April 29, 1S86] 



NA TURE 



617 



Al, Si, P and S, for CI, regularly diminish if we take tlie amount 

 for one atom of CI in each case ; but if we talie the actual 

 maximum amount of CI with which each element in the series 

 combines, a very diflerent result comes out, because while Na 

 combines with one atom of CI, Mg combines with two, and Al 

 with three, and so on. This leads us to make a distinction 

 between the intensity and quantity of chemical affinity, so that 

 while the intemity of affinity in this case regularly diminishes, 

 the quantity rises to a maximum in Al, and then diminishes 

 towards S. There is thus a spreading out of affinity which 

 lowers its intensity, and in this there seems to me a gradual 

 approach to solution. I have traced the same phenomena in 

 some oxides, and it is interesting to note that the atomic weight 

 of Al, whose affinities for CI and O are nearly equal, is almost 

 exactly midway between the atomic weights of O and CI. It is, 

 so to speak, the point where the two curves of affinity cross one 

 another. On the one side the affinity for CI relatively to that 

 for O increases, and on the other side decreases. 'I'his may 

 throw some light on the peculiar properties of Al. P'e, which 

 is in many respects analogous to Al, and has an atomic weight 

 about twice that of Al, and almost midway between CI and Br, 

 shows somewhat similar relations towards CI and O. It is also 

 to be noted that while the maximum affinity for CI is at Al, that 

 of O is at Si. It would be interesting to trace curves of in- 

 tensity and quantity for other elements such as H and S. Much 

 light might be thrown on many chemical facts. 



(2) If we take the heats of combination of CI, I3r, or I, with 

 any element, the law seems to be that the amount of heat 

 iliminishes as the atomic weights of CI, Br, and I increase, 

 modified, however, by the atomic weight of the element with 

 which they combine. Thus, take what maybe called the normal 

 case, viz. combination with hydrogen, we have 



Atomic weight of Br = So 

 CI = 35-5 



Htat of combination HCl = 22,000 

 HBr ^ 8,440 



of I = 127 

 Cl= 35-5 



of IICl = + 22,000 

 HI ^ - 6,040 



• 3.560 



28,040 



Now, 44'5 : gi'S : : 13,560 : 28,040 almost exactly. With Al 

 again the above differences are as under — 



Heat of combination AICI3 = 160,980 of AICI3 = 160,980 

 ,, ,, AlBr3 = 119,720 AII3 = 70,590 



Difference 



41,260 



90, 390 



Now it is evident these are not exactly in same proportion 

 .as the H compounds, and with Na and K compounds the dis- 

 crepancy is even greater, but still near enough to suggest the 

 general law as stated above. 



(3) If the explanation given of crystallisation be correct, we 

 may go a step further. If we take water alone without any 

 salt in solution, there will be, in my view, attraction between 

 the H2 of one molecule and the O of another, and vice versd^ 

 and if the heat of the liquid be diminished sufficiently, that 

 attraction will cause cohesion of the molecules, and will produce 

 solid water or ice, the regulai- structure of which is caused by 

 the symmetrical arrangement of the atoms. This again leads on 

 to solids in general, for there is little doubt that atoms of the 

 same kind have affinity one for the other ; and thus the various 

 conditions of matter, solid, liquid, and gaseous, may be due to 

 chemical affinity of the constituent atoms, modified in various 

 w.ays by the kinetic energy of the system. 



It will thus be seen that my view of chemical affinity is quite 

 opposed to the idea of its being a sort of arbitrary force acting 

 in units or bonds, but I consider it acts between all atoms of 

 matter, whether of the same or different kinds in varying degrees 

 of intensity and quantity, producing combination of more or 

 less stability, graduating froji the so-called mechanical mixture 

 of clay and water up to the irresolvable molecules of the per- 

 manent gas, condensing bv its action the gas into the liquid, and 

 the liquid into the solid, chemical compounds being combi- 

 nations in definite proportions of more or less stability. In 

 fact, in this case as in all others, there are no hard and fast lines 

 in Nature, but every phenomenon graduates by almost imper- 

 ceptible degrees into another. \V. DtJRHAM 



THE JAPANESE NATIONAL SURVEY AND 

 ITS RESULTS 



POURING the past five years a work of great national and 

 scientific importance has been proceeding in Japan ; little 

 has been heard of it in Europe, and none of its results have been 

 visible amongst us in England until within the last few months. 

