socialis, F. M., all known as Mallee Scrub). The other oils were chiefly endowed with medicinal characteristics, including several true mints, Mentha Australis, M. gracilis, and M. grandiflora; also some related to plants of the Rue species, and one fragrant perfume distilled from the blossoms of the Pittosporum undulatum. Also a heavy oil from the bark of the Atherosperma moschatum, possessed of powerful medicinal properties.

The resins and gum-resins include several obtained from the genus Eucalyptus, which are powerfully astringent, and more or less soluble in water. Also one from the Callitris verrucosa and cupressiformis of Northern Victoria, the sandarac of commerce; one from the Xanthorrhoea australis, a balsamic resin containing benzoic acid, and resembling dragon's-blood; together with some true gums from the genus Acacia, which is well represented in the Australian colonies.

The following is a list of the oils submitted to investigation, with their vernacular names as far as known.

Eucalyptus amygdalina (Daudenong Pep- Melaleuca ericifolia (Common Tea-tree)

permint).

E oleosa (Mallee Scrub).
E. sideroxylon (Iron-bark).
E. zonicalyx (White Gum).
E. globulus (Blue Gum).
E. corymbosa (Blood-wood).
E. fabrorum (Stringy-bark).
E. fissilis (Messmate).
E. odorata (Peppermint).
E. Woolls (Woolly-butt).
E. rostrata (Red Gum).
E. viminalis (Manna Gum).
Melaleuca linariifolia.

M. curvifolia.

M. Wilsonii.

M. uncinata.

M. genistifolia.

M. squarrosa.

Atherosperma moschatum (Sassafras).
Prostanthera lasianthos.

Details of a Photolithographic Process, as adopted by the Government of Victoria, for the publication of Maps. By J. W. OSBORNE.

The author referred to his having read a paper upon this subject before the Royal Society of Victoria, in November 1859, his process having been previously patented in the Colony on the 1st of September, 1859. The process had then been adopted by the Government, and had come info active use in the Department of Lands and Survey at Melbourne. By its means many hundreds of maps had been published, of a quality and for a price which left nothing to be desired. The Victorian Government had recently erected an office, the design and arrangements of which were admirably adapted for the prosecution of this description of work. To produce a photolithographic copy with or without reduction, the original map or engraving was extended upon an upright board, and by the help of a camera placed opposite, a negative of it was taken. A sheet of paper was now prepared by coating one of its surfaces with a solution of gelatine in water, to which a certain proportion of bichromate of potash and liquid albumen had been added. The surface thus prepared, after it had dried in a dark and warm room, was sensitive to the chemical action of light, and the next operation was to expose to the sun's rays a suitable piece of it, in an ordinary pressure frame, under the negative already obtained. The positive photographic print thus produced was inked all over with lithographic re-transfer ink, and was then placed floating upon boiling water, with its inky side upwards and unwetted. After a short time the gelatine would be found to have softened and swelled under the ink, save where the light had acted, the organic matter upon such places having suffered a peculiar change. Another effect of the boiling water was to coagulate the albumen in the film. When sufficiently soaked, the superfluous ink was removed by means of a sponge, and the result was a photographic print in greasy ink; inasmuch as the latter substance adhered firmly to all the unsoftened, or, in other words, the altered parts of the gelatinous coating. It would also be found that the delineation thus obtained was upon a smooth sur

1862.

4

face of coagulated albumen. Boiling water in abundance was now poured over the paper, after which it was carefully dried. The photographic print thus produced, in consequence of the greasy ink upon the positive portions of the work, was capable of being transferred to stone by the printer, by the well-known mechanical process; and from stones thus prepared, impressions could be pulled in the lithographic press. Numerous specimens were exhibited to the Section.

On the Manufacture of Hydrocarbon Oils, Paraffin, &c., from Peat.
By B. H. PAUL, Ph.D.

