124 



CHILI. 



ho regarded us a process of oxidation, chiefly occa- 

 sional by the action of light and of atmospheric 

 oxygen, flic mis; it united body acids (oleic acid) are 

 chiefly attacked with the formation of acids having 

 a low per cent, of carbon. There is also a formation 

 of al.lehydic bodies and of oxy-fatty acids. 2. With 

 the progress of oxidation and" the formation of free 

 acids, tlie volatile acids undergo a very great incre- 

 ment. :!. All the acids participate in the formation 

 of the free fatty acids. 4. With the increasing oxi- 

 dation of the fats, their absorptive power, as well as 

 the iodine number, undergoes a corresponding de- 

 crease, which diminution is effected by an oxidation 

 and decomposition of the nonsaturated fatty acids 

 and by their polymerization. Such oxidi/ed fats 

 exhibit in the refract ometer a decidedly higher de- 

 flection than do normal fats. The increase in the 

 deflection is due to polymerization of the nonsatu- 

 rated fatty acids. 5. Fats which have become ran- 

 cid have in general a higher melting point than re- 

 cent fats. 



In experiments by Edward H. Reiser, metallic 

 magnesium at a low red heat was found to act ener- 

 get ically upon the vapors of the alcohols. The 

 metal glows and is converted into a black coherent 

 mass. This black residue when put into water 

 evolves a gas which consists chiefly of hydrogen 

 and allylene. The evolution of gas becomes very 

 rapid if a few drops of ammonium-chloride solution 

 are added to the water. The hydrogen and allylene 

 can be readily separated from one another by con- 

 ducting the mixed gases through a series of wash 

 bottles containing an ammoniacal solution of silver 

 nitrate; the allylene is thereby converted into the 

 insoluble silver" allylide, AgC 3 H s , while the hydro- 

 gen passes through unchanged. The best yield of 

 allylene in the earlier experiments was obtained 

 from the magnesium that had been heated in the 

 vapors of propyl or of allyl alcohols. A more ad- 

 vantageous method has been found of preparing the 

 hydrocarbon by heating magnesium in the vapor of 

 acetone and decomposing the black mass thus ob- 

 tained in the vapor of water. Further experiments 

 with the allylene are in progress. 



There are found in nature, in Brazil, and at the 

 Cape, transparent diamonds containing inclosures of 

 various forms. These inclosures may be of differ- 

 ent nature, but the most numerous are black, and 

 when abundant afford the variety of crystallized 

 carbon of a fatty aspect which is known by the 

 name of " black diamond." Reducing this black 

 diamond to a powder, and heating it in a current of 

 oxygen to a temperature 200 C. lower than the 

 temperature of combustion of the diamond, M. 

 Moissan observed very distinctly a slight escape of 

 carbonic acid, which soon ceased. After cooling, 

 the diamond had lost its gray tint and become 

 white. The black matter which was contained in 

 this diamond therefore burns in oxygen, yielding 

 carbonic acid, and the diamond resumes its trans- 

 parency. 



CHILI, a republic in South America. The na- 

 tional Congress consists of two branches, a Senate 

 and a House of Deputies, both elected by universal 

 adult male suffrage. Deputies are elected for three 

 years in the proportion of 1 to every 30,000 and 

 remaining fraction over 1. "5.000 inhabitants in the 

 department The House now consists of !': mem- 

 bers. Tlii- Senators, 32 in number, are elected by 

 Ihe province for six years, half of them retiring 

 very third year. The President is elected for five 

 years by the indirect vote of the nation. 



Jorge Mdiitt. w;i President for the term 



ending Sept. ]s. isil.,. The Cabinet of ministers, 

 who are individually and collectively responsible 

 to the Congress, on^'sted in the beginning of 1896 

 of 'he foij,,. .-ing members: Premier and ".Minister 



of the Interior, M. Recabarren ; Minister of Foreign 

 Affairs and of Worship, C. Matte : Minister of Jus- 

 tice and of Public Instruction, S. Fontecilla; Min- 

 ister of Finance, Dr. Mclver; Minister of War and 

 Marine, Ismael Vahles; Minister of Industry and 

 Public Works, M. Davila Baeza. 



