36 ASSOCIATIONS FOE THE ADVANCEMENT OP SCIENCE. (AMERICAN.) 



New Photometer," by Nelson II. Genung and Freder- 

 ick J. Rogers ; " Magnesium as a Source of Light," 

 by Frederick J. Rogers ; " Note on the Measurement 

 of Resistances by Alternating Currents," " The Nature 

 of Counter-electromotive Force," and " What should 

 be our Fundamental Units ? " by Brown Ayres ; " Be- 

 havior of Silver Emulsions under Long Exposure to 

 Light " and " Color Photography by Lippmann's Pro- 

 cess," by Charles B. Thwing ; " On the Nomenclature 

 for Physical Units, by Alexander Macfarlaiie ; and 

 " Some Experiments in Atmospheric Electricity," by > 

 Alexander Me Adie. 



C. Chemistry. This section was presided over 

 by Prof. Robert C. Kedzie, who fills the chair of 

 Chemistry at the Michigan State Agricultural 

 College. His subject was " Alchemy." 



Alchemy is often called the forerunner of 

 chemistry, and out of its broken columns there 

 has been built up the enduring temple of chem- 

 ical science. No science has a firmer basis of 

 known facts than chemistry, the basic princi- 

 ples upon which it is built can be examined 

 without fear that the foundation stones will 

 turn to dust upon the touch of investigation. 

 The results of the labors and discoveries of the 

 alchemists have been of great value to the world, 

 even though the direct objects they sought for- 

 ever eluded their grasp and left disappointment 

 and despair to their votaries. The objective 

 points of the alchemists were the elixir of life, 

 the alcahest or universal solvent, and the phi- 

 losopher's stone. 



The indestructibility of matter, and the pos- 

 sibility of recovering a given substance notwith- 

 standing all its disguises by combination with 

 other bodies the persistence of matter and the 

 immanence of its properties were grand dis- 

 coveries in material science. They marked the 

 transition from alchemy to chemistry. The rec- 

 ognition of the indestructibility of force was 

 the second great step, the crowning discovery of 

 modern physics. In the words of Faraday, " It 

 is the highest law in physical science which our 

 faculties permit us to perceive," 



Shall we take a third step, and proclaim the 

 permanence of force but the destructibility of 

 matter ; that the atom may have a life, grow old, 

 and die or pass back into primitive nothingness, 

 or become the ether of which we talk so much 

 and know so little ? Shall we assume that ra- 

 diant force may be changed into matter and fall 

 under the law of gravitation ? No single thought 

 has contributed so much to give form and per- 

 manence to chemical science as the atom of Dai- 

 ton. An atomic theory was indeed held by the 

 Greeks in regard to the constitution of matter, 

 but it related chiefly to the question of the con- 

 tinuity or discontinuity of matter in mass, and 

 considered the question of the limited or unlim- 

 ited divisibility of matter. But the chemical 

 atom, with its application in explaining the law 

 of definite and of multiple proportions by weight 

 in chemical combinations, was the gift of the 

 Quaker schoolmaster of Birmingham. 



The question has been seriously raised by an 

 American chemist whether gold can be manu- 

 factured. On the affirmative side of this ques- 

 tion he points to the fact that didymium has 

 been split into two metals, and by recombining 

 these two new metals the old didymium was 

 again formed. " These facts make it probable 

 that the so-called chemical elements are not 



really elements, but compounds, which in time- 

 we shall be able to separate into their constitu- 

 ents and to reproduce by combining other sub- 

 stances. Among the heavy elements and hence 

 those that would be expected to yield to the 

 attacks of tjie chemist is gold. It is not im- 

 probable that in time it will become possible to 

 make gold in large quantities an event which 

 would throw it out of use as a standard of value, 

 so far as it derives its own value from its rarity." 

 The statement that didymium is a compound 

 "metal is of great interest to the chemist. But 

 the fact that the reunion of these metals will 

 form the old metal or alloy is not so surprising, 

 but is what any chemist would expect. But how 

 do such facts show the probability, or even possi- 

 bility, of making any given metal out of hetero- 

 geneous materials ? If the combination of cerium 

 and samarium would form didymium, then a 

 plausible case would be made out. But if praseo- 

 dymium and neodymium are required to make 

 didymium, how are we nearer the manufacture 

 of this last metal by such discovery ? We must 

 still have the two new metals to make the old 

 metal. Suppose that gold can be split into two 

 or ten new metals the reunion of which will 

 form gold, does this bring us one whit nearer the 

 new age of gold f If it takes gold to make gold, 

 what part or lot have baser metals in such trans- 

 formations I 



In conclusion, he said that " the hypothesis of 

 the evolution of the chemical atoms by aggrega- 

 tion or polymerization of one-matter substance 

 challenges scientific thought. Based upon broad 

 assumptions and sustained entirely by analogy, 

 it will hardly disturb the relative coinage value 

 of the metals by holding out hopes of alchemic 

 transmutation. The advice of William Crookes, 

 to treat it simply as a provisional hypothesis, is 

 conservative and wise." 



The following-named papers were then read : 



" Preliminary Notes on the Influence of Swamp 

 Waters on the Formation of the Phosphate Nodules of 

 South Carolina," by Charles L. Reese ; " Land and 

 River Phosphate Pebbles or Nodules or Florida," by 

 Edward T. Cox ; " A Latent Characteristic of Alu- 

 minium," by Alfred Springer ; " The Influence of 

 Negative Atoms and Groups of Atoms on Organic 

 Coinpounds," by Paul C. Freer ; " Gabbro Phonolyte," 

 by Edward Goldsmith ; " Raphides the Cause of the 

 Acridity of Certain Plants," by Henry A. Weber ;. 

 " The Calculation of the Boiling Point of a Paraffin 

 under any Pressure," " The Calculation of the Boiling 

 Points of Isomerics from their Moment of Inertia," 

 and " Determination of the True Position of the Car- 

 bon Atoms in Organic Compounds by Means of Ana- 

 lytical Mechanics," by Gustavus Hinrichs ; " Distri- 

 bution of Titanic Oxide on the Earth's Surface," by 

 Francis P. Dunnington ; " The Precipitation of Fish 

 Oil in Linseed Oil, when used as an Adulterant, by 

 Silver Nitrate Solution," and " The Separation and 

 Precipitation of Oleic Acid from Linseed Oil by Sil- 

 ver IS itrate," by Thomas Tavlor ; " Biological Func- 

 tion of the Lecithins," by Walter Maxwell ; " Syn- 

 thesis of Weighed Quantities of Water from Weighed 

 Quantities of Oxygen and Hydrogen," by Edward W.. 



Phenol," by Edward Hart ; " An Inquiry relative to 

 the Causes leading to the Formation of Ore Deposits," 

 by W. A. Chapman; "Delicacy of the Tests for 

 Phenol," by John G. Spenzer ; " An Aceto Acetid 

 Ether," by J. U. Nef ; " On Plattnerite from Idaho," 