The author described the results that had been obtained at some works lately erected under his direction in the island of Lewis, N.B. The peat of that locality was described as a peculiarly rich bituminous variety of mountain peat, yielding from five to ten gallons of refined oils and paraffin from the ton. The results obtained at these works were contrasted with those obtained at the works of the Irish Peat Company some years ago, where the produce of oil was not more than two gallons from the ton of peat. This difference in the produce was ascribed, in a great degree, to the improper mode of working adopted at the Irish works. One of the most important points dwelt upon was the necessity of regarding the hydrocarbon oils and paraffin as the only products that would afford a profit in working peat; and the failure of the Irish works was attributed to the attempt to obtain other products which could only be regarded as waste, and not worth working, unless the oils and paraffin were obtainable in a remunerative amount from the peat.

On the Decay and Preservation of Stone employed in Building.
By B. H. PAUL, Ph.D.

The causes and nature of the decay of building-stone were described as being both chemical and mechanical, and varying according to the nature of the stone and the conditions to which it was exposed. The various methods which have been proposed for the preservation of stone from decay were described in detail; the author considering, from a chemical point of view, that none of them presented any probability of success in effecting the desired result, and that the discovery of an efficient and practicable means of preventing the decay of stone, especially in towns, still remains to be made.

On the Artificial Formation of Populine, and on a new Class of Organic Compounds. By T. L. PHIPSON, M.B., Ph.D., F.C.S. &c.

The interesting substance populine was extracted in 1830 by Braconnot from the mother-liquors which had deposited salicine when the latter was obtained from the leaves and the bark of the pop'ar tree (Populus tremula). It was submitted to an important series of experiments by Piria in 1852, who found, among other interesting facts, that, in a variety of circumstances, populine split up into benzoic acid and salicine:

C40 H22O16+2 HO C1 H5 03, HO+ C26 H18 O1.
Populine.

Benzoic acid.

Salicine.

It occurred to me that salicine and benzoic acid might be combined so as to reproduce populine. And this I find to be the case: when equal equivalents of salicine and benzoic acid are dissolved in alcohol and the liquid evaporated to about half its bulk, magnificent acicular crystals of populine are obtained, some of which in my experiments measured nearly an inch in length. For every 100 parts of salicine must be taken 43 parts of benzoic acid. Or fo. 100 parts of salicine, 53-5 parts of benzoate of soda and a sufficient quantity of diluted sulphuric acid to saturate the soda of the benzoate; alcohol is then added, and the sulphate of soda separated by filtration. By evaporating the solution long needles of populine are obtained:

C14 H6 O4 + C26 H18 O14 = (C40 H22O16 + 2 HO).
Benzoic acid. Salicine. Crystallized populine.

The properties of the populine thus formed are precisely those of the natural

product. Its peculiar taste, acrid and sweet at the same time, reminding us of the taste of liquorice, is characteristic. With sulphuric acid it takes a red colour; distilled with bichromate of potash and sulphuric acid it yields salicylous acid. It is more soluble in water and alcohol than salicine. It is curious also to note that in this combination the salicine has lost its bitter taste, which renders it probable that populine is in reality a compound of benzoic acid, sugar, and saligenine; for, when boiled with dilute sulphuric acid, it breaks up into benzoic acid, sugar, and saliretine (saligenine minus 2 equivs. of water):

C14 H O Saligenine.
C12 H10O10 Sugar.

C14 H O Benzoic acid.

C40 H24 O18 Populine.

As soon as the sugar is set free, it takes up 4 equivs. of water and passes into grapesugar (C12H14 O1).

The molecule of populine is therefore a very complex one. And these kinds of compounds may, perhaps, be compared to the combinations of two or more salts in mineral chemistry, for instance to alum, if we compare the sulphate of alumina to the benzoic acid, the sulphate of potash to the saligenine, and the 24 equivalents of water to the sugar.

But I have also found that citric acid and tartaric acid, when taken in equivalent proportions, dissolved in water, and the solution evaporated, enter into chemical combination. It is well known that these acids crystallize in two different systems, the forms of which are incompatible, and by evaporating a mixture of them we should obtain two kinds of crystals if no combination took place. But I find that they combine and produce one kind of crystal only, namely, fong prismatic needles, and when one of these crystals is taken and analysed, it is found to be composed of citric and tartaric acids.

