April 1 6, 1885] 



NATURE 



569 



tartrate by the same reagent. The methylthiophen, however, 

 appears to be isomeric with that separated from coal-tar toluene 

 by Victor Meyer. According to Volhard and Erdmann, 

 thiophen, when cooled in a mixture of carbon dioxide and ether, 

 crystallises like benzene. Paal's synthesis of methyl-phenyl- 

 thiophen from aceto-phenone-acetone, and of thiophen-carboxylic 

 acid — which is easily resolved into carbon dioxide and thiophen — ■ 

 from inucic acid, may also be referred to here. 



One of the must interesting of recent researches is that of 

 R. Nietzki and T. Benckser on hexhydroxybenzene (C 6 HO) 6 

 [Bey., xviii. 499)), which they ha\e succeeded in obtaining from 

 nitranilic (dinitrodehydroxyquinone). They find the diimido 

 body obtained from this when treated with nitric acid, yields a 

 product of the composition C 6 H ]6 O u , which when treated with 

 reducing agents, yields this substance. They also find that 

 when heated with concentrated nitric acid, hexhydroxybenzene 

 is converted into a body having the remarkable formula 

 C 6 H ]6 O u . This decomposes when heated to 100°, or when 

 boiled with water, carbon dioxide being given oft, and on adding 

 potash solution to the residue or the boiled solution, orange yellow 

 needles of a potassium salt of the formula C 5 Ko0 5 are obtained, 

 which they have identified as potassium croconate, and they 

 believe that the bodies obtained by Lerch (Am. Chem. Pharm., 

 cxxiv. 20) from the compounds of pota-sium carbonic oxide 

 (formed during the preparation of the metal) were hexyhydroxy- 

 benzene, tetrahydroxvquinone, and the compound C 6 H 16 0, 4 , 

 and in fact that the compound C 6 (OK) 6 is present in "potassium 

 carbonic oxide." From experiments on the remarkable sub- 

 stance C 6 H 16 Oj 4) they came to the conclusion that it is a com- 

 pound of C 6 6 + 8H 2 0, and is a quinone which they call tri- 

 quinoylbenzene. This appears to be confirmed by the production 

 of the intermediate hydroxy compounds, the following being the 

 series of products ; — 



C 6 (OH) c , 



C 6 (OH) 4 2 , 



C 8 (OH) 2 4> 



c 6 o 6 . 



In reference to agricultural chemistry Messrs. Lawes and 

 Gilbert have contributed a most important and interesting paper 

 to our Society (18S4, pp. 305-407) on the a;h of wheat-grain 

 and wheat-straw. They gave the analyses of no less than 

 ninety-two wheat-grain and wheat-straw ashes, every ash being 

 of produce of known history of growth as to soil, season, and 

 manuring, all the specimens having been grown at Rothamp- 

 stead. Out of the many important deductions this paper con- 

 tains, the following are extremely interesting : — It appears, in 

 reference to the grain, that on the whole there is great uniformity 

 in its mineral composition under different conditions of manuring, 

 provided only it is perfectly and normally ripened. The influence 

 of season producing a much wider range in the mineral constitu- 

 ents of the grain than the manuring. This, however, is not the 

 case with the straw, as it is found that the amount of mineral 

 ash constituents found in the straw, and therefore in the 

 total crop, have a very direct connection with the amounts 

 available in the soil, but the amounts stored up in the grain 

 itself are little influenced by the quantity taken up. 



Besides the researches just referred to there has been a con- 

 siderable amount of good work done, but it would be out of 

 place for me to refer to it more fully in this short review. 



Last year I took occasion to refer to the comparatively small 

 amount of original work which was being prosecuted in this 

 country, notwithstanding the increased number of laboratories 

 and the greater facilities which existed for the encouragement of 

 research. It will be seen from the list of papers that the num- 

 ber brought before the Society during the past year has not 

 increased, but if the papers themselves are examined I think 

 we shall find that the amount of work done is somewhat larger, 

 though certainly not so large as it should be ; and it is to be 

 hoped that the spirit of research will be stimulated in the 

 laboratories of the kingdom, and that men may be turned out 

 who are not only more or less analysts, but thorough chemists. 

