122 



CIIMMISTKY. 



ome support from observations by Prof. cl.v.s,.,, of 

 certain hydroxymethylen. M, which he de- 



Kri it being all >i r . ng monobasic adds, The; 

 can all be accurately estimated l.\ with 



normal alkali in aqueous alcoholic solution. Th.-y 

 y. even in tin* roM. in aqueous solu- 



dissolve freely 

 tions of alkali 



liU-ratinc a 



Among mbfUneet composed of carbon, hydrogen, 

 ami oxygen only, and not containing a carboxyl 



group, they Appear to be the first that approach 

 the monocarboiylic acids (except forum a. i-li m 

 Strength ; and they even surpass some . .f t h,-m. 



tau-l.t that the alco- 



even surpa 

 n generally t 

 of sugar by 



!e it has been 



holic fermentation of sugar by yeast was intimately 

 associated with and dependent on the living n 

 <>f the yeast cell, -in.- investigators have l>. 

 that. notwithstanding the apparent iin|N.s,sibilitv >f 

 separating an alcoholic ferment from its orpmism. 

 such a body nevertheless exists, and that alcoholic 

 n i- thus after all. only a special case 



iumry enrcnie action, although n- of ; 

 iar complexity. These views receive confirmation 

 from the researches of Dr. E. Bochner. By pound- 

 log up pure yeast with quartz .-and and adding a 

 certain amount of water, thi- author was able to 

 squeeze out. under a pressure of between 400 and 

 000 atmospheres, a liqui<l which, wlu>n filtered, pre- 

 sented an opalescent appearance and an agreeable 

 yeastlike odor. Care was taken to exclude all or- 

 ganisms from the liquid, and it was found, under 

 such conditions. al>le to excite alcoholic fermenta- 



M solutions of suitable sugars. The fermenta- 



process was not inhibited by the addition of 



chloroform. even up to the saturation point, but a 



rapid precipitation of albuminous substances from 



the liquid was causal thereby. 



Beginning in the " American chemical Journal " 

 a review of progress in t n- chemist ry of t he carbohy- 

 drates during 1890, W. E. Stone says that activity 

 in that field is unabated, and it is' becoming more 

 and more evident to the student that the carbo- 

 hydrates present opportunities for the study and 

 illu*t ration of chemical theories in no way exceeded 

 by their very great practical and technical impor- 

 tance, The continued study and development of 

 new reactions among them has been so fruitful that 

 they may now be fairly regarded as among tin 

 most reactive of the general classes of carbon com- 

 pounds. A large n ii m her of characteristic reac 

 nave been well studied, involving the general prin- 

 ciples of polvnicri/.ation. condensation, oxidation, 

 reduction, ether, and ester formations, etc. Con- 

 trary to the former view that the carbohydrates 

 xtremely unstable and sensitive compounds, 

 it now apjH'ars that they are capable of undergoing 

 th- most manifold changes, as regards both their 

 chemical features and their physical prop* 

 The sugars offer the best-known examples for illus- 

 trating the principles of stereo-chemistry, while the 

 latest researches indicate that ragar molecQli 

 unstable systems in which a vnri.-ty of inter molecu- 

 lar transformations may be induced. 



