576 SCIENTIFIC RECORD FOR 1883. 



(3) if the salts be grouped according to their formulas, the cohesion for 

 any group increases as the molecular weight diminishes ; and (4) when 

 the cohesion of saline solutions is known, that of water being also known, 

 and the adhesion of water and the anhydrous salt, the cohesion of the 

 anhydrous salt may be calculated. When the adhesion between the 

 anhydrous salt and water is less than half the sum of the cohesions of 

 the water and the anhydrous salt respectively, the solid body cannot 

 be mixed with water in all proportions. ( Wied. Ann., xvn, 353; J. Phys., 

 April, 1883, II, II, 188.) 



Krouchkoll, finding that insulating liquids, such as carbon disulphide, 

 ether, turpentine, not miscible with water, acquire by contact with this 

 liquid very decided conducting power, was led to examine the question 

 whether the capillary constant at the surface of such a liquid and water 

 did not vary under the action of an electro-motive force. The results 

 show that the constant does vary, and in the same direction as that of 

 the water-mercury surface. Tbe higher the resistance of the liquid, 

 the greater the electro-motive force required to obtain the result. (C. 

 R., June, 1883, XCVi, 1725.) 



Pribram and Handl have reached the following conclusions with ref- 

 erence to the specific viscosity of liquids in relation to their chemical 

 constitution : (1) Of two isomeric ethers, whose isomerism consists in a 

 simple exchange of acid and alcoholic radical, that possesses the high- 

 est viscosity whose alcohol radical is highest in the series ; (2) the dif- 

 ferences in the viscosity for equal volumes vary as the difference of the 

 molecular weights of the radicals which the ethers contain; (3) when the 

 isomerism consists in the arrangement of the atoms within the radical, 

 then that ether which contains the normal arrangement has always the 

 greatest viscosity, whether the normal radical be oxygeuated or not: 



(4) in aldehydes, propylic alcohols, nitropropanes, butyric acids, and 

 butyl iodides, those having the normal grouping show the maximum 

 viscosity, while for the halogen ethers of propyl, butyl alcohol, and 

 nitrobutane the reverse is the case ; (5) the halogen compounds of 

 propyl and allyl, as well as the acetates, show nearly equal viscosities ; 

 while in the alcohols which differ by two atoms of hydrogen only^ the 

 viscosity of allylic alcohol is considerably less than that of propylic ; 

 (0) aldehyde, which #ias two atoms of hydrogen less than alcohol, shows 

 a marked diminution of viscosity; and (7) the increase of viscosity is 

 in general proportional to the increase of molecular weight ; the coeffi- 

 cient of increase, however, depending on the structure of the molecule, 

 is constant only when the terms of the homologous series, considered 

 as binary compounds, contain a constant compound and a single varia- 

 ble. (J. Phys., March, 1883, II, n, 141.) 



Warburg and Babo have sought to determine the relation between 

 viscosity and density in fluids. According to the law of Maxwell the 

 viscosity of a gas measured by the coefficient of friction is independent 

 of the density. Experiments were made with carbon dioxide both in 



