148 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



DR. FREDERICK H. GETMAN OF 



STAMFORD, C( )N N EC 

 TORY. 



ICLr, AND HIS HILLSIDE LAUORA- 



w^ave-leiigth spectroscope, a polarime- 

 ler and a refractometer. 



A-djoining the main laljoratory is a 

 dark room especially arranged for 

 scientific photography. 



Beyond the(main laboratory is a small- 

 er apartment devoted to purely chemi- 

 cal work. In this the desks are equip- 

 ped with water, gas, and electricity, 

 while a fume-closet connected with a 

 special flue in the chimney serves to 

 •carry off noxious gases. 



Adjoining the chemical laboratory is 

 a small room for the storage of chemi- 

 cals. 



Owing to its situation upon the side 

 of a hill, a well lighted basement is 

 secured. Here is installed a one kilo- 

 watt motor generator furnishing direct 

 current for experimental purposes, and 

 for charging the laboratory storage- 

 battery. The basement also contains a 

 work bench well stocked with tools, 

 the nucleus of a future shop, and ample 

 •shelves for the storage of laboratory 

 •glass-ware. 



The building is heated throughout by 

 "hot water, and is lighted by electricity. 



The Hillside Laboratory was plan- 

 ned primarily for physico chemical re- 

 search along lines already developed 

 by its owner. 



At the present time certain interest- 

 ing phenomena connected with the 

 metals are under investigation. In the 

 course of a series of experimental stu- 

 dies conducted by Dr. Getman several 

 years ago at BrynMawr College, certain 

 peculiarities were noted in the electri- 

 cal behavior of metallic cadmium when 

 it is immersed in an aqueous solution 

 of one of its own salts. During the 

 past year this phenomenon has been 

 studied much more thoroughly, and 

 several exceedingly interesting facts 

 have been clearly established. 



When a stick of cadmium is immers- 

 ed in an aqueous solution of cadmium 

 iodide, a difference of potential between 

 the metal and the solution is developed. 



Lest the term difference of potential 

 be unfamiliar to some of the readers of 

 this magazine it may not be amiss to 

 attempt to make its meaning clearer- 

 If two tanks of water, A and B, be con- 

 nected lDy a pipe, and the water flow^s 

 from A to B, we infer that the hydro- 

 static pressure at the point where the 

 pipe leaves A is greater than it is where 

 it enters B, and we attribute the flow 

 to this difference of pressure. Similarly 

 if two bodies. A and B, are connected 

 by a conducting wire and an electric 

 charge is found to pass from A to B 



