APPENDIX TO THE REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 109 



and laborious oue, involving many weighings of a deliquescent sul)- 

 stance, which had to be done with the greatest rapidity, and at the 

 same time with accuracy; also the making of some fifty careful assays, 

 giving the chemist nearly a month of hard and dirty work. Another 

 question referred to the chemist through Mr. Ehees, of the Institution, 

 was the character of the coloring matter used on the small squares of 

 paper given to the children in the KindergarteTi schools of the District 

 and elsewhere. This paper is a thin paper, colored and glazed on one 

 side (in most cases), cut into five-inch squares, and is given to the chil- 

 dren to cut up and fashion into various patterns. 



The chemist regrets that he has not been able to find time to make 

 more than a brief qualitative examination of the subject. Eighteen 

 samples of paper were tested for arsenic, and out of that numben- six 

 isamples were found to contain a large amount of arsenic in difierent 

 forms, probably the most dangerous being a bright green pai)er, the 

 coloring matter being the brilliant but deadly Scheele's green. The 

 other colors found to contain arsenic were puri)le, solferino, navy blue, 

 carmine red, and vermillion red. Another investigation undertaken by 

 the chemist for prominent private parties was a thorough testing of the 

 so-called Eobertson electric process for the reduction of gold ores. This 

 process, like the Tichuor, is utterly at variance with accepted ideas of 

 chemists and metallurgists, and the investigation showed similar results 

 to the Tichnor in proving it of little value. In addition to these inves- 

 tigations the chemist has undertaken numerous analyses and assays for 

 private parties of no particular chemical interest. The time of the chem- 

 ist has of late been entirely occupied in overhauling and recording the 

 vast amount of reserve material stored in the Institution, the object 

 being to make a complete record of duplicates and reserves and to elimi- 

 nate all worthless material and make room for new contributions. 



