5

2

2

Ta,,.MO, and the second the formula 3Ta25.4MO: the tantalates of soda and potash belong to this last type and crystallize well. The oxyd and sulphid of tantalum described by Berzelius and others have respectively the formulas Ta, and TaS,. Chlorid of tantalum has the formula TnCl; the calculated density of its vapor is 12.84, while Deville and Troost find 12:42. Tantalic acid not ignited dissolves easily in fluohydric acid and forms soluble and crystallizable salts with other fluorids, but it does not appear that there is a class of oxyfluotantalates corresponding to the oxyfluoniobates. The fluotantalate of potassium, TaF.2KF, crystallizes in the right rhombic system and is isomorphous with the corresponding fluoniobate. When boiled for a long time with water the salt changes to an insoluble body having approximately the formula Ta2+2(2KF. TaF5), which may, however, be only a mixture. The formation of this insoluble compound gives the means of detecting the smallest quantity of fluotantalate in the oxyfluoniobate of potassium. Two fluotantalates of sodium have respectively the formulas TaF. 2NaF +H2 and TaF,3NaF. The other salts described are TaF,, 2NHF, TaF, 2ZnF+7aq., and TaF,, 2CuF+4aq. In our first notice of Marignac's researches we have stated that that chemist had detected in niobite a small quantity of an acid which might prove to be new. Further investigation has, however, shown that this is titanic acid.-Bull. de la Soc. Chimique, Aug. 1866, pp. 118 and 115.

2

W. G.

5. On the preparation of iodhydric and phosphoric acids.-PETTENKOFER has given a very elegant modification of Liebig's process for the preparation of iodhydric acid and alkaline iodids, and has further extended the method so as to obtain pure phosphoric acid as a subsidiary product. To half an ounce of common phosphorus in twelve ounces of distilled water at 60° or 70° C. one ounce of iodine out of eight ounces is to be added. The whole is to be stirred and the liquid poured off from the phosphorus and iodid of phosphorus upon the remaining seven ounces of iodine contained in a separate vessel. The solution of iodine as thus obtained is to be poured back upon the phosphorus and the alternate process repeated until all the iodine is dissolved and has come in contact with the phosphorus. The red-brown liquid last obtained becomes almost colorless after a short time, and there remains only a little red phosphorus. The filtered liquid, consisting of water, iodhydric, phosphorous and a little phosphoric acid, is to be distilled over an open fire till the liquid becomes syrupy. The distillate consists of iodhydric acid containing a little free iodine, and has a specific gravity of 1.39 to 1.40. It appears to keep well and serves for the convenient preparation of the iodids of potassium, sodium, calcium, &c. Saturated with bicarbonate of potash the acid yields on evaporation and crystallization a pure iodid in perfectly colorless crystals. The contents of the retort are to be poured out, the retort washed, and a few drops of concentrated nitric acid containing nitrous acid added, when the whole remaining iodhydric acid is decomposed into water and free iodine. The free iodine may be separated by filtration, after which the filtrate is warmed till it becomes colorless. The filtrate is then to be evaporated with about one and a half ounces of nitric acid of 1.20, added in small portions at a time until, on addition of pure acid, nitrous acid fumes are no longer evolved. The so

lution of phosphoric acid is then to be evaporated till the vapor arising no longer reddens litmus. In this manner a pure phosphoric acid, free from arsenic and sulphur, was obtained, although the phosphorus employed contained traces of both substances.-Ann. der Chemie und Pharm., cxxxviii, 57.

8

W. G.

6. On crotonic acid.-BULK has given another instance of the conversion of one organic acid into another by simple addition of one molecule or two atoms of hydrogen. When crotonic acid, H2, is heated with an amalgam of sodium or with metallic zinc and dilute sulphuric acid, it passes gradually into butyric acid, €,H,2, this last being in the modification in which it is obtained by fermentation.-Ann. der Chemie u. Pharm., cxxxix, 62.

4 8

W. G.

7. On syntheses of guanidin.-A. W. HOFMANN has succeeded in the

iv

€

synthesis of guanidin, N, H3, by two different processes. An alcoholic

H2

solution of chlorpicrin, (NO2)Cl,, and ammonia is heated for some time in a closed tube to a temperature of 100°. Under these circumstances the reaction occurs which is represented by the equation

5

€(NO2)Cl2+3NH ̧=¤H ̧N ̧, HC+2HC1+HN→2. When orthocarbonic ether is heated to 150° C. with aqueous ammonia, guanidin and alcohol are formed, according to the equation,

¤(С2H ̧) ̧¤ ̧+зNH ̧+H20=¤H ̧N ̧, H2O+4(¤2H ̧, ¤¤).

