CHEMISTRY. 847 



The fixation of atmospheric nitrogen, especially by means of electricity, 



F. VON JjICI'1':l {Die l>'ni<hiv<j dm (itnioKpluirisrlwii Stldc>(toffri< iiis/iexniiderc dnrdi elcktrixdie 

 Kntladungai. Clrdfswakl: J. Abel, 1903, pp. 42)- — A review of recent progress in 

 the investigation of various bacteriological, chemical, and electrical methods which 

 have been proposed for the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen, especial attention being 

 given to the method used by the Atmospheric Products Companj- of Niagara Falls 

 ( E. S. E., 14, p. 119), by Muthmann and Hofer,« and by the author ( K. S.R., 15, p. 551) 

 for causing the combination of the oxygen and nitrogen of the air by means of elec- 

 trical liiscliarges. The author claims that the efficiency of the process has been 

 greatly increased and the expense lessened, the cost of preparing a kilogram of nitric 

 acid by his method having been reduced to 13 pfennigs (about 1. 5 cts. per jiound), 

 with a cost of 2 pfennigs (J ct. ) per horsepower per hour. The cost depends entirely 

 upon the cheapness of the electric power. 



Recent experiments on the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen by means of 

 electrical discharges, F. vox Lepel {Mitt. Deut. Landiv. GeselL, ID {1904), A^o. 8, 

 P)>. 4(>, 47). — A brief explanation of metliods followed in oxidizing the nitrogen of 

 the air by means of electricity. 



The determination of hygroscopicity, H. Rodewald and A. Mitsciierlich 

 {Landir. Vers. Stat., 59 {1904), Ao. 5-6, pp. 433-441, fig. 1). — Hygroscopicity is deter- 

 mined l)y exposing dry or air-dry samples in shallow dishes over 10 per cent sul- 

 l^huric acid in a vacuum until moisture equilibrium is secured and then determining 

 the moisture taken up by Mitscherlich's method (E. S. R., 14, p. 127). Results of 

 tests of this method on a variety of substances, including starches, soils, etc. , are 

 reported. 



Results of investigations at the Sugar Experiment Station laboratory for 

 1903, C. A. Browxe, Jr. {Louisiana Planter, 3J {1904), No. 3, pp. 4751).— In this 

 jiaper, which was read before the Louisiana Sugar Planters' Association, the author 

 summarizes some of the results of the investigations of the laboratory upon the chem- 

 istry of sugar cane and its products. 



In studying the insoluble carbohydrates of the sugar cane, xylan, araban, and galac- 

 tan were separated and identified. -iVraban was jiresent in considerable quantities, 

 and is noted as not hitherto reported in sugar cane. Pentosans prepared from sugar 

 cane consisted of al )out 4 parts of xylose and 1 part of arabinose. Galactan was found 

 only in small amounts, constituting in one instance only about 0.07 per cent of the 

 whole cane. In normal cane juice the different gums did not usually exceed 0.2 

 per cent. 



^Vnalyses were made of the pith, fil>rovascular bundles, and rind of sugar cane in 

 a study of the utilization of bagasse for 2>aper making. A process recently patented 

 for the separation of the pith from the rest of the fiber and the manufacture of jiaper 

 from this product, is noted. 



Further studies (see E. S. R., 15, y>. 285), upon the enzyms of sugar cane — namely, 

 a diastase, an invertase, an oxidase, and a reductase or catalase, are briefly noted. 

 It is believed that oxidizing enzyms, in addition to whatever part they may play in 

 the vital processes of the plant, may ser\'e also as a means of protecting the plant 

 from invasion by fungi and bacteria. 



Analyses are sjiven of the juices from different parts of an iumiature cane, and from 

 whole cane at different periods of growth. The juice from the green tops of the cane 

 cut late in the evening had nearly twice as much sucrose as the tops of the cane cut 

 early in the morning. During the past season canes with exceptionally high sucrose 

 and low glucose content were observed. 



Notes are given on the different fermentations of cane juice whicli have been 

 observed. Different methods of extraction were compared, the composition of the 



"Prometheus, 1902, No. 3, p. 145. 



