Shortly after this, finding his health impaired, he resigned his secretaryship, to the great regret of President Jackson.

In 1836 he accepted the appointment of minister of the United States to France, and, after dispatching some important business with that Government, he, in 1837, embarked at Marseilles for a voyage in the frigate Constitution to Egypt, by way of Constantinople, following the coast, and stopping at the principal ports, whence he made excursions into the interior. He was on excellent terms with Louis Philippe, of whose character he gave a friendly and favorable account in his "King, Court, and Government of France," published in 1840. The most remarkable incident of his diplomatic career occurred just at its close, in his attack on the quintuple treaty for the suppression of the slave-trade, and which resulted in his resignation in 1842. Upon his return he found his country in a state of political excitement; his name had been mentioned as a Democratic candidate for the presidency, and at the public receptions, in honor of his return, his opinions upon the important questions of the day were eagerly sought. In the Democratic National Convention of 1844, however, after repeated ballotings, James K. Polk received the nomination, and was elected to the presidency in the following November. In January, 1845, he was elected by the Legislature of Michigan to the Senate of the United States, which place he resigned on his nomination, in May, 1848, as a candidate for the presidency by the political party to which he belonged. After the election of his opponent, General Taylor, to that office, he was, in 1849, reëlected to the Senate for the unexpired portion of his original term of six years. Here he wielded a powerful influence. He was a strong advocate of compromise, became the chief ally of Henry Clay, and opposed both the Southern rights dogmas and the Wilmot Proviso. The latter of these he had been instructed by the Legislature to support, but he declared in the Senate that he should resign his seat in case this direct conflict came between his duty and his principles. Originally General Cass was the most prominent candidate for the chairmanship of the Committee of Thirteen, but himself urged the appointment of Mr. Clay to that position. The passage of the resolution constituting that committee was, by the testimony of its mover, Henry Stuart Foote, chiefly due to his prompting and assistance. He supported the various measures that it originated save the Fugitive-Slave Law, on the passage of which, in the Senate, he declined to vote, though present in his seat.

Being reelected a Senator from Michigan for a second term of six years from March, 1851, he still continued a prominent Democratic candidate for the presidency, but, in 1852, as in 1844, he was unsuccessful, and Franklin Pierce was selected as a compromise among the conflicting interests as the candidate of that party. This defeat terminated General Cass's aspira

tions for the chief magistracy, and he remained a member of the Senate until the expiration of his term. In 1857, when Mr. Buchanan entered upon his administration, General Cass accepted the position of Secretary of State. In the disunion movements that followed Mr. Lincoln's election, he was, as in 1850, a friend of compromise, sustaining especially the resolutions of his former colleague, Mr. Crittenden. He also originally in the Cabinet approved (or at least did not pronouncedly disapprove) President Buchanan's message, denying the existence of any power in the Constitution by which the General Government could coerce a State. Eight days later (December 14, 1860), however, he reasserted the Jacksonian principles of 1832-33, and upon Mr. Buchanan's refusal to dispatch troops and supplies South, to reenforce Major Anderson and reprovision Fort Sumter, he promptly resigned. His resignation was the closing-up of a public career of fifty-six years' duration. After that period he dwelt among his family, mingling little in society save in the exercise of the hospitalities of his own home. During the war his sympathies were always with the national arms, and the prolongation of his days to witness the ultimate triumph of the Government he considered among the greatest blessings of his life. General Cass was a man of great natural abilities, a prudent, cautious legislator, a scholar of fine attainments, of the purest integrity, temperate in all his habits, and personally popular throughout the country. As an orator, he was successful, though not famous. His speeches were always effective, whether before popular assemblies or upon the floor of the Senate, but none will ever be preserved as remarkable models of eloquence. The selection of live topics, a clear and appropriate system of argument, and animated delivery were the chief features of his oratory, and he always commanded attention in a body that daily listened to the splendid periods of Webster and the impassioned voice of Clay. His wealth was largely the result of his fortunate original investment in real estate, but the steady increase of his property in value has been also due to able management. In all enterprises of public improvements-railroads, highways, and other systems of internal development-he willingly participated, and in matters of charity, though not a miscellaneous giver, no meritorious and substantiated appeal ever failed of a response.