Area and Population. Chili has an area of 

 293,970 square miles, according to the official esti- 

 mate ; according to a more recent calculation it is 

 about 300,000 square miles. The population in the 

 beginning of 1895 was estimated at 3,413,576, as- 

 suming that the omissions in the census of 1885 

 amounted to 15 per cent, and taking the number of 

 uncivilized Indians to be 50,000. The foreign pop- 

 ulation in 1885 numbered 80,077, of whom 34,901 

 were Peruvians, 13,146 Bolivians, 9,835 Argentinians, 

 6.808 Germans, 5,303 English, 4,198 French, 4,114 

 Italians, 2,508 Spaniards, 1,275 Swiss, 924 Ameri- 

 cans, 674 Austrians, 434 Swedes and Norwegians, 

 and 1,104 Chinese. The number of Germans in 

 Chili now far exceeds that of the British. Foreign 

 colonization south of Concepcion is almost entirely 

 German, and these immigrants, in whatever occu- 

 pation they are engaged, seem to assimilate with 

 the people in habits, laws, and language, and be- 

 come patriotic Chilian citizens. A contract has 

 been made with a firm in Bordeaux to introduce 

 within eight years 5,000 families from the north of 

 Europe to form a colony in southern Chili. San- 

 tiago has 250,000 and Valparaiso 150.000 inhabit- 

 ants. The number of marriages registered in 1894 

 was 14,726 ; of births, 108,724 ; of deaths, 90,399 ; 

 excess of births, 18,325, compared with 3,694 in 

 1892 and an excess of 10.187 deaths in 1891. Edu- 

 cation is free and supported by the General Govern- 

 ment. There were 1.222 primary schools in 1893, 

 with 113,247 pupils and an average attendance of 

 72,899 out of more than 600,000 children of school 

 age. The private schools had 29,812 pupils. In 

 1885 out of an enumeration of 2.527,320 persons 

 634,627 could read and write and 96,636 more could 

 read. The number of students in the National In- 

 stitute at Santiago and in the provincial colleges 

 was 7,666 in 1894. 



Finances. The revenue increased from 62,400,- 

 000 pesos in 1892 to 73,443,000 in 1893 and 83,436,- 

 000 in 1894, the expenditure from 60.900.000 pesos 

 in 1892 to 62,692,500 in 1893 and 78,482,000 in 1894. 

 The revenue for 1895 was estimated at 77,354,000 

 pesos. The principal sources of revenue are import 

 and export duties, the agricultural tax, stamps, rail- 

 roads, postal and telegraph receipts, and storage 

 and wharfage fees. The expenditure for 1896 was 

 estimated at 73,168,144 pesos, of which 5.609,316 

 pesos were allotted to the Ministry of the Interior, 

 2,550,484 pesos to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 

 and Worship and Colonization, 9,290,941 pesos to 

 the Ministry of Justice and Public Instruction, 14,- 

 023,871 pesos to the Ministry of Finance. 9,284,357 

 pesos to the Ministry of War, 7.2(53.611 pesos to the 

 Ministry of Marine, and 24.785,564 pesos to the 

 Ministry of Industry and Public Works. The ordi- 

 nary receipts for 1895 were 83.720,000 pesos, which 

 added to the surplus from 1894 amounted to 101,- 

 350,350 pesos. The total expenditure was 93,360,- 

 000 pesos, leaving a surplus of 7.990,01)0 pesos. The 

 estimate of expenditure for 1896 was 86,976.325 

 pesos, to meet which there was the ordinary revenue 

 estimated at 78,000,000 pesos, the surplus "of 7.990.- 

 000 pesos, and 4.000,000 pesos of extraordinary 

 revenue. For 1897 the estimated expenditure is 

 79,000,000 pesos, and revenue 80,000.000 pesos. The 

 extraordinary revenue for 1895, destined exclusively 

 for the redemption of the paper money and the 

 payment of municipal debts, amounted to 42,989,000 

 pesos, of which 24,343.000 pesos corresponded to 

 the loan of 2,000,000 and the remaining 18,656,000 