 The Japanese National Survey, under the superintendence of 

 Dr. Naumann, formerly Professor of Geology in the University 

 of Tokio, has during the period above mentioned been steadily 

 progressing ; it has revealed hitherto unknown features of the 

 country, and has thrown a flood of light on its geography, 

 geology, and resources, actual and possible. A period has now 

 been arrived at in the history of the Survey : its Director, after 

 five years' labour at this particular work, and as many more in 

 the Chair of Geology in the University of Tokio, returns to 

 Europe, leaving the task to be carried out by the Japanese whom 

 he has trained. Some tangible results of the work have, as 

 already mentioned, been for the first time placed before the 

 European public. In the rooms of the Koyal Geographical 

 Society might a short time ago be seen by any one who 

 desired to do so a series of maps, printed and manuscript, with 

 numerous plans, illustrations, and sketches, e.xhibited by Dr. 

 Naumann, and representing to some extent the work of five 

 years. Samples of these were also to he seen at the Exhibition 

 of Geographical Appliances in Great Marlborough Street, 

 amongst others an orographic map of Japni, and several illus- 

 trations — one of the mountain summits in the neighbourhood of 

 the active volcano Asamayama being especially striking. The 

 present, then, seems a suitable time for describing the Survey, 

 the work it has set before it, that which it has succeeded in 

 doing so far, and the effect of its work on our knowledge of the 

 country. 



When Dr. Naumann laid before the Japanese Government, 

 about six years ago, the plan for a national survey, it was based 

 mainly on economical considerations. It was pointed out that 

 by means of such a survey the resources of the country, hitherto 

 undeveloped, and to a considerable extent unknown, would be 

 investigaled systematically. At the commencement of the un- 

 dertaking there were hardly any maps in existence that could be 

 utilised with safety. The work was facilita'ed by the materials 

 derived from a Japanese astronomical -geodetic survey carrieil 

 out at the beginning of the present century, which fixed the 

 position of the coast-line and the courses of some of the main 

 roads. The coast surveys of the English Admiralty, also, and 

 of the navies of other countries, as well as the few results of the 

 trigonometrical survey of Japan, were found of use. But the 

 interior of the country, in all that related to <irography and 

 geology, was still a ttrra incngnita. In every other re- 

 spect those rough Japanese compilations of older map-work 

 of a medieval type, though worked out by the application of 

 some of the principles of European cartography, were totally 

 insufficient. Hence at the outset it was necessary to undertake 

 a topographical survey, so that not only matter, but also space, 

 became the object of investigation. From the beginning the 

 necessity of combining observations with measurements was 

 emphasised. Inasmuch as the economical position of the 

 country depends on agriculture, special attention had to be paid 

 to the relations between the qualities of the soil and its cultiva- 

 tion. Hence the Survey started with three departments in- 

 trusted with field-work — one topographical, the second geologi- 

 cal, and the third agronomical. A fourth, the chemical section, 

 was created to investigate and test the materials collected by the 

 geological and agronomical sections as to their composition and 

 technical applicability. The plans laid before the Government, 

 and approved, placed the scale of the maps, which were to be pub- 

 lished in three series corresponding to the three divisions of the 

 Survey — one topographical, one geological, and one agronomi- 

 cal, at I : 200,0:0. The maps were to be o'456 x o'277 metres 

 for publication, and each series was to contain ninety maps, 

 each of which corresponded to half a degree division, reckoned 

 on the meridian of Greenwich. Two editions, one in English 

 and one in Japanese, were to have been published. The scale 

 for the field-work was I : 50,000. Subsequent experience de- 

 monstrated the substantial accuracy of these plans. It is of 

 course essential in surveys like this that the various divi- 

 sions should work side by side, and advance with equal 

 and regular steps. But a consequence of the condi- 

 tions under which work of this kind is conducted in 

 Japan was that this co-operation, which was so necessary to 



