The hopes of Lebon were of short duration. Enemies and competitors caused him a thousand troubles, and the elements themselves seemed to turn against him. During a hurricane, the humble house in which he dwelt was destroyed, and a fire shortly afterward consumed a portion of his works. Fatality, like the genius of old, seemed to be following up the unfortunate inventor; but sorrows and reverses could not have any hold on this invincible spirit, who was so well seconded by a wife of lofty character. Lebon, always at work, was seemingly about to triumph over all obstacles, and the hour of the realization of his project of lighting on a large scale was near, when a death as tragic as it was mysterious snatched him from his labors. On the very day of the crowning of the emperor, December 2, 1804, the body of Philip Lebon was found lying inert and lifeless in the Champs Elysees, exhibiting thirteen deep wounds made by a dagger.—La Nature.

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A NEW PROCESS FOR THE DISTILLATION AND CONCENTRATION OF CHEMICAL LIQUIDS.

ESPECIALLY ADAPTED TO THE MANUFACTURE OF SULPHATE OF AMMONIA. INVENTOR, ALEX. ANGUS CROLL.[1].

[Footnote 1: Read at the recent meeting of the Gas Institute, Glasgow.]

BY GEORGE ANDERSON, OF LONDON.

The paper I have to lay before you describes the last product of the brain of one of your past presidents—Alexander Angus Croll—in connection with our industry. It may not be so well known to some of the younger as it is to many of the older members of the Institute that the fertile brain of Mr. Croll has done much for the improvement and the extension of the gas industry. I consider that he has been the most successful pioneer both in the cheapening and the purification of gas—two elements without which our industry would progress but slowly if at all; and the success which has crowned his efforts, to our advantage, has reflected itself favorably on himself, showing by his financial success that he has also been a good man of business. All these are conditions which enhance the value of this paper. In the present instance, I claim no other credit than that of being the mouthpiece of Mr. Croll, whose assistant I was for ten of the busiest and most important years of his eventful life; and having (with my son Bruce) taken part in the experiments, I have been asked to describe the process to the Institute.

The manufacture of sulphate of ammonia, as hitherto conducted, has consisted either in bringing together sulphuric acid and ammoniacal liquor or in distilling the liquor by external heat, or by the introduction of steam, and bringing it into contact with the acid in the form of gases and vapor of water. In either case a large volume of noxious gases is given off, the chief of which, being sulphureted hydrogen, has to be fixed by another method, in order to comply with acts of Parliament for the prevention of nuisances.

By the processes hitherto used, we sometimes get only 11/4 tons of salts to every ton of acid used; while in the more perfect forms of apparatus, we may get 1-1/3 tons of salts. By Mr. Croll's process, however, we get an increased yield of salts on the acid used, as follows: The experiments were made with sulphuric acid of the specific gravity of 1838, or nearly concentrated oil of vitriol; and the quantity used was 8 ounces in each experiment. The ammoniacal liquor was of uniform strength throughout all the experiments, being kept in a corked jar; and the solution of sulphate of ammonia was passed through filter paper before being crystallized. Thus we obtained a white salt. In each experiment the solution of sulphate was divided into four equal parts by weight, and one part filtered and crystallized to dryness over a spirit lamp; the weight in each experiment being as nearly as possible the same, or 31/4 oz. of salt to 2 oz. of acid—being in the proportion of 26 oz. of sulphate to 1 lb. of acid, or 321/2 cwt. of salts to 20 cwt. of acid.

The results surprised me; and being uniform over a number of experiments, pleased me. Still, I preserved the character of a critic and said: "I should like to treat 8 oz. of acid in the ordinary way—saturating it with ammoniacal liquor, and then crystallizing it." "Oh!" Mr. Croll said, "we know what that will produce." I replied: "Yes; but I would like to do it with the precise acid and liquor we have been using, so that we may have the experiment on all fours with yours, barring your process." These experiments were made at his country residence. I was staying there for the night. So next morning I got down before him, went at my experiment, saturated 8 oz. of acid (and a nice smell I made) out in the grounds, treated it afterward by division into four parts, filtered and crystallized it, all as before, with the result that I obtained 23/4 oz., as against his 31/2 oz.—or in the proportion of 271/2 cwt. of salt to the ton of acid, as against his 321/2 cwt.

I now thought of business. "What is the royalty to be?" I said, as we sat at breakfast. This we settled as we Scotch say "in a crack," or as an Englishman would say "in a jiffy." Mr. Croll decided to have the apparatus put up on a manufacturing scale here in Glasgow; and I determined to erect similar apparatus at one of my gas works.

I dare say that it will be uppermost in your minds, Whence comes the increased yield of salts? Well, I will state one fact, and leave you to ruminate on it, namely, by Mr. Croll's process we did not seem to produce any sulphureted hydrogen. The experiments were conducted in a room with ordinary doors and windows, but without a chimney; and we were not troubled with any offensive smell—a state of things that could not possibly have existed had we been experimenting with any other apparatus hitherto employed in the manufacture of sulphate of ammonia. The apparatus, which will presently be described, only substitutes, for the present mode of distillation, a new one, which forms the subject of Mr. Croll's patent. All other parts of present apparatus can remain as they now exist.

Mr Croll has also introduced another mode of producing sulphate of ammonia, which dispenses with all the apparatus hitherto in use after the distillatory portion, and produces the salt in a state fit for the farmer, ready to be put on the land. This process consists in sending the products of distillation through a vessel filled with wood sawdust saturated with sulphuric acid. The ammonia becomes fixed and crystallized in the sawdust, and is ready for use. There are many works, both at home and abroad, to which the conveyance of sulphuric acid is both difficult and expensive, on account of the cost of carriage and the breakage which occurs; and thus in many such works the ammonia is not utilized. This saturated sawdust process will, I think, remove the difficulty; for I find that dry sawdust absorbs double its own weight of sulphuric acid, and this could be conveyed in the most ordinary casks in a damp state, and save all waste and annoyance from breakage of bottles. In this state it could be used by the farmer, or the sulphate of ammonia could be washed out, crystallized, and exported in the state of salt.

In the remainder of this paper I have been assisted by my son Bruce, who also assisted in the experiments that I have described. He has since been engaged on the trials on a manufacturing scale; and I ask you to permit him to read the concluding portion of the paper, in which he will describe the process, and what he has done.

The process referred to in the foregoing portion of the paper is a method employed for heating the liquor, whereby a chemical action is brought into play, with the results already mentioned. This method consists in passing the products of combustion of a furnace from a clear fire in a hot state through a still containing the ammoniacal liquor. The hot gases from the furnace impart their heat to the liquor, causing the volatilization of the condensed gases, and at the same time act chemically upon the liquor and evolved gases, so that ammonia and sulphuric acid are resulting products, in the compound state of sulphate of ammonia. The formation of the ammonia produced in the process is probably due to the decomposition of nitrogenous bodies contained in solution in the liquor—the sulphocyanide, for instance; the nitrogen being given off in the form of ammonia. Of the sulphuric acid produced, we look upon the sulphureted hydrogen as the source, also any sulphites existing in the liquor, which in their volatile state take up the atom of oxygen necessary for their conversion into sulphate.



The apparatus used in working the process consists of a tower still, containing a number of superposed trays about 3 or 4 inches apart, with a lipped hole through the bottom of each at the side. The trays are so placed in the tower that the holes are at alternate sides. The liquor passes into the top of the still, and zigzags down through the series of trays, as in an ordinary Coffey still. The bottom tray differs from the rest; being much deeper, and having holes through it connecting it with the furnace, which is set immediately below it. The products of combustion of the fuel are caused to pass from the furnace up through the holes in the trays in the still, and, together with the gases evolved from the liquor, are directed into the saturator, where the sulphate of ammonia is obtained either in solution or in the crystalline state.

Where the process is at present being worked, an exhauster is used to draw the furnace gases through the still; but it might be advantageous to use a blower.

A small plant has been put in action at the gas works in Kilkenny and another on a larger scale, and differing somewhat in detail, here in Glasgow at the Alum and Ammonia Company's works, where the liquor from the Tradeston Gas Works is converted. The trials on a working scale have only been made at both places within the past ten days; and, so far, nothing has appeared against the principle, though in certain of the details of construction some alterations are being made to improve it. The extra yield of salt from a given quantity of acid obtained in the experiments has been proved in practice, as also the absorption of the sulphureted hydrogen.

