ASSOCIATIONS FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. (AMERICAN.) 



39 



were no simpler. They were not complex or 

 compound. The distinction was clearly drawn 

 between bodies simple and bodies compound, and 

 the name simple body has been frequently used 

 as a synonym for element through a large part 

 of this century." Then, discussing the signifi- 

 cance of the idea of atom, he made the following 

 statement: "It is not possible for me, in the 

 limits of this address, to array before you all 

 of the various evidence which leads to the belief 

 that our so-called elementary atoms are after all 

 but compounds of an intimate, peculiar nature 

 whose dissociation we have as yet been unable 

 to 'accomplish. When properly marshalled, it 

 gives a very staggering blow to the old faith. 

 What would be attained if any one should suc- 

 ceed in decomposing an element by one of the 

 usual methods? Successful decomposition should 

 mean the discovery of a method which will de- 

 compose not one, but many or, indeed, all of the 

 elements, and the decomposition of these must 

 not yield a larger number of supposedly simple 

 bodies, but a small group of one or two or three 

 which are common constituents of all." His 

 argument led to this conclusion : " Either these 

 imagined simple bodies are after all compounds, 

 built up of two or more common constituents, 

 or they are but varying forms of one and the 

 same kind of matter subjected to different in- 

 fluences and conditions." The closing portion 

 of his address leaned toward the hypothesis that 

 the elements are built up of two or more com- 

 mon constituents, which, he said, " has a larger 

 number of supporters and would seem more 

 plausible." 



The following-named papers were presented be- 

 fore the section, the meetings of which were also 

 attended by the members of the American Chem- 

 ical Society: The Relation of Physical Chemistry 

 to Technical Chemistry, by Wilder D. Bancroft; 

 On the Constitution of Oxy azo-compounds, by 

 William McPherson; The Nature of the Change 

 from Violet to Green in Solutions of Chromium 

 Salts, by Willis R. Whitney; Micro structure of 

 Antimony-tin Alloys, by J. J. Kessler, Jr.; The 

 Electrolytic Deposition of Metals from Non-aque- 

 ous Solutions, by Louis Kahlenberg; Some Ex- 

 perimental Illustrations of the Electrolytic Dis- 

 sociation Theory, by Arthur A. Noyes; Methods 

 of Analysis of Sulphite Solutions as used in 

 Paper Making, by Rudolf De Roode; Improve- 

 ment in the Chemical Composition of the Corn 

 Kernel, by Cyril G. Hopkins ; Some New Products 

 of Maize Stalks, by Harvey W. Wiley and Wil- 

 liam H. Krug; Soil Humus, by E. F. Ladd; The 

 Relation of Fertilizers to Soil Moistures, by 

 Julius T. Willard ; Secondary Heptylamine, by 

 Thomas Clarke; Propane Trisulphonic Acid, by 

 William B. Shober; On the Derivatives of Isnoc- 

 tive of Formhydroxamic Acid, and their Relation 

 to Fulminic Acid, by H. C. Biddle; The Reichert 

 Figure of Butter, by James H. Stebbins, Jr. ; The 

 Determination of Nickel in Nickel Steel, by 

 -George W. Sargent; Camphoric Acid, Alpha- 

 hydroxy-dihydrocis-campholytic Acid, and the 

 Synthesis of Dimethyl-cyan-carbon-ethyl-cyclo- 

 pentanone, by William A. Noyes and J. W. Shep- 

 herd; Diazo-Caff'eine and The Preparation of the 

 Tri-phenyl-chlor-methane and Tri-phenyl-carbinol, 

 by M. Gomberg ; The Action of Sodium Methylate 

 upon the Dibromides of Pro-penyl Compounds 

 and Unsaturated Ketones, by F. J. Pond; Some 

 Secondary Cyclic Amines, by Curtis C. Howard; 

 On Naphthalene-azo-alpha-naphthol and its De- 

 rivatives, by William McPherson and Robert 

 Fischer; Esterification Experiments with Hexa- 

 hydro- and Tetra-hydroxylic Acids, by William A. 



