No. 59. of Mr. Nicholson's Journal, April 1, 1801. The experiments performed under the direction of M. Guyton were published in the 114th number of the Annales de Chimie, 30 Prairial; and consequently they did not appear in print until more than a month after those of Mr. Cruickshank. Letter from M. DEYEUX, to the Authors of the Annales de Chimie, giving an Account of a Gummy Substance contained in the Bulb of the Plant called Hyacinthus non Scriptus, discovered by M. LEROUX. This article does not at present require any farther notice than annunciation. A Method by which Sugar may be separated from Honey. By M. CAVEZZALI.Having clarified the honey, the author exposed it to a gentle heat in an earthen vessel, and added a quantity of pulverized egg-shells until all effervescence had ceased. Some time afterward, when the whole had remained undisturbed, a thick froth was formed, and was removed. The syrup being then put into a bottle, at the expiration of four months it afforded crystals of sugar; they were reddish, but this colour was removed by alcohol. Remarks on Clarification. By M. PARMENTIER.This paper contains some useful observations on the different modes and effects of filtration, &c. Memoir on Bleaching the Paste of Paper. By M. LOTSEL.According to this account, it appears better to bleach the paste than the rags or cuttings: but, for the mode and apparatus, we must refer our readers to the plates of the work. Analysis of the Waters of Plombières. By M. VAUQUELin. From this Analysis, we find that one pound of the water contains the following proportions of matter: Observations concerning the Action of Sulphate of Iron on Nitrous Gas. By M. BERTHOLLET. -M. Humboldt has asserted that Sulphate of Iron completely absorbs nitrous gas, and only separates the azotic gas which was simply mixed with it; and on this assumption he founded the whole of his eudiometrical system. In the present memoir, however, M. BERTHOLLET proves that this idea is erroneous, since nitrous gas is in fact decomposed decomposed by water, by potash, by mercury with the assistance of the electrical spark, and by sulphate of iron; and that the azote, obtained when the latter is employed, did not exist in an uncombined state, but is a product resulting from the action of the sulphate of iron, which, to a certain degree, decomposes nitrous gas. Experiments on the cold Combustion of the Gaseous Oxide of Carbon. By M. GUYTON. Memoir on the Reduction of the white Oride of Zinc by Charcoal, and on the Gaseous Oxide of Carbon which is thus produced. By M. M. DESORMES and CLEMENT.- -The facts contained in these two memoirs, with some others in addition, having been discovered and made known in this country by Mr. Cruickshank of Woolwich, in a second paper published in Mr. Nicholson's Journal, (No. 55, September 1, 1801,) previously to the arrival of this number of the Annales de Chimie (115) in England, we think that it would be useless for us now to state the particulars. New Galvanic Experiments. By M. M. FOURCROY, VauqueIIN, and THENARD. A pile was formed with plates, each of which was one square foot. The commotions and decomposition produced by this pile did not differ from one which was composed of small plates; excepting that the combustion of wires immediately took place with great violence; and when these were immersed in oxygen gas, they were barnt with a vivid light. The small plates, however numerous, did not produce this effect; and it seems, therefore, that combustion takes place according to a law relative to the surface of the plates, while the other phenomena are influenced by the number. Notice of a new Method of whitening Linen for domestic Pur poses. By M. CHAPTAL.The detail of this method has been made known in a work intitled "Essai sur le Blanchiment par R. O'Reilly;" and M. CHAPTAL, in this notice, states that M. BAWENS has fully proved the utility of it with respect to sheets and linen in general. On the distilled Water of certain Plants said to be inodorous By M. DELUNEL. This author is of opinion, first, That it is erroneous to believe that the distilled waters of inpdorous plants are not more efficacious than simple distilled water; and that their use in medicine will become more general and more valuable, by a comparison of the waters of the Vegetable King dom with those which are calle Mineral. Secondly, That, by a pro a proper method of distilling the inodorous plants, we shaff probably acquire many new and useful remedies. Observations on the Means of ascertaining the Presence of Lead in Wine. By M. REINECKE.. This paper does not require to be particularly noticed, because the well known test of hydrogenated sulphuret of potash is employed; and the whole appears to be a matter of private concern between the author and some wine merchants. On the Culture of the Sacchariferous Beet (Beta Vulgaris, Linn.) in France. By M. DE CASTILLON, of Berlin. It is the ob ject of the author of this paper, to shew that the Beet may be cultivated in soils which in other respects are of little use. Notice concerning the Sebacic Acid. By M. THENARD. From the experiments here related, this author is of opinion that there exists in distilled fat, or lard, a peculiar acid; which, instead of being volatile, odorate, and pungent, is solid, devoid of smell, and fixed to a certain degree; that, besides this substance, acetous acid is produced; that the peculiar odour of distilled fat does not originate from the Sebacic acid, but probably from some parts of the fat converted into gas; that, by the processes described by Crell and others, only Muriatic and Acetous Acids can be obtained; and, consequently, that the real Sebacic Acid has hitherto been unknown, and, according to the present state of chemical science, must be regarded as a new Acid. New Reflections on the Medicinal Wines. By M. PARMEN TIER. This paper may be consulted with some advantage by pharmaceutical chemists. On some Properties of the Galvanic Apparatus. By M. M. BIOT and F. CUVIER.From the experiments made by these gentlemen, they conclude, Ist, that the Galvanic apparatus, when in action, decomposes the atmospheric air, and absorbs part of its Oxygen. 