786 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



nitro methane and the cyanides. Fulminic acid, discovered in 

 1820, was first satisfactorily analyzed by him. Among his impor- 

 tant studies are those in the direction of ascertaining the com- 

 position of bivalent carbon. Prof. Smith has rendered important 



FIG. 2. KENT CHEMICAL LABORATORY. 



contributions to our knowledge of addition and condensation pro- 

 cesses, while among the important works of Dr. Lengfeld and 

 others of the staff are the obtaining of thiamines and other 

 organic sulphur salts, studies upon rearrangement of molecules 

 in compounds, hydrolitic dissociation of salts, and researches upon 

 amydo-phosphoric acid, titanium and zirconium compounds. So 

 far, however, nothing has been done in physical chemistry. No 

 courses in that direction have been offered, and it is probable that 

 none will be for some time to come. The department has no jour- 

 nal, but the results of the researches conducted here are published 

 in the more important chemical periodicals, particularly in the 

 American Chemical Journal, the Proceedings of the French and 

 German Chemical Societies, Liebig's Annalen, and the Compte 

 Eendu. 



The Ryerson Physical Laboratory is unquestionably the best 

 equipped and most handsomely finished building on the campus. 

 Built by Mr. Martin A. Ryerson, of Chicago, to the memory of 

 his father, Martin Ryerson, it was completed January 1, 1894. 

 Externally individual and striking, its general character and 



