CHEMISTRY.
P. 77.—“Champs de Mars,” Shäⁿᵍ duh Mars. Field of Mars. The name given to the place devoted to military exercises in France. It is an extensive parade ground, about 3,000 feet long and 1,500 feet wide, lying on the left bank of the Seine. There are four rows of trees on each side, and it is entered by five gates. It was finished in 1790, and in their eagerness to have it ready for the first great feast of the French Revolution, on July 14th, of that year, 60,000 volunteers, men and women, worked night and day for two weeks, and completed it in time. At this feast the king swore allegiance to the constitution. The Champs de Mars has been the scene of many great historic events. The World’s Fair of 1867 was held there.
P. 78.—“Academy of Science.” This was organized in France in 1666. In 1795 it, with four other academies, viz.: the French Academy, Academy of Painting and Sculpture, Academy of Belles Lettres, and the Academy of Moral and Political Science, was revived in a new form, under the name of the Institut National. This institution is the most important of its kind in the world. These academies now have the same relation to the Institut that colleges bear to a university. In the Academy of Science at present there are sixty-three members and one hundred corresponding members. It bestows an annual prize of about $2,000, for the most important astronomical observation, a prize of nearly $600 for productions on natural science, and other rewards for inventions, discoveries, and improvements. Its sessions are all held in public, and are much frequented.
P. 80.—A free translation of the note at the bottom of the page: Having attained an altitude of 22,960 feet, he still wished to go higher, and so disburdened himself of all the objects which he could in any way do without. Among these objects was a chair of white wood, which chanced to light in a thicket, very near a young girl who was tending some sheep. Great, indeed, was the astonishment of the shepherdess! The sky was clear, the balloon invisible. What else could she think of the chair than that it had come from Paradise? The only objection that could be raised against the conjecture was the rudeness of its construction. The workmen in the higher world, said the incredulous, could not be so unskillful. The discussion was still going on, when the papers, in publishing all the particulars of the aerial voyage of Gay Lussac, announced, among the natural results of the ascent, this which up to this time had seemed a miracle.
P. 85.—“Scheele,” shāˈleh.
P. 91.—“Litmus paper.” Paper that has been prepared for use as a test for acids and alkalies. Litmus is a blue coloring matter, extracted from lichens which are found along the rocky coasts of the Mediterranean, and other tropical lands. They are largely used for dyeing purposes, and when prepared with potash or soda, they produce litmus. A strong infusion of litmus is made with boiling water, and a little sulphuric acid is added. Unsized paper is dipped into this infusion, which gives it a blue color. The application of any acid will change the blue to red, and then the blue color may be immediately restored by immersing the paper in an alkali. So delicate a test is it, that the paper has to be preserved in closely stoppered bottles, to prevent the access of acid fumes.
P. 94.—“Berthollet,” ber-to-lā.
P. 100.—“Balard,” bā-lār.
P. 101.—“Liebig,” leeˈbig.
P. 107.—“Varech,” vărˈek; “Barilla,” ba-rilˈla.
P. 108.—“Courtois,” koor-twä.
P. 114.—“Nicklès,” nē-klā.
P. 115.—“Puy Maurin,” pwe-mō-raⁿᵍ; “Hauy,” ä-we.