I 



CHEMISTRY. ()'73 



president, Prof. H. 0. White. The " Proceedings," published by the 

 Department of Agriculture as Bulletin No. 7, of the Division of Chem- 

 istry, will be found invaluable to all analytical chemists. 



The chemical section of the American Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science met in August at Ann Arbor. The chairman of the 

 section, Prof. William Ripley Nichols, addressed the members on 

 "Chemistry in the Service of Public Health." The address will be 

 found in the "Proceedings" of the association, vol. xxxiv. 



The Institute of Chemistry (England) has undergone a ti-ansforma- 

 tion. Originally founded in October, 1877, with a membership of 150, 

 it grew to embrace over 400 fellows. O-^ the 30th of June, 1885, *it 

 (leased to have an official existence, bui meanwhile, on the 13th of 

 June, 1885, another organization was perfected under the title "Insti- 

 tute of Chemistry of Great Britain and Ireland," and the officers of the 

 original society became officers of the new one. The new institute has 

 secured a royal charter and has public duties and privileges accorded 

 it, becoming a professional body officially known to Government. Dr. 

 Odling, the president, gave his address November 6, 1885. (See Chem- 

 ical Mews, Lii, 243.) Dr. Odliug's address is severely criticised by an 

 anonymous writer in ¥ature (xxxiii, 73), who ptotests strongly against 

 the commercial aspect of the views enunciated. He says: "The spirit 

 [of the address] is an alien spirit, repugnant to students of pure science 

 in this country." 



A biography of the late Dr. Robert Angus Smith was read at the 

 annual general meeting of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical 

 Society held April 21, by Dr. E. Schunck. It will be found in Chem. 

 N^eics, LI, 293. 



Prof. Edward Divers, of the Imperial College of Engineering, Tokio, 

 met with a serious accident which threatened tlie loss of an eye. In at- 

 tempting to remove the stopper of a bottle containing phosphorus tri- 

 chloride he gently warmed the neck, when the bottle exploded violently, 

 and projected glass into one eye. Dr. Divers supposes moisture had 

 entered the bottle and formed hydrochloric acid, thus producing gas 

 under tension. 



On Monday, August 1, 1885, Prof. Michel Eugene Chevreul entered 

 upon his one hundredth year. Apart from the fact that among men 

 whose lives have been devoted to active scientific research no one has 

 before attained so great an age, Chevreul stands conspicuous for the vast 

 amount of work he has done, and for the great practical effect his work 

 has had on the industries of the world. His researches on "les corps 

 gras," begun in 1813, continued until 1823, when they appeared in a 

 volume dedicated to Vauquelin, his teacher. His researches on color 

 occupy the whole of volume xxxiii of the Memoirs of the Institut. It 

 has often been remarked, it is difficult to realize that the Chevreul of 

 "corps gras" fame and the Chevreul who wrote on colors are one and 

 the same man. (Condensed from Nature, xxxii, 425.) 

 H. Mis. 15 43 



