March i6, 1893] 



NATURE 



479 



Chemical Society, Febraary i6.— Prof, A. Crura Brown, 

 F.R.S., President, in the chair.— It was announced that the 

 following changes in the Council were proposed by the Council 

 for the ensuing year :— President, Prof. H. E. Armstrong, vice 

 Prof. Crum Brown. Vice-Presidents : Dr. E. Atkinson and 

 Mr. C. O'SuUivan, vice Prof. Hartley and Mr. Warington. 

 Secretary, Prof. Dunstan, vice Prof. Armstrong. Ordinary 

 Members of the Council : Messrs. C. F. Cross, Bernard Dyer, 

 Lazarus Fletcher, and W. A. Shenstone, vice Mr. H. Bassett,' 

 Prof. Ferguson, Mr. J. Heron, and Mr. S. U. Pickering.— The 

 following papers were read : Note on the preparation of 

 platinous chloride, and on the interaction of chlorine and mer- 

 cury, by W. A. Shenstone and C. R. Beck, The authors find 

 that very pure specimens of chlorine may be prepared by igniting 

 platinous chloride obtained by heating hydrogen platinichloride 

 in a current of dry hydrogen chloride. On passing the dry gas 

 for fifteen hours over the platinichloride at the boiling point of 

 mercury and igniting the residue in vacuo, chlorine was obtained 

 which contained 99-84 per cent, of the gas. A portion of the 

 platmous chloride obtained in this experiment was heated at 

 500° in a current of dry hydrogen chloride during many hours ; on 

 then igniting the residue, chlorine was evolved which when 

 treated with mercury only left a residue of 0*06 per cent, unab- 

 sorbed. The platinous chloride made by the above method 

 probably contain a little platinum, but as a source of chlorine, 

 it seems to be superior to the product of more familiar processes. 

 The second sample of chlorine mentioned above acted very 

 sluggishly on mercury ; this fact, considered in connection with 

 the great purity of the gas, supports the authors' view that the 

 activity of chlorine towards mercury is probably due to the 

 presence of impurity in the former.— The action of phosphoric 

 anhydride on fatty acids. Part HI., by F. S. Kipping. In the 

 present paper the author shows that caprylone (C-Hir,)2CO, 

 nonylone (C8Hi-)jC0, and myristone (Ci3H2-)„cd, can be 

 readily prepared from the corresponding fatty acids by the action 

 of phosphoric anhydride ; a number of derivatives of these 

 ketones are described. Mixed ketones of the general formula 

 R.CO.R' are produced when a mixture of two fatty acids is 

 treated with phosphoric anhydride at a moderately high 

 temperature ; the mixed ketone is, however, accompanied by 

 two simple ketones. Treatment with phosphoric anhydride 

 would seem to be one of the simplest and most rapid methods 

 by which the ketone (C„H2„+i)2CO can be prepared from a fatty 

 acid C^HjiiOo. —Regularities in the melting points of certain 

 paraffinoid compounds of similar constitution, by F. S. Kipping. 

 The author has prepared and characterised a number of 

 hydroximes, secondary alcohols and ethereal salts derived from 

 the fatty ketones (CnH2n+i)2CO and draws attention to certain 

 regularities observed on comparing the melting points of these 

 compounds. The melting points of all ketones of the 

 general formula Q.^^Jd cannot be calculated by means 

 of the formula given by Mills {Phil. Mag. 1884), inas- 

 much as isomeric ketones frequently melt at different 

 temperatures. — Some relations between constitution and 

 physical constants in the case of benzenoid amines, by W. 

 R. Hodgkinson and L. Limpach. A study of the formyl and 

 acetyl derivatives of certain homologues of aniline shows, (i) 

 that the entry of alkyl groups into the nucleus affects the 

 melting and boiling points in a regular manner ; (2) that the 

 conversion of formyl into acetyl also involves an alteration in 

 physical properties in extent the same as that produced by 

 introducing CH3 into the nucleus in an ortho- or para-position 

 relatively to the amido-group, and (3) that the same (or any ?) 

 alkyl group entering the nucleus in the meta-positions has no 

 effect on melting or boiling point. Several numerical regularities 

 are also apparent. — Electrolysis of sodic ethylic camphorate, by 

 J. Walker. On electrolysis, sodium ethyl camphorate yield's 

 the ethyl salts of two new acids, viz. campholytic acid, 

 CgHis . COOH, and camphotetic acid, C,8H2s(COOH)2. The 

 first of these is a monabasic, unsaturated acid boiling at 

 240 - 242°. It is Irevo-rotatory, but gives a dextro-rotatory 

 ethyl salt. Camphotetic acid is a colourless crystalline solid, 

 melting at 132°; it behaves as a saturated, bibasic acid and 

 forms well-characterised salts. Judging from the nature of the 

 electrolysis and the behaviour of campholytic acid towards 

 bromine, camphoric acid should contain the group t^ 



I 

 HC . COOH 



I 

 — C . COOH 



I 

 NO. 1220, VOL. 47] 



—The hydrates of hydrogen chloride, by S. U. Pickering. 

