Vol. XXIV. No. lo.] 
POPULAR SCIENCE NEWS. 
153 
Slje Popular Scieqce Qews. 
BOSTON, OCTOBER 
1S90. 
AUSTIN p. NICHOLS, S.B., EiHtor. 
WILLIAM J. ROLFE, LiTT.D., . Atsociale EdUor. 
Although we were unable to be present 
at the* recent meeting of the American Asso- 
ciation for the Advancement of Science, at 
Indianapolis, we learn from numerous cor- 
respondents that the meeting was an unusually 
succcssfid one, and notable both in the large 
attendance and the character of the work 
done by the various sections. The citizens 
welcomed the members with true Western 
hospitality, and the occasion will long be 
remembered by those who were so fortunate 
as to be present. It should be understood 
that the Association is not composed entirely 
of professional scientists, but that all inter- 
ested in science, whether especially devoted 
to any particular branch or not, are welcome 
to membership, and arc sure to find pleasure 
and profit in its meetings. We are sure that 
all readers of the Science News will be well 
repaid by attending the next summer's meet- 
in<i of the Association. 
Unforeseen circumstances prevented us 
from obtaining the summary of the more 
important papers read at the Indianapolis 
meeting which we hoped to lay before our 
readers, but special mention should be made 
of two papers read before the chemical section 
by Professors Morley, of Cleveland, and 
NoYES, of Terre Haute, upon the atomic 
weight of oxygen. Each has recently made 
many delicate experiments to determine this 
ratio of weight between oxygen and hydro- 
gen, which is one of the most important 
of the unsolved problems of chemistry. The 
former made it 15.88, and the latter 15.90; 
but Professor Noyes admitted that Professor 
Morley's experiments had been superior to 
his own, and that Morley was, therefore, 
more nearly right. It will be be noticed that 
these ninnbers are very slightly higher than 
those obtained by Professor Cooke and Lord 
Rayleigh, thus approximating more closely 
to the whole number required by Prout's 
hypothesis. There are, however, so many 
difficulties in the way of obtaining the exact 
relation of weight between oxygen and hydro- 
gen, that it is, as yet, impossible to say with 
certainty what the relation is. Granting, 
however, that we are able to obtain hydrogin 
in a chemically pure state, the atomic weight 
of the latter is certainly much below 16, and 
probably less than 15.9. 
of fifteen cents a pound. Such a claim is 
absurd upon tiie face of it to anyone ac- 
quainted with the chemical properties of this 
metal and its compoiuids. Every clay-bank 
is, it is true, a mine of aluminium ore ; but 
the metal is so firmly united by the bonds 
of chemical afKnity to the silicon and oxygen, 
that an amount of energy is required to sepa- 
rate it which costs many times more than the 
sum mentioned above. Aluminium cannot 
be produced by any process at present known 
to us for much less than two dollars a pound, 
and, although the cost will undoubtedly be 
still further reduced, it is almost impossible 
that it should ever reach the extremely low 
figures quoted above. 
An alleged chemist in Chicago has recently 
announced that he has discovered a process 
(carefully kept secret, of course) by which he 
can produce metallic aluminium at a cost 
The New York Legislature has again dis- 
tinguished itself by passing a law which 
makes it a misdemeanor, punishable by fine, 
for any child actually or apparently under 
sixteen years of age to smoke or use tobacco 
in any form in any street or place of public 
resort. The law went into eflcct on the first 
of September, and we are pleased to learn 
that both the New York policemen and the 
small boys "actually or apparently under 
sixteen years of age" showed their superior 
good sense by entirely ignoring this prepos- 
terous piece of legislative idiocy. The craze 
for legislative interference with private atTairs 
and personal liberty seems to be continually 
on the increase, and it is hard to say where it 
will end. 
One of the recent triumphs of chemistry is 
the synthesis of dextrose (glucose) from its 
elements, by Professor Emil Fischer, as 
well as the similar sugars known as levulose, 
mannose, and acrose. Professor Fischer has 
been engaged in the study of the sugars for 
some time, and has finally succeeded in pro- 
ducing from its elements and determining the 
chemical constitution of a substance which is 
chemically, physicall}', and optically identical 
with the ordinary dextrose that occurs in 
plants, and generally known as glucose, or 
grape sugar. Until VVohler formed the com- 
paratively simple organic substance urea from 
its elements, it was supposed that organic 
compounds could only be produced through 
the agency of the living organism, but since 
then a large number of such substances have 
been prepared directly from their inorganic 
elements. The synthesis of a substance with 
such a complex molecular formula as dextrose 
is certainly a remarkable feat, and only chem- 
ists can ajjpreciate the amount of labor and 
perseverance involved in its accomplishment. 
We may add that tiiis discovery is of no 
commercial importance, as dextrose prepared 
in this way would cost many hundred times 
as much as that formed in Nature's laboratory 
and obtained by the cheap and simple pro- 
cesses now in use. 
We are glad to insert, in another column, 
the letter of Mr. Hems giving the true history 
of the Ballh.'itchet family, which, it was 
alleged, had descended from an ancient 
Phoenician colony on the south coast of 
England. The item in question was obtained 
by us from an apparently reliable source, and 
the story was not, on the face, an improbable 
one. As our correspondent shows, however, 
it was only a sensational newspaper "yarn," 
and had no foundation in fact ; so if there are 
any descendants of the pre-historic tin mer- 
chants still existing in England, they, as yet, 
remain unknown to fame. 
As regards Dr.WATERs's explanation of the 
alleged phenomena of " autographism," how- 
ever, we must say that it does not seem to be 
a satisfactory one. The simple reddening 
of the skin by friction is a very difl'erent 
phenomenon from that described by Dr. 
Mesnet, who distinctly states that a com- 
paratively slight irritation will bring about 
the pecidiar reddening and swelling of the 
skin, and that it only occurs in the case of a 
very few persons of a distinctly hysterical 
temperament. Dr. Waters says that the phe- 
nomenon can be produced upon the skin 
of anyone, but we have been unable to pro- 
duce it upon ourselves or upon anyone else. 
We are still inclined to think that "auto- 
graphism" must be due to some abnormal 
condition of the skin, although, perhaps, sus- 
ceptible of a more simple explanation than 
that advanced by Dr. Mesnet. 
GOLD. 
Gold has been known from the earliest 
time, and has always been considered the 
king of metals. Its beautiful color, its 
malleability and ductility, and its power 
of resistance to oxidation and other chemical 
changes, has given it a high order in the arts ; 
while the same qualities, added to those of a 
limited but constant supply, and the high cost 
of mining, and extracting it from its ores, 
render it particularly well adapted for coin- 
age, and to serve as a universal standard 
of value. 
Gold is almost invariably found native, or 
in the metallic state, the few specimens of 
telluride of gold observed having only a 
scientific interest. It occurs either in the 
primitive rocks, or in the celluvial deposits 
formed from the destruction of these rocks, 
and washed down from higher to lower 
levels. A minute trace has been found in 
sea water from certain localities, but in too 
small quantity to pay for extraction. It has 
a very strong affinity for mercury, uniting 
with it to form a liquid amalgam^ from 
which it can be separated by heating to the 
boiling-point of mercury, which passes off in 
vapor, leaving the pure gold behind. This 
process is very largely used in the separation 
