oxygen to sulphurous acid; but the peracetate of iron becomes protoacetate by its action. 9th. Molybdic acid is not reduced by sulphurous acid, but molybdate of potash is reduced to a low state of oxidizement, to the blue compound or molybdous acid.-Journal de Pharmacie et de Chimie, Sept. 1843., and Philosophical Magazine for November. On the Composition and Origin of the Petroleum found in the Down Holland Moss near Ormskirk. By E. W. BINNEY and J. HAWKSHEAD TALBOT. Although it is by no means uncommon to find traces of an oily matter floating upon the surface of the water that drains out of the peat bogs in the low mosses of Lincolnshire and other parts of England, the authors believe that the occurrence of peat so strongly impregnated with petroleum as that found in Down Holland has not yet been noticed. Baron Thénard* describes this substance as follows:-"Petroleum less fluid than naphtha, of which it seems to be a modification, brownish-black, almost opake, of a strong tenacious odour, unctuous to the touch; specific gravity 0.854, burns, leaving but little residue, and gives, on distillation, an oil similar to the naphtha. Found it at Gabian, near Berziers, in Auvergne, near Clermont, in Switzerland near Neufchatel, in England at Ormskirk in Lancashire, and Amiano in Italy, in Sicily, in Transylvania, in India, &c. It often floats on water; the sea is sometimes covered with it near the Volcanic Isles of Cape de Verde." Mr. J. E. Bowman has analysed a specimen of the pitchy peat possessing an empyreumatic smell, found under an old sward field in Formby about six inches beneath the surface. Its organic constituents in 100 parts were 60-31 C, 8.86 H, and 30.83 O. This, when compared with the analysis of common peat made by Regnault, 60-89 C, 6.21 H, 32.90 O, shows that the former differs from the latter in having lost 58 C and 2.7 O, and gained 2.65 H. Mr. Bowman found 73 C united to 69 H in a specimen of the dark-coloured empyreumatic oil (petroleum) skimmed from the surface of a pool of stagnant water which drained from the upper bed of peat where that deposit is covered by a bed of about fifteen inches of drift sand. On taking Professor Johnson's formula of the composition of lignine And deducting the equivalents of the pitchy peat before analysed.... There is a loss of...... 160 C 128 H 128 O This shows the removal of 15 atoms of carbonic acid gas and 73 atoms of oxygen, supposing the pitchy peat to have been produced from woody fibre. But this specimen being a mechanical admixture of peat and petroleum, little value can be attributed to it. The better way to show the true results of the decomposition is to compare the analysis of the petroleum with that of woody fibre. Woody fibre.... Loss 128 H 128 O 160 C * Traité de Chemie, tom. iii. p. 445. The pitchy deposit found under the arable fields possesses little or no smell, the volatile oil affording it having doubtless been evapo. rated. Its specific gravity is greater than that of the petroleum, from the circumstances of its having lost some of the lightest constituents of that oil, and also combined with a considerable amount of oxygen. On first inspecting the peat, the authors imagined that the petroleum had its origin from some spring which flowed up through the moss from a fissure in the strata underneath; but after examining these deposits, composed of silty clay, sand, till, and most probably portions of the new red sandstone formation, and finding the lower bed of peat not only destitute of petroleum, but quite dry, they became convinced that the oil could not have come from below. They next considered that it might possibly proceed from a spring which rose out of the higher land at Halsall or Down Holland, and then flowed down into the moss; but the peat on the eastern side, although moist and nearest to the source of any spring from that part (if such were the case), was totally destitute of petroleum. The only remarkable feature connected with the upper bed of peat, is the western portion of it being covered up with a bed of sand, and being probably sometimes subject to an infiltration of sea-water according to Mr. Harkness's information. These circumstances, added to the fact of the petroleum being found most plentifully at the edge of the sand, lead the authors to the conclusion that it is produced by the decomposition of the upper bed of peat under the sand. The chemical process by which such singular effects have been produced is a subject more fitted for the consideration of the chemist than the geologist; but the authors suppose that the petroleum is the result of slow combustion in the peat, and has been produced by a process partly analogous to that which takes place in the destructive distillation of wood in close vessels, where, owing to a total absence of oxygen, the combination of hydrogen and carbon, in the form of hydro-carbons, is effected.