 Let us not be contented with looking back with pride to what 

 our ancestors have done, but let us follow their example. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS 

 Annahn cUr Pkysik in- J Chemie, January 15, No. 2, 1S85. — 

 Determination of Verdet's constants in absolute units (2 figures), 

 by Prof. Leo Arons. — On the formation of ozone hydrogen per- 



oxide and peroxide of sulphur (S 2 7 ) by the electrolysis of dilute 

 sulphuric acid (2 figures), by Franz Richarz. — Reply to some 

 statements by F. Kohlrausch, by H. Wild. — On the method of 

 damping for determining the ohm, by Lord Rayleigh. — On the 

 determination of specific heats and melting points at high tem- 

 peratures (11 figures and 6 tables). — Inaugural address, by Otto 

 Ehrhardt. — Two new methods of finding the angle of polariza- 

 tion of metals, by H. Knoblanch (tables). — The determination 

 of the specific heat of uranium, by Ad. Bliincke. — Experimental 

 research on laws of the emission of light from glowing bodies 

 (5 figures and 7 tables), by W. Mbller. — Remarks on J. Froh- 

 lich's treatise, " Kritisches zur Theorie des gebeugten Lichts," 

 by M. Rethy. — Observations on fluorescence, by E. Lommel. — 

 On the double acetates of uranium (9 figures), by C. Rammels- 

 berg. — Note on Kundt's dust figures (2 figures), by H. J. 

 Oosting. 



"Journal de Physique Thioriqut el Appliquee, February. — Ob- 

 servations upon the corona now visible around the sun, by 

 M. A. Cornu. — Researches on the combustion of gaseous ex- 

 plosive mixtures, with figures and tables, by MM. Mallard and Le 

 Chatelier. — A new telegraphic system, by M. Estienne. — An ex- 

 periment in hydrodynamics, by M. P. Parize. — A magneto-electric 

 phenomenon, by C. V. Boys. — A new interference phenomenon 

 produced by sheets of glass with parallel surfaces, and on a 

 method of verifying the parallelism of the surfaces of these 

 sheets, by O. Lummer. — Influence of change of condition from 

 the liquid to the solid state on vapour-pressure, by W. Ramsay 

 and Sydney Young. — Non-sparking key, by W. E. Ayrton and 

 John Perry. — A new arrangement for measuring work, by C. F. 

 Brackett. — Coloured dust particles, by H. H. Hagen. — The 

 horizontal motion of small floating bodies, and the truth of the 

 postulates of the theory of capillarity, by J. Leconte. — Method 

 of registering the free vibrations of a tuning-fork, and the beats, 

 by A. G. Compton. — The expression of electrical resistance as 

 the function of velocity, by F. E. Nipher. — Contributions to 

 meteorology : the reduction of barometric observations to the 

 sea-level, by E. Loomis. — The influence of light on the electrical 

 resistance of metals, by A. E. Bostwick. — On atmospheric 

 absorption, by S. P. Langley. — On the absorption of radiant 

 heat by carbonic acid gas, by J. E. Veller. — The duration of 

 luminous impressions on the retina, by E. L. Nichols. — The 

 relation between the electromotive force of a Daniel cell and the 

 strength of the solutton of zinc sulphate, by H. S. Cattzart. 



The Journal of Ike Franklin Institute, No. 710, February, 

 1885. — Electro-metallurgy, by Nathaniel S. Keith. A lecture 

 delivered at the International Electrical Exhibition of the 

 Franklin Institute, Tuesday, September 23, 1884. — The divining 

 rod, by Rossiter W. Raymond, Ph.D. Conclusion of a lecture 

 delivered at the International Electrical Exhibition, September 

 18, 1884. — Glimpses of the International Electrical Exhibition, 

 by Prof. Edwin J. Houston. No. 5, Edison's telephonic inven- 

 tions. Annual summary of engineering and industrial progress, 

 1884. — Report of the Franklin Institute ; items ; Japanese 

 colony in Germany ; spontaneous decomposition of explosive 

 gelatine ; a new refractory brick ; glo! ular lightning ; solar 

 phenomena in Switzerland ; supplement ; International Electrical 

 Exhibition report on underground wires. The following systems 

 are described : the American Sectional Underground Company ; 

 the Anderson conduit for underground wires ; the Brook's 

 underground conduit ; the Continental Underground Cable 

 Company ; the Cosmopolitan Underground Telegraph, Tele- 

 phone, and Electric Light Company of New Jersey.; the Elec- 

 tric Tube Company ; the National Underground Company 

 of New Jersey ; Henley's conduit for undergn mnd lines ; 

 Magner's underground [conduit ; Philadelphia and Seaboard 

 Telegraph and Cable Company (Pennock's) ; the Union Electric 

 Underground Company of Chicago ; Woodward's curb conduit ; 

 the Delany Cable. 



Rivista Scientijico- Industrials; February 15-28. — Description 

 of a new galvanometer, with illustration, by Aurelio Mauri. — 

 Experimental researches on earth-currents and those of absorp- 

 tion, by Prof. Antonio Racchetti. — Variations in the electric 

 resistance of solid and pure metallic wires, according to the tem- 

 perature (continued), by Prof. Angelo Emo. — On an improved 

 method of preserving butterflies' wings, by P. Milani and A. 

 Garbini. 



Rendiconti del R. Islituto Lombardo, February 26. — Report on 

 soundings taken in lakes Orta and Idro, Lombardy, for the pur- 

 pose of determining their mean depths, by Prof. Pietro Pavesi. 