Besides his published works mentioned, and another, entitled "History, Tradition, Languages, etc., of Indians in the United States," Mr. Cass's contributions to contemporary literature were comparatively few in number, and confined to magazine articles upon topics in regard to which he possessed peculiar sources of information. They were, therefore, rather designed as vehicles of useful knowledge than as models of the essayist's art. Their style was lucid and ornate, the essential facts and statis

tics being presented in an attractive garb of rhetoric. In 1830 he received the degree of LL. D. from Hamilton College.

CATTLE PLAGUE, or ŘINDERPEST. This epizootic continued to make terrible havoc in Great Britain and some of the Continental states of Europe, till the earlier part of the autumn of 1866. It made its appearance in Ireland, but was "stamped out" there with the loss of but a few head of cattle. In Holland it raged with great severity, and occasioned heavy losses, and near the close of the year was reported as still increasing, having already caused the death of 71,000 head of cattle. It was

feared that the war in Austria and Italy, by causing the movement of great numbers of cattle to supply the army commissariats, would propagate the plague extensively; but the war was so brief, that this does not seem to have been the case. There was a severe outbreak of the plague among the bovine and cervine animals of the Jardin d'Acclimatation in Paris, where it was carried by two gazelles from London on the 14th of November. Thirtyfive valuable animals were lost by the disease. The following table, published officially by the British Government, shows the extent of the ravages of rinderpest in Great Britain:

In the United States there was, during the year, no invasion of rinderpest. Other epizootics, however, proved largely fatal to domestic animals. In the Western States, and particularly in Indiana and Kentucky, an epizootic disease, known as the "Texas fever," and said to have been communicated by a drove of cattle brought from Texas, proved very fatal to cattle. Its symptoms, so far as described, seem to have borne considerable resemblance those of the rinderpest. The "hog cholera," a fatal disease, which seems to affect swine alone among the domestic animals, has occasioned the death of many thousands of hogs throughout the West. A solution of sulphate of iron (copperas), mixed with a bran-mash, is recommended by some veterinarians both as a preventive and remedy for it.

CENTRAL AMERICA. There are at present in Central America the following five independent Republics:

1. GUATEMALA.*-President, Vincente Cerna (1865-1869). Area, 44,500 square miles. Population was estimated, in 1858, at 850,000; according to a census, taken in September, 1865,

For the names of State ministers, U. S. minister in Guatemala, and Guatemalean minister in Washington, and the latest statistics of finances and the army, see ANNUAL CYCLOPEDIA for 1865.

by order of the Government, under the direc tion of the priest Ospina, it amounted to 1,180,000. The country is divided into the following seventeen departments: Guatemala, Sacaltepec, San Marco, Chimaltenango, Suchiltepec, Escuintla, Amatitlan, Santa Rosa, Mita, Solola, Totoniacapan, Guegnetenango, Quesaltenango, Chiquimula, Vera Paz, Salama, and Izabal. The capital, Guatemala, had, in 1865, 40,000 inhabitants. The public debt was estimated, in 1865, at 1,500,000 dollars. Value of imports in 1863, 727,042 dollars; in 1864, 1,414,904 dollars; of exports, in 1863, 894,712 dollars; in 1864, 1,818,516 dollars. The imports, in 1864, came chiefly from Great Britain ($1,119,586); France ($186,889); United States ($45,722). Movement of shipping in 1864 (entrances and clearances); in the Atlantic ports, 53 vessels, together of 1,952 tons. In Pacific ports, 62 vessels, together of 33,312 tons (of which 29 vessels, with 25,254 tons, were from the United States).

2. SAN SALVADOR*.-President, Fr. Dueñas (April, 1865, to April, 1869). The Legislative Assembly, which holds biennial sessions, consists of 12 Senators, and 24 Deputies. The republic is divided into 10 (formerly 8) de

* For other information, see ANNUAL CYCLOPEDIA for 1965.

fitted. The cost of its production, and practical difficulties in the way of burning it, have hitherto prevented its general use for purposes of photographing by night, or as a substitute for existing methods of illumination. It has recently come into notice as a delicate reagent in chemical analysis. (See MAGNESIUM, also INDIUM, THALLIUM, and METALS.)