5

5/4

3

5

2

2

The author suggests that the corresponding orthosilicate of ethyl, Si(CH)44, may by a similar process yield a species of guanidin in which silicon takes the place of carbon, and also that the well known compounds formed by the action of ammonia upon the chlorids of silicon and titanium may be simply mixtures of sal-ammoniac with the chlorhydrates of guanidin containing silicon or titanium in place of carbon.Ann. der Chem. u. Pharm., cxxxix, 107.

W. G.

8. On flame reactions.-BUNSEN has made a systematic study of the action of different parts of the flame of the well known burner which bears his name, on various substances, either alone or mixed with fluxes and other reagents. As no mere abstract can do justice to a paper of this character we must refer our readers to the original. It can hardly be doubted that, wherever gas can be had, the flame of the burner will soon supplant the ordinary mouth blowpipe in testing upon a small scale by heat. Ann. der Chem. u. Pharm., cxxxviii, 257.

II. MINERALOGY AND GEOLOGY.

W. G.

1. Geological Survey of Illinois; A. H. WORTHEN, Director. Volume I, Geology. xvi, and 504 pp. royal 8vo, with map, sections, &c. 1866, Springfield. Published by authority of the Legislature of Illinois.-In the September number of this Journal, we gave a brief notice of the issue of this valuable Report, it having reached us so near our publication day, that we were unable to do more than merely acknowledge its reception, and promise a more extended notice in a future number. Circumstances beyond our control prevented the preparation of this notice in

time for the November number, but we now propose to fulfil the promise, so far as limited space will permit.

As stated above, this Report occupies about 520 pages of letter-press, and is printed in large clear type, upon excellent paper, with well executed illustrations; and the whole is neatly and substantially bound in cloth. Chapter I consists of remarks on the General Principles of geological science, the physical features of the State, its Surface geology, &c. In Chapter II the Tertiary deposits and the Coal measures are described and their relations to the other formations of the state explained, by a section showing the thickness, order of succession, &c., of the various rocks occurring in Illinois. The Tertiary, consisting of various colored clays, greenish sand, &c., occupies but a limited area in the southern part of the state, and has yet afforded only a few imperfect casts of fossils, apparently of Eocene age.

The Coal-measures being of great economical importance, are described at length, and numerous sections of their various beds are given, as ascertained from natural exposures, borings, shafts, &c. Contrary to an opinion somewhat current among geologists, the State Geologist maintains that the Illinois coal-field is not broken up into several isolated patches, separated by intervals of older rocks, but is a continuous field, occupying near three-fourths of the entire area of the State. The maximum thickness of the whole series, exclusive of the Millstone grit, is, in the southern part of the State, about 900 feet, including six workable beds of coal, with an aggregate thickness of 30 feet. Going northward, the Coal-measures diminish in thickness, chiefly by the thinning out of lower beds, so that on the northern borders of the field, where the Millstone grit and Subcarboniferous rocks are wanting, some of the higher members are found resting directly down upon Devonian and Silurian rocks thus apparently showing that as far back at least as the commencement of the Subcarboniferous period, the northern part of the state was more elevated than the southern, and that as the subsidence of the whole area progressed, the successive newer beds extended farther and farther northward. The whole series being, with one or two local exceptons, almost entirely undisturbed by upheavals, flexures, faults, &c., the miner meets with few of the obstacles here, that so materially diminish the profits of coal mining in more disturbed districts. From the facts given, it is evident that we can scarcely overestimate the value and importance of this inexhaustible store of mineral wealth, as a source of power and progress, to a state like Illinois, which also has a vast extent of the most beautiful undulating prairie lands unsurpassed in productive. ness and easily brought under cultivation.

In regard to petroleum in Illinois, the State Geologist remarks that it has been found in small quantities in two or three of the southern counties; and that from the greater thickness, on the eastern borders of the State, of the rocks generally regarded as the source of the oil deposits in western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio and Kentucky, it will be most apt to be found in paying quantities in the region of the Wabash valley. The correctness of this suggestion has been confirmed since the printing of the Report, by a valuable flowing well sunk at Terre Haute, Indiana.

In Chapter III, the various Subcarboniferous rocks are fully described in the order of their succession from above, and various analyses by the late Henry Pratten, Esq., showing their chemical composition are given. The thickness, geographical range, general physical characters, characteristic fossils, &c., of each of these rocks are also stated in considerable detail. This chapter likewise includes an interesting Report by Prof. G. J. Brush of Yale College, on the geodes so abundant at the Rapids of the Mississippi in the Keokuk beds.

The Devonian and Silurian rocks are similarly treated of in chapter IV; while in chapter V, we have a valuable and highly interesting Report on the Galena Lead region, by Prof. J. D. Whitney, now the State Geologist of California. Prof. Whitney's Report is illustrated by a large, neatly engraved and colored map of the Lead region, on which the boundaries of the several formations, the position and bearings of lead crevices, and the general topography of the country are accurately laid down. It also contains another map on a larger scale, of the country around Galena, on which similar information is given in more detail: likewise a columnar section showing the various rocks that occur in the lead district, their thickness, composition, order of superposition, &c. As it would be impossible in a notice like this, to give an intelligible idea of the amount of statistical and scientific information contained in this Report, respecting the mode of occurrence of the ore, the methods pursued in extracting it, the processes of smelting, the yield of lead, &c., we must refer the reader to the Report itself for such details.

