4 50 



NATURE 



[September 9, 1897 



usual blue colouration. Further investigation revealed 

 the fact that the blue colouration is due to an impurity in 

 ordinary coal-tar benzene, viz. thiophene. The discovery 

 of this remarkable substance was of great importance, 

 giving a deeper insight into the nature of aromatic 

 substances. Six years after the discovery of thiophene, 

 he was able to publish a monograph " Die Thiophen- 

 gruppe," containing a masterly account of thiophene and 

 its derivatives, practically the whole of the work having 

 been carried out in his own laboratory. 



Another extremely interesting group of compounds, 

 our knowledge of which is due to V. Meyer and his 

 pupils, is that derived from the hypothetical iodonium 

 hydroxide, IH2.OH. In these substances the iodine 

 plays a part analogous to that of nitrogen or sulphur in 

 the ammonium and sulphonium compounds. The curious 

 and striking resemblance of the corresponding diphenyl 

 iodonium and thallium salts is very suggestive. 



Many of his investigations related to the connection 

 between the constitution of a substance and- the relative 

 ease with' which it entered into a given reaction. As 

 examples may be mentioned his work on the influence of 

 certain groups on the acid properties of substances 

 containing them, and that on the relative ease of etheri- 

 fication of substituted benzoic acids, and on the formation 

 of oximes or hydrazones of aromatic ketones. 



Victor Meyer's best-known work is certainly that on 

 vapour-density. A description of his air-displacement 

 method of determining vapour-density is to be found in 

 almost every text-book of chemistry, and a specimen of 

 his apparatus in almost every laboratory in the world. [ 

 The method was devised in 1878, and since then hardly 

 a year has elapsed in which he has not described some j 

 improvement of the apparatus, rendering it capable of ! 

 more extended usefulness or some results, frequently of 

 the highest interest, obtained by means of it. It is not 

 €asy to realise how little we would know of the molecular 

 ■condition of vapours, especially at high temperatures, if 

 Meyer's work in this direction were swept away. In a 

 fascinating paper published in 1890, entitled " Chemische 

 Probleme der Gegenwart," he gives rein to his scientific 

 imagination, and discusses what might occur if it were 

 possible to carry out vapour-density determinations at 

 temperatures as much above the highest now reached 

 as the latter are above the ordinary temperature. 



In recent years he paid much attention to the study of 

 chemical change in gaseous systems. The investigation 

 of the reaction between iodine and hydrogen is particu- 

 larly noteworthy as affording one of the very few examples 

 known of a normal reaction between gases. 



As a lecturer, Victor Meyer was equally admirable. 

 He had a wonderful power of rapidly presenting a sub- 

 ject clearly to his students, and, at the same time, of 

 ■impressing fundamental conceptions on their minds. He 

 was never dogmatic ; if there were two views current on 

 any subject he carefully explained both of them, leaving 

 his hearers to form their own opinions. The bearing of 

 chemistry on practical matters was not forgotten ; for 

 example, when dealing with sugar he sketched the 

 development of the German beet-sugar industry, and 

 gave an account of the legislation connected with sugar 

 bounties and its economic consequences. The experi- 

 mental illustration of his lectures was extremely com- 

 plete and carefully prepared. This was not only the case 

 with the lectures on inorganic, but also with those on 

 organic chemistry, the number of substances prepared in 

 the latter being quite astonishing. To make this possible 

 in cases where, for example, a prolonged heating was 

 necessary, the beginning of the reaction was shown in 

 one experiment, the end of it in another, which had been 

 started before the lecture. 



The " Lehrbuch der Organischen Chemie," by Victor 

 Meyer and Paul Jacobson, the first part of which appeared 



NO. 1454, VOL. 56] 



in 1 89 1, is written with that freshness which is hardly 

 possible without an intimate personal acquaintance with 

 the subject. It is especially valuable in these latter days, 

 when the writing of text-books by men who take a fore- 

 most part in investigation is not so common as in the 

 time when Berzelius, Liebig, Gerhard and Kekule wrote 

 their classical works. 



NOTES. 

 The French Academy has just accepted the administration of 

 M. Pierre Lasserre's legacy, now amounting to 576,450 francs. 

 In accordance with the terms of the bequest, the capital sum 

 will be divided in three parts, the interests upon which will be 

 awarded to the author of the best literary work, for an important 

 scientific discovery, and to the composer of the best musical 

 work. The respective awards will be made by the French 

 Academy, the Academy of Sciences, and the Academy of Fine 

 Arts. 



The Council of the Society of Arts have appointed the follow- 

 ing Committee to investigate the causes of the deterioration of 

 paper: Major-General Sir Owen Tudor Burne, G.C.I.E., 

 K.C.S.I., Chairman of the Council; Sir William Anderson, 

 K.C.B., F.R.S., Mr. Michael Carteighe, Mr, C. F, Cross, 

 Sir John Evans, K.C.B., F.R.S., Dr. Richard Garnett, C.B., 

 Dr. Hugo Midler, F.R.S., Dr. W. J. Russell, F.R.S., Mr. W. L. 

 Thomas, Prof. J. M. Thomson, F.R.S., Mr. Henry R. Tedder, 

 Dr. Quirin Wirtz, Sir Henry Trueman Wood, Secretary. In the 

 course of a circular letter which has been sent to those who are 

 interested in the preservation of paper, it is pointed out that 

 many books of an important character are now printed upon 

 paper of a very perishable nature, so that there is considerable 

 risk of the deterioration and even destruction of such books 

 within a limited space of time. This is believed to be especially 

 true of books which are in constant use for purposes of reference, 

 and are therefore liable to much handling. Although a great 

 deal of investigation has been made into the subject in Germany, 

 the matter appears to have attracted but little attention in this 

 country. The Council of the Society of Arts therefore readily 

 acceded to a proposal made to them, and appointed a Committee 

 to inquire into and report upon the whole subject. 



At Crevalcore, a small town situated on the outskirts of 

 Bologna, there was to be unveiled yesterday, September 8, a 

 bronze monument erected in honour of Marcello Malpighi, the 

 celebrated Italian anatomist, botanist, and microscopist, the 

 contemporary, amongst others, of Hooke, Grew, and Oldenburg, 

 names famous in the early annals of our Royal Society. 

 Malpighi's relations, indeed, with that Society were close and 

 cordial throughout. His interesting correspondence with Henry 

 Oldenburg, its first Secretary, and with men equally concerned 

 in the " Improvement of Natural Knowledge," is carefully pre- 

 served in the Society's archives. Not only this, his autobio- 

 graphy, and many most important contributions to the anatomy 

 of plants, and discoveries in physiology were published in 

 London under the auspices of the Royal Society, notably 

 " Anatome Plantarum " (1672), and " De Structura Glandularum 

 conglobatarum " (1689), as well as his treatise on the Silkworm, 

 " De Bombyce " (1669). On March 4, 1668, the Society elected 

 Malpighi an honorary member, on the initiative of Oldenburg, 

 and this compliment was in 1680 gracefully acknowledged by 

 Malpighi in the shape of a present of his own portrait. In 

 addition to the inauguradon of a monument there will appear at 

 Milan, almost immediately, " Malpighi e 1' Opera sua," edited 

 by Doctor Vallardi. Contributions to the volume have been 