-Proceedings of the Manchester Geological Society for 1843. How to distinguish between real and spurious Gilding. In many cases in which it is difficult to employ the usual test for gold, especially for distinguishing between real and spurious gold leaf, gilt paper, &c., M. Altmüller recommends the application of mercury, which rubbed in on true gilding immediately produces a white spot, while it has no action on spurious gold (consisting of alloys of copper). On the other hand, an acid solution of mercury in nitric acid leaves untouched real gold, and produces a white spot on the spurious. The thinnest layers of gold, which it is frequently impossible to detect by means of aqua regia, are immediately recognised by this test. The coating of varnish must be removed previous to its application.-Allgem. Wien. Polytech. Journ., 1843, p. 225. 749 INDEX TO VOL. I. ACETIC acid, action of sulphuric acid on, 596. Acetone, action of sulphur and ammonia Aceyta ameria, notice respecting, 151. organic, reduction of the salts of metallic, on the, 393. Aconite in rheumatism, 343. Acroleine, products of the decomposition Acryle, constitution of, 723. Acrylic acid, composition of, 722, 741. Acrylous acid, 743. Æthal, action of sulphuret of carbon on, Æthers, preparation of, 45, 416. Ethogen and the æthonides, observations Ethokirrine, properties of, 508. Akcethine, preparation of, 676. Albert, Dr. F., on a new manure, 335. Allantoine, observations on, 30. Aloe soccotrina, observations on, 690. Aloetic acid, on the colouring properties Altmüller, M., on a method of distinguish- Alum, improvements in the manufacture Alumina, separation of, from chromium, 208; composition of the sulphite of, the chlorate of, 362; manufacture of, Amyloid, observations on, 7. Andral, M., on the quantity of carbonic acid exhaled during respiration, 316. Antimonium diureticum ablutum, 714. Anti-rheumatic counter-irritant paper of Apatite, occurrence of, in meteoric stone, Aqua amygd. amar., distinction of, from Aqua carbonica febrifuga, 714. Arrott, Mr., on some new cases of gal- Arsenic, tests for, 4, 59, 60, 294, 599; 483. Artus, Prof., on the preparation of pure Athamanta Oreoselinum, on a remarkable Atomic weights, observations on some, 4, 281, 595. Aubergier, M., on lactucarium, 354. Austin, Mr., on the discovery of native lead in Ireland, 314. Aventurine glass, manufacture and ana- Awdejew, M., on glucinum and its com- Ayers, C. R., on colouring glass, earthen- Balmain, W. H., on æthogen and ætho- Balsam for frost-bites, 381. tion of the iodide of, 735. Bark of the cork-tree, examination of, Barks of commerce, on the, 14, 41, 70, 97. Baumann, Dr., on testing manganese ore, Behrens, H., on crystallized oxide of lead, 511; on the separation of arsenic Bell, T., on the manufacture of copper, Benzoic acid in Rad. Inula Helenii, 214. Beringer, M., on the manufacture of Berlin, M., on a new resin from Pinus Bernays, M., on syringine, 131. Berzelius, J., on the separation of zinc Bethell, J., on improvements in preparing Binney, E. W., on the origin and compo- Bleaching, on the theory of, 387. Bley, Dr., on Tsantjan, or "Kanten," 633. composition of the gastric juice, 628. Blowpipe, applications of, in analysis, Blue urine, 89. Bodies, dimorphous, on the melting point Bögner, Dr., on blue urine, 89; on the Böttcher, G., on the preparation of oxide Boissière, G., on the use of the proto- ioduret of iron in consumption, 205. perchloride of tin, 342; analysis of Bones, composition of, 170, 374, 452. fossil, composition of, 374. Borax, on the use of, in analysis, 9. Bouchardat, M., on digestion, 8; on the Bourson, M., on the preparation of iodic Boutin, M., formulæ for the employment Bromide of iron, preparation of, 434. Bunt, C., on an improved method of ob- Buonaparte, L., on the separation of cerium from didymium, 405. Busse, Dr., on aconite in rheumatism, 343. Cactus Opuntia, on the red colouring Cahours, M., on the oil of Gaultheria Calau, M., on Rad. Ginseng, 236. from intestines of horses, 35. Calotropis gigantea, 463. Calvert, M., on a protoxide of lead of the colour of minium, 484. Canella alba, essential oil of, 526. Caoutchouc, preparation of, 80. Carbon, action of chlorine on the sul- - and iron, on the compounds of, 105. of barytes, preparation of, 13, 79. Carbonates, method of analyzing the, 91. acid, experiments on the exhalation Caseine, on the preparation and proper- Cassia senna, observations on, 127. Castor oil, notice respecting, 210. Caventou's (M.) rubefacient pomatum Cement for porcelain and glass, 666. 341. Ceric acid, composition of, 451. Cerutti, M., on the preparation of Hy- Chatterley, M. W. F., on some experi- Chemical Society of London, proceedings Chlorate of ammonia, spontaneous de- of potash, oxidizing action of, 593. of gold, use of, in analysis, 94. |