The other day, while ammoniacal liquor of about 9 oz. strength was being run at the rate of 70 gallons per hour through the still, 5 feet in diameter and 10 feet high, containing seventeen trays, no smell of sulphureted hydrogen was perceptible from the waste gases from the saturator, although on applying lead paper a slight trace of this impurity was noticeable, and it may be stated that the gases were being delivered at the ground level, where there was no difficulty in testing them.

In the Glasgow apparatus we have found it advisable to enlarge the pipe leading the gases into the saturator, as the volume of these is much greater than would be the case in the ordinary method of working. Further experience will probably indicate the desirability of increasing the height of the still, which, being only 10 feet, is not more than half the height that Coffey stills are ordinarily made.

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THE ANALYSIS OF URINE.

INTRODUCTION.

Whatever may be the position of British pharmacists in comparison with those of other countries, it cannot be said that they have paid the attention to the analysis of urine which the subject has received from pharmacists on the Continent. Considering the importance of the subject, this curious neglect can only be attributed to the fact that the pharmacist in Great Britain is but slowly attaining the position of chemical expert to the physician, which his foreign confrere has so long held with credit and even distinction. In France, for example, M. Mehu, whose name is familiar to readers of this journal, is looked upon as one of the leading authorities on morbid urine and its analysis, and yet a list of goodly pharmaceutical papers shows that, as the medical analyst, he has not forgotten his connection with pure pharmacy.

There are several points about urinary analysis which entitle it to a very high position in the estimation of pharmacists. In the first place, the physician is no more likely to be fonder of the test tube than of the pestle, of analyzing urine than of compounding his own medicines. Leading men in the profession are more and more setting their faces against the dispensing doctor, and there are numbers among them who admit that they succeed no better as analysts than they do as dispensers.

Some old fashioned practitioners trouble themselves very little about their patients' urine, except, perhaps, in respect of sugar and albumen. On the other hand, numbers of leading physicians, including especially those highly educated gentlemen who cultivate a consulting practice, are in the habit of pushing urinary analysis almost to an excess. One well-known specialist of the writer's acquaintance, with an extensive West End practice, makes quantitative determinations of urea, uric acid, and total acidity, in addition to conducting other diagnostic experiments, on every occasion that he interviews his patients. By this means he has accumulated in his case books a mass of data which he considers most valuable as an aid to diagnosis, and through that to successful treatment.

Pharmacists are proverbially neat-handed, as Mr. Martindale would say, and their habit of conducting dispensing operations which involve the dexterous manipulation of very small quantities of material fit them admirably to undertake volumetric and other rapid analytical determinations. Compared with the doctor there is no doubt that in this matter the chemist is facile princeps, and from the nature of their respective occupations such could only have been expected. A few chemists throughout the country lay themselves out to save their local doctors from unwelcome test tube practice, and these almost to a man find it pay. Some charge a handsome fee to patients, and a small one when the analysis comes through the physician. Others find it to their interest to furnish medical men with qualitative reports on sugar or albumen gratuitously. Although this practice has certain obvious drawbacks, if a doctor sends his prescriptions to a chemist, the latter is often willing to gratuitously perform his chemical work. In the present article we propose to describe briefly but fully the methods which have been found of most value in practice.

PRELIMINARY OPERATIONS.

It is the practice of some physicians to direct the patient to preserve all the urine passed in twenty-four hours, and to forward this in one bottle for analysis. Others, again, merely send a small sample of "morning" and "evening" urine in separate phials, desiring only a comparative report. In the former case the volume should be accurately measured, and the quantity noted either in fluid ounces or cubic centimeters before commencing the analysis. This need not be done if small samples only are received. The color should be noted. It varies greatly, through every shade of yellow and amber to dark brown, with a tinge of green or red, if the coloring matter of bile or blood is present. Also note relative transparency or cloudiness, specific gravity, and reaction, as all these observations are useful in diagnosis. Odor is not quite so important. The specific gravity should be taken at about 60 deg. F. in an ordinary specific gravity bottle, or more conveniently by means of a good urinometer. In the latter case it is very important to have an instrument of known accuracy, many of those in the market being valueless. Urinometers of glass, though fragile, are decidedly more cleanly and less liable to get out of order than the gilded brass instruments carried in the pocket by many physicians. Mr. J.J. Hicks, of 8 Hatton Garden, E.C., manufactures a very creditable "patent urinometer" at an extremely low cost. Healthy urine has a density of from 1.015 to 1.025; but variations from this range are common.



A fair quantity of the urine, after shaking, should be placed in a tall conical glass vessel, to allow easy collection of the precipitate for subsequent, microscopical examination. If an abundant amorphous deposit of a fawn or pink—from uroerythrin—color slowly settles and is readily diffused, urates in excess can be anticipated. Their presence is proved by the readiness with which they dissolve on warming with the supernatant urine to about the temperature of the blood. No difficulty is experienced if small quantities of albumen are present, as that body is not coagulated until the temperature rises much higher. A sandy precipitate of free uric acid will not dissolve on warming the urine, and its identity can further be determined by means of the microscope, or by applying a well-known color-reaction. A grain or so is oxidized into reddish alloxan and alloxantin by carefuly evaporating with a few drops of strong nitric acid on a piece of porcelain. A little ammonia is then added, when the fine purple murexide stain will be produced.

It is always advisable to mention the reaction to test papers of all samples received. Urine is normally acid, but there are certain diseases which render fluid neutral or alkaline. The urea of acid urine on standing is changed by a putrefactive ferment into ammonic carbonate, but this decomposition in a state of health should not take place for at least twenty-four hours. Alkalies, or organic salts of alkaline metals, when taken as medicine render the urine alkaline, and the indication is then not of much moment; but if none of these causes exist, the condition is of serious diagnostic import. Where it is desired to determine the degree of acidity of the urine voided, say, by a gouty patient, a dilute volumetric solution of caustic soda should be employed, using a few drops of an alcoholic solution of phenolphthalein as an indicator, and reporting in terms of oxalic acid. The soda solution may conveniently contain the equivalent of one milligramme of recrystallized oxalic acid (H{2}C{2}O{4}.2H{2}O) in each cubic centimeter.

UREA.

Carbamide, as it is called by systematic chemists, or urea, is next to water the largest constituent of urine, and forms about one-third of its total solids. Derived from ammonic carbonate by abstracting two molecules of the elements of water, it is readily converted by putrefaction into that salt, and the urine under these circumstances becomes strongly alkaline in reaction. Earthy phosphates then fall naturally out of solution, so that the putrid fluid is always well furnished with sediment. Nitrogen that has served its purpose as muscle or other proteid leaves the animal economy chiefly in the form of urea, and its proportion in the urine, therefore, is a fair index of the activity of wasting influences.

For its determination Knop's sodic hypobromite method, on account of its convenience, is now generally preferred. The volumetric process of Liebig, which depends on the formation of an insoluble compound of urea with mercuric nitrate, possesses no advantages and is troublesome to work. The principle of the hypobromite process is simple. In a strongly alkaline solution urea is broken up by sodic hypobromite, its nitrogen being evolved in the gaseous state, and its carbon and hydrogen oxidized to carbonic anhydride and water respectively. The volume of free nitrogen obtained bears a direct ratio to the amount of urea decomposed.



Among the number of instruments which have been introduced for the purpose of conveniently measuring the evolved gas, that of Gerrard, an illustration of which we give, is one of the simplest, cheapest, and best. The ureometer tube, b, is connected at the base with a movable reservoir, c, and by means of a rubber tube passing through a cork at the top to the generating bottle, a. To use the apparatus, fill b to zero with water and have the reservoir placed so high that it contains only an inch or so of the liquid. Replace the cork with attached tube tightly in b. Now pour into the generating bottle 25 c.c. of a solution prepared by dissolving 1 part of caustic soda in 21/2 parts of distilled water, and dexterously break in the liquid a tube containing 2.2 c.c. of bromine. The tubes will be found very convenient, obviating entirely the suffocating fumes diffused in the act of measuring bromine. Allow to stand in the solution of sodic hypobromite thus prepared a test tube containing exactly 5 c.c. of the urine under examination. Cork the bottle as shown in the illustration, see that the water is at zero, and that the liquid in the reservoir is at the same level, and then allow the urine to gradually mix with the hypobromite solution. Cool the evolved gas by placing the bottle in cold water, adjust the levels of the water in the tube and reservoir (to obviate a correction for pressure), and read off the percentage of urea in terms of which the tube is graduated. Stale urine, the urea of which has largely been converted into ammonic carbonate, still yields a very fair result, that salt being also completely split up by the powerful oxidant employed. Should the urine contain albumen, it is advisable to remove it by boiling and filtering, as, although only slowly decomposed by the hypobromite solution, it communicates to the liquid such a tendency to froth that the disengagement of the nitrogen is seriously impeded. Most of those alkaloids which might possibly be present do not yield the gas when treated in this manner, and therefore may be disregarded.

