

CHILI. 



121 



from Kanaja, Japan ; fine brown and green gravel 

 from earthquake eruption, Nayaya, Japan ; eleven 

 specimens from different provinces of Canada ; and 

 drillings from the deep well at Wheeling, W. Va. 

 The total averages of all the percentages found are 

 0.57 for air-dried, and O.GG for ignited soils ; or, 

 omitting the estimation of the St. Helena specimen, 

 which was exceptional, 0.515 and 0.588. These facts 

 ;nv regarded by the author as pointing very plainly 

 to the universal distribution of titanic oxide over 

 the earth's crust. It appears strange, he observes, 

 t hut any body existing in so considerable an amount 

 in the soil should have been overlooked in the nu- 

 merous analyses of soils that have been made. 



Prof. J. B. Farmer and Mr. W. G. Freeman have 

 demonstrated the action of germinating peas, cress, 

 and barley in causing the dcoxidation of a watery 

 solution of methylene blue to a colorless liquid on 

 shaking up the latter with air, while on adding a 

 drop of hydrogen peroxide the blue color was re- 

 stored. Green plants placed in the solution acted 

 in a manner precisely similar to the seedlings, 

 t hough the action could be modified by assimilation 

 in sufficient light. 



Grains of maize were sterilized by Jules Laurent 

 by being kept in a weak solution of bichloride of 

 mercury for two hours, and were then cultivated in 

 a solution containing nitrate of lime, chloride of 

 potassium, sulphate of magnesia, mono-potassic 

 phosphate, and a few drops of a dilute solution of 

 perchloride of iron. The maize developed normal- 

 ly, even to the complete opening of the flowers. 

 On adding to the solution a known weight of glu- 

 cose, and again of inverted sugar, it was found that 

 the quantity of sugar absorbed is in relation with 

 the dry weight of the plant. 



Contamination of water by zinc is not very fre- 

 quent. An instance is cited by Percy A. E. Rich- 

 ards in the " Chemical News," in which water drawn 

 from a Berkshire (England) district and after being 

 stored in a reservoir, supplied to a private residence 

 for drinking purposes by a galvanized-iron pipe 

 about two miles long, developed, on being exposed 

 to the air for about an hour, a distinct scum on the 

 surface. On analysis this was found to contain 5.12 

 grains of zinc carbonate per gallon. The presence 

 of the zinc was easily detected in the unconcen- 

 trated water by both the ammonium sulphide and 

 potassium-ferrocyanide tests. Upon boiling the 

 water a precipitation of carbonate of zinc took 

 place. 



Of the chemical modifications that take place in 

 fruits during their growth M. C. Gerber finds that 

 the acids disappear, giving off at the same time 

 more carbonic-acid gas than they can borrow from 

 atmospheric oxygen and forming hydrates of car- 

 bon. The tannins disappear when the respiratory 

 quotient is below unity, and do not form hydrates 

 of carbon. So long as the tannins exist the fruits 

 will not soften. As soon as they have disappeared, 

 softening begins. Then follows obstruction of the 

 intercellular meatus, alcoholic fermentation, and 

 the formation of the perfumed ethers. At the same 

 time the respiratory quotient becomes greater than 

 unity. 



CHILI, a republic in South America. The na- 

 tional Congress consists of a Senate and a House of 

 Deputies, each elected by the votes of the male citi- 

 zens able to read and write, the Senators by the 

 provinces and the Deputies by the departments, in 

 the proportions of one Deputy to 30,000 of popula- 

 tion, and one Senator to three Deputies. The Presi- 

 dent of the republic is elected for five years by a 

 college of electors. Federico Errazuriz was elected 

 President for the term ending Sept. 18, 1901. His 

 Cabinet at the beginning of 1898 was composed as 

 follows : Premier and Minister of the Interior, An- 



tonio Valdez Cuevas ; Mfhister of Foreign Affairs, 

 Worship, and Colonization, Kaymundo Silva Cruz; 

 Minister of Justice and Public Instruction, Domingo 

 Amunategui Rivera; Minister of Finance, Elias 

 Fernandez A Ibano; Minister of War and Marine, 

 Carlos Palacios Zapata; Minister of Industry and 

 Public Works, Domingo Toro Herrera. 



Area and Population. The following table 

 gives the area and population of the provinces and 

 territories, according to the census taken on Nov. 

 28, 1895, compared with the population in 1885 : 





Antofagasta was ceded to Chili by Bolivia after 

 the war with Peru and Bolivia, and Tarapaca by 

 Peru, and Tacna also on condition that its inhabit- 

 ants should decide by a majority vote at the end of 

 ten years whether they should become citizens of 

 Chili definitively, or whether the province should 

 be retroceded to Peru on payment of an indemnity. 

 When the term was past, Peru was unable, to act, 

 owing to political disturbances, and hence the ques- 

 tion has remained undecided. Serious differences 

 have existed between Chili and the Argentine Re- 

 public relative to the boundary line in Patagonia, 

 and the arbitration of the British Queen has been 

 invited. 



The census of 1885 was notoriously imperfect, 

 and that of 1895 probably understates the actual 

 population by at least 15 per cent. The number of 

 marriages in 1895 was 14,779: of births, 110,154; of 

 deaths, 92,197 ; excess of births, 17,957. The immi- 

 grants do not average over 600 a year. In 1896 

 Congress appropriated 867,000 pesos for the encour- 

 agement of immigration. 



Finances. The total revenue in 1894 was 83,- 

 436,000 pesos, and the expenditure 78,482,000 pesos. 

 For 1897 the revenue was estimated at 79,200,000 

 pesos, of which import duties were expected to pro- 

 duce 22,500,000 pesos, export duties on nitrates 

 38,600,000 pesos, export duties on iodine 250,000 

 pesos, railroads 14,000.000 pesos, posts and tele- 

 graphs 1,000,000 pesos, rentals and sales 1,900.000 

 pesos, stamps 550,000 pesos, and other sources 400,- 

 000 pesos. The expenditure for 1897 was set down 

 as 79,155,971 pesos, of which 8,905,713 pesos were 

 assigned to the interior, 2,442,396 pesos to foreign 

 affairs, worship, and colonization, 9,348,000 pesos 

 to justice and public instruction, 18,035,083 pesos to 

 finance, 11,864.456 pesos to war, 8,546,983 pesos to 

 marine, and 20.013,340 pesos to industry and public 

 works. For 1898 the revenue was estimated at 76,- 

 250.000 pesos, and expenditure at 76,205,164 pesos. 



The foreign debt on June 30, 1897, amounted to 



