October 20, 19 10] 



NATURE 



519 



producing smoke, and a variety of bye-products would 

 have ronsiderable commercial value. 



Prof. A. Smithells stated that the point to be proved 

 was whether fuel of the type advocated could be produced 

 under conditions which would enable it to compete 

 economically with the coal and products as put on the 

 market under existing conditions. He considered the 

 whole question to be in the experimental stage. 



Dr. Beilby pointed out that in order to supply the 

 public with soft coke instead of the 40 million tons of 

 coal now required for domestic purposes the gas industry 

 would have to be completely revolutionised, and some 

 other very large uses found for the gas and other bye- 

 products. It would not be possible to get chemical uses 

 for such a large quantity, and it would have to be largely 

 burnt as fuel. Mr. .Archbutt emphasised the evil caused 

 by sulphur in the gas ; the public is not aware of this 

 being the cause of the corrosion of brass, tarnishing of 

 silver, and the destruction of books and furniture. Mr. 

 A. W. Oke defended the gas companies, and other speakers 

 supported Prof. Armstrong, who, in replying, stated that 

 the use of a very large radiant and the supply of a 

 greater quantity of gas was progress in the wrong direc- 

 tion. He agreed with Dr. Beilby that it would be neces- 

 sary to regard the products of coking from the point of 

 view of their fuel value, but that was a largely enhanced 

 fuel value. 



Prof. McWilliam described the properties of a series of 

 steels with varying carbon contents, but containing, in 

 addition, about i per cent, manganese, and a similar 

 series containing 2 per cent, chromium, from results 

 recently obtained by him in conjunction with Mr. E. J. 

 Barnes. In pure iron-carbon steels the strength rises 

 steadily with the amount of carbon up to 1-25 per cent, 

 carbon, a further increase resulting in a reduced strength. 

 The carbon is present as iron carbide, and other elements 

 mainly influence the nature, composition, or distribution 

 of the carbide in the steel. The effects of heat treat- 

 ments such as long annealing and quenching, followed by 

 tempering at different temperatures, are comparatively 

 small when the carbon is low, but greater as the carbon 

 is increased. Comparative tables were shown of steels 

 with carbon contents and heat treatments as nearly alike 

 as could be selected, and varying only in the special 

 element added, to illustrate the very considerable and 

 abiding influence of the fundamental chemical composi- 

 tion. 



In the absence of the author, a communication by Dr. 

 Rosenhain, on the crystalline structure of iron at high 

 temperatures, was taken as read. The conclusions drawn 

 from the research are that iron at temperatures up to 

 1100° C. behaves as a crystalline aggregate; it exists in 

 three different modifications possessing widely different 

 mechanical properties, the temperature range at which 

 these modifications exist being consistent with their 

 identification with the a, 18, and 7 forms of iron. /3 Iron, 

 though existing at a higher temperature, is markedly 

 stronger and harder than a iron. Iron as found in 

 approximately pure metal at high temperatures possesses 

 the structure and some of the properties of 7 iron as 

 found in certain alloy steels. The failure to harden pure 

 iron by quenching is due to the difficulty of inhibiting 

 the S-^a transformation by rapid cooling except in the 

 presence of carbon. If iron could be preserved in exist- 

 ence- at the ordinary temperature it would possess a very 

 high degree of hardness and strength probably quite com- 

 parable with that of hardened steel. 



Dr. S. M. Copeman brought forward the subject of 

 ferro-silicon, with special reference to possible dangers 

 arising from its transport and storage. A number of 

 accidents have occurred from the handling or transport of 

 ferro-silicon, particularly cases of sudden illness and 

 death caused by the gases evolved from certain cargoes. 

 The subject has had full inquiry at the hands of the 

 Board of Trade, who entrusted the investigation to Dr. 

 Copeman, with the collaboration of Mr. S. R. Bennett 

 and Dr. Wilson Hake. Most of the high-grade ferro- 

 silicon. containing 50 per cent, of silicon, is produced 

 eiectricallv in France. About 4000 tons are imported 

 annually into England. This alloy is exceedingly brittle, 

 and readily decomposes in a moist atmosphere, when 

 NO. 2138, VOL. 84] 



poisonous fumes of phosphoretted hydrogen are evolved. 

