130 



CHILI. 



growing organs. Leaves used for fodder, etc., 

 must differ in nutritive value to a very great 

 extent if their starchy contents vary so largely 

 during the day and night; and it thus becomes 

 of primary importance whether such leaves 

 are gathered in the morning or evening, in 

 cold or in warm weather, etc. The discoveries 

 will also materially affect the physiological 

 value of the analyses of leaves. 



Dr. T. L. Phipson has investigated the 

 chemical phenomena of the respiration of 

 plants, with experiments upon some of the 

 unicellular algse, Achillea, Solanum, Veronica, 

 Vinca, Galium, and some ferns. He had 

 many years before become satisfied that plants 

 could not dissolve carbonic acid alone, that is, 

 without the aid of some other chemical agent. 

 When the fresh spring- water in which unicel- 

 lular algae were cultivated had given up all of 

 its carbonic acid, and more of that substance 

 was added, the faculty of evolving oxygen was 

 only slightly restored, and it became less and 

 less manifest with successive additions of the 

 acid ; while the addition of carbonic acid to 

 water that had been thoroughly boiled for five 

 minutes and then rapidly cooled, produced 

 little or no effect. "It was, therefore, evi- 

 dent," says Dr. Phipson, "that something else 

 is required by the plant, and that this ' some- 

 thing else ' is destroyed by boiling the spring- 

 water for five minutes. It is binoxide of hy- 

 drogen that is required. It exists, and its pres- 

 ence can be demonstrated, in all spring-water, 

 and it is as essential to the life of the plant as 

 is carbonic acid." 



An Association of Official Chemists. An Associa- 

 tion of Official Chemists of the United States 

 was organized during the last meeting of the 

 American Association at Philadelphia. Chem- 

 ists of the Department of Agriculture, State 

 agricultural societies, and boards of official 

 control, are eligible to membership in the 

 Association, and each of the organizations thus 

 represented is entitled to one vote on all mat- 

 ters on which the society may ballot, while 

 other chemists are invited to attend the meet- 

 ings and take part in the discussions, without 

 having the right to vote. Prof. S. W. John- 

 son, of Connecticut, was elected president. 



CHILI, an independent republic of South 

 America. 



Area and Population. The area of Chili, 217,- 

 624 square miles previous to October, 1881, has 

 since that time been increased to 340,179 

 square miles by successive territorial accre- 

 tions, namely: part of Patagonia (about 83,- 

 291 square miles), in virtue of the treaty with 

 the Argentine Republic, bearing the above 

 date ; the territory of Antofagasta * (19,388 

 square miles), conquered from Bolivia; and 

 the province of Tarapaca (19,876 square miles) 

 ceded by Peru under the treaty of Ancon. 

 The territorial division is into eighteen prov- 

 inces and four territories, which, with their 



* To this territory Chili claimed a right under treaties of 

 1866 and 1874. 



respective areas and populations (on Jan. 1, 

 1882), are as follow : 



Cauquenes 7.000 



Lebu 7,000 



San Fernando 7,000 



Ancud 6,000 



Valdivia 6,000 



Angol 5.000 



Rancagua 4,500 



Puerto Montt 4,000 



Punta Arenas 1,000 



In this table is not included the recently 

 acquired Patagonian region. 



The population of the republic was estimated 

 at 2,377,950 on Jan. 1, 1883. Of 2,237,949 

 inhabitants of the several provinces and ter- 

 ritories (not including Antofagasta or Tara- 

 paca), on Jan. 1, 1882, 1,125,057 were females. 

 The number of marriages, births, and deaths, 

 registered in 1878, were 13,110, 78,812, and 

 60,507, respectively. The births and deaths 

 in 1880 were 85,782 and 70,036. The popula- 

 tions of the several capitals were estimated as 

 follows in 1883 : 



Santiago 200,000 



Valparaiso 95,000 



Concepcion 16.000 



Chilian 16,000 



Serena 14,000 



Copiapo 12,000 



San Felipe 11.500 



Curic6 11,000 



Linares 8,000 



Angeles 7,000 



In virtue of an act of Congress of Oct. 31, 

 1884, the territories of Tacnaand Arica (ceded 

 to Chili for ten years, under the treaty of An- 

 con f) will be considered as a Chilian prov- 

 ince, and will bear the name of Tacna. The 

 boundaries of the province are: On the north, 

 the river Sama, from its source in the mount- 

 ain-range on the Bolivian frontier, to the Pa- 

 cific Ocean ; on the south, the Camarones ra- 

 vine ; on the east, the Republic of Bolivia; and 

 on the west, the Pacific. The new province will 

 be governed according to Chilian law, and its 

 inhabitants will enjoy the same constitutional 

 rights as the people of Chili. It is divided into 

 the departments of Tacna and Arica. The first 

 of these has on the north, east, and west the 

 same boundaries as the province, and on the 

 south the Camufiani ravine. The department 



* Formed from the province of Santiago, by law of Decem- 

 ber 10, 1883. 



t = 258,888 square miles. 

 $ See volume for 1883, p. 121. 





