of the precipitate of silver sulphide, it may be judged if the sulphur is approximately free from arsenic or strongly contaminated. The author states that, contrary to the general belief, reddish yellow sulphur is more free from arsenic than such as is of a full yellow color.

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HOW TO PLANT TREES.

By N. ROBERTSON, Government Grounds, Ottawa.

A great deal has been written and said about tree planting. Some advise one way, some another. I will give you my method, with which I have been very successful, and, as it differs somewhat from the usual mode, may be interesting to some of your readers. I go into the woods, select a place where it is thick with strong, young, healthy, rapid growing trees. I commence by making a trench across so as I will get as many as I want. I may have to destroy some until I get a right start. I then undermine, taking out the trees as I advance; this gives me a chance not to destroy the roots. I care nothing about the top, because I cut them into what is called poles eight or ten feet long. Sometimes I draw them out by hitching a team when I can get them so far excavated that I can turn them down enough to hitch above where I intend to cut them off; by this method I often get almost the entire root. I have three particular points in this; good root, a stem without any blemish, and a rapid growing tree. This is seldom to be got where most people recommend trees to be taken from–isolated ones on the outside of the woods; they are generally scraggy and stunted; and to get their roots you would have to follow along way to get at the fibers on their points, without which they will have a hard struggle to live. Another point recommended is to plant so that the tree will stand in the direction it was before being moved; that I never think about, but always study to have the longest and most roots on the side where the wind will be strongest, which is generally the west, on an open exposure.

For years I was much against this system of cutting trees into poles, and fought hard against one of the most successful tree planters in Canada about this pole business. I have trees planted under the system described that have many strong shoots six and eight feet long–hard maple, elm, etc., under the most unfavorable circumstances. In planting, be particular to have the hole into which you plant much larger than your roots; and be sure you draw out all your roots to their length before you put on your soil; clean away all the black, leafy soil about them, for if that is left, and gets once dry, you will not easily wet it again. Break down the edges of your holes as you progress, not to leave them as if they were confined in a flower pot; and when finished, put around them a good heavy mulch, I do not care what of–sawdust, manure, or straw. This last you can keep by throwing a few spadefuls of soil over; let it pass out over the edges of your holes at least one foot.

I have no doubt that the best time to plant is the fall, as, if left till spring, the trees are too far advanced before the frost is put of the ground; and by fall planting the soil gets settled about the roots, and they go on with the season.

Trees cut like poles have another great advantage. For the first season they require no stakes to guard against the wind shaking them, which is a necessity with a top; for depend upon it, if your tree is allowed to sway with the wind, your roots will take very little hold that season, and may die, often the second year, from this very cause.

All who try this system will find out that they will get a much prettier headed tree, and much sooner see a tree of beauty than by any other, as, when your roots have plenty of fibrous roots, and are in vigorous health, three years will give you nice trees.–_The Canadian Horticulturist_.

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THE GROWTH OF PALMS.

In a paper (Russian) recently read before the Botanical Section of the St. Petersburg Natural History Society, Mr. K. Friderich describes in detail the anatomical structures to be met with in the aerial roots of _Acanthorhiza aculeata_, these roots presenting a remarkable example of roots being metamorphosed into spines. Supplementing this, E. Regel made the following remarks:

