June 13, 1901] 



NA TURE 



175 



phenylallylmethylammonium salts, by \V. J. Pope and A. W. 

 Harvey. The authors have prepared in a state of purity a num- 

 ber of substances owing their optical activity to the presence of 

 an asymmetric nitrogen atom ; it is shown that d- and Ahenzyl- 

 phenylallylmethylammonium iodides and bromides slowly be- 

 come optically inactive when preserved in chloroform solution. 

 — Reactions of hydroxyoxamides, by R. .H- Pickard and W. 

 Carter. Hydroxyoxamide and its phenyl-, tolyl- and naphthyl- 

 derivatives give the general reactions of hydroxamic acids and 

 are thus quantitatively convertible into substituted biurets and 

 allophanates. — The j^/m-trichlorobromoarilines, and chloro- and 

 bromo-amino-derivatives of chlorobromoacetanilides, by F. D. 

 Chattaway and K. J. P. Orton. The authors call attention to 

 the great resemblance existing between the two similarly consti- 

 tuted .t)/«-chlorodibromoanilines, their acetylderivatives and 

 the two jr_y;«-dichlorobromoanilines respectively. — Replacement 

 of bromine by chlorine in anilines, by F. D. Chattaway and 

 K. J. P. Orton. — The absorption spectra of cyanogen com- 

 pounds, by W. N. Hartley, J. J. Uobbie and A. Lauder. An 

 examination of the absorption spectra confirms the view that 

 cyanuric acid and methyl cyanurate are similarly constituted, and 

 indicates that the relations between melamine and triethylmel- 

 amine are correctly represented by the commonly accepted 

 fiirniul?e. — The nutrition of yeast. Part iii. By A. L. Stern. 

 The author concludes that any increase of nitrogenous or inor- 

 ganic nutriment beyond a definite limit will not increase either 

 the amount of nitrogen assimilated by yeast or the weight of the 

 yeast ; any increase of the added sugar, however, is accom- 

 panied by an increase both in the amount of nitrogen assimilated 

 and in the weight of the yeast. The growth of yeast proceeds 

 as long as any sugar remains unfermented and is, during part of j 

 the fermentation, proportional to the amount of sugar fermented. 

 — On the colloid form of piperine, with especial reference to its j 

 optical refraction and dispersion, by H. G. Madan. On cooling 

 piperine, after heating to i8o° for an hour, it remains in the 

 colloidal state for an indefinite time ; the colloid has a high re- 

 fractive index (;Uu = i'6S4) and exhibits an extraordinarily high 

 dispersive power. — Note on pyromucylhydroxamic acid, by 

 R. H. Pickard and A. Neville. — The condensation of ethyl- 

 phenylketone with benzaldehyde, by R. D. Abell. Ethyl- 

 phenylketone and benzaldehyde condense in presence of sodium 

 ethoxide with formation of i:3-diphenyl-2-methyltrimethylene 

 glycol, benzalpropiophenone and i:3-dimethyl-i:3-dibenzoyl-2- 

 phenylpropane. — .\ new method for the determination of hy- 

 drolytic dissociation, by R. C. Farmer. The author's method 

 of ascertaining the extent of hydrolytic dissociation depends 

 upon determinations of the free acid or base by distribution 

 between two solvents, one of which dissolves only one of the 

 dissociation products. — The production of some new metallic 

 borides, by S. A. Tucker and H. R. Moody. Crystalline 

 borides having the compositions ZrjBj, CrB, WB., and Mo.jBj 

 are prepared by heating the corresponding metal with boron in 

 the electric furnace. — The action of lead thiocyanate on the 

 chlorocarbonates. Part ii. Carboxymethyl- and carboxyamyl- 

 thiocarbimides and their derivatives, by R. E. Doran. — The 

 chlorine derivatives of pyridine. Part vii. Some condensation 

 products, by W. J. Sell and F. W. Dootson. — The diazotisation 

 of dinitroanisidine and the constitution of the resulting product, 

 byR. Meldolaand J. V. Eyre. 



Manchester. 

 Literary and Philosophical Society, May 28. — Prof. 

 Horace Lamb, F.R.S., vice-president, in the chair. — The in- 

 fluence of grinding upon the solubility of the lead in lead fritts, 

 by Dr. T. E. Thorpe, C.B., F.R.S., and Mr. Charles Simmonds. 

 The paper was a criticism of the methods and conclusions con- 

 tained in a paper by Messrs. Jackson and Rich, read before the 

 Society in October last. The argument of that paper was 

 stated to rest on the assumption that a fritt behaves as a single 

 chemical compound — an untenable assumption. The theory 

 that as a fritt is dissolved by acid a layer of silica is formed on 

 the outside of the particles, protecting them from further action, 

 was opposed as not being in accordance with facts which are 

 easily demonstrated. The particular fritts used by Messrs. 

