New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1861-03-06
SCIENCE, INDUSTRY AND INVENTION.


fish, as is known, become luminous on their surface
afer being for time out Of the water; and the opin>
ion has prevailed that phosphorus or compound
containing phosphorus, is the cause Of this lumnosy
Phpson has made experiments to determine the truth
OF this view. He has taken from a ray the luminous
substance, which, in the dark appears like OIL ad
heres to the Singers, sndisluminous under water well
as IN the air. 1t was put into bottle with snall
quanuty OF distilled water, in which after tweniyfour
hours ceased TO shine and emitted smell ike rotten
cheese, at the same time the color, which at fst was
whtish gray, was changed 10 q dark brown. The.
water aiso acquired the fame color and became ,urb
This solution was boiled with nitric acid in order 10 de-.
sIoy the organic matters aud convert the phosphorus
if any were present, into phosphOrc acid part Of
the clear filtered solution was then neutral1ed with
ammonia, and treated With salsnmoniac and sulphae o.
msgnesia. The other portion was. gently heated with
noybdate of ammonia. BY both Of these tests, how.
ever, NO trace Of phosphoric acid was dscoversbls.
Therefore, appears that the phenomenou Of phosphos
essence in fish, is not eaused by phosphorus any
of its compounds and further investigations have alec
convinced Phpeon that s not due 70 the presence q
luminous snilnacules Under the microscope the ha-
minous nass appears entirely anorpho, but full Of Ut.
tie round dots which closely resemble the spores Of
mushrooms or other Cryp,cgamous plants. From this
fac. Phpon ut first thought that the pbosphorescece
wss caused by luminous fungus which was for1pedon
the surface at tie instant Of the decomposition Of the
fishes Now, on the contrary he is Of the opinion that
the phenomenon is caused by unknown organic con-
pound, which has the same affinity for oxygen that
phosphorus has At the same time, it must Be remem
beTsd that the phosphorescent substance OF the nah
shines under water, while phosphorus Is only luminous
in the air.
Applications OF THE SrLPHrRIc Acip OF 6YPsvs
TO TIE FABKIcArIos OF SULPHArE OF SoDA.-When
common salt is ignited with suphste whose base 10
capable OF forming d vote Chord, such s6or'd 10
formed and may be collected by disaiion, while su
phate of soda remains in the residue.
For example sulphate Of zinc and Chord OF sodam
Oh ignition yield Chord of zinc which voatines and
sulphate of soda which is left behind. Vari1us other
sulph.tes behave in the same way
All of thsss results have hitherto remained witbont
industrial application, because the appropriate suphsie
could not be Obtained cheapy enough. Could the sui
phuris acid Of other salts. which occur in nature IN
large quantities as gypsum, uphate Of msgnesia, tbs
vitroIs &c be applied tbis purpose, and were 10
easy with such a sulphste to prepare volatile CHORD,
from which The sulphate might be again prepared, tho
problem would BE- solved.
IL will be seen from the following that the sulphais
Of lead and Chord of lead fulfill all these requirements
Clord of eodiunI or Chord If potassium, according
az we desire TO prepare salt of soda potash is s.
pited in equivalent quantities with suphate Of lead.
The mass fuses very readily becomes perfectly trans-
parent and thick white wagons Of chlorid Of lead evolve,
until tie reaction is Completed that is until all u con-
verted into suphHe Of soda and CHORD OF lead The
melted mass ID then poured ont and treated with water.
II Yields, by crysalization suphae Of soda, and an
Osolube residue of sulplate of lead, whose quantity
ncreases with the duration Of the fusion, and whh
always applied again in tie next operation
The CHORD Of lead whose vspor has been oond bsed
and collected brought into solution of gypsum or
into sea.wser whereby ,olube Chords and amos. en-
tirely solube s1Iphate Of lead, formed The SUI
phstc O! lead s thus recovered after every operation.
In the formation of sphate Of lead from the ehlord
Of Lead the hitter must be digesed with dilute soa.
ion Of the Chords concentrated solutions of she
Chords Cd potassium, sodium, magnesium and calcium
hold some lead in solution.
To prepare Chamber salts without employing free SUI
phuric acid and without important loss of lead salts
the hearth OF the furnace upon which the mas Is g.
nited should have large surface As possible and tie
lire must be so regulated tha, the stream of air passing
over the fused may quickly the vapOrs 81
the chloride, withou. reducing the temperature.
The MOVEMENTS OF PHosPHoRic ACID IN TIE
PLAsrThe ash OF young plants is always rich in phos
phoc acid After the MP. ming Of the grain the stalks
and leaves contain small quality of this substance,
fact which Saussure and Gsrseau de Lille have already
observed, but when fully ripe there is ususlly trace
of phosphorc acid in either the em root or leaves o.
the plant.
.l.e,o Il, p1a int in
with the nitrogenous principles When these dis
solved it enters ALEC into solution; when they coagu
lated it is precipitsted with them.
The innu,ritous nou-nitrogenous substances appear
TO contain no phosphorc acid Ia percarp Of certain
fuis as the almond, hszleurt, &c, no trace Of this
substance is found the ashes consist for the most part
of silica and lime. In like tho secretions Of
the plant, IS gum and mamma usually contain pbOs
phorc acid and whenever Of it nitrogen have
been found in them, they are 10 be considered as
accidental and belonging to the impurities Of tie
product.
BY truisng the roots Of young plants like the iunY
carrot beet, and washing out the pulp with water,
vegetable fiber obtained which contains pectose and
incrus,ng substances In this operation the phosphoh
acid remains with the heterogeneous material for in The
ash Of the cellular tissue which consists for the most
part OF nnca anu tnne, 40 PereePuoio qusnty vi HH
diseoverable.
The ash of dry forest leaves which have lain thOcgt
the Winter contain much silica, iron, and lime but no
phosphorc acid, while marine plants growing upon
rocks contain considerable quantity Of this subsistence
which they must mainly obtain from the water.
Corenwinder, however did not succeed in obtaining
phosphoric acid from the Of the North Sea, YET
he believes that ii exists there in combination with
ntrosenou substances produced by decsyed organsm&
Tia polsySf ilow.rs end the enOres Of the erypto-