Palm trees, grown from seed, thicken their stems for a succession of years, like bulbs, only at the base. Many palms continue this primary growth (i.e., the growth they first started with) for fifty to sixty years before they form their trunk. During this time new roots are always being developed at the base of the stem, in whorls, and these always above the old roots. This even takes place in old specimens, especially in those planted in the open ground which have already formed a trunk, In such cases the cortex layer, where the roots break through, is sprung off. In conservatories, under the influence of the damp air, this root formation, on which indeed the further normal growth of the palm depends, takes place without any special assistance. When the palm is grown in a sitting room, one must surround the base of the trunk with moss, which is to be kept damp, in order to favor the development of the roots. When the base of the palm trunk has almost reached its normal thickness, then begins the upward development of the trunk, which takes place more slowly in those species whose leaves grow close together than in those whose leaves are further apart. In specimens of many species of Cocos and Syagrus, whose leaves are particularly far apart, the stems grow so quickly when planted in the open ground that they increase by five to six feet in height per annum. The stem of those palms which develop a terminal inflorescence have ended their apical growth by doing so, and wither gradually, In addition to this (withering) in the case, e.g. of _Arenga saccharifera_, new inflorescences are developed from the original axils _(Blattachseln)_ from above downward, so that one sees at last the already leafless trunk still developing inflorescences in the direction toward the base of the trunk. Almost all palms with this latter kind of growth develop offshoots in their youth at the base of their trunks, which shoot up again into trunks after the death of the primary trunk, if they are not taken off before. As to the structure of the palm trunks out of unconnected wood bundles, the assertion has been made that the palm stem does not grow thicker in the course of time, and that this is the explanation of the columnar almost evenly thick trunk. But careful measurements that were made for years have led Regel to the conclusion that a thickening of the trunk actually takes place, which probably amounts to an increase of about a third over the original circumference of the trunk.

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THE FUTURE OF SILK CULTURE IN THE UNITED STATES.

Report by CONSUL PEIXOTTO, of Lyons.

In my dispatch, No. 140, dated September 1, 1880, I referred to the fact that new machinery for reeling silk had been invented, which, in my opinion, was destined to be of great importance, and to make this industry extremely valuable and profitable in our country. I beg now to submit some additional observations upon this subject, and for the purpose of being definite, to entitle them

THE FUTURE OF SILK CULTURE IN THE UNITED STATES.

Silk reeling is at present accomplished by the use of appliances which differ only in detail from those in use many centuries ago, and which can scarcely be called machines, being rather of the nature of apparatus depending entirely upon the skill and knowledge of the operative for the results produced. In fact, even the most perfect of French and Italian reels bear about the same relation to automatic machinery that an old-fashioned spinning wheel does to our modern spinning machines.

Since the date of my previous dispatch upon this subject, the new reeling machine of Mr. E. W. Serrell, jr., of New York (who still continues in Lyons), has been undergoing improvement and development, and it is with the hope of facilitating the introduction and culture of silk, and of enabling our people to adopt the best means to that end, and to avoid errors which have been disastrous in the past and are likely to be extremely expensive in the near future, that I now communicate with the department, which is equally interested in securing new sources of industry and wealth for our people at home as for the promotion and extension of their commerce abroad.

It will be recollected that from about 1834 to 1839 there raged a great speculation in mulberry trees of a certain species (_Morus multicaulis_) destined for feeding silk worms. This speculation led to a total loss of all the time and money devoted to it, partly because of its wild and utterly unsound character, and partly because the little silk which was actually produced could not be reeled to advantage. As a result, silk culture fell into utter disrepute and for nearly a generation was scarcely thought of as a practical thing in the United States. Time, however, showed clearly where the great obstacle lay, and although many may have imagined that other difficulties led to its abandonment in 1839-40, those who have studied the matter are unanimously of the opinion that the want of reeling machinery has alone prevented the success of sericulture in those parts of the Union which are suitable for it. Believing this obstacle to be removed, it remains to set forth in a brief manner some of the points upon which, it appears to me, the successful introduction of silk raising will depend.

For the success of silk culture in our country two things are now requisite–the acquisition on the part of those about to engage in it of sound knowledge of its processes and requirements, and proper organization.

The details of the work of silk culture are of such a nature that they may be readily understood, and I apprehend that there will be little difficulty found by those who engage in it in mastering them, after some little experience. The point at which it seems to me that there is the most danger is at the very beginning.