SUGAR.

Glucose, so characteristic of diabetes mellitus, is not difficult of detection or estimation. The facility with which it reduces alkaline cupric, argentic, bismuthous, ferric, mercuric salts, indigo and potassic picrate and chromate solutions has been utilized for the preparation of several ready methods for its determination. Trommer's test consists in adding enough cupric sulphate to color green, then excess of alkali, and boiling. Yellow to brick-red cuprous oxide forms as a heavy precipitate if glucose is present. The organic matter of the urine prevents the precipitation of cupric hydrate on the addition of the alkali. This test is delicate and deservedly popular. Fehling's well-known solution contains sodio-potassic tartrate, which serves the purpose chiefly of retaining the copper in solution. Unfortunately, Fehling's original solution has a tendency to become hyper-sensitive if kept long, a proneness to change that is much increased on dilution. When so altered, the solution will yield a more or less copious precipitate of cuprous oxide on merely boiling, and quite independent of the presence of glucose. This decomposition is obviated by preserving the copper salt in a separate solution from the tartrate and alkali, and mixing before use. Schmiedeberg substitutes mannite and Cresswell glycerin for the Rochelle salt, in order to render the solution stable. Some prepared by the writer over twelve months ago, according to the suggestion of the latter physician, has since shown no signs of decomposition, and is now as good as it was then. For qualitative purposes the solution may be prepared thus: Dissolve 35 gm. of recrystallized cupric sulphate and 200 c.c. of pure glycerin in 100 c.c. of distilled water. Dissolve separately 80 gm. of caustic soda in 400 c.c. of water. Mix the solutions and boil for a quarter of an hour. A small amount of reduction from impurity in the glycerin takes place. Allow to stand till clear, decant, and dilute to 1,250 c.c. Ten cubic centimeters will then equal roughly 5 centigrammes of glucose. For exact quantitative determination it is necessary to standardize the solution with pure anhydrous dextrose.

To a practiced operator the indications yielded by the use of this test are of great value; but beginners are exceedingly liable to mistake its various reactions, and to report the urine as saccharine when normal traces only of sugar are present. The bismuth test of Bottger, as greatly improved by Nylander, is fairly delicate, and not so easily misread as Fehling's. A large volume of reagent being used with a comparatively small quantity of urine, the precipitate of earthy phosphates does not interfere in the least with the reaction. On boiling about 3 drachms of Nylander's solution and 20 minims of urine for a minute or two, the liquid darkens with a trace of sugar, and becomes opaque and black if the latter is present in quantity. The reagent is prepared by dissolving 494 grains of caustic soda, 247 grains of Rochelle salt, and 154 grains of subnitrate of bismuth (free from silver) in 13 fluid oz. of distilled water. It should be decanted for use from any sediment.



In those cases where the amount of glucose present is required to be determined, Dr. Pavy's ammonia cupric process distances all compeers for ease of application and delicacy of end-reaction, combined with considerable accuracy. His solution differs from that of Fehling in containing ammonia, which dissolves the cuprous oxide as soon as it is formed, yielding a colorless solution. It is only necessary, therefore, to note the moment that the blue color of the liquid is exactly discharged, in order to tell when all the copper present has been reduced. Pavy's solution is prepared as follows: Dissolve 356 grains of Rochelle salt and the same weight of caustic potash in distilled water; dissolve separately 73 grains of recrystallized cupric sulphate in more water with heat. Add the copper solution to that first prepared, and when cold add 12 fluid oz. of strong ammonia (sp. gr. 0.880), and distilled water to 40 fluid oz. The estimation is thus conducted: Dilute 10 c.c. of the ammoniated cupric solution—equivalent to 5 milligrammes of glucose—with 20 c.c. of distilled water, and place in a 6 or 8 oz. flask. Attach this by means of a cork to the nozzle of an ordinary Mohr's burette, b, preferably fitted with a glass stopcock, and filled previously with the diluted urine. The small tube, c, which traverses the cork is intended to permit the escape of steam. Now raise the blue liquid in the flask to active ebullition—not too violent—by the aid of a spirit lamp or small Bunsen flame. Turn the stopcock in order to allow the urine to flow into the boiling solution at the rate of about 100 drops per minute (not more or much less) until the azure tint is exactly discharged. Then stop the flow, and note the number of cubic centimeters used. That amount of dilute urine will contain 5 milligrammes of glucose. To render the determination as accurate as possible, the urine should be diluted to such an extent that not less than 4 or more than 7 c.c. are required to decolorize the solution, and the proportions necessary will be found to vary from 1 part of urine in 21/2 to 1 in 30 or 40. The subsequent calculation is very simple. If you wish to give the percentage of sugar, multiply 0.005 by 100, and divide the product by the number of cubic centimeters of dilute urine employed. The figure thus obtained, multiplied by the extent of dilution—i.e., if there is 1 of urine in 10, multiply by 10—gives the required percentage. The number of grains per fluid ounce can of course be obtained by multiplying the percentage by 4.375. To observe easily the exact end-reaction a piece of white paper should be placed behind the flask. If the analyst objects to the escape of the waste ammoniacal fumes, they may be conducted by a suitable arrangement into water or dilute acid. In addition to glucose there are small quantities of other copper-reducing bodies present in all urine, which always render the reading higher than strict accuracy would demand. Their aggregate proportion, however, is, comparatively speaking, so minute that for most medical purposes their presence may be disregarded. Greater care must be exercised, though, in those instances where such a deoxidizer as chloral hydrate is accidentally present. In case of doubt, a little washed and pressed yeast should be allowed to stand with the urine for a day or two in a warm place. Alcoholic fermentation with evolution of carbonic acid gas soon sets in, and the specific gravity of the liquid is lowered considerably. This reaction points conclusively to the presence of sugar.

Based upon Braun's potassic picrate test, Dr. G. Johnson has devised a colorimetric process for the estimation of sugar. On boiling an alkaline solution of that salt with glucose, the former is reduced to deep red-brown picramate, the color of the liquid, of course, varying in intensity according to the proportion of sugar present. This solution is diluted till it corresponds in tint with a ferric acetate standard, and the percentage of sugar is then readily calculated. For those who prefer this process the convenient apparatus manufactured by Mr. Cetti, of 36 Brooke street, Holborn, is recommended, who will also furnish full particulars of the test.

ALBUMEN.

Normal urine is free from coagulable proteids, though it is admitted that albumen may sometimes occur in the absence of disease. It is always highly important, therefore, to determine accurately the presence or absence of this body. In the relentless malady named after Richard Bright, the urine always contains albumen, and if accompanied by the "casts" of the uriniferous tubules your report may amount to a sentence of certain death. The tests which we now describe are accurate and easily applied; but reliance should never be placed on any single reaction—at any rate until the operator has acquired considerable experience.

Galippe's picric acid test has within the last few years attracted much attention, chiefly through the commendation it has received from Dr. George Johnson. A saturated solution is prepared by dissolving 140 grains of recrystallized picric acid (carbazotic acid, or, more correctly, trinitrophenol) in 1 pint of water with heat, and decanting the clear solution. Some of the urine is rendered perfectly bright by filtration—repeated, if necessary—through good filtering paper, and to this an equal volume of the picric acid solution is added. In the presence of albumen a more or less distinct haze is produced, which on heating to the boiling point is rather intensified than otherwise. Peptones, if present, yield a similar haze, and quinine or other alkaloid a more or less crystalline precipitate; but in both these cases the opalescence is completely dissipated by heat. Mucin, an important constituent of some urines, is not affected by picric acid, and the test is decidedly one of great value.