This combination of citric and tartaric acids is probably only one example of a new class of organic compounds, similar in some respects to populine, which remains to be studied. Already Prof. Williamson has shown that the different acetones may be made to combine so as to produce complex acetones. Thus when valerate and acetate of lime are distilled together in equivalent proportions, we obtain acetovalerone, a compound of acetone and valerone, and so on for the others. It is highly probable from what precedes that other organic acids besides benzoic acid may be made to combine with salicine; likewise that other bitter principles analogous to salicine may be combined with organic acids to produce substances similar to populine.

On the Existence of Aniline in certain Fungi which become Blue in contact with the Air, &c. By T. L. PHIPSON, M.B., Ph.D., F.C.S. &c.

Two years ago I published in Brussels a memoir upon the Boleti which become blue when cut with a knife, and upon the formation of colouring matters in fungi*. In this paper I called attention to a remarkable set of reactions occurring in nature when one substance causes atmospheric oxygen to assume the state of ozone and to act upon another substance in contact with the first, a fact originally pointed out by Prof. Schoenbein. In this paper also I endeavoured to show that the production of the blue colour observed when Boletus cyanescens, Boletus luridus, &c. are cut with a knife and exposed to the air, is owing to the existence of aniline in the sap of these fungi.

Nothing is easier than to extract the principle to which these Boleti owe their remarkable property of taking a deep, though fugitive, blue colour when their internal tissue is put in contact with the air. But it is not easy to obtain it perfectly

Sur les Bolets bleuissants: étude sur la formation de principes colorants chez plusieurs Champignons (Journal de Médecine et de Pharmacologie, Bruxelles, Mars et Avril 1860). See also Comptes Rendus de l'Acad. des Sciences,' Paris, 1860, 2ième semestre. Also my prize memoir, "La Force Catalytique: études sur les phénomènes de contact," to which the Dutch Society of Science awarded their Gold Medal, Haarlem, 1858.

pure, and very difficult to obtain it in any quantity, as its power of producing the blue colour is so great that a very minute proportion suffices to colour the entire tissue of a large Boletus. When one of these fungi is treated with ordinary alcohol, the aniline it contains is dissolved with several other matters, which, however, do not prevent the ordinary characteristic reactions of aniline. This principle appears to be present in the fungus as acetate of aniline. I have not extracted it in sufficient quantity or of sufficient purity to submit it to more than a qualitative examination; but the data which follow will, I think, sufficiently establish the point in question. I give here, in the form of a Table, the characters observed, of the principle extracted from these Boleti, together with the characters of aniline. In every case the result is identical for both :

Characters of the colouring principle of the Boletus.

1. Colourless.

2. Very slightly soluble in water. 3. Soluble in alcohol.

4. The alcoholic solution resinifies sooner or later in the air, becoming yellowish.

5. Does not become blue by ordinary atmospheric oxygen unless this oxygen is in the state of ozone.

6. Gives a deep blue colour with ozone, or nascent oxygen; this colour is ephemeral, and is sometimes greenish, passing to wine-colour or rose tint.

7. Chloride of lime or bleaching powder developes the characteristic blue or greenish blue given by aniline salts. This coloration is ephemeral, passing to a port-wine tint, and finally disappearing.

8. Turns deep yellow with hydrochloric acid.

Characters of Aniline.

1. Colourless.

2. Very slightly soluble in water.
3. Soluble in alcohol.

4. Its solution resinifies in the air and takes a yellow colour.

5. Does not become blue by ordinary atmospheric oxygen unless the latter be in the state of ozone.

6. Gives a deep blue with ozone; the colour is ephemeral, and passes to winecolour; with some salts of aniline a greenish blue is produced; others give a rose tint when exposed to the air.