In order to avoid delays and losses, the person who begins silk culture should have a pretty clear idea of the scale of operations which are likely to be most profitable; of the trees, or rather shrubs, which must be obtained; of the apparatus and fixtures necessary, and of the results which may be reasonably expected from the labor and expense required. All of these items will be found to vary in different parts of the country, and I fear that general rules, broad deductions, and such information as would apply under all circumstances and in all places would be extremely difficult to formulate, and too vague for practical use at any given point.

In fact, as far as information which may be considered perfectly general is concerned, I have, for the time being, only one point to put forward in addition to what has already been published in the United States, which is to repeat and show as emphatically as possible that the use of the reels at present employed for the filature of silk is entirely impracticable in our country, and that the raiser must sell his cocoons.

This has been so often said and so clearly shown that I should consider it unnecessary to repeat it had not my attention been called to the fact that the success of several people and associations in the United States in raising cocoons has again made it a temptation to endeavor to reel silk, and during the past year I have received applications from people in different States for information as to the kind of silk reel employed here which would be most suitable for use by them.

I am aware, also, that estimates have been made and published by some eminent authorities tending to show that this work could be done on a paying basis in some places in America. So far as I have seen them, however, these estimates are fatally defective in that they do not allow for differences in quality of silk reeled by competent or incompetent people, and under circumstances favorable or otherwise, but seem to assume that any silk reeled in our country would be a first rate article, and paid for accordingly.

While this might be true in isolated cases, it could not be true in general, as with present appliances the art of reeling _good_ silk is only to be acquired and retained by years of apprenticeship and constant practice joined to a natural talent for the work. So true is this, that even in districts where the work has been largely carried on for many generations, quite a large proportion of women who try for years find it impossible to become good reelers.

Now, there is a considerable difference in price between well reeled and poorly reeled silk–a difference so great that silk not well reeled in every way is not worth as much as the cocoons from which it is derived. It is, therefore, quite a hopeless task to reel silk unless the reeler is skilled. Even if it could be done to advantage–which I do not think it could–there exists in America no means of training reelers. In Europe they are taught by degrees in the filatures, working first at the easier stages of the operations, and afterward being helped forward under the eyes and guidance of experienced operatives.

Another grave defect in the estimates alluded to is that all the profit is assumed to be paid to the reeler. This can evidently only be the case when each reeler runs her own reel, owns and cares for her own cocoons, sells her own silk, and furnishes her own capital. Now, even supposing that persons so fortunately placed as to be able to fulfill all these conditions should wish to engage in silk reeling, which is in the highest degree improbable, there exists an almost insuperable obstacle to the production of good silk except by an establishment large enough to use the cocoons of many producers.

Nearly every silk crop as raised by the individual growers contains three or four grades of cocoons, and to produce good and uniform silk, these must be separated and each sort reeled by itself, producing several grades of silk.

Without going into detail, it is enough to say that this is not practical for those who attempt to reel their own cocoons, and that for this reason, and many others, hand reels and single basins have been nearly abandoned even in Italy; the women finding so much difficulty that they prefer to sell their cocoons and work in large establishments where the work is done to more advantage.

It is evident, therefore, that, from the estimates made, there should be a considerable deduction for poor workmanship, and another for use of capital, organization, selling expenses, superintendence, insurance, repairs, deterioration, etc. In fact, I do not see in what way the reeling of silk in the United States, by the ordinary method, could be made to bear a much higher charge for labor than that borne by European filatures, which barely pay with labor at one franc per diem of thirteen hours.

To be able, then, to reel silk by the ordinary reels, it would first be necessary to find a sufficiency of highly skilled operatives willing to labor in a factory thirteen hours per day for twenty cents each. I sincerely believe and hope that this can never be done. I have enlarged somewhat upon this difficulty for the purpose of showing that the growers, or at any rate individual growers of cocoons, should not attempt to do the reeling, but by no means with an idea of discouraging the raising of silk worms, which is and should be an entirely separate matter. To use a rough comparison, I should esteem it as wasteful, even if possible, for each grower to attempt to reel his own cocoons as for each farmer to grind his own wheat upon his farm and endeavor to sell the flour.