The nitric acid test. Heller's contact method, which can also be used with the last-described reagent, is the best mode of applying the old-fashioned and favorite test with nitric acid. To 5 volumes of a filtered saturated solution of magnesic sulphate, prepared by dissolving 10 parts of the salt in 13 parts of distilled water, add 1 volume of strong nitric acid, and label "Sir W. Roberts' nitric acid reagent." A couple of drachms of bright filtered urine is allowed to float on an equal quantity of this solution in a test tube; care being taken that the contact line is sharply defined. In a period of time varying from a few seconds to a quarter of an hour, according to the amount of albumen present, a delicate opalescent zone forms at the point of junction, and if mucin also is present, a more diffused haze higher up in the urine. Special attention should be given to the position of the opacity. In some concentrated urines a belt of urates will appear at the line of demarkation; but these dissolve on warming. Moreover, owing to the dilution necessary in the mode of applying Galippe's picric acid test, they are not so readily shown by the latter. A 1/2 oz. glass syringe can very conveniently be substituted for a test tube in making analyses according to Heller's method. Some of the urine should be drawn up, and then an equal volume of the reagent. On setting aside, the albumen ring will rapidly develop.

The boiling test. This method also is very delicate and valuable. It depends on the well-known property possessed by many proteids of coagulating under the influence of heat. The urine should have an acid reaction to test paper; if alkaline, it must be cautiously neutralized with dilute acetic acid. In either case a single drop of strong acetic acid should be added to about three drachms of the bright liquid. If this precaution is omitted, there is danger of precipitating earthy phosphates on heating; and should a great excess of acid be employed, a non-coagulable form of albumen known as syntonin is formed, besides increasing the likelihood of precipitating mucin. Place the prepared urine in a narrow test-tube and hold it in a small flame so that the upper part only of the liquid approaches the boiling point. By this means very small traces of albumen are easily observed, the opalescence produced contrasting strongly with the cold and clear fluid beneath.

The ferrocyanide test. Hydroferrocyanic acid yields a precipitate immediately in the presence of much albumen, and if traces only are present, in the course of a few minutes. To apply the test, strongly acidulate with acetic acid, and then add a few drops of recently prepared potassic ferrocyanide solution. This is one of the most delicate tests known.

It is often desirable that the percentage of albumen present should be determined at frequent intervals, in order to note the success or otherwise of the physician's treatment. These quantitative determinations, being intended only for comparative purposes, do not demand any very excessive degree of accuracy, such as would be difficult to obtain in ordinary practice. The recent method of a Continental worker. Dr. Esbach, affords indications sufficiently precise for therapeutical requirements, and is at the same time extremely easy of application. The filtered acid urine is poured into the glass tube up to the mark U, and then the special reagent is added till the level of the liquid stands at R.



Mix the liquids thoroughly, without shaking, by reversing the tube a dozen times, close with a cork, and allow it to stand upright for twenty-four hours. The height at which the coagulum then stands, read off on the scale, will indicate the number of parts per thousand, or grammes of albumen in one liter. This divided by ten gives the percentage. Dr. Esbach's test solution is prepared by dissolving 10 grammes of picric acid and 20 grammes of citric acid in 900 c.c. of boiling distilled water, and then adding, when cold, sufficient water to yield 1 liter. The citric acid is only employed for the purpose of maintaining the acidity of the liquid, and is really not essential.

URIC OR LITHIC ACID.

The determination of the proportion of uric acid in urine was formerly rather neglected by physicians. There is now, however, a growing tendency in a certain class of diseases to attach considerable importance to its accurate estimation, and, as some little trouble is involved, pharmacists should be prepared to undertake the work. A rough way is to concentrate somewhat, acidulate with hydrochloric acid, and collect and weigh the precipitate thrown down on standing. There are several objections, however, to this method, and many attempts have been made to elaborate a more reliable process. One of the most recent, and which has been pronounced the most practical and successful, has been devised by Professor Haycraft. Although apparently rather detailed and elaborate, the determination is easy and extremely simple.

The following solutions must be prepared: 1. Dissolve 5 grammes of nitrate of silver in 100 c.c. of distilled water, and add ammonia until the precipitate first formed redissolves. 2. Dilute strong nitric acid with about two volumes of distilled water; boil, to destroy the lower oxides of nitrogen, and preserve in the dark. 3. Dissolve about 8 grammes of ammonic thiocyanate (sulphocyanide) crystals in a liter of water, and adjust to decinormal argentic nitrate solution, by diluting till one volume is exactly equal to a volume of the latter. Dilute the solution thus prepared with nine volumes of distilled water, and label "Centinormal ammonic-thiocyanate solution." 4. A saturated solution of ferric alum. 5. Strong solution of ammonia (sp. gr. 0.880). The uric acid estimation is conducted as follows: Place 25 per cent. of urine in a beaker with 1 gramme of sodic bicarbonate. Add 2 or 3 c.c. of strong ammonia, and then 1 or 2 c.c. of the ammoniated silver solution. If, on allowing the precipitate caused by the latter reagent to subside, a further precipitate is produced by the addition of more solution, the urine contains an iodide, and silver solution must be added till there is an excess. The gelatinous urate must now be collected, the following special procedure being necessary: Prepare an asbestos filter by filling a 4 oz. glass funnel to about one-third with broken glass, and covering this with a bed of asbestos to about a quarter of an inch deep. This is best managed by shaking the latter in a flask with water until the fibers are thoroughly separated, and then pouring the emulsion so made in separate portions on to the broken glass. On account of the nature of the precipitate and of the filter, it is necessary to use a Sprengel pump, in order to suck the liquid through. The small apparatus sold to students by chemical instrument makers will answer the purpose admirably. Having collected the precipitate of silver urate on the prepared filter, wash it repeatedly with distilled water, until the washings cease to become opalescent with a soluble chloride. Now dissolve the pure urate by washing it through the filter with a few cubic centimeters of the special nitric acid. The process is carried out thus: Add to the liquid in the beaker a few drops of the ferric-alum solution to act as an indicator, and from a burette carefully drop in centinormal ammonic thiocyanate until a permanent red coloration of ferric thiocyanate barely appears. The number of cubic centimeters used of the thiocyanate solution multiplied by 0.00168 gives the amount of uric acid in the 25 c.c. One milligramme may be added to compensate for loss, and the whole multiplied by four gives the percentage of uric acid in the urine. The whole process depends on the fact that argentic urate fails to dissolve in ammonia, but is soluble in nitric acid, and is thus easily obtained in the pure state. By determining the amount of combined silver, the percentage of uric acid can readily be calculated. The addition of sodic bicarbonate prevents the otherwise inevitable reduction of the silver salt.

BILE.

In diseases affecting the liver, the urine frequently becomes contaminated with biliary constituents. If the coloring matter of bile is present (bilirubin, etc.), the liquid is darkened considerably in tint, and may assume various shades of brown or green. Should the color be decided, the fluid will be found to foam strongly on shaking, and white blotting-paper will be stained by it yellow or greenish. These characters point to the presence of bile in fair quantity, and it is only necessary to apply a single confirmatory test. Allow some of the urine to flow carefully, according to Heller's method, over a couple of drachms of yellow nitric acid (i.e., acid containing traces of the lower oxides of nitrogen). A number of rapidly changing colors soon appear, passing through green, blue, violet, and red to yellow. The first of these tints, green, is the only one that undoubtedly points to the presence of biliary coloring matter, all the others being yielded by another constituent of urine, indican, when similarly treated. Should the color of the urine suggest the presence of only traces of bile, the best plan is not to treat the urine directly, but extract a quantity of it by shaking with chloroform. On separating the latter, and covering with yellowish nitric acid, the color changes will be observed penetrating into the chloroform. A little, also, evaporated on a slide yields reddish crystals, which exhibit a pretty play of colors under the microscope when touched with nitric acid.

It is not unfrequently considered important to test urine for the sodium salts of the conjugate biliary acids, taurocholic and glycocholic. Dr. Oliver, of Harrogate, has proposed the use of an acidulated peptone solution for this purpose, and the reaction is undoubtedly a good one. The reagent is prepared by dissolving 30 grains of flesh peptone, 4 grains of salicylic acid, and 30 minims of strong acetic acid, in sufficient water to produce 8 fluid oz. of solution. Thus prepared, the peptone shows no signs of decomposition on keeping. To use the test, mix 1 fluid drachm of the reagent with 20 minims of urine, previously diluted to a standard specific gravity of 1.003. A haze is produced, which will be found to be more or less distinct, according to the proportion of bile salts present.

CHLORIDES.