A single Primary Element.-Prof. G. Hinrichs, of the Iowa State University, published in the American Journal of Science, vol. xlii., No. 126, his researches among the spectra of a number of the elements, taking as a basis the determinations of Plückner and Ditscheiner. The results of his investigations are as follows: He finds, for the thirteen elements considered (viz., hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, chlorine, bromine, iodine, mercury, sodium, magnesium, calcium, strontium, barium, iron, and, besides, four compounds), that the dark lines of the elements are equidistant throughout the spectrum, but of varying intensity, many not being observed (or observable) at all; the intervals between the observable lines are expressible as simple multiples of the equal distance indicated by all. By considering the spectra of seven elements, viz., magnesium, calcium, strontium, barium, chlorine, bromine, and iodine, he finds that the dark lines of the elements are related to the atomic dimensions, considering the elements composed of one single primary element ("Urstoff"). Prof. Hinrichs says that it is now about twelve years since he started the hypothesis of one primary matter as the element of elements, not in the shape of a physical idea, but as a physical hypothesis, making it the base of a theoretical mechanical deduction of the properties of the elements; and he now thinks that spectrum analysis has shaken the axiom of the elementary nature of the socalled chemical elements in minds formerly adverse to questioning that axiom. He hopes ultimately to prove that the unity of matter is as real as the unity of force.

A New Class of Compound Metallic Radicals. -Oxide of auro-acetyle is the name given to a new compound metallic radical obtained by M. Berthelot. It is produced from a solution of the double hyposulphite of soda and gold, with some ammonia, treated with acetylene, being precipitated in the form of yellow flocculi, which, when dry, detonate violently if touched with a hard body. A chromium compound, oxide of chromo-acetyle, is obtained when a solution of chromous sulphate in a mixture of sal-ammoniac and ammonia is treated with acetylene. M. Berthelot shows that allylene forms a series of compounds analogous to those formed by acetylene. He gives some interesting facts concerning the action of alkaline metals on the carbides of hydrogen. Sodium, he states, attacks acetylene when the two are gently heated, forming a monosodic acetylide and setting free hydrogen. At a red heat the decomposition is more complete. Potassium, gently heated in an atmosphere of acetylene, ignites and forms an

acetylide. These acetylides are decomposed by water, acetylene being produced. Formene and acetylene do not furnish the experimenter with similar results. Allylene, however, is attacked by sodium at a gentle heat, undergoing a complete decomposition, and resolved into sodic acetylide, carbon, and hydrogen.

M. Berthelot obtains the oxide of mercuracetyle by means of a solution of red iodide of mercury in iodide of potassium, to which ammonia is added, but not sufficient to produce turbidity. The liquid introduced into a bottle filled with acetylene gradually absorbs the gas, and a glistening white precipitate is produced, resembling in appearance bimanganate of potash. This is washed with a concentrated solution of iodide of potassium. The appearance of the precipitate is then changed to a white powder, which is extremely explosive.

Later investigations have enabled the same chemist to report still other classes of radical metallic compounds. One series is obtained from C.Cu,H, which he calls cupros-acetyle, and which yields an oxide, chloride, bromide, iodide, sulphide, cyanide, and sulphite. A perfect parallelism exists between the salts of cupros acetyle and the cuprous salts properly so called. Another set of combinations are derived from argent-acetyle, C.Ag,H. The author concludes that the new radicals are in some sort oxide of ammonium, being constituted immediately by the union of a hydride of carbon and the elements of water with simultaneous metallic substitutions. He believes that the number of these compounds will soon be increased by the introduction of various metals in the place of hydrogen in several other carbides of hydrogen. Comparing the new radicals with the organic alkalies and the metallic radicals already known, it will readily be seen that they constitute a new general class of radicals, essentially distinct from the old ones, as well by their generation as by their constitution.