It is, therefore, clear that the object of the sericulturist should be to raise and market as good a crop of cocoons as possible to the best advantage, and with the least possible expense and risk.

After what has been said, it may be very properly asked, if, seeing that the hopes which have been entertained of reeling by the usual method have proved fallacious, and as no radically new system of raising silk worms is under consideration, it is not very possible that all hopes of profit from rearing the worm may prove fallacious also.

In fact, not only has the question been asked, but an argument of great apparent strength and much plausibility has been formulated and extensively circulated, tending to show that the difficulty of cheap labor, which it has been shown stood in the way of reeling without improved machinery, will make the raising of cocoons also a hopelessly unprofitable task.

Briefly summarized, this argument may be stated as follows:

First. To raise silk worms to advantage much time and attention are required.

Second. Time and attention are more costly in the United States than in other countries.

Third. Consequently, cocoons can be more cheaply raised in other countries than in the United States.

Fourth. The United States possess no special advantages as a market for cocoons, and therefore they must be sold as cheaply as elsewhere, and the labor costing more, there is less profit.

Fifth. The profits made by raisers in Europe are not very great, and as they would be less in the United States, it is not worth while to try to raise cocoons in that country.

It must be acknowledged that upon the surface this all appears to be very sound and almost unanswerable, but I hope to be able to show that there is in reality not the slightest real foundation for the conclusion to which this argument points.

Taking the points cited in order, I would say, as regards the first and second, that although labor and time are required to raise cocoons, I am convinced that the labor and time of the kind necessary will not be found more expensive in our country than in Europe, for the following reasons:

The work is a home industry. It can be carried on without severe manual labor except for a few days, at the end of the season, when large crops are raised.

Now, nothing is better known than that there exists in many of our States an enormous number of wives and daughters of country people of a class entirely different from any to be found elsewhere, except, perhaps, to a limited extent, in England. I refer to the “well-to-do” but not wealthy agricultural and manufacturing classes in small villages.

One or two generations ago the farmers’ and mechanics’ wives and daughters found plenty of work in spinning, weaving, dyeing, cutting, and making the linen and clothes of the family. This has entirely ceased as a domestic industry with the exception of the “sewing” of the women’s clothes and men’s underwear. As a consequence, the women of the family are condemned to idleness, or to the drudgery of the whole household work.

Upon a proper occasion I think that much might be said of the evils and dangers which are likely within a short time to arise from the fact that perhaps a large majority of American women find themselves, because of the present organization of society and industry, almost unable to contribute to the family income except by going away from home, or in doing the most menial and severe labor as household workers from one end of the year to the other. I shall at present, however, only point out that in hundreds of thousands of homes in the country an opportunity of gaining a very moderate sum in addition to the present income by the expenditure of some weeks of care and light work would be hailed as a Godsend, and that, too, in families where the feeling of self-respect and the desire to keep the family together are far too strong to permit the women to go away from home in any way to earn money.

Let any one who doubts this consider the dairy work and similar industries, and try to calculate how much per diem the women thus occupied at home gain in money. It may be said with entire accuracy that, as a rule, anything in which the women can engage at home, by which something may be earned, will in general be regarded as net profit through out many sections of the land. In the silk districts of Europe, agricultural machinery is very much less employed than with us, and in general every woman who can possibly be spared from other work is a field laborer and valuable as such. So that time taken for raising silk must be deducted from her other productive work and charged to the cost of the silk crop. I think that there can be no doubt that this one fact is quite sufficient to make the question of the cost of caring for the worms really as much in favor of the United States as at first glance it appears to be the other way; it being the case that in our country many who would be glad to do the work have spare time to give to it, whereas in Europe every hour that is given to silk worms would otherwise be spent in the field.

