108 



CHEMISTRY. 



Analysis of London Waters, 1867, 1868. 



103,000 PARTS OF WATER CONTAINED 



In reference to the sewage which pours into 

 the Thames, and its chemical effect upon the 

 waters, Professor Frankland says : 



As average London sewage contains ten parts of 

 combined nitrogen in 100,000 parts, it follows that 

 100,000 parts of this sewage as it flows into the Thames 

 will contain only two parts of organic nitrogen. Fur- 

 ther, if the sewage of the 600,000 persons who drain 

 into the Thames above the point whence the water 

 companies draw their supply have the strength of 

 average London sewage, it will amount to 18,000,000 

 gallons daily, and if the average flow of the river at 

 Teddington be taken at 800,000,000 gallons daily, it 

 follows that the river will there contain 2,250 parts 

 of sewage in 100,000 parts, or 2* per cent. This 

 quantity of sewage, if in the condition as delivered at 

 the sewer outfall, would contaminate the whole vol- 

 ume of the river, only to the extent of .045 part of 

 organic nitrogen in 100,000 parts of water. Now, on 

 the 21st of January last the water delivered by the 

 five companies drawing their supplies from the 

 Thames contained the following amounts of organic 

 nitrogen in 100,000 parts : 



Chelsea (turbid) 058 



West Middlesex (clear) .027 

 Southwark (turbid) 061 



It will be seen, therefore, that three out of the five 

 samples of water actually contained more organic ni- 

 trogen than would be due to the admixture of the 

 18,000,000 gallons of sewage which are poured into the 

 Thames above the point from which these samples 

 came. But Thames water holds in solution a certain 

 amount of peaty matter which contains organic nitro- 

 gen ; a sufficient proportion of this substance, how- 

 ever, to furnish the above larger quantities of or- 

 ganic nitrogen would render the water brownish yel- 

 low when viewed in a quart decanter, while these 

 samples of Thames water were, when filtered, color- 

 less or nearly so. I am therefore of opinion that the 

 Thames water delivered in London by the Chelsea, 

 Southwark, and Lambeth companies on the 21st of 

 January last contained unoxidized sewage. This 

 opinion is confirmed by the results of some experi- 

 ments which I have recently made in my laboratory, 



Grand Junction (clear) .031 

 Lambeth (turbid) 062 







is already decomposed undergoes further "change 

 with extreme slowness, even when freely exposed to 

 the air, and mixed with large volumes of water. Thus 

 I find that a mixture of weak sewage from one of the 

 London sewers with nine times its ,volume of water 

 (containing bicarbonate of lime in solution) at a tem- 

 perature of 20 to 25 C., and well agitated every day 

 by being made to flow in a thin stream through three 

 feet of air, oxidizes but to a slight extent in the 

 course of eight days. Immediately after mixture 

 this sewage-contaminated water contained .267 part 



I 



CHILDS, HENRY H. 



of organic carbon and .081 part of organic nitrogen in 

 100,000 parts, while after ninety-six hours it still con- 

 tained .250 part of organic carbon and .058 part of 

 organic nitrogen, and even after the lapse of 192 hours 

 the undecomposcd organic matter still contained .200 

 part of organic carbon, and .054 part of organic ni- 

 trogen. 



Carlon Tubes and Crucibles. Mr. G. Gore, 

 having had occasion to use small rods and ves- 

 sels of carbon free (or nearly so) from silica 

 for experiments with hydrofluoric acid, and 

 with fused fluorides, devised the following 

 method of obtaining them : Articles and ves- 

 sels of the desired shape, but of sufficient di- 

 mensions to allow for shrinkage, were formed 

 of different kinds of wood. The kinds used 

 were lignum vitse, boxwood, beech, kingwood, 

 ebony, ironwood, mahogany, zebrawood, Me- 

 mel oak, rosewood, " bastard rosewood," maple, 

 lancewood, walnut, Norwegian pine, partridge- 

 wood, " Braziletta," cocoa-wood, vegetable 

 ivory, coquilla-nut, and the hard shell of the 

 cocoa-nut. The carbonizing was done in a cop- 

 er tube retort, provided with two exit tubes 

 or the escape of gas, the tube being placed 

 horizontally between fire-bricks, and heated 

 with extreme slowness at first, and finally to 

 bright redness by means of a row of Bunsen's 

 burners. It was necessary continually to turn 

 the retort, and so to distribute the heat, during 

 the burning process, that none of the evolved 

 tarry matter condensed ; otherwise it altered 

 their form and dimensions in a curious and 

 fantastic manner. The red heat was continued 

 until gas ceased to be evolved. If the burning 

 was too rapid, the articles fell to pieces or 

 cracked very much. The articles usually shrank 

 about one-fourth of their original dimensions 

 during the process. The best kinds of these 

 various materials were found to be lignum 

 vitae, kingwood, ebony, and beech ; rods made 

 from most of these had a remarkably clear, 

 metallic sound, when struck. The rods made 

 from lignum vitao and the other denser materi- 

 als conducted electricity most admirably. The 

 following were found to be chief conditions of 

 success in carbonizing woods: 1. Vegetable 

 materials of the hardest kinds and closest tex- 

 ture; 2. "Wood of the straightest grain, free 

 from knots and splits ; 3. Very slowly heated 

 and dried ; 4. The heat very uniformly distrib- 

 uted; 5. Prolonged high temperature at the 

 last ; 6. Gradual cooling. 



OHILDS, HENKY HALSEY, M.D., a distin- 

 guished physician and medical professor of 

 Massachusetts, at one time Lieutenant - Gov- 

 ernor of the State, born in Pittsfield, Mass* 

 June 7, 1783; died in Boston, March '22, 1868. 

 He was of patriotic Revolutionary ancestry, 

 both on the father's and mother's side. He 

 entered Williams College at the age of fifteen, 

 and graduated with distinction in the class of 

 1802. His father was an eminent physician, 

 and the son studied with him, and was in part- 

 nership with him in his practice, until the 

 death of the father. He introduced into Pitts- 

 field very early, and against much opposition, 