A normal and variable constituent of urine, chlorine, is not usually required to be determined. Should the estimation be considered necessary, however, Volhard's silver process, which has been noticed in treating of uric acid, possesses several advantages over other methods: 10 c.c. of urine are diluted with 60 c.c. of distilled water. To this is added 2 c.c. of pure 70 percent. nitric acid and 15 c.c. of a standard solution of silver nitrate (1 c.c. = 0.01 gramme NaCl). Shake well and make up to 100 c.c. with water. All the chlorine present will now be precipitated in the liquid as a silver salt. Filter an aliquot part (about 70 or 80 c.c.), and determine in the clear solution the excess of silver with standard ammonic thiocyanate, using the ferric alum indicator. The difference between this and the amount of silver originally present in the aliquot part has been precipitated as silver chloride (AgCl). The whole estimation should be conducted as rapidly as possible. A simple calculation will then give the proportion of chlorine in the dilute urine, and this multiplied by ten shows the percentage. It is usual to report in terms of NaCl.

PHOSPHATES.

In those cases where the pharmacist is asked to determine phosphoric acid quantitatively, the uranic-acetate method described in Sutton's "Volumetric Analysis" yields the most satisfactory results. The process requires some little experience to use it with ease, and is too lengthy for quotation here.

MICROSCOPICAL EXAMINATION.

A good microscope is one of the first necessaries of the urinary analyst. By its aid it is possible to distinguish easily many solid constituents of urine—normal and pathological; indeed, the examination of urinary deposits is often quite as important as the more elaborate wet analysis. A well-made instrument is no luxury to the pharmacist; but even those whose chief aim is bon marche can procure capital students' microscopes at exceedingly low cost. One of the cheapest, and at the same time an instrument of good quality, is the "Star," manufactured by Messrs. R. & J. Beck, of 31 Cornhill, E.C.

Equipped with a good microscope, the analyst should obtain a fair supply of typical slides for comparison. The following selection will be found sufficient for his purpose: A set of the chief varieties of uric acid, calcic oxalate, and triple phosphate; the urates and oxalurates; urea nitrate, calcic hippurate and carbonate, hippuric acid, cystin, well mounted "casts" of the tubili uriniferi, spermatozoa, etc. In doubtful cases microchemical reagents can be employed, using Professor Attfield's "Chemistry" as a guide. Where mounted objects are not at hand, reference may be made to the capitally executed plates in that work. After obtaining a little experience in the use of the microscope, no difficulty will be met with in these examinations.—The Chemist and Druggist.

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LIQUID AND GASEOUS RINGS.

All who have learned a little of chemistry doubtless remember the experiment with vortex rings produced by phosphorus trihydride mixed with a little phosphide of hydrogen. As this curious phenomenon evidently does not depend upon the peculiar properties of this gas, I have been trying for some time to reproduce it by means of tobacco smoke, and even with chemical precipitates, which are, in a way, liquid smoke. After a few tentatives made at different times, my experiment succeeded perfectly. The following is, in brief, the mode of operating:

Take up a little hydrochloric acid in a pipette and put a few drops of it into a very dilute solution of nitrate of mercury, and you will obtain rings of mercurial chloride that will, in their descent, take on the same whirling motion that characterizes the aureolas of phosphureted hydrogen.

The drops of acid should be allowed to fall slowly, and from a feeble height, to the surface of the liquid contained in the vessel. It is unnecessary to say that the result may be obtained through the use of other solutions, provided that a precipitate is produced that is not very thick, for in the latter case the rings do not form. If need be, we may have recourse to milk, and carefully pour a few drops of it into a glass of water.



As regards smoke rings, it is easy to produce these by puffing cigar smoke through a tube (Fig. 1). But, in order to insure success, a few precautions are necessary. The least current of air must be avoided, and this requires the closing of the windows and doors. Moreover, in order to interrupt the ascending currents that are formed in proximity to the body, the operation should be performed over a table, as shown in the figure. The rings that pass beyond the table are not perceptibly influenced by currents of hot air. A tube 3/4 inch in diameter, made by rolling up a sheet of common letter paper, suffices for making very beautiful rings of one inch or more in diameter. In order to observe the rings well, it is well to project them toward the darkest part of the room, or toward the black table, if the operator is seated. The first puffs will not produce any rings if the tube has not previously been filled with smoke. The whirling motion is perfectly visible on the exit of the ring from the tube, and even far beyond.



As for the aspect of the rings projected with more or less velocity to different distances from the tube, Figs. 2, 3, and 4 give quite a clear idea of that. Figs. 3 and 6 show the mode of destruction of the rings when the air is still. There are always filaments of smoke that fall after being preceded by a sort of cup. These capricious forms of smoke, in spreading through a calm atmosphere, are especially very apparent when the rays of the sun enter the room. Very similar ones may be obtained in a liquid whose transparency is interfered with by producing a precipitate or rings in it.—La Nature.



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SHALL WE HAVE A NATIONAL HORSE?

To the Editor of SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT:

In your issue for August 13 is "A Proposition for a Government Breeding Farm for Cavalry Horses," by Lieutenant S.C. Robertson U.S.A., First Cavalry. The article is national in conception, deep in careful thought, which only gift, with practical experience with ability, could so ably put before the people. As a business proposition, it is creditable to an officer in the United States army.

The husbandman and agriculturist, also the navy and scientific explorations, each in turn present their wants before the government for help in some way, and receive assistance. The seaman wants new and improved or better ships, and the navy gets them; but the poor cavalryman must put up with any kind of a craft he can get; the horse is the cavalryman's ship—war vessel on land.

The appeal of Lieut. Robertson to our government for better horses is reasonable; and he tries to help the government with a carefully studied business proposition through which to enable our government to grant the supplication of the army. That Lieut. Robertson loves a horse, and knows what a good one is, no man can dispute who has read his article; but as to how it can best be produced, he does not know. While I for one applaud both his article and his earnestness, with your permission I will make some suggestions as to the breeding side of his proposition. The business portion will, of course, come under the ordnance department in any event.

As for a government breeding establishment for any kind of livestock in this great agricultural country, I feel that such would be at variance with the interests of husbandry in America.

The breeding of horses is particularly an important branch of agriculture, and the farmers should be assisted by the government in the improvement of their horses, until they are raised to a standard which in case of emergency could supply the army at a moment's notice with the best horses in the world at the least possible expense.

Our government Agricultural Bureau is constantly spending thousands of dollars to help the agriculturist in matter of better and greater varieties of improved seeds and the better way for cultivation. Now, the seed of animal life is as important as in vegetable life to the interest and welfare of the husbandman, which also means the government. For the government to become a monopolist of any important branch in agriculture is not in harmony with the principles of our republican-democratic form of government. While advocating a protective tariff against outside depreciation of home industries, our government should not in any way approach monarchical intrusion upon the industries of its husbandmen. Our government cannot afford to make its agriculturists competitors in so important a matter to them (the farmers) as in the raising of horses; but the government can see to it that the husbandman has a standard for excellence in the breeding of horses which shall be recognized as a national standard the civilized world over. Then, by that standard, and through our superior advantages over any other civilized nation in the vast extent of cheap and good grass lands, with abundance of pure water, and with all temperatures of climate, we can grow, as a people, the best horses in the world, to be known as the National Horse of America. Our government must have a blood standard for the breeding of horses, by which our horses can be bred and raised true to a type, able to reproduce itself in any country to which we may export them; and the types can be several, as our territory is so great and demands so varied, but blood and breeding must be the standard for each type. Our fancy breeders have a standard now, called a "time standard," which is purely a gambling standard, demoralizing in all its tendencies to both man and beast. With this the government need have nothing to do, for it will die out of itself as the masses learn more of it, and especially would it cease to be, once the government established a blood standard for the breeding of all horses, and particularly a National Horse.

When the cereal crops of our country are light, or the prices fall below profitable production, the farmer has always a colt or two to sell, thus helping him through the year. In place of constantly importing horses from France, England, and Scotland, where they are raised mostly in paddocks, and paying out annually millions of dollars, it is our duty to be exporting.

As an American I am ashamed when I see paraded at our county or state fairs stallions and mares wearing the "blue ribbon" of superexcellence, with boastful exclamation by the owner of "a thoroughbred imported Percheron, or a thoroughbred imported French coacher, or a thoroughbred imported Scotch Clyde, or a thoroughbred imported English coacher, or a thoroughbred imported English Shire, or a thoroughbred imported English Cleveland Bay!"

The American farmer and his boys look on aghast at the majesty and beauty of these prize winners over our big-headed, crowbar-necked, limp-tailed, peeked-quartered horses called "standard bred!" What standard? "Time standard," as created by a man who is neither a horseman nor a breeder; but because of the lack of intelligent information and want of courage upon the part of a few, this man's ipse dixit has become law for the American breeders until such time as cultured intelligence shall cause them to rebel. It soon will.