 Determinations of the densities of aqueous solutions of hydrogen 

 chloride show a strongly-marked break indicative of the presence 

 of a trihydrate. The author has obtained this hydrate in the 

 solid state by making a series of freezing point determinations ; 

 It forms large, transparent crystals melting at -24° 9. The 

 densities also indicate the existence of a change of currature at 

 a point corresponding to a hexhydrate ; the freezing-point de- 

 terminations afford no evidence for or against the existence of 

 this substance, but the presence of a decahydrate was indicated. 

 —A new base from Corydalis cava, by J. A. Dobbie and A. 

 Lauder. By exhausting crude corydaline with hot water the 

 authors have isolated a new alkaloid of the composition 

 CigH^sNOj, which they term corytuberine ; this alkaloid con- 

 tains only two methoxy-groups, whilst corydaline contains four. 

 A number of its salts are described. The authors also give 

 some notes on yet another alkaloid, which they consider to be 

 distinct from all the bases of Corydalis cava hitherto described. 

 February 20.— Lord Playfair, F.R.S., Vice-President, in the 

 I chair.— This being the anniversary of the death of Hermann 

 I ^"^OPP, Prof. T. E. Thorpe delivered a memorial lecture en- 

 ; titled " The Life Work of Hermann Kopp." 



Paris. 

 \ Academy of Scieiyces, March 6.—. M. Lcewy in the chair. 

 —On a partial differential equation, by Emile Picard.— On the 

 ! spectro-photographic method which makes it possible to obtain 

 [ photographs of the chromosphere, faculse, protuberances, &c., 

 i by M. J. Janssen. This method was outlined by M. Janssen as 

 1 early as 1869, at the Exe'.er meeting of the British Association. — 

 j Analysis of the ashes of the diamond, by M. Henri Moissan. All 

 the specimens of the carbonado and Cape diamond analysed con- 

 tained iron, as shown by the potassium sulphocyanide reaction. 

 This metal formed the larger portion of the ashes. Silicium 

 also occurred regularly, and calcium very frequently. It will be 

 remembered that this alkaline earthy metal was found by M, 

 Daubree in native iron from Ovifak.— On some new properties 

 of the diamond, by M. Henri Moissan (see Notes).— The pan- 

 creas and the nervous centres controlling the glycemic function, 

 by MM. A. Chauveau and M. Kaufmann. The inhibitory 

 action exerted by the pancreas on the glycogenic function of the 

 liver appears to be dependent upon an excito-secretory centre 

 controlling the cells performing the internal secretion of the 

 pancreas. This centre is situated in the encephalic portion of 

 the spinal cord, and the inhibitory impulse acts through this 

 centre upon an excito-secretory centre controlling the glycogenic 

 activity of the liver. The removal of the pancreas eliminates 

 this control, and renders an excessive activity of the liver more 

 serious. — The fixation of torrents and the planting of the mount- 

 ains, by M. Chambrelent. It has been calculated that in the last 

 forty years France has suffered losses amounting to 700 

 million francs due to inundations in places where the mountains 

 were not wooded sufficiently to check the ravages of mountain 

 torrents after heavy rain. The Chamber has recently voted 

 a sum of 2,600,000 frcs. for the planting of the mountains, and 

 it is hoped that the work will be completed in twelve or fifteen 

 years. — On the cause of the variations of terrestrial latitude, by 

 M. Hugo Gylden. — On some new derivatives of phenolphtalein 

 and fluorescein, by MM. A. Haller and A. Guyot. — On the 

 diameters of Jupiter's satellites, by M. J. J. Landerer. — On a 

 class of dynamical problems, by M. P. Staeckel.— On surfaces 

 whose principal planes are equidistant from a fixed point, by 

 M. Guichard.— On a theorem of M. Stieltjes, by M, Cahen. — 

 On a partial differential equation of the second order, by M. J. 

 Weingarten. — On the calculation of stability of ships, by M. E. 

 Guyon. — On electric waves in wires, and electric force in the 

 vicinity of a conductor, by M. Birkeland. — Oscillographs; new 

 apparatus for the study of slow electric oscillations, by M. A. 

 Blondel. — Photographic reproduction of gratings and micro- 

 meters engraved on glass, by M. Izarn. Ammonium bichromate 

 in gelatine gives better results than either collodion or silver 

 salts in gelatine. Copies of microscopic divided scales and 

 gratings were obtained easily and with certainty, and reflection 

 gratings were produced by employing silvered instead of plane 

 glass. — Concerning the direct-reading stereo-collimator of M. de 

 Place, by M. R. Arnoux.— On the industrial preparation of 

 aluminium, by M. A. Ditte. The alkaline aluminates are 

 decomposed by water, and even in the presence of an excess of 

 alkali the introduction of a few crystals of aluminium hydrate 

 into the solution suffices to prevent the establishment of equili- 