2dly, That the Oxygen afforded by atmospheric air contributes to the action of the pile, but is not absolutely. necessary to produce this action, since it also takes place in vacuo. --- Observations on the Preparation of the Phosphates of Seda and Ammoniac. By M. THENARD. After some preliminary experiments and remarks, this chemist states the process which he conceives to be the best and most ceconomical for preparing the Phosphate of Soda. He then proceeds to observe that the Phosphate of Ammoniac frequently will not crystallize, in consequence of an excess of acid resulting from a partial decom position position of the salt caused by heat during evaporation. In such a case, the liquor, if found to be acid, must again be neutralized by ammoniac. Experiments and Observations on the Colour which Lemon-juice communicates to Paper when heated. By Dr. CARRADORI DE PRATO.It appears from these experiments, 1st, That this property is not peculiar to this acid, because verjuice, vinegar, the juices of Oxalis Acetosella, and of Euphorbia Caracius, &c. &c. produce the same effect. 2dly, That sugar possesses this property in an eminent degree. 3dly, That all the vegetable acids or juices, which contain sugar or saccharine mucus, also partake of this property more or less, according to the proportion of this substance. 4thly, That, when lemon juice is deprived of the saccharine mucus, it causes scarcely any change of colour on paper when heated. 5thly, That the above property, therefore, exclusively appertains to the sugar, or saccharine mucus, present in the vegetable acids and juices. 6thly, Dr. CARRADORI is of opinion that the effect is produced by a slight degree of combustion, which volatilizes part of the hydrogen of the sugar or saccharine mucus, and leaves the carbon exposed. On the Strength of the Acids of Commerce. By M. Delatre. From the whole of this paper, the opinion of the author appears to be, 1st, That, in the weak muriatic acids, or those which are much diluted with water, the excess of the specific gravities in respect to water are nearly in proportion to the quantities of the gas dissolved in water, and consequently ascertain the strength of the acids by a direct proportion;-2d, The densities of the acid in water are greater in proportion as the quantity of it is smaller; that is to say, that the muriatic acid being always influenced by two affinities, viz. water and caloric, the first cannot be diminished by the progressive effect of saturation, without the re-establishment of the second; so that, in fact, the last portions of muriatic acid consist of gas interposed between the molecules of water. Observations on Barytes and Strontites. By M. PAISSE.. This gentleman here gives an account of some experiments, from which he is induced to believe that caustic barytes and strontites cease to be caustic after exposure to a strong heat; he is therefore inclined to attribute this property to the nitric acid with which they had been previously combined; and he suspects that azote is the principle of causticity in many bodies. A few other articles contained in these numbers we have been obliged to omit, in pursuance of our established regulation; APP. REV. VOL, XXXVI. Kk which, which, in general, only allows us to notice such papers as are original, and as suggest some practical remark, or may lead to farther useful investigations. ART. VI. Traité des Differences et des Series, &c. i. e. A Treatise on Differences and Series, being a Supplement to the Treatise on the Differential and Integral Calculus. By B. S. F. LA CROIX. 4to. pp. 582. Paris. 1800. Imported by De Boffe, London. THE HE large work of M. LA CROIX on the Differential and Integral Calculus has been already noticed by us. The present supplement is scarcely inferior in point of bulk to the preceding volumes; and if all great books be great evils, this author has terribly burthened the scientific world. Of such afflictions, who have a juster right to complain than Reviewers; who are compelled to cater for the public, to taste of every dish prepared for it, be it savoury or be it nauseous, and, in quest of truth and entertainment, sometimes to wander in the gloom of obscurity, and sometimes to be entangled in the mazes of sophistry? After the specimens already offered to us, we needed no new proof of M. LA CROIX's indefatigable zeal and assiduity. So extensive a compilation as the one before us, indeed, we may venture to affirm, does not exist in any language; and in order to form it, almost all preceding Treatises, Transactions, &c. have been examined. Its matter is so various, so extensive, and so abstruse, that, instead of attempting an analysis, which at best must be imperfect, we shall briefly state the subjects treated, their order, and, with one or two particular observations, subjoin our opinion on the general merit of the work. Chapter 1. treats on direct calculus of differences, and its application to the interpolation of series; on the inverse calculus of differences, relatively to explicit functions; on its ap plication to the summation of series, and to the summation of series by interpolation; on the integration of equations of differences of two variables; on the nature of arbitrary quantities introduced by the integration of equations of differences, and on the construction of those quantities; on the multiplicity of integrals, of which equations of differences are susceptible; on the integration of equations of differences, consisting of three or more variable quantities; on the equations of condition relative to the integrability of functions of differences. Chap. 2. contains the theory of series deduced from the consideration of generating functions. See Appendixes to Vols. 31 & 32 N. S. of the Monthly Review. Chap. |