A New Alcohol, in which Carbon is partially replaced by Silicon.-In the Comptes Rendus, lxi., 792 (Amer. Jour. of Science, vol. xlii., No. 126), appears an account of a successful attempt by Friedel and Crafts to replace carbon by silicon by a somewhat circuitous process in a theoretical point of view. Chlorine acts upon silicium-ethyl, (SiC,H), to form two products of substitution, monochlorinated and dichlorinated silicium-ethyl. These products cannot be separated by distillation, but, when the mixture of the two, boiling between 180° C. and 200° C., is heated in a closed tube with acetate of potash and alcohol, the binochlorinated compound is first attacked, while chloride of potassium is found, and the monochlorinated compound remains among the products of the action. When water is added to the contents of the tube after the action, an oily liquid separates, which is to be washed twice with water and then treated with concentrated sulphuric acid, which dissolves the acetic acid compound and the oxide of silicium-triethyl, leaving the sili

atom for atom.

Ozone.-A paper upon the preparation of ozone and the conditions of its production was communicated by M. C. Weltzien to the Bulletin de la Société Chimique, May, 1866. He had obtained ozone by two processes. First, by the reaction of dry hydrochloric acid gas upon peroxide of barium contained in a tube; second, by the reaction of hydrochloric acid upon pulverized peroxide of barium mixed with sand and enclosed in a balloon. In both cases he obtained besides oxygen and chlorine some ozone recognizable by its odor; and the balloon containing the residue of its reaction retained the smell for many days. In most of the experiments, however, no ozone, but only oxygen and chlorine, are produced, probably mixed with hydrochlorous (?) acid. As to the formation of ozone in the air, during storms, he does not think that it remains long, and would regard the oxidation of silver as the only certain proof of its presence. M. Weltzien promulgates the theory that ozone is oxygen formed of two atoms; other eminent chemists regard it as denser than common oxygen; and M. Loret considers it to be a molecule formed of three atoms of oxygen, and calls it binoxide of oxygen. The bulk of opinion, certainly, is that ozone is condensed oxygen.

At the November meeting of the British Chemical Society Dr. Daubney read a paper on the same subject. The author had made experiments at Torquay in the winter months, and at Oxford in the summer months. In the former place the southwest and westerly winds were most strongly charged with ozone, and in the latter city the easterly winds brought most. The results at Torquay he considers to prove the influence of the sea in increasing the amount of ozone. The generation of ozone in the process of vegetation he regards as one of the appointed means of nature for purifying the atmosphere from pernicious organic compounds. Dr. Daubeny, in his observations, used both Schonbein's paper and the

3.

These

Isomerism.-Berthelot has proposed a new subdivision of isomeric bodies into the following classes or general groups: 1. (Equivalent composition.) Substances which appear to have a purely accidental relation to each other, such as butyric acid, C.HO4, and dialdehyde, (C. H.O2)2. 2. (Metamerism.) Bodies formed by the union of two distinct principles, so that in their formulæ a kind of compensation is established; as methyl-acetic ether, C.H2 (C.H ̧O.), and ethylformic ether, C.H. (C2H2O.). (Polymerism.) Compounds arising from the union of several molecules to form one, as amylene, (C..H10), and diamylene, (C10H10). 4. (Isomerism, properly so called.) are bodies that, differing in properties, retain those distinctive features in their passage through certain compounds, the properties of which result from the internal structure of the compound taken as a whole, rather than from the diversity of the components which have produced it; e. g., the essence of terebenthine and citron, the sugars, the symmetrical tartario acids, and the two classes of ethyl-sulphates. 5. (Physical isomerism.) The different states. of one and the same body, the diverse nature of which vanishes when the substance enters into combination. 6. (Kenomerism.) Two different compounds may lose by the effect of certain reagents which bring about decomposition, different groups of elements, and the remainders be identical in composition, these two derivatives, however, being yet distinct the one from the other both in physical and chemical properties. For example, alcohol, by losing two equivalents of hydrogen, is turned into aldehyde, C.H.O2H2=CH.02. Glycol, on the other hand, by giving up two equivalents of water is converted into glycolic ether (oxide of ethylene), CHO.— H2O2=C.H.O2. Again, essence of terebenthine combines with hydrochloric acid under different conditions to form two distinct hydrochlorates, the monohydrochlorate, C20H1.HCl, and the dihydrochlorate, C20H162HCl. From the first the crystalline compound C20H16, camphene, is obtained, and from the latter C20Hie, terpilene, two hydrocarbons of very different properties.

The Source of Muscular Power. This interesting subject, which has received much attention from chemists of late, has been thoroughly