In some of his experiments on the formation and 

 transformation of mil id Inidips Prof. Ostwald used 



.pat hie trituratives,and d.-termined th> 

 tiviiy in a physical chemical matter. In them he 

 applied the well-known property jossessed by crys- 

 talline bodi<~ of determining the crystallization of 

 solutions of their own HI lit ion 



called M overcooled " when brought in contact with 

 them. Seeking to discover how small a part Me of 

 the crystal substance would be sufficient to deter- 

 mine crystallization, he. in order to obtain 

 minn .ne particles, triturated tin- crystals 



with powdered quartz or with milk SULMT. The 

 proportion'* of the triturated substance to the in- 

 different vehicle in the several trituratives are di- 



minished by tenths from -^ in the first trit unit ion 

 to nrpgrrtoflBBO i ''"' tenth. Crystalli/ation \\ :i -, 

 induced win M no highrr than the ninth trituration 

 (TTJoWdJTOOo) Was U> ral siiliMane.-s like 



salol, would work with this trituration only when 

 freshly prepared; when older, the third trituratioD 

 (-raW) would still Induce crystallisation, but not the 

 i he fourth (nrfarA Only a sin I ion to this 



nil law was found iii the case .t borax. \\hieh 

 induced crystalli/.ation H- far ;i- tin- seventeenih 

 trituration. Tin- result seemed so astonish in;; t<> 



Prof. Ostwald that he most carefully made another 

 series of tr hidi the ninth tritu, 



(nrdfloSoono) WHS Mill active, whilr the higher tritu- 

 ratl- : H far I" 



the ninth t rit urat j..n. but Prof. Ostwald % a c\'p.-ri- 

 ments are in favor of the act ivity of minute medical 

 doses, for when the i nnooWqo part of a grain 

 licient to priNluce si. rrsull.s a> the solidifi- 



cation of a solution l>y the formation of rr\ 

 we can hardly say that" the ninth trituration 

 tains no more" of the active sul^tai 



A series of researches have been carried on f.,r 

 six yojir- l.y .Mr. A. I-'.. Tuttou into the relation that 

 may exist between the chemical composil 

 Substances and the nature of the crystal- which 

 they are observed to form. The aulho'r sought 68- 

 .\ t" determine exactly the differences pre- 

 sented by certain well-dclined series of i-omorphoiis 

 salts. The investigation was one calling for the 

 r. ful methods. Certain series con- 

 taining in their different members the alkali metals 

 pot a iu m. rubidium, and c.-rsium, were eho-i-n a- 1 he 



lal objects of the study. The result of the in- 

 restigation has been to show thai all the morpho- 

 ]o-jc;ti properties of each of the isoiu.rphou- 



exhiliit progressive variations that follow the order 

 of progression of the atomic weights of the alkali 

 metals which the salts contain. Hence it may In- 

 said that th.-e variations are functions of the atomic 

 weight of the alkali metals. Of course, the author 



_rht is only one of the nun. 



properties of an element, and is employed simply a- 

 the most convenient reference constant that could 

 be chosen - fundamentally the dill- 



in the essential nature of the atoms of different 

 elements, and not because of any virtue in atomic 

 weight verse. r.xpre-<ion i- Driven to the principle 

 dedooea in the words. "The difference in the 

 nature of the el.-ini-nts of the same family group 

 which is manifest ed in their varying atomic wi 

 is also expressed in the similarly regulai 

 of the characters of an Isomorpho f the 



salts of which these elements are the interchange- 

 able constituents." 



I'rof. G. Linck had already i-alled attention : 

 fact that the characteristics ,,f crystals tbi 

 their geometric and optical 'id in 



direct relation to the atomic or molecular w- 

 contained in them. This i< most clearly shown in 

 the cut ni by which is meant e 



milarly, but differing onlf 



in tliat they each contain a 'different element, 

 thoiiL'h the elements are yet similar a^-onlini: '" 

 the periodic system of Mendeleeff. If such a 

 series is arranged acr-ordiiiL' t" increasing in- 

 Iar r,r atomic weight, then the -erics, for all charac- 

 teH-tics of the crystal, remains unchanged. The 

 author has designated the fundamental law i.f 

 phenomena a- entropy." Tables computed 

 from data embracing the *vstcrn to whicli tin 

 tal b tfl axial relations, the specific gr. 



and tin- atomic weight lead to the com-ln-ion- that 

 the actual volumes of the various chemical corn- 

 is if formed into equivalent crystals stand in 

 a very Dimple relation to each other: the weights 

 of these equivalent volumes stand in the same P-U- 