Noyes; On the Condensation of Chloral with 

 Ortho-, Meta-, and Para-nitranilines, Note on the 

 Occurrence of Chromium, Titanium, and Vana- 

 dium in Peats, and On the Universal Distribution 

 of Titanium, by Charles Baskerville; The Atomic 

 Weight of Calcium, by Theodore W. Richards; 

 Preliminary Report on a New Method for the 

 Determination of Carbon Dioxide, by M. E. 

 Hiltner; Analysis of Oils, by Augustus H. Gill; 

 Examination of Lemon-flavoring Extracts, by A. 

 S. Mitchell; The Composition of American and 

 Foreign Dairy Salt, by Fritz W. Woll; Notes 

 on Testing Soils for Application of Commercial 

 Fertilizers, by Henry A. Weber; The Persulphates 

 of Rubidium, Cesium, and Thallium, by Arnett 

 R. Foster and Edgar F. Smith; The Chemical 

 Composition of Butter Fat and The Chemistry 

 of Rancidity in Butter Fat, by C. A. Browne, Jr. ; 

 Halides and Perhalides of the Picolines, by Paul 

 Murrill; A Determination of the Transformation 

 Point of Sodium Sulphate, by Arthur P. Saun- 

 ders; Notes on the Estimation of Total Carbon 

 in Iron and Steel, by Francis P. Dunnington; 

 Electrolysis of Metallic Phosphate Solutions, by 

 Harry M. Fernberger and Edgar F. Smith; The 

 Action of Sodium Methylate upon the Dibromides 

 of Propenyl Compounds and Unsaturatea Ke- 

 tones, by F. J. Pond, O. P. Maxwell, and G. M. 

 Norman; On the Determination of Volatile Com- 

 bustible Matter in Coke and Anthracite Coal, 

 by Richard K. Meade and James C. Atkins; 

 Observations upon Tungsten, by Edgar F. Smith; 

 The Atomic Mass of Tungsten, by Willett L. 

 Hardin; Notes on the Determination of Sulphur 

 in Pig Iron, by M. J. Moore; An Electrolytic 

 Study of Benzoin and Benzil, by Joseph H. 

 James; The Quantitative Estimation of Boric 

 Acid in Tourmaline, by George W. Sargent; 

 Some Boiling-point Curves, by John K. Hay- 

 wood; Electrolytic Determinations and Separa- 

 tions, by Lily G. Kollack; The Precipitation of 

 Copper by Zinc, by John G. Shengle and Edgar 

 F. Smith; Derivatives and Atomic Mass of Pal- 

 ladium, by Willett L. Hardin ; Action of Hydro- 

 chloric-acid Gas upon Sulphates, Selenates, Tel- 

 lurates, and Phosphates, by Raymund W. Tun- 

 nell and Edgar F. Smith; and The Electrolytic 

 Oxidation of Succinic Acid, by Charles H. Clarke 

 and Edgar F. Smith. 



D. Mechanical Science and Engineering. The 

 presiding officer of this section was Prof. Storm 

 Bull, who fills the chair of Steam Engineering in 

 the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis. He 

 addressed the section on Engineering Education 

 as a Preliminary Training for Scientific-research 

 Work. He said in part : " The object of scien- 

 tific-research work is, as I understand it, to ascer- 

 tain the facts of Nature, to correlate these facts, 

 and, finally, to deduce the laws of Nature as 

 illustrated by the facts discovered. It will be 

 noticed that I divide scientific-research work 

 into three parts, and I am sure that everybody 

 will agree when I say that most of the scientific 

 work done to-day is along the first line." These 

 qualifications were discussed somewhat at length. 

 He then said : " It is my contention that a man 

 who has received a thorough engineering edu- 

 cation, and perhaps has added a few years of 

 professional work to scholastic training, is as 

 well prepared to take up scientific-research work 

 as any one coming from our universities and col- 

 leges." The education of an engineer was dis- 

 cussed by him, and he contended that " the ideal 

 engineering education is first an academic course, 

 followed by two or three years' work in the 

 engineering college. A man educated as just 

 indicated would certainly be better fitted for sci- 



