316 EXPERIMENT STATION EECOED. 



degree of fineness, moisture, ash, free sulphur, pulphur insoluble in carbon di- 

 sulphid, and the microscopic examination of sulphur. 



Modification of the sulphonation test for creosote, E. Bateman ( U. S. Dept. 

 Agr., Forest Serv. Circ. 191, pp. 7, fig. 1). — ^As the sulphonation test described 

 in Forest Service Circular 112 (E. S. R., 19, p. 812) has been found to give 

 unreliable results, the author has modified it as follows: "Ten cc. of the 

 fraction of creosote to be tested are measured into a Babcoek milk bottle. To 

 this is added 40 cc. of 37 times normal acid. 10 cc. at a time. The bottle with 

 its contents is shaken for 2 minutes after each addition of 10 cc. of acid. After 

 all the acid has been added the bottle is kept at a constant temperatui-e of from 

 98 to 100° C. for 1 hour, during which time it is shaken vigorously every 10 

 minutes. At the end of an hour the bottle is removed, cooled, and filled to the 

 top of the gi'aduations with ordinary sulphuric acid, and then whirled for 5 

 minutes in a Babcoek separator. The unsulphonated residue is then read off 

 from the graduations. The reading multiplied by 2 gives per cent by volume 

 directly. (Each graduation equals one two-hundredths of a cubic centimeter.) 



" In well-equipped chemical laboratories the usual steam-jacket ovens, capa- 

 ble of maintaining a temperature of from 98 to 100° C, will keep the reaction 

 mixture of the sulphuric acid and creosote at the proper temperature." 



A steam bath designed for laboratories confining themselves to the examina- 

 tion of creosote is described and illustrated. 



Determination of nicotin in the presence of pyridin bases, L. Surre {Ann. 

 Falsif., 4 {1911), No. 32, pp. 331-33J,; ahs. in Jour. 8oc. Chem. Indus., 30 {1911), 

 No. 15, p. 979; Chem. Ztg., 35 {1911), No. 82, p. 756) .—Nicotin has a high 

 levorotation (—161° 55' at 20° C. for the sodium flame), whereas pyridin is 

 optically inactive and does not affect the nicotin reading, which in aqueous 

 solutions of from 1 to 8 per cent is proportional to the concentration. The 

 author has devised a method for determining nicotin in tobacco extracts which 

 rests upon this principle. 



Paper technology, R. W. Sindall {London, 1910, 2. ed., rev., pp. XV+269, 

 pis. 13, figs. 158). — An elementary manual on the manufacture, physical quali- 

 ties, and chemical constituents of paper and of paper-making fibers. 



Laboratory book for the potash industry, L. Tietjens and H. Roemer 

 {Laltoratoriumshuch fiir die Kaliindustrie. Halle, 1910, pp. VIII-\-76,figs. 8). — 

 This is chiefly a description of the methods in use in the potash industry. Its 

 contents are as follows : Analytical aids ; sampling ; analysis and description 

 of the salts of the German potash industry; analysis of the by-products; 

 analysis of potash-saltpeter ; analysis of various kinds of potash ; and an 

 appendix which contains a description of the methods for determining potash, 

 the oflicial methods employed in the German agricultural experiment stations, 

 reducing methods, and the Neubauer method. 



A bibliography is appended. 



METEOROLOGY— WATER. 



The obstacles to the progress of meteorology, C. Abbe {Jour. FranhUn -Inst., 

 173 {1912), No. 1, pp. 55-71). — ^Among the obstacles enumerated are faulty 

 instruments and methods of observation, and the need of more extended observa- 

 tions and " of a laboratory building specifically adapted to atmospheric experi- 

 ments and the association therewith of able students trained in mathematics, 

 physics, and mechanics." 



Meteorological observations {Ann. Statis. Egypte, 3 {1911), pp. 11-22). — 

 Observations on temperature, atmospheric pressure, rainfall, and wind move- 

 ment at various points in Egypt, covering various periods from 1871 to 1910, 

 are summarized in detail. 



