594 



NATURE 



[January 28, 19 15 



of this drug is a comparatively simple matter, 

 involving the treatment of a solution of form- 

 aldehyde with ammonia. It is understood that 

 the compound is now being prepared in consider- 

 able quantities in this country. 



)8-EucAiNE, which is an important local anaes- 

 thetic, has not been prepared in England hitherto, 

 and there is apparently very great difficulty in 

 obtaining any of it for medicinal use. The pre- 

 paration of the drug is a long and tedious process, 

 and many initial difficulties had to be overcome 

 before the correct conditions were found. Ultim- 

 ately the following general scheme was worked 

 out, and found to give satisfactory results : — 



Acetone CHs.CO.CH;; 



Ammonia and 

 oxalic acid 



> 



Condensation 



with paraldehyde 



> 



Diacetoneamine 

 (hydrogen oxalate) 



Vinyldiacetone- 

 amine (oxalate) 



(CHs>2.C-NH2 



CHi< 



CO-CH3 

 (CH3>..C — NH 



CH 



\ 





CH.CH3 



Reduction Ci':- and trans- 



>- forms of the hydroxy 



Na . amalgam piperidine 



isomerisation by ^^^ f^^^ „f hydroxy 



,. ~^ , ^ piperidine 



sodium amylate 



benzoylation 

 > 



with benzoyl 

 chloride 



Benzoyl derivative 

 ol hydroxy piperi- 

 dine 



CO-CHo 



(CVtshC NH 



CH2< ^CH.CHs 



CHOH— CH2 



(CH3>2.C NH. 



■ CHo<^ ^CH.CHs 



CHOH-CH2 



(CH3)2.C N H 



CH2/ 'CH.CHg 



CH0(C6Hs CO)-CHo 



HCl or lactic acid Hydrochloric'e or 

 ^ lactateof /3 Eucaine 



It should be added that the cost of the materials 

 used in these preparations was defrayed by the 

 Imperial College, and that the services of the 

 workers were given gratis. J. F. Thorpe. 



NOTES. 

 At the anniversary meeting of the Royal Astro- 

 nomical Society, to be held on February 12, the 

 question of the admission of women will again be 

 brought forward; and it will be proposed that the 

 council take all necessary- steps to render their election 

 possible. \\'hatever arguments may, from selfish 

 motives, be used against the admission of 

 women to membership of professional corporations, 

 no logical reason can be found for excluding women 

 from societies which exist purely for the advance- 

 ment of scientific knowledge. In astronomy women 

 have shown aptitude for observation and exceptional 

 powers of description. So long ago as 1828 the Royal 

 Astronomical Society awarded its gold medal to 

 Caroline Herschel for the help she . had given her 

 brother (her work as an original discoverer was over- 

 looked at that time) ; and the society has already 

 two lady honorary members, namely, Lady Huggins, 

 elected in 1903, and Miss A. J. Cannon, of Harvard 

 College Observatory, elected last year. Other well- 

 known names of women who have done notable work 

 for astronomy are Mrs. Somerville, Mrs. Roberts 

 (Mdme. Klumpke), Miss Agnes M. Clerke, Mrs. 

 Maunder, and Mdme. E. Chandon (Paris Observa- 

 tory). Women have for some time attended meetings 

 of the Royal Astronomical Society by invitation of 

 NO. 2361, VOL. 94] 



the council ; and the society should now take the 

 further step of converting the favour to a right. 

 Among the scientific societies in which this equality 

 i of sexes exists already are the Royal Anthropological 

 Institute, British Astronomical Association, Institute 

 of Chemistry, Entomological Society, Geologists'' 

 Association, Linnean Society, London Mathematical 

 Society, Ro3fal Meteorological Society, Royal Micro- 

 scopical Society, Physical Society, Rontgen Society, 

 Royal Geographical Society, Royal Society of Arts, 

 Royal Statistical Society, and the Zoological Society. 

 The Royal Astronomical Society will thus be in good 

 company if it decides that the time has come for the 

 removal of the barriers by which women have been 

 denied the privilege of being proposed for fellowship 

 on equal terms with men. 



Dr. J. A. Murray has been appointed acting 

 director of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund. 



Lord Fisher of Kilverstone and Vice-Admiral Sir 

 Edmond J. W. Slade have been elected honorary 

 members of the Institution of Petroleum Tech- 

 nologists. 



It is with much regret that we have to announce 

 the death on Saturday, January 23, after a brief ill- 

 ness, of Mr. F. W. Rudler, for many years curator of 

 the Museum of Practical Geology at Jermyn Street. 



It is announced in the issue of Science for January 

 15 that the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research 

 will receive 40,000/. under the will of the late Mr. 

 Henry Rutherford, for cancer research work. 



Prof. Arthur Keffh has been granted leave of 

 absence for six weeks by the Royal College of Sur- 

 geons for the purpose of delivering a course of five 

 lectures on anthropology at the Western Research 

 University, Cleveland, Ohio. 



The anniversary of the birth of Sir Francis Galton, 

 Tuesday, February 16, will be celebrated as usual by 

 a dinner and lecture. This year Prof. J. Arthur 

 Thomson has undertaken to deliver an address deal- 

 ing with some aspects of war and eugenics. 



The annual meetings of the Institution of Naval 

 Architects will be held on W'ednesday, March 24, and 

 the following day, in the hall of the Royal Society of 

 Arts, John Street, Adelphi, W.C. The Marquis of 

 Bristol, R.N., president, will occupy the chair. 



We learn with regret through a message received 

 from the council of the Imperial Society of Naturalists, 

 Moscow, of the death, at sixty-eight years of age, o 

 Dr. Nicolas Ounioff, president of the society, an 

 professor of physics in the Imperial University o| 

 Moscow. 



The gold medal of the Royal Astronomical Society 

 has been awarded by the council to Prof. A. Fowler 

 for his spectroscopic investigations of sun-spots, stars, 

 and comets, and for his successful interpretation of 

 cosmic phenomena by means of experiments in the 

 laboratory. The presentation of the medal will be 

 made at the annual general meeting of the society on 

 February 12. 



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