66 



NA TURE 



[May 17, 1906 



such glass in the cheaper tank furnaces. In order to do 

 this he divides the melting operation into three phases, 

 each of which is carried out in a separate tanlv furnace at 

 a definite temperature. The raw materials are first melted 

 down at about 1400° C, the fused mass is then run into 

 a second furnace at about 1200° C, in which the glass 

 is clarified, and finally the clear glass is run into a work- 

 ing rank furnace of about 1000° C. The hope was ex- 

 pressed that the principle might be applied to optical glass 

 of high quality. To the same section Sir William Ramsay 

 contributed a paper on the Bischof process for manu- 

 facturing white lead, one of the chief advantages of which 

 IS that the workpeople are not exposed to the deleterious 

 action of the dust which renders such stringent precau- 

 tions necessary in other works. Messrs. G. Giorgis and 

 G. Gallo contributed an essay on the hydraulic properties 

 of various kinds of puzzuolanas, between some of which 

 there are great differences both in time of setting and in 

 the ultimate strength attained. The subject is of great 

 importance in Italy, where puzzuolana mortars largely re- 

 place those made in other countries with Portland cernent. 

 .Sands of the nature of puzzuolana are to be found in other 

 volcanic countries, and merit more attention than they 

 have hitherto received. The remarkable state of preserv- 

 ation of the old Roman buildings in Italy is largely due 

 to the fact that the mortar used in their construction was 

 hydraulic. 



The sulphur industry being of such importance to Italy, 

 It was to be expected that it would receive considerable 

 attention. Mr. B. Reinitzer discussed the origin of natural 

 deposits of sulphur, and Prof. \. Rossi described a new 

 method of extracting poor sulphur ores by means of 

 bisulphide of carbon. It was stated that there are very 

 considerable quantities of sulphur ores containing less than 

 20 per cent, of sulphur, below which percentage it is not 

 at present remunerative to work them. The author pro- 

 poses to lixiviate these by means of bisulphide of carbon 

 and has designed plant for that purpose. It must be rel 

 marked, however, that similar efforts have hitherto resulted 

 in failure, and the author's apparatus met with some 

 adverse criticism by chemical engineers familiar with such 

 subjects. It IS to be hoped that a practical test may be 

 made with the apparatus, as the Sicilian sulphur industry 

 IS being seriously threatened bv the discovery of the 

 Louisiana deposits. 



Prof. L. Ricciardi, of Naples, communicated the results 

 of a number of analyses of eruptive rocks, from which he 

 draws the important conclusion that volcanoes at first 

 emit rocks of an acid nature, but that subsequently the 

 products are basic in their character. The author 'is of 

 opinion that volcanic phenomena are similar throughout 

 the world, and the rocks which give rise to them are 

 granitic m their nature. 



Prof. \. C. Vournasos, of Athens, reported the discovery 

 of a large deposit of asphalt in Greece, which is already 

 being worked on an industrial scale, and appears to be k 

 valuable addition to our supplies of that useful substance. 

 At ttie same time the author communicated a new method 

 for testing asphalt which he had recently devised. 



The section of the congress dealing' with the industry 

 and chemistry of sugar was the medium for the com'- 

 mumcation of a large number of papers, chiefly of in- 

 dustrial interest. Nearly every European country except 

 Great Britain has now a large sugar industry ; in fact the 

 International Congress of Applied Chemistry originated 

 in a meeting of chemists engaged in the sugar industry. 

 A paper by Mr. C. H. Neumann on the testing of the 

 germinating power of sugar-beet seeds shows the amount 

 of specialisation which has taken place. The author found 

 that the best medium for ensuring the regular germin- 

 ation of the seeds was a damp mixture of sand and saw- 

 dust, the temperature being carefully regulated 



In the section on explosives Mr. R. Villanis presented 

 a detailed memoir on the state of the explosives industry 

 in Ita y in which the various factories and their products 

 were described, together with the regulations in force The 

 erosion_ and corrosion of firearms bv smokeless powders 

 gave rise to two communications bv Dr. V. Reuhi and 

 by Mr. Gey van Pittius. The former referred to the use 

 of mtro-guamdine as an explosive, this being one of the 

 products of Frank's discovery mentioned already. 