In the South there are very large masses of inhabitants who are unable to work in the fields, both men and women, and who would also find in a yearly crop of silk worms a very comfortable addition to their yearly gains, and one which could be derived from time not otherwise convertible into money. Land is very much dearer, and taxes are higher in the European silk districts than with us, and every little crop of cocoons has to pay its share, which adds a considerable percentage to its cost.

The buildings possessed by peasants and used for the raising of silk worms are, in general, small, close, and miserable. Throughout America the roomy barns which are empty at the cocoon season, will, with little preparation, be much preferable, and enable the raisers to work to very much better advantage.

In Europe diseases of several kinds have become more or less prevalent, and in some cases have diminished the production of whole districts.

Notwithstanding the fact that many experiments have been made in America, and in Georgia particularly, and silk has been raised continuously for over a century, these diseases (_maladies des vers a soile_) have never made their appearance.

The people of our country are, as a rule, much better educated than those in Southern France and Italy, and will undoubtedly use their intelligence in such a way as to derive a benefit from it, and economize their labor by proper appliances, etc.

Taking all these facts into consideration, I am convinced that that there will be no difficulty in raising cocoons for the same cost in labor in the United States as in Europe, and I am inclined to think that the work can be much more cheaply done.

It is true that the United States is not an especially good market for cocoons; in fact up to this time there has been scarcely any market at all for them; but with the organization of the industry and the introduction of reeling machinery, the market will be at least as good there as elsewhere. As to whether it will be “worth while” for our people to raise silk worms, I would say that though the amount of money to be paid by any one family is certainly not very large, it is nearly all clear profit, and under the circumstances which I have above pointed out, and which exist so generally, I am sure that the sum to be realized will be regarded as very important by a vast number of people. As in other points, it is extremely difficult to make any exact estimates on such a subject which would be generally applicable to a country so large and so various in climate, soil, and social habit as ours. I am inclined to think, however, that were the members of an average family, under average circumstances, to raise a crop of cocoons, the amount which could be advantageously reared should produce, according to circumstances, from seventy-five to two hundred dollars. Scarcely any “paying” result can be hoped for, however, without more or less organization of the work, as sericulture is an industry which is very sensitive to the evils of a want of proper co-operation among those who carry on its various processes. After some reflection, I am of the opinion that individual growers will have great difficulty in selling cocoons if they are isolated from others, and I therefore doubt the wisdom of encouraging sporadic and ill-directed efforts, which, however well meant and earnestly pursued, are much more apt to end in disappointment, discouragement, and discredit to the newly developing industry than in anything else. It seems to me to be neither wise nor fair to furnish estimates of returns, which presuppose an organization of the industry, without mentioning the difficulties which must be encountered where the organization is lacking. The great difficulty is in selling the cocoons after they are raised, and this can only be practically overcome by such a development of the culture as will result in the production, within the limits of a given neighborhood, of sufficient quantities of cocoons to make it practicable to prepare and forward them to market. It is as well known as any other fact in trade, that small transactions are much more costly in proportion than large ones, and this general rule is especially applicable to the cocoon market. The product of two or three isolated families in the interior of our country could not be marketed to advantage. Whereas, were several hundreds engaged on the work in the same vicinity the charge of marketing their joint crop would be only a small percentage of its value.

Silk raising is the work of an organized people, and before it can become successful in our country must possess proper channels for its trade, just as much as wool, or cotton, or wheat. The machinery of this organization, however, need not be either complicated or expensive. What is required is a system of nuclei in towns or large villages, which may serve as centers of information and as gathering receptacles for the crops of surrounding producers.

