Gold.—M. Fremy, successor to Gay-Lussac in the chair of chemistry at the Garden of Plants, Paris, has submitted to the French Academy the results of his Chemical Researches on Gold. It was considered important to these researches to study the combinations of the oxides of gold with the alkalis so extensively employed in gilding. The aurates were easily produced, but it was impossible to obtain the combination of alkalis and the protoxide of gold. Auric acid was produced by boiling the perchlaide of gold with excess of potash, precipitating the auric acid by sulphuric acid, and purifying the former by solution in concentrated nitric acid; afterward precipitating by means of water and washing the auric acid until the liquor contained no trace of nitric acid. The auric acid combines immediately with potash and soda. Mr. Fremy promises an examination of the question whether gold is able, in combining with oxygen, to form a salifiable base, as has been asserted. The present experiment was undertaken mainly in reference to its use in electro-gilding.

Light and Heat.—Prof. Moigno lately presented to the French Academy a memoir on the experiments of Neeft, in Frankfort, on the development of Light and Heat in the galvanic circuit. M. Moigno witnessed these experiments in person, and considers it proved, first, that light always appears at the negative pole, and that this primitive light is independent of combustion; second, that the source of the heat is properly the positive poles, and that this heat is originally dark heat; thirdly, that light and heat do not unite at the instant of evolution, but only after the intensity of each has reached a certain point; from this union ensue the phenomena of flame and combustion.

Chinese Coal.—A late number of the Chinese Repository contains some notices of Coal in China, by Dr. D. J. Macgowan, in which occur a number of curious and interesting facts. Coal deposits are found to exist throughout the mountain ranges which girt the great plain of China; but unskilful mining and the difficulty of transportation enhance its cost and limit the consumption, so that it is little used except for culinary and manufacturing purposes. The best comes from Pingting-chau in Shánsí; the quality most in demand in central China is called the Kwang coal, and is brought from various districts in Húnán. Numerous varieties are produced in the province of Kiangsú—slaty, cannel, bituminous and anthracite. This portion of the mineral wealth of China is computed at nearly six millions of dollars. The scarcity of the supply is owing not to the poverty of the mines, but chiefly to the want of facilities for mining, which can alone be supplied by the steam-engine.

Water of the Ocean.—The results of observations on the different Chemical Conditions of Water, at the Surface of the Ocean and at the Bottom, on Soundings, have been communicated by Mr. A. A. Hayes, State Assayer of Massachusetts; who states, that while pursuing the subject of copper corrosion at the surface of the ocean, he was some years since led to examine samples of copper, which had remained some time at the bottom of the ocean. He found that copper and bronze, and even a brass compound, from the bottom, were thickly incrusted with a sulphuret of copper, frequently found in crystallized layers, having a constant chemical composition, entirely free from chlorine or oxygen, the corroding agents of the surface. Specimens of copper and bronze from mud and clay at different depths, and in one instance from clean sand below a powerful rapid, gave thick layers of sulphuret of copper, or copper and tin. Instances of the corrosion of silver are also adduced. Mr. Hayes concludes that the waters from the land, which are never destitute of organic matter in a changing state, exert a very important influence in causing the differences of chemical condition in the ocean. Organic matter, he argues, dissolved from the surface of the earth, or from rocks percolating the strata, assumes a state in which it powerfully attracts oxygen; and waters holding this matter in solution readily decompose sulphates of lime and soda even when partially exposed to atmospheric air.

The Asteroids.—A letter from Prof. Lewis R. Gibbs, of the Charleston Observatory, given in the Charleston Evening News, enumerates thirteen Kuam Asteroids; three having been discovered during the past year. The following Table gives their names in order of discovery, date of discovery, name and residence of discoverer, and the mean distances of the Asteroids from the sun, that of the earth being called 1:

Name.Date.Discov'r.Place.M. Dist.
1.Ceres1801, Jan. 1Piazzi,Palermo2,766
2.Pallas1802, Mar. 28Olbers,Bremen2,772
3.Juno1804, Sept. 1Harding,Lilienthal2,671
4.Vesta1807, Mar. 29Olbers,Bremen2,361
5.Astræa1845, Dec. 8Hencke,Driessen2,420
6.Hebe1847, July 1Hencke,Driessen2,420
7.Iris1847, Aug. 13Hind,London2,385
8.Flora1847, Oct. 18Hind,London2,202
9.Metis1848, April 25Graham,Markree2,386
10.Hygeia1849, April 12Gasparis,Naples3,122
11.Parthenope1850, May 11Gasparis,Naples2,440
12.Clio1850, Sept. 13Hind,London2,330
13.Not named1850, Nov. 2Gasparis,NaplesUnk'wn