 NO. 1907, VOL. 74] 



Several authors dealt with the use of alcohol and petro- 

 leum products as sources of power. In Great Britain, 

 where petroleum is admitted free of duty, there can be no 

 doubt that it is at present the cheapest liquid in use for 

 the production of power. Some Continental countries, how- 

 ever, in order to foster the alcohol industry and the 

 important agricultural interests depending upon it, have 

 imposed heavy duties on all competing liquids, and there 

 is naturally continuous rivalry between the various interests 

 thus created. 



The section dealing with wine was also of more import- 

 ance to Continental than to British members, and the same 

 may be said of the agricultural chemistry section, in which 

 matters connected with Continental husbandry were fully 

 discussed. Prof. J. Stoklasa dealt with the enzymes which 

 produce lactic and alcoholic fermentation in the tissues of 

 plants. The author agreed with Messrs. C. Golenski and 

 Maz^ that such fermentation is in reality the intramolecular 

 respiration of plants, and a number of experiments were 

 described corroborating this view. 



The final plenary sitting of the congress w-as mainly 

 occupied in passing resolutions confirming recommendations 

 by the sectional committees. Among these may be men- 

 tioned the appointment of a committee to elaborate uniform 

 methods of testing explosives, the unification of methods 

 of sugar analysis, especially between the Custom House 

 officials of different countries, and the unification of methods 

 for the analysis of malt in breweries. The transport of 

 dangerous substances by rail was also referred to, and re- 

 commendations made as- to the patenting of inventions 

 by employees and upon international trade marks. 



At the close of the meeting an invitation to the congress 

 to meet in London in 1909 was given by Prof. Tilden, as 

 representing the British Government, and Dr. L. Mond, 

 Prof. E. Divers, and Prof. R. Meldola as representing a 

 joint committee, consisting of practically every British 

 society connected with chemistry, which had been formed 

 on the initiation of the Society of Chemical Industry. The 

 invitation was unanimously accepted. 



During the session of the congress a number of social 

 gatherings and excursions took place which afforded excel- 

 lent opportunities for the delegates of the various nations 

 to become acquainted with each other. The largest 

 excursion was to Tivoli, where about 1500 members were 

 present. The beauties of that lovely spot are too well 

 known to require description, but the remarks of some of . 

 the electrochemists led one to believe that they considered 

 a large amount of water-power was being wasted. It 

 would be well, in view of the utilitarian character of 

 modern industry, if the different States were to secure one 

 or two of their most picturesque waterfalls before they 

 have all been absorbed for the production of electrical 

 energy. Many members of the congress visited the sad 

 scenes in the neighbourhood of Vesuvius. One member 

 who had collected the volcanic dust, soon after the erup- 

 tion, at Addlestone, in the Thames valley, and again on a 

 roof at Turin, was enabled to satisfy himself of the identity 

 of these specimens with the Naples dust. 



Excursions were proposed to Sicily and to Elba, but an 

 inopportune strike of the sailors of the Italian Steam 

 Navigation Company put an end to these. Many who 

 were visiting Rome for the first time found many objects 

 of interest, apart from the inexhaustible art treasures of 

 the city. One naturalist collected three varieties of Helix 

 on the walls of the castle of St. Angelo, while a botanist 

 directed attention to the presence of pellitory of the wall 

 on the same building. English tradition says that it was 

 introduced into England by monks, and in some districts 

 it is only found on old monastic buildings. In some rubbish 

 that was being cleared out of the dungeons of St. Angelo 

 numerous fragments of marble cannon-balls were found. 

 During times of siege it is related that large numbers of 

 statues were converted into cannon-balls, and the great 

 variety of marbles to be found among the fragments lends 

 support to this statement. Another enthusiastic lover of 

 nature in all her forms collected a number of live scorpions 

 in the Forum. He stated that they soon became tame, and 

 took live ants from the fingers. His statements were 

 accepted without discussion. 



The meeting of the congress was brought to a close on 

 May 5 by a state banquet given by the King of Italy at 