It is indeed time for the government to step in and regulate our horse breeding. Of all the national industries there is none of more importance than that of horses. More so in America than in any other country, because our facilities are greater, and results can be greater under proper regulation. Lieut. Robertson has proved to be the right man in the right place, to open the door for glorious results to our nation. No one man or a small body of men can regulate this horse-breeding industry, but as in France, Russia, and England, the government must place its hand and voice.

We are indeed an infant country, but have grown to an age where parental restraint must be used now, if ever. We have millions of farmers in America, breeding annually millions of horses; and except we have another internal war, our horses will soon become a burden and a pest.

There are numbers of rich men throughout the country breeding fancy horses, for sport and speculation, but they only add to the increasing burden of useless animals, except for gambling purposes; for they are neither work horses, coach horses, nor saddle horses. Our farmers of the land are the breeders, as our recent war of the rebellion testified. The war of 1812, the Mexican war of 1847, and the war of 1861 each called for horses at a moment's notice, and our farmers supplied them, destroying foundation bloods for recuperation. From 1861 to 1863 the noble patriotism of our farmers caused them to vie with each other as to who should give the best and least money to help the government; and cannot our government now do something for the strength and sinew of the land, the farmers?

I was dealing in horses, more or less, from 1861 to 1863 (as I had been before and long after), and many was the magnificent horse I saw led out by the farmer for the government, at a minimum price, when, previous to 1861, $400, $500, and even $600 was refused for the same animals. Horses that would prove a headlight to any gentleman's coach in the city, and others that would trot off fourteen to sixteen miles an hour on the road as easy as they would eat their oats, went into the cavalry or artillery or to baggage trains. What were left for recuperation at the close of the war were mongrels from Canada or the Indian and wild lands of the West, and such other lazy brutes as our good farmers would not impose upon the government with or later were condemned by the army buyers. These were largely of the Abdallah type of horse, noted for coarseness, homeliness, also soft and lazy constitutions. No one disputes the brute homeliness of the Abdallah horse, and in this the old and trite saying of "Like begets like" is exemplified in descendants, with which our country is flooded. The speed element of which we boast was left in our mares of Arabian blood through Clay and Morgan, but was so limited in numbers as to be an apology for our present time standard in the breeding of fancy horses. Knowing that Abdallah blood produced no speed, and being largely ignorant as to the breeding of our mares, which were greatly scattered over the land after the war, some kind of a guess had to be made as to the possibility of the colts we were breeding, hence the time standard fallacy. But it has ruined enough men, and gone far enough.

Upon Lieutenant Robertson's proposition, a turn can be made, and a solid base for blood with breeding of all American horses can be demanded by the government for the country's good.

From the earliest history of man, as a people increased in wealth, they gave attention to mental culture with refinement; following which the horse was cultivated to a high blood standard with national pride. From the Egyptians, the Moors, the Romans, and Britons to France, Russia, and Prussia we look, finding the horse by each nation had been a national pride—each nation resorting to the same primitive blood from which to create its type, and that primitive was the Arabian. Scientists have theorized, men have written, and boys have imagined in print, as to some other than the Arabian from which to create a type of horse, and yet through all ages we find that Arabian has been the one stepping stone for each advanced nation upon which blood to build its national horse.

Scientists have reasoned and explored, trying to prove to the contrary, but what have they proved? The Arabian horse still remains the fact.

The lion, the tiger, the leopard, still remain the same, as does the ass and the zebra. As God created and man named them, with all animal life, subject to the will of man, so do they all continue to remain and reproduce, each true to its type, free from imperfections or disease; also the same in vegetable and mineral life. In animal life, the build, form, color, size, and instincts remain the same, true to its blood from the first, and yet all was created for man through which to amuse him and make him work.

It is a fact that all of man's creations from any primitive life, either animal or vegetable, will degenerate and cease to be, while of God's perfect creations, all continue the same.

We will condense on the horse. The Arabian is the most pliable in its blood of any other known to man. From it, any other type can be created. Once a type has been created, it must be sustained in itself by close breeding, which can be continued for quite a number of years without degeneracy. For invigoration or revitalizing, resort must be made to its primitive blood cause. To go out of the family to colder or even warmer creations of man means greater mongrelization of both blood and instinct, also to invite new diseases.

Nothing is more infatuating than the breeding of horses. A gifted practical student in the laws of animal life may create a new and fixed type of horse, but it can be as quickly destroyed by the multitude, through ignorant mongrelization.

In the breeding of horses, our people are wild; and in no industry can our government do more good than in making laws relating to their breeding. It can father the production of a national horse without owning a breeding farm. It can make blood and breeding a standard for different types, and see to it that its laws are obeyed, thus benefiting all the agriculturists, and have breeding farms in America; and also itself as a government, financially. We must not however begin upon the creation of other nations, but independently upon God's gift to man, as did England, France, and Russia. That a government should interfere in the breeding of horses is no new thing. The Arabs of the desert boast to this day of King Solomon's stud of horses; but in each and every instance where a nation has regulated and encouraged the breeding of the horse to a high standard of excellence, they have all begun at the primitive, or Arabian. Thus England in boasting of her thoroughbred race horse admits it to be of Arabian origin. Russia in boasting of her Orloff trotting and saddle horse tells you it is of Arabian origin. France boldly informs you that her Percheron is but an enlarged Arabian, and offers annual special premiums to such as revitalize it with fresh Arabian blood.

After the war of 1812 our forefathers imported many Arabian stallions to recuperate the blood of their remnants in horses. From 1830 such prominent men as Andrew Jackson and Henry Clay said all they could by private letter and public speech to encourage the importation of and breeding freely to the Arabian horse, and specially did the State of Kentucky follow the advice of Henry Clay, so that from 1830 up to 1857 Kentucky had more Arabian stallions in her little district than the combined States of the Union. Kentucky has had a prestige in her mares since the war, and it comes in the larger amount of Arabian blood influence she has had in them, than could be found elsewhere. Kentucky is shut in, as it were, and retaining her mares largely impregnated with Arabian blood, all that was necessary for them to do was to get trotting-bred stallions from New York State, then eclipse all other States in the produce. While I cheerfully award to Kentucky all credit due to it, I am not willing that Lieut. Robertson should make his base for government breeding establishment sectional, nor would I submit to England through Kentucky. I am too American for that.

For cavalry purposes, the Prussian horse is the best in the world, and is also Arabian in its closest foundation.

To get at this blood question more definitely, let us inquire into these different recognized self-producing national types of horses abroad.

First is the English thoroughbred race horse, which is simply an improved Arab. The functions of this English national horse are but twofold—to run races and to beget himself, after which he ceases to be of value. He is not a producer of any other type of value; to breed him out of his family is mongrelism and degeneracy, so we don't want him, even though we could humiliate our American pride through our loved State of Kentucky.

Count Orloff of Russia was a great horseman, exceedingly fond of horseback riding independent of the chase. He tried in 1800 to breed a satisfactory horse from the English thoroughbred race horse, but went from bad to worse until he resorted to the ever-pliant blood of the Arabian. He sent to Egypt and secured a thoroughbred Arabian stallion, paying $8,000 for him (in our money). This horse he bred to Danish mares, largely of Arabian blood, and created a very stout, short-backed horse, standing from 151/2 to 153/4 and 16 hands high, of great trotting speed, also able to run to weight, and with good disposition, which the English thoroughbred did not have. This type he continued to close-breed, going back to the Arabian for renewed stoutness. At his death, his estates passed to his daughter, who continued her father's breedings until the Russian government purchased the entire collection, about 1846, since when the Russian government Orloff trotting and saddle horse has become famous the world over as a first-class saddle, cavalry, stage coach, and trotting horse combined. They are broken at three years of age, and scarce any that cannot beat 2:30 at trotting speed, and from that down to 2:15 in their crude way of hitching and driving. This is something for American breeders to think very interestedly upon.

France wanted heavy draught horses, also proud coach horses; so rather than go to any competing nation for their created types, her enterprising subjects took the same Arabian blood, and from it created the beautiful Percheron, also French coach horses, so greatly valued and admired the world over, and which the gifted and immortal Rosa Bonheur has so happily reproduced upon canvas. Can America show any kind of a horse to tempt her brush?

With regard to a foundation for a government or national horse, I am certain so gifted and able United States officer as Mr. S.C. Robertson did not know that it was unnecessary to go to England for the blood of their national horse, even though we smuggled it through Kentucky or any other of our States. Again, it would be impossible to produce any type of a horse from the English thoroughbred, except a dunghill, and Mr. Robertson would not have his government breed national dunghills!