Chapter VI is composed of a Report by Prof. Leo Lesquereux, on the Coal fields of Illinois, giving a large amount of information respecting the structure of the Illinois Coal series, and the relations of its arious beds and outcrops to each other, and to those of Kentucky, Arkansas, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania, as determined by a careful study of the fossil plants found associated with each of these beds. From the long experience this gentleman has had in exploring the Coal-measures of the West, and his extensive knowledge of fossil Botany, it may be readily inferred that this chapter will be found full of interesting and practical information. In Chapter VII, he likewise discusses at length the mooted question respecting the origin and formation of prairies, which he thinks are due to the gradual disappearance of marshes.

The chemical Report of Dr. J. V. Z. Blany, chemist of the survey, constitutes Chapter VIII. This Report contains much valuable information, consisting of numerous analyses of coals, iron ores, &c., chiefly the former, with classifications and descriptions of the same.

The remaining portions of the volume consists of detailed county Reports as follows:-On Randolph county, St. Clair county, Madison county, Hancock county, and Hardin county, by the State Geologist. The Report on the latter county is illustrated by a neat colored map, and also includes an interesting Report on the Rosiclare Lead mines, illustrated by diagrams, plans of the different workings, &c., by Prof. J. G. Norwood of the University of Missouri. The following counties are reported upon. by Mr. Henry Engelmann, viz:-Johnson, Pulaski, Massac and Pope. These county Reports are all in great detail, and contain a large amount of practical and scientific information.

At the end of the volume, there is a copious glossary of scientific terms, followed by the index, and a neatly engraved section of the rocks seen along the Mississippi from the northern boundary of the State to Cairo.

This volume shows throughout that the survey of the State, so rich in resources, has been in the hands of an able and successful geologist. We earnestly hope that the Legislature may make the necessary appropriation this winter for a third volume, which we are informed the State geologist has in a forward state of preparation, including detailed reports of many county surveys, and other valuable information; and that nothing may prevent the onward progress of the survey to its final completion, and the publication of all the results. The publication of such reports not only advances the material interests of a State, by spreading useful information among the people, but by inviting capital, enterprise and emigration from other parts of our own country and from abroad.

2. Contributions to the Paleontology of Illinois and other Western States; by F. B. MEEK and A. H. WORTHEN, of the Illinois State Geological Survey. (Proceed. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad., July, 1866, p. 251.)-This paper contains descriptions of the following new species and genera of fossils from the Carboniferous rocks of the West :-Belemnocrinus Whitii, Synbathocrinus Wachsmuthi (type of a new subgenus Nematocrinus), Cyathocrinus Farleyi, Rhodocrinus nanus, Onychocrinus diversus, Granatocrinus Shumardi, Schonaster Wachsmuthi, Pteria (Pterinea?) Morganensis, Macrodon micronema, Platyceras lævigatum, Platyceras haliotoides, P. uncum, P. (Orthonychia) Chesterensis, P. (O.) subplicatum, P. (0.) infundibulum (=P. subrectum Hall, 1860; not P.subrectum of the same author, 1859), Metoptoma (Platyceras?) umbella, Polyphemopsis Chesterensis, Anomphalus rotulus (type of a new genus allied to Rotella), Microdoma conica (type of a new genus), Orthonema conica, Trochita? carbonaria, Pleurotomaria conoides, P. Coxana, P. spironema, P. valvatiformis, Murisonia inornata, and Nautilus (Cryptoceras) Rockfordensis. It also contains notices of two new genera of Crinoids, which are more fully described and illustrated in the second volume of the Illinois report. The first of these genera, Strotocrinus, is proposed for those greatly expanded species, such as Actinocrinus perumbrosus, A. regalis, &c., of Hall. Prof. Hall had proposed for this type the name Calathocrinus, which could not stand because von Meyer had previously applied it to another group in 1848. The other genus, Steganocrinus, is proposed for a curious group, of which Actinocrinus pentagonus of Hall is the type. This type differs from Actinocrinus, in having the rays, when found entire, greatly extended out horizontally in the form of slender, free, rigid arm-like appendages, covered all the way out by small pieces like the vault, and bearing the true arms along their lateral margins.

The authors likewise make some remarks on Onychocrinus of Lyon & Casseday, which they think most probably a good genus, though it has generally been regarded as a synonym of Forbesiocrinus; also on the genus Platyceras Conrad, which they think more nearly allied to the recent genus Capulus, than has been supposed in this country, though still generically distinct.

AM. JOUR. SCI.-SECOND SERIES, VOL. XLIII, No. 127.—JAN., 1867.