The details of organization must be left, and I think may safely be left to the good sense of the people of different sections, who will work out the problem in different ways, according to their different circumstances. Even were the need of organization not made evident to those undertaking sericulture in the beginning, it would soon become so, as it has, in fact, in several parts of the country. I have therefore deemed it proper to call attention to this matter, on the principle that a “stitch in time saves nine.” I am informed that there exist already in the United States several associations devoted to acquiring and disseminating knowledge of the art of sericulture. This is a very great step in the right direction, and cannot be too heartily commended. If conducted with prudence and wisdom these societies will be of great service, and I would respectfully suggest that any encouragement which the government may think proper to afford would in all probability be extremely useful and profitable to the country in the future. Provided, always, that such societies are really devoted to the dissemination of information and the careful organization of the industry, and are not merely visionary and impractical cultivators of misapplied enthusiasm.

It would, I think, be of importance so far as possible, to direct the attention of county and State agricultural societies, “village improvement clubs,” and in general the intelligent and careful portion of our rural population to this matter. It is beyond doubt that the time when sericulture can be begun and carried on profitably in our country has arrived. Its successful introduction would result in a very important yearly revenue and increase in the public wealth, for I think that within a comparatively few years it could be made to be worth at least fifty or sixty millions of dollars per annum, and perhaps much more. This, however, is a less advantage than the fact that by supplying a new home industry it would do much toward conserving home ties and interests, and thereby help to strengthen and perpetuate good morals and home living among our people.

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THE HIBERNATION OF ANIMALS.

“Don’t black bears sleep through the winter?” questioned the writer of an attendant who was dealing out mid-day rations of bread and milk at the park.

“That’s the general impression,” was the rejoinder, “but we have never noticed any attempts at hibernation here. Bears are unusually lively during the cold months, and demand their food as regularly as do the lions and other feline animals. I don’t know that any observations of value on this question have ever been made on animals in confinement. I have had some experience with outside animals, and a great many go through what is called a winter’s sleep; and in warm countries there is what might be called a summer sleep. Bears begin in the fall to look out for a soft nest; and if it’s possible for them to eat more at one time than another they do it then, and when the cold weather sets in they are fat and in prime condition. According to some authorities, the fat produces the carbon that in some way tends to induce somnolency. The stomach of a bear at this time becomes empty, and naturally shrivels or draws into a very small space, and is rendered totally useless by a substance called ‘tappen’ that clogs it and the intestines; this is formed of pine leaves and other material that the animal takes from ants’ nest and the trunks of trees in its search after honey. They lie asleep in this condition for about six months, generally snowed in; but you can tell the place, as the heat of the bear, what there is left, keeps an air hole up through the snow. The bear seems to live on its fat, the tappen preventing its too rapid consumption; and if you run across them during this time–even along in March just before they wake up–they are about as fat as when they went in. I have taken a slice of fat from a black bear six inches thick–regular blubber. I remember,” continued the man, “one winter I was ‘log hauling’ in the western part of this State. We had our eyes on a big tree, and one morning when it was about ten degrees below zero I tackled it to warm up. I hammered away for about five hours at it and finally started her, and over she came–slowly at first, and then as if she was going right through. The snow was nearly three feet deep, and as the tree struck it flew up for about twenty feet and half blinded me, and when I came to there was the biggest black bear I ever saw standing along side of me, looking about as mixed as I did. I had lost my ax, and the first move I made she started, and on taking a look I found that she had a nest in the trunk and had probably turned in for the winter. It was about twenty feet from the ground, and was built with moss, leaves, and all kinds of truck, and as warm and as snug as you please–a good place to spend a winter in.”

