Scientific Serials

Abstract

THE Journal of the Chemical Society for December 1875 contains the following papers communicated to the Society:—On the agricultural chemistry of the tea-plantations of India, by J. Campbell-Brown, D.Sc. This lengthy paper contains analyses of the young and old leaves of good plants and of stunted and blighted plants of different varieties, analyses of the wood of good and stunted tea-plants of different varieties, analyses of tea-seed, of the soils of tea-plantations, and of tea from manured and unmanured plants. The author discusses also the analytical results.—On certain new reactions of tungsten, by Prof. J. W. Mallett, of the University of Virginia. The author has lound, contrary to the statements in text-books, that the precipitate produced by hydrochloric acid in a solution of an alkaline tungstate is soluble in an excess of the concentrated acid. By adding fragments of metallic zinc to the above-named acid solution, various colours are produced, the most noteworthy being a brilliant magenta. Potassium sulphocyanate and metallic zinc added to the acid solution produce a rich green colour, but when the sulpliocyanate is added first to the alkaline tungstate solution, then a considerable quantity of water, then hydrochloric acid, and finally zinc, a fine amethyst colour is produced. The blue colour well known as characteristic of one of the lower oxides of tungsten may be best brought out by the use of hyposulphurous acid (H2SO2) as the reducing agent.—The remainder of the journal contains the usual collection of abstracts.