I love England as our mother country, but am an American, born and dyed in the wool to our independence, from the "Declaration."

Now let us see what England says of her thoroughbred: "He is no longer to be relied upon for fulfilling his twofold functions as a racer and reproducer of himself. He is degenerating in stoutness and speed. As a sire he has acquired faults of constitution and temper which, while leaving him the best we have, is not the best we should aspire to have. His stoutness and speed are distinctly Arabian qualities, to which we must resort for fresh and pure blood." We have shown that the Englishman says "his thoroughbred is full of radical and growing defects in wind, tendons, feet, and temper, and that his twofold functions are to run races and reproduce himself, which are the end of his purpose." Does our government want breeding farms upon which to nurse these admitted "defects," including the "confirmed roarer," for cavalry horses? I quote again: "Those who have had most to do with him are ready to admit that he no longer possesses the soundness, stoutness, speed, courage, and beauty he inherited from his Arabian parentage. As a sire for half-bred stock, he may do for those who will use him, but we must resort to the Arabian if we would revitalize and sustain our thoroughbred race horse."

In the face of these statements, in print abroad, would Lieut. Robertson make the base for our proposed national horse that of the English thoroughbred, scattering the weeds from such imperfect breedings among the farmers of our land?

I am writing as an old horseman and breeder, and not as a newspaper man or young enthusiast, although the enthusiasm of youth is still in me, for which I am thankful.

This question of horse breeding I have been deeply interested in for forty years past. Let me quote to the reader from one of many letters I have received from Sir Wilfrid Seawen Blunt during the past seven years. His practical knowledge of the English thoroughbred race horse and his blood cause, the Arabian, is the equal if not superior to any other one man of this present age.

With his wife, Lady Anne, he dwelt with the different tribes of the desert, studying the Arabs as a people, in their customs and habits, also traditions with beliefs. In matter of their horses, Mr. Blunt made a special study, while Lady Anne put her diaries in book form after her return, and which book should be owned by every cultured and educated lady in America. After spending a year in Arabia, traveling both sides of the Euphrates and through Mesopotamia, as no other Anglo-Saxons have been known to do, living with the different Bedouin tribes of the desert as they lived, Mr. Blunt and his wife, Lady Anne, came out with sixteen of the choicest bred mares to be found, also two stallions, the mares mostly with foal. These were placed upon their estates, "Crabbet Park," to continue inbreeding as upon the desert, pure to its blood. As this question in itself will make a long and interesting article, I will avoid it at present, quoting to the reader from one of my old letters:

"CRABBET PARK, SUSSEX, ENGLAND.

"Dear Sir: Political matters have prevented an earlier reply to your last.

"I am well satisfied with my present results, and shall not abandon what I have undertaken. The practical merits of Arabian blood are well understood by us.

"Our sale of young stock maintains itself in good prices in spite of bad times; indeed, my average within the past two years has risen from L84 to L102 on the pure-breds sold as yearlings, and we receive the most flattering and satisfactory accounts from purchasers, although it is known that I retain the best of each year's produce, and so have greatly improved my breeding stock.

"You speak of the opinions of the press as against you. The sporting press are not breeders, but are the mouthpiece of prejudices. We have had them somewhat against us, but they now view things in more friendly tone.

"For immediate use in running races (in which the sporting press are chiefly interested), the Arabian in his undeveloped state and under size will not compete with the English race horse. This fact has caused racing men to doubt his other many and more important merits; indeed, it is only those who have had personal experience of him that as yet acknowledge them.

"The strong points in the Arabian are many:

"First, his undoubted soundness in constitution, in wind, limb, and feet. It will be noticed that the Englishman must have soundness in wind, limb, and feet, showing that their thoroughbred is the thorn in that particular. The Arabian has also wonderful intelligence, great beauty, and good disposition, with an almost affectionate desire to adapt himself to your wishes.

"In breeding, I have found the pure-breds delicate during the first few weeks after birth, and have lost a good many, especially those foaled early in the year; yet it is a remarkable fact that during the eight years of my breeding them, I have had no serious illness in the stables; once over the dangerous age, they seem to have excellent constitutions, and are always sound in wind, limb, and feet.

"Second, they are nearly all good natural and fast walkers, also fast trotters; and from the soundness of their feet are especially fitted for fast road work, being able to do almost any number of miles without fatigue.

"Third, they are nearly all good natural jumpers, and I have not had a single instance of a colt that would not go across country well to hounds.

"They are very bold fencers, requiring neither whip nor spur. They carry weight well, making bold and easy jumps where other larger horses fail.

"Fourth, they have naturally good mouths, and good tempers, with free and easy paces; so that one who has accustomed himself to riding a pure-bred Arabian will hardly go back, if he can help it, to any other sort of horse.

"There is all the difference in riding the Arabian and the ordinary English hunter or half-bred that there is in riding in a well-hung gig or a cart without springs.

"Fifth. As sires for half-bred stock, the Arabian may not be better than a first-class English thoroughbred, but is certainly better than a second-class one, and first-class sires are out of the reach of all ordinary breeders; for that reason I recommend a fair trial of his quality, confident your breeders will not be disappointed.

"With good young mares who require a horse to give their offspring quality, that is to say, beauty, with courage and stoutness, and with a turn of speed for fast road work, the Arabian is better than any class of English thoroughbreds that are used for cross breeding.

"I trust then for that reason you will not allow yourself to be discouraged by the slowness of the people to appreciate all the merits of the Arabian at once.

"Our breeders are full of prejudices, and only experience can teach them the value of things outside their own circle of knowledge.

"I have no doubt whatever that truth will in the end prevail; but you must have patience. Remember that a public is always impatient, and most often unreasonably so.

"My stud I keep at a permanent strength of twelve brood mares, and as many fillies growing in reserve.

"You ask me regarding the pacing gait. I have seen it in the pure-bred Arabs on the desert; and in many parts of the East it is cultivated, notably in Asia Minor and Barbary. The walk, pace, amble, trot, and run are found in the Arabian, and either can be cultivated as a specialty.

"If you think any of my letters to you are of general value to your people, I am quite willing you should so use them.

"I am, very truly yours,

"WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT. "To RANDOLPH HUNTINGTON, Rochester, N.Y."

My experience with Arabian blood the past seven years justifies all that Mr. Blunt has predicted to me from time to time. So also do old letters by Andrew Jackson and Henry Clay hold out the same inducements to the breeders of Kentucky and Tennessee in their day.

From my long years of experience in all classes of horses, I am frank to say to-day that I would not be without a thoroughbred Arabian stallion on my place, and journalists who inform their readers that they "are liable to splints, ringbones, and spavins," give themselves away to all intelligent readers and breeders as exceedingly superficial in matter of horses; for ringbones and spavins are positively unknown among the Arabs. The way to get rid of such imperfections in our mongrel breed of horses is to fill them up with pure Arab blood.

Such paper men also talk about "fresh Diomed" and "fresh Messenger blood," as though there had been a drop of it in never so diluted form for any influence these many years, of course forgetting that Diomed was a very strongly inbred Arabian horse. He came to this country when 21 years old.

He was foaled 1777, and arrived in Virginia in 1798. From his old age and rough voyage in an old-fashioned ship, it required nearly a year to recuperate from the journey, and was 23 years old before he could do stud service to any extent. Then, at no time to his death was he a sure foal getter, even to a few mares. He died in 1808, thirty-one years old, long enfeebled and unfit for service.

Between 1808 and 1887 is quite a period of time, during which we have had four different wars, beginning with 1812, and how much Diomed blood does the reader suppose there is in this country? Yet I take up daily and weekly papers devoted to horse articles, extolling the value of Diomed blood as cause for excellence in some young horse. Are we a nation of idiots to be influenced by such nonsense?

I wish there was fresh Diomed blood; thus the public would know what Arab blood had done for England. So I can say of imported Messenger. What our breeders want is good, solid information in print, and not the; dreamings of some professional writer for money. For myself, I am on the downhill side of life, but so long as I can help the young by pen or example, I shall try.

RANDOLPH HUNTINGTON. Rochester, N.Y.

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SCENES AMONG THE EXTINCT VOLCANOES OF RHINELAND.

In the province of the Rhine there is a range of mountains, including several extinct volcanoes, which offer grand and beautiful scenery and every opportunity for geological study, leading the mind back to the early ages of the earth.