 Jackson and Rich in their experiments were of somewhat high 

 solubility, and the conclusions arrived at did not hold for those 

 of lower solubility. A fine powder was, indeed, somewhat 

 more soluble than a coarse one, but the variations of solubility 

 of slightly soluble glazes between the limits of fineness occurring 

 in actual practice were of inconsiderable magnitude. Further, 

 whether or not the solubility varied to some extent with the 



NO. 1650, VOL. 64] 



fineness, the matter was of no practical consequence, since 

 glazes could be obtained, and were in use, which were of ihe 

 fineness used in working and conformed to the limit of solubility 

 suggested by the Home Office. In the discussion which followed 

 Mr. Burton pointed out that even if grinding only produced — as 

 in experiments actually made with fritts of solubility below the 

 Home Office standard — variations of solubility of some 50 per 

 cent., a fritt not far within the limit would be dangerous in use 

 or not according to the fineness of grinding. He also denied 

 that the more soluble fritts are the softer, as alleged by Dr. 

 Thorpe, but stated that the opposite was the fact. He referred 

 to the danger of lead poisoning from inhaled lead dust, a matter 

 in which solubility in dilute acid did not come into account. 

 Mr. Jackson stated that the finer portions of the fritts dealt with 

 by himself and Mr. Rich contained not more but less lead oxide 

 than the coarser portions, contrary to the suggestions of Dr. 

 Thorpe. He mentioned that he had himself found solubilities 

 of from below 2 per cent, to about 5 per cent, from the same 

 fritt at different grindings, the fritt being one which had been 

 passed by Dr. Thorpe as within the Home Office limit. He 

 showed some photographs of glasses acted on by hydrofluoric 

 acid, showing crystalline forms suggestive of distinct hetero- 

 geneity even in the clearest glass, and stated that he had certainly 

 not treated the fritts as single chemical substances. 

 Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, June 5. — ^L Fouque in the chair. 

 — New researches on the neutralisation of phosphoric acid, by 

 M. Berthelot. When an excess of a solution of lime is added 

 to phosphoric acid, the calcium phosphate precipitated has at 

 first the composition Ca3(P04).2, but in presence of an excess of 

 lime a more basic salt is gradually formed, which finally approx- 

 imates to the composition H3POj.2CaO. An analogous compound 

 has been observed in nature, the oxychloride CaCU, sCaO. 

 Similar compounds appear to be formed with baryta. — New 

 researches on the alloys of gold and silver and of other 

 materials arising from Egyptian tombs, by M. Berthelot. Analyses 

 of fragments of gold of the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth dynas- 

 ties, of a supposed perfume, and of a copper alloy. — On the mag- 

 netic analysis of the radium rays and of the secondary radiation 

 provoked by these rays, by M. Henri Becquerel. A develop- 

 ment of the method described in a previous paper. — The physio- 

 logical action of the radium rays, by MM. Henri Becquerel and 

 P. Curie. Radiferous barium chloride carried on the arm in a 

 thin guttapercha envelope caused at first a reddening of the 

 skin resembling a burn, but without pain. After .some days the 

 area of this increased and the skin was broken, and fifty-two 

 days after the action of the rays there still remained a sore. In 

 another experiment with a more active material, the effect of the 

 rays was felt through a glass tube containing the material, a box 

 and the clothes. Inflammation with suppuration was produced 

 in this case after only six hours" exposure to the rays, the wound 

 produced not being entirely healed until forty-nine days after 

 the exposure. — The changes in direction and velocity of an air 

 current which has encountered bodies of divers forms, by 

 M. Marey. — On regressive erosion in the chain of the Andes, 

 by M. de Lapparent. Owing to the possibility of rapid varia- 

 tion of the watershed in this region, the line marking the watershed 

 between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, as it exists to-day, does 

 not constitute a true geographical boundary. — On the tellurides 

 of gold and silver in the region of KalgoorUe in Western 

 Australia, by M. Ad. Carnot. Some analyses of the West 

 Australian minerals sent to the Paris Exhibition. With the ex- 

 ception of some traces of mercury and copper these are practically 

 double tellurides of gold and silver of the type (\m, Ag,)Te.,. 

 — On the longitudinal and transversal waves in perfect fluids, 

 by M. P. Duhem. — Contribution to the theoretical and ex- 

 perimental study of liquid veins deformed by obstacles, and on 

 the determination of the lines of induction in a magnetic field, 

 by Prof H. S. Hele-Shaw. A description of the author's method 

 of photographing stream lines, with three examples. The 

 method not only allows of the verification experimentally of 

 many of the results deduced theoretically in hydrodynamics, 

 but also furnishes a complete solution of many problems of 

 practical importance which it is impossible to attack by mathe- 

 matical analysis. — Determination of the surfaces which are at 

 the same time surfaces of Joachimsthal and surfaces of Wein- 

 garten, by M. L. Raffy. — Observations on electric resonance in 

 rarefied air, by M. Albert Turpain. — The influence of tempera- 

 ture on the electromoiive force of magnetisation, by M. Rene 

 Paillot. Using the method described in a previous paper, it was 



