168 proceedings: chemical society 



something which must always go on, only changing its form, as forces 

 do, and passing from physical to mental battle grounds. 



There was much of interest on the warpath besides the killing of 

 enemies and the capture of horses. A war party traveled far and brought 

 back strange tales of distant lands. New customs were frequently in- 

 troduced into the tribe as a result of war expeditions or the taking of 

 captives. 



Only a successful Avarrior could belong to the leading societies of the 

 tribe, with, their special tents for meeting, their feasts and their parades, 

 all of which were very attractive to the Indian. But the greatest re- 

 ward was the right to sing of one's valor, at the assemblages of the tribe. 



Daniel Folkmar, Secretary. 



THE CHEMICAL SOCIETY 



The 235th meeting was held at the Cosmos Club on February 12, 

 1914. The following papers were read: 



F. P. Dewev, of the Bureau of the Mint: Artificial sperrylite. Sperry- 

 lite, PtAs2, which is especially interesting as the only chemical compound 

 containing Pt found in nature, has been duplicated in a matte made in 

 the refinery of the San Francisco Mint. The product is beautifully crys- 

 tallized and closely resembles the original sperrylite found at Sudbur5^ 



P. H. Walker, of the Bureau of Chemistry: Note on a new extraction 

 apparatus. This apparatus, which is made of iron and copper tubing 

 and is free from rubber connections, was shown and briefly described. 



Discussion: Chamberlaine spoke of the method of extraction by re- 

 peated washings without a condenser. 



F. K. Cameron, of the Bureau of Soils: Potash from kelp. Four 

 principal sources of potash have been in view: (1) desert salt deposits, 

 (2) orthoclase, feldspar and leucite, (3) alunite, (4) the giant kelps of 

 the Pacific. Four types of kelp yield considerable amounts of potassium 

 chloride, which effloresces on the plant during drying. This salt can be 

 separated from the sodimn chloride without difficulty, but no method 

 has been worked out for separating the potash while leaving the large 

 amount of available nitrogen behind with the organic matter, thus giv- 

 ing the organic residue a value. It is estimated that the Pacific kelps 

 could supply six times the amount of potash now imported into the 

 United States. Lantern slides were sho\Am illustrating the beds of kelp 

 as they occur, from Southern California to Alaska, the appearance and 

 manner of growth of the different species, and the methods of harvest- 

 ing and loading now in commercial use in the South. 



Discussion: In reply to inquiries by Andrews, Bunzel, Seidell, Sos- 

 man, and Bassett, the following points were brought out: Very little 

 of the nitrogen is present as nitrate. The potash is not all removed by 

 a single extraction. Only one company is operating on any considerable 

 scale, although a number of companies have been floated; considerable 

 kelp is being cut on the Mexican coast, where it is easily air dried. Cap- 

 ital has held back from investment in kelp-cutting largely because no 

 monopoly rights or patents are connected with the industry. Data are 