 The official recommendations adopted by the Board of 

 Trade comprise the need for ascertaining that the ferro- 

 silicon has been broken into small pieces some time before 

 being taken on board ship ; the proper marking of each 

 barrel ; the prohibition of conveyance on passenger vessels ; 

 and the adoption of certain other precautions during 

 transport. Subsequently Dr. Wilson Hake described the 

 apparatus he had employed for analysing the poisonous 

 gases produced, and Mr. S. R. Bennett showed photo- 

 micrographs of certain ferro-silicon alloys. The sugges- 

 tion was made that the alloy might be protected from 

 moisture by immersion in varnish, but it was stated that 

 it crumbles so readily as to be always presenting new 

 surfaces. 



Two rival theories have been suggested to explain the 

 corrosion of iron and steel. The electrolytic theory 

 assumes that pure oxygen (or air) and pure liquid water 

 alone are necessary to effect the rusting of pure iron. 

 .According to the acid theory, the presence of at least 

 traces of an acid either free or combined with a base is 

 essential to corrosion. Dr. J. N. Friend described a 

 simple form of apparatus by means of which the correct- 

 ness of the acid theory is established. 



A paper embodying researches carried out in the 

 chemical department of Sheffield University, by Messrs. 

 C. Chappell and F. Hodson, dealt with the influence of 

 heat treatment on the corrosion, solubility, and solution 

 pressures of steel. The tests made were simple corrosion, 

 i.e. loss of weight after immersion in sea water ; galvanic 

 corrosion, i.e. loss in sea water in contact with Swedish 

 bar iron ; solubility in i and 2 per cent, sulphuric acid 

 after seventy-two hours ; solution pressure in sea water, 

 I per cent, sulphuric acid and N/io ferrous sulphate. 

 The results show that the solubility tests are untrust- 

 worthy as a guide to the relative rates at which the steels 

 corrode. The general effect of heat treatment on the 

 various properties examined is found to be the same in 

 the case of all the tests except simple corrosion, where 

 heat treatment exerts practically the opposite effect. 

 Although heat treatment exerts considerable influence on 

 corrosion, it cannot be expected to make up for the defects 

 due to segregation or inferior material. A research com- 

 mittee, with a grant of 15^, was appointed for the 

 further study of this question, with Mr. W. E. S. Turner 

 as secretary. 



The sub-section, under the chairmanship of Prof. Orme- 

 Masson, was occupied mainly with papers from the 

 chemical laboratories of Sheffield University, which testify 

 to the valuable amount of original inquiry which is being 

 carried out there under Prof. Wynne's guidance. Prof. 

 W. P. Wynne and Dr. J. Kenner presented a paper deal- 

 ing with the nitrochloro- and dichloro-toluene sulphonic 

 acids, whilst Dr. J. Kenner and Mr. E. Witham described 

 the formation of tolane derivatives from benzotrichlorides. 

 A paper on an instance illustrating the relative instability 

 of the trimethylene ring as compared with the tetra- 

 methylene ring was read by Dr. J. F. Thorpe (Sorby re- 

 search fellow). Open-chain nitriles formed from three 

 carbon rings readily pass into imino derivatives of cyclo- 

 pentene under similar conditions ; four carbon rings re- 

 main entirely unaffected. A second p.aper, by Mr. .\. D. 

 Mitchell and Dr. J. F. Thorpe, dealt with the elimina- 

 tion of a carbethoxyl group during the closing of the five- 

 membered ring. The closing of an open chain of five 

 carbon atoms to form a five-membered ring imparts to 

 the molecule a condition of tension which limits the 

 capacity of the constituent carbon atoms to combine with 

 groups of more than a certain volume. 



Three important physical chemical communications were 

 made by Mr. W. E. 'S. Turner. The first paper, written 

 jointly with Mr. C. J. Peddle, dealt with molecular 

 association in water, illustrated by substances containing 

 the hydroxyl group. The fact that molecular association 

 may take place in water is not generally recognised, but 

 the authors find it to be quite extensive among aromatic 

 substances. Benzoic acid, for example, is associated in 

 water to a greater extent than in benzene, and the 

 aromatic acids examined nearly all exhibit marked associa- 

 tion. A second paper was entitled " The Problem of 

 Molecular .Association, i. The .Affinities of the Halogen 