The brown and polar bears have the same habit of lying up for the winter. An Esquimau informed Captain Lyon that in the first of the winter the pregnant bears are always fat and solitary. When a heavy fall of snow sets in the animal seeks some hollow place in which she can lie down, and remains quiet while the snow covers her. Sometimes she will wait until a quantity of snow has fallen and then digs herself a cave; at all events it seems necessary that she should be covered up by the snow. She now goes to sleep and does not wake until the spring sun is pretty high, when she brings forth two cubs. The cave by this time has become much larger by the effect of the animal’s warmth and breath, so that the cubs have room enough to move, and they acquire considerable strength by continually sucking. The dam at length becomes so thin and weak that it is with great difficulty she extricates herself, which she does when the sun is powerful enough to throw a strong glare through the snow which roofs the den. Then the family comes out, and will take anything that comes along in the way of food. During the long sleep the temperature of the bear’s blood is reduced to almost that of the surrounding air. The power of will over the muscles seems to be suspended, respiration is hardly noticeable, and most of the vital functions are at a complete standstill–the entire body sleeping, as it were. The male grizzly bear never hibernates. The young and the females, however, build nests, one of which measured ten feet high, five feet long, and six feet wide.

Bats are great winter sleepers, and in most of the known caves they can be found during the cold months clinging to the walls and to each other. During hibernation their respiration ceases almost entirely, and only the most careful use of a stethoscope can reveal it. The air that has surrounded numbers of them has been carefully examined and not the slightest evidence found of its having been breathed; and, stranger yet, they can exist in this condition in gas, that, were they awake, would prove instantly fatal. A machine has been invented to examine these and other animals while in this condition. A delicate index records the slightest pulsation, while a thermometer shows the rise and fall of the temperature at every moment during the period; and by an arrangement of the wing, the circulation of the blood is recorded. A more delicate experiment can hardly be imagined, as a strong breath, a sneeze, or a footfall will cause the subject of the experiment to recover enough to respire several times; and the effect of this on the machine can be imagined when it is known that though, while in this condition, they produce no effect upon the oxygen of the air about them, they consume when respiring more than four cubic inches of oxygen an hour.

The common marmot is a great underground sleeper. They build large storehouses, sometimes eight feet in diameter, and from the latter part of September to April they lie in them, and, like the bears, give birth to their young during this period.

The dormouse is a remarkable sleeper. Even in their ordinary sleep they can be taken from the nest and handled without waking them. Toward winter they acquire a great deal of fat, and stow away a vast amount of provision around about their nest, and then go to sleep within; but they rarely awake to use this food unless a very warm period comes around before the regular breaking up of cold weather.

The hedgehog is a sound winter sleeper, and has been the subject of an infinite number of experiments while in this condition. One experimentalist, believing that cold was the cause of their curious condition, surrounded one with a freezing mixture, and froze it to death. By increasing the cold about another that was already hibernating, it was made to wake up; and walked off.

If an animal is suddenly decapitated while in this hibernating condition, the action of the heart is not affected for some time, a second life seeming to outlive the one taken. An experiment has been made in which the brain of the sleeper was removed, then the entire spinal cord, but for two hours hardly any change was noticeable upon the action of the heart; and a day after that organ contracted when touched by the operator.

The writer has the winter nest of a family of ants. A piece of fence rail was found beneath an old pile of boards and brought into a warm room for the sake of a rich fungus growing upon it, and several hours after the table and chairs were found to be covered with ants. Where they came from was a mystery, until the old rail was accidentally jarred and a number fell from it. A section was cut down through it, and the winter home of the tribe destroyed–probably the work of weeks, perhaps months. The interior of the wood was completely riddled by tunnels and passages, some being large and holding several hundred ants, while others contained only a few. In some of the interior passages the ants had not been affected by the heat, and were packed in great masses and evidently fast asleep; they soon recovered, however, and walked off slowly in different directions, as if wondering if an earthquake or spring had come.

A great number of insects go through a period of hibernation, especially spiders. The young of the latter are often covered by the parent; first, by coarse strings of silk, as if to hold them in place, and then by a white, silvery web worked over them, which forms probably a sure protection from wind and weather.

The writer has a cherry-stone in which is coiled up an insect, best known as the sowbug. A squirrel had probably eaten out the meat and opened the way, and in this snug retreat we found the little hibernater snugly rolled up, as is also its habit when alarmed. The mouth of the