7. Bleaching powder developes the characteristic blue tint (with some salts of aniline, greenish blue). The colour is ephemeral, soon passing to wine-colour, dísappearing with an excess of chlorine.

8. Turns deep yellow with hydrochloric acid.

These characters suffice, I think, to establish the identity of the principle contained in Boletus luridus and B. cyanescens with the artificial alkaloid aniline extracted from coal-tar. It is the first time that aniline has been shown to exist in nature.

The manner in which the blue colour is produced when the tissue of these Boleti is broken and exposed to the air is easily accounted for: I have shown in several of my former papers (loc. cit. p. 1) that when oxygen reacts upon organic matters in nature, it is generally in the state of ozone. The presence of some ferment in the tissue of plants, and in contact with the substance which combines with the oxygen, appears to be the cause of this remarkable modification of oxygen. Thus, when an apple is cut in two halves, the brown colour which ensues is owing to the action of ozone (as may be proved by directly applying the tests for ozone), and the ozone is produced by the influence of the ferment: for ordinary oxygen will not produce the coloration; and when the ferment is destroyed by boiling, the colour is not produced either. In the case of the Boleti, the aniline which exists in their tissue as a colourless salt, turns blue under the influence of ozone produced in contact with the ferment present in the fungus; for when this ferment is destroyed by boiling, no coloration ensues when the tissue of the fungus is broken and exposed to the air.

It is well known that some salts of aniline, when exposed for some time to the

air, take a delicate rose-colour. This accounts for the beautiful rose tint not unfrequently remarked upon the stalks of those Boleti which contain aniline.

Analysis of the Diluvial Soil of Brabant, &c., known as the Limon de la Hesbaye. By T. L. PHIPSON, M.B., Ph.D., F.C.S. &c.

The curious geological formation known as the Limon de la Hesbaye, which extends from the Seine to the Rhine, traversing Belgium from east to west, where it covers the whole of the district of Hesbaye, a great part of Brabant, Hainault, and Flanders, is exceedingly remarkable for its fertility. "It is to this deposit," says D'Omalius d'Halloy, "that we may attribute the richness of the most fertile countries of Belgium." It extends also over Picardy, stretching from the Seine to the other side of the Rhine, and is everywhere characterized by its great fertility and the excellence of the vegetable mould to which it gives birth by culture. No fossils have as yet been discovered in this deposit; it ranks among the "modern," "posttertiary," or "diluvial" formations of geologists; and there exist, on different portions of the globe, similar modern deposits equally interesting in an agricultural point of view.

I have submitted this remarkable deposit to analysis, and its composition shows that though the Limon de la Hesbaye contains upwards of 90 per cent. of pure sand, yet the chemical ingredients necessary to form a fertile soil are present in it in notable quantity; besides which, its porosity, which allows water to pass slowly through it and admits the ingress of atmospheric oxygen, is an important condition of fertility.

When pulverized and exposed to the air, the Limon de la Hesbaye dries completely, but when in mass it retains its moisture for some time. When seen in mass it is brownish yellow, becoming of a lighter colour when dry, and giving a whitish-yellow powder when pulverized. Its density is about 2.00 (water=1·00); it has a straight fracture, possessing a certain compactness, though it can be pulverized in the hands without much difficulty.

The sample analysed by me was taken in the neighbourhood of Brussels: I was careful in selecting it from the centre of a stratification about 2 yards thick, and where it had never been submitted to cultivation. The result obtained is as follows:

This composition resembles that of another deposit of Limon, equally remarkable for its fertility and the readiness with which it is converted into excellent arable land,-I allude to the celebrated tchornoizen, or black diluvial soil of the Ukraine, which has been analysed by several chemists; it extends from the Carpathian Mountains to the Urals, giving to the whole district included between these two ranges a characteristic fertility.

It is not my intention to discuss the geological origin of these deposits which are so important to agriculture, but I may state here that they are all post-tertiary formations, that they exist in several parts of the globe, and that the regions where they are present appear to be, in an agricultural sense, highly favoured by nature.