Let us take an imaginary trip through this region, starting on our wanderings from the Rhine, where it breaks through the vine-clad slate mountains of the Westerwald and the Eifel. A short distance above the mouth of the Ahr we leave its banks, turning to the west, and entering the mountains at the village of Nieder Breisig. A pretty valley leads us up through orchards and meadows. The lower hills are covered with vineyards and the mountains with a dense growth of bushes, so that we do not obtain an extended view until we reach an elevated ridge.



The valley of the Rhine lies far below us, but the glittering surface of the river, with the little towns, the castles and villas and the gardens and vineyards on its banks are still visible, while in the background the mountains of the Westerwald have risen above the hills on the river. This range stretches out into a long wooded ridge crowned by cone-shaped peaks of basalt. To the northwest of this lies Siebengebirge, with its numerous domes and pinnacles, making a grand picture veiled in the blue mist of distance. On the opposite side we have a very different view of curious dome and cone shaped summits surrounded by undulating plateaus or descending into deep ravines and gorges. It is the western part of the volcanic region of Rhineland which lies before us, and in the center of which is the Laachersee or lake of Laach. The origin of these volcanoes is not as remote as many suppose, but their activity must have continued for a comparatively long period, judging from the extent of their lava beds.



There was a time when the sea covered the lowlands of North Germany, and the waves of a deep bay washed the slopes of the Siebengebirge. Then the bed of the Rhine lay in the highlands, which it gradually washed away until the surface of the river was far, far below the level of its old bed; and then the volcanoes poured forth their streams of lava over the surrounding plains.

In the course of time the surface of the country has changed so that these lava beds now lie on the mountain sides overhanging the valleys of to-day. Some of the volcanoes sent forth melted stones and ashes from their summits, and streams of lava from their sides, while the craters of others cracked and then sank in, throwing their debris over the neighboring country. In the Eifel there are many such funnels which now contain water forming beautiful lakes (Maaren), which add much to the scenery of the Eifel. The Laachersee is the largest of these lakes. In the mean time the channel of the Rhine had been worn away almost to its present level, but the mountains still sent forth their streams of lava, which stopped brooks and filled the ravines, and even the Rhine itself was dammed up by the great stream from Fornicherkopf forming what was formerly the Neuwied. The old lava stream which obstructed the river is still to be seen in a towering wall of rock, extending close beside the road and track that follow the shore.



After having made these observations, we descend from the height which afforded us the view of the Vinrt Valley. A clear brook flows through green meadows and variegated fields stretch along the mountain sides, while modest little villages are scattered among the fruit trees. On the other side of the valley rises the Herchenberg, an extinct volcano. As we climb its sides we see traces of the former devastation. Loose ashes cover the ground, bits of mica glittering in the sun, and on the summit we find enormous masses of stone which were melted and then baked together. In the center lies the old crater, a quiet, barren place bearing very little vegetation, but from its wall an excellent view of the surrounding country can be obtained. Not far from this mountain lies the mighty Bausenberg, with its immense, well preserved crater, only one side of which has been broken away, and which is covered with a thick growth of bushes. The ledges of this mountain are full of interest for the mineralogist. Nearer to Lake Laach are the Wahnenkopfe, the proud Veitskopf, and other cone-shaped peaks. To these we direct our steps, and after a long tramp over the rolling, cultivated plateau, we climb the wood-covered sides of the great basin in whose depths the Laachersee lies. From the shore of this lake rise the high volcanic peaks which tower above all the other mountains.



Tired from our climb through the ashes, which are heated by the sun, we rest in the shade of a beech-wood, looking through the leaves into the valley below us, with the old cloisters and the high Roman church which the monks once built on the banks of the lake.



To the south of the lake rise other volcanoes, lying on the border of the fertile Maifeld, which gradually descends to the valley of Neuwied. Here, at the southern declivity of the group of volcanoes which surrounds the Laachersee, remarkably large streams of lava were ejected, covering the surface of the plateau with a thick layer. The largest of these streams is that from the Niedermendig, which consists of porous masses of nepheline lava. In the time of the Romans millstones were made from this mass of rock, and the industry is carried on now on a larger scale. It is a strange sight which meets one's eyes when, after descending through narrow passages, he finds himself in large, dark halls, from which the stone has been cut away, and in which there are well-like shafts. The stones are raised through these shafts by means of gigantic cranes and engines. Because of the rapid evaporation of the water in the porous stone, these vaults are always cool, winter and summer, and therefore they are used by several brewers as storehouses for their beer, which owes its fame to these underground halls.



Although the traces of former volcanic action are evident to the student of nature, the Rhine with its mild climate and luxuriant vegetation has covered many marks of the former chaotic state of the land. Very little of this beauty is seen on the higher and, therefore, more severe and barren mountains of the Western Eifel, through which a volcanic fissure runs from the foot of the high unhospitable Schneifel to Bertrich Baths, near the Moselle. From the ridge of the Schneifel the traveler from the north has his first glimpse of the still distant system of volcanoes. The most beautiful part of this portion of the Eifel is in the neighborhood of Dann and Manderscheid. Near the former rises a barren mountain with a long ridge, on each side of which is a deep basin. These are sunken craters, which now contain lakes, and near these two there is a third, larger lake, the Maar von Schalkemehren, on the cultivated banks of which we find a little village. The middle one, the Weinfelder Maar, is the most interesting for geologists, for there seems to have been scarcely any change here since the time of the eruption. On the other side of the mountain lies the Gremundener Maar, the shores of which are not barren and waste land, like those of the middle lake, but it is surrounded by a dark wreath of woods whose tops are mirrored in the crystal water. Farther to the south, near the villages of Gillenfeld and Meerfeld, there are more lakes.



The grandest picture of these ancient events is offered by the Mosenberg, near Manderscheid, a mighty volcano which commands an extensive view of the country. Two old craters lie on its double top, one of which has fallen in, forming a short rocky valley, but the other retains its original regular shape. In the circular funnel, whose walls consist of masses of lava stone, rests a quiet, black lake, that looks very mysterious to the wanderer. Only low juniper bushes grow near the crater, bearing witness to the barrenness of the land. From the foot of this mountain an immense stream of lava, as wide and deep as a glacier, broke forth and flowed into the valley, where the end of the stream is still to be seen in a high, steep wall of rock.



Similar sights are met all through this western volcanic region, and we can consider the mineral and acid springs, which are very numerous, as the last traces of the former disturbances, the products of the decomposition of the volcanic stones buried in the earth. At Bertrich Baths there are hot springs which were known to the Romans, for numerous antiquities dating from their time have been excavated here. Near these springs, at Bertrich, there is a "Cheese Grotto," which is a break through the foot of a stream of lava, the stones of which have not assumed the usual form of solidified columns, but have taken flat, round shapes which resemble the forms of cheeses.

Now we have completed our wanderings, which required only a few days, although they extended over this whole volcanic region, and which end here on the Moselle.—Ueber Land und Meer; Allgemeine Illustrirte Zeitung.

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[NATURE.]



THE "METEOROLOGISKE INSTITUT" AT UPSALA, AND CLOUD MEASUREMENTS.

The Meteorological Institute at Upsala has gained so much fame by the investigations on clouds which have been carried on there during the last few years, that a few notes on a recent visit to that establishment will interest many readers.

The Institute is not a government establishment; it is entirely maintained by the University of Upsala. The personnel consists of Prof. Hildebrandsson, as director; M. Ekholm and one other male assistant, besides a lady who does the telegraphic and some of the computing work.

The main building contains a commodious office, with a small library and living apartments for the assistant. The principal instrument room is a separate pavilion in the garden. Here is located Thiorell's meteograph, which records automatically every quarter of an hour on a slip of paper the height of the barometer, and the readings of the wet and dry thermometers. Another instrument records the direction and velocity of the wind.

This meteograph of Thiorell's is a very remarkable instrument. Every fifteen minutes an apparatus is let loose which causes three wires to descend from rest till they are stopped by reaching the level of the mercury in the different tubes. When contact is made with the surface of the mercuries, an electric current passes and stops the descent of each wire at the proper time. The downward motion of the three wires has actuated three wheels, each of which carries a series of types on its edge, to denote successive readings of its own instrument. For instance, the barometer-wheel carries successive numbers for every five-hundredth of a millimeter—760.00, 760.05, 760.1, etc.; so that when the motion is stopped the uppermost type gives in figures the actual reading of the barometer. Then a subsidiary arrangement first inks the types, then prints them on a slip of paper, and finally winds the dipping wires up to zero again.