July 9, 1908] 



NA TURE 



239 



groups : E. C. C. Baly ;ind C. H. Desch. — Benzcncazo-2- 

 pyi-idoni;- : W. H. Mills iind .Mi^s S. T. Widdows.— 1 he 

 electrolytic chlorinalion ol tlie salts of some organic acids ; 

 J. K. H. Inglis and 1". Wootton. — The action of nitrous 

 gases on diryc/opentadiene : A. Rule. The gaseous pro- 

 ducts from the action of nitric acid on arsenious oxide 

 bring about the formation of a mixture which on separa- 

 tion by means of alcohol was found to consist of the 

 ;^-nitro'site and the dinitro derivative of the hydrocarbon. 

 — An alternative structure for the supposed stereoisomeric 

 a-osazones : F. D. Chattaway. — The formation of 4-pyrone 

 compounds from acetylcnic acids, part ii. : S. Ruhemann. 

 — The fluorescence of platinocyanides : L. A. Levy, 

 Barium platinocyanide exists in two forms identical in 

 crystalline form, but which exhibit a remarkable difference 

 in physical properties. One variety is golden-Vellow, and 

 only very slightly fluorescent, the other being bright green 

 and very fluorescent. The two forms have the same 

 chemical composition, and are isomeric modifications. 

 Similar phenomena are exhibited by the calcium salt, and 

 to a certain extent by the cerium salt. — The preparation of 

 disulphides, part ii., the action of alkalis on sodium alkyl 

 thiosulphates : X. S. Price and D. F. Twiss. The inter- 

 action between alkalis and sodium ethyl and benzyl thio- 

 sulphates in aqueous solution has been studied. The chief 

 organic product of the action in each case is the corre- 

 sponding disulphide, the main step of the reaction being 

 probably represented by the equation 



R.S,03Na + XaOH = RS hNa,SO, + — OH. 



— Note on fhe formation of lead ethoxide : F. M. Perkin. 

 When thin sheets of lead are boiled in alcohol or suspended 

 in the vapour of boiling alcohol no action lakes place, 

 but if they are suspended over absolute alcohol and ozone 

 is bubbled through it, in a short time the surface of the 

 lead becomes tarnished, and then assumes a brownish- 

 yellow colour due to the formation of lead ethoxide, 

 Pb(OEt),. — Some reactions of phenylhydrazine with metallic 

 cyanides and other salts : R. de J. F. Struthers. Phenyl- 

 hydrazine in alcoholic solution combines with cuprous 

 cvanide in ammoniacal solution to form an insoluble com- 

 pound, 2CuCN,3C,,H,.NH.NH,. Cobalt cyanide exerts a 

 powerful catalytic action on phenylhydrazine, 0-03 gram to 

 0-04 gram sufficing to determine the decomposition of 5 c.c. 

 or (5 c.c. of phenylhydrazine with almost explosive violence. 

 Nickel cyanide has a similar but less powerful action. — 

 The formation of polyiodides in nitrobenzene solution, 

 part iii., the chemical dissociation of the polyiodides of the 

 alkali metals and ammonium radicals : H. M. Dawson. 

 — The hydrolysis of amygdalin by emulsin, part ii. : 

 S. J. jr. Auld. It is shown that amygdalin is derived 

 from an a^-disaccharide, the /3-dextrose residue being 

 attached to the benzaldccyanohydrin nucleus. JMandelo- 

 nitrile glucoside is formed as an intermediate product 

 during the hydrolysis of amygdalin by emulsin, the biose 

 ether-linking breaking preferentially. — A new form of 

 potash bulb : A. E. Hill. This is figured in the Proc. 

 C'hem. Soc. xxiv., 182. 



Edinburgh. 



Royal Society, June 15. — Dr. R. H. Traquair, vice-presi- 

 dent, in the chair. — ^The reducing action of electrolytic 

 hvdrogen on arsenious and arsenic acids when liberated 

 from the surface of different metals : W. Thomson. The 

 hvdrogen liberated from the five metals lead, zinc, 

 cadmium, tin, and silver converted arsenious acid ions 

 into arseniuretted hydrogen with about equal velocity. 

 The reaction could be measured during small intervals of 

 time, and the velocity of reaction was practically that of 

 a unimolecular reaction. .Arsenic acid was much more 

 diflicult to reduce than arsenious acid. Lead, however, con- 

 " verted it into arseniuretted hydrogen with a velocity nearly 

 equal to that with which it reduced arsenious acid. Zinc, 

 with a higher supertension equivalent, reduced it at only 

 about a third of the velocity, whilst silver reduced none at all 

 under the conditions of the experiment. — The theory of the 

 microbarograph, and on some observations with the Dines- 

 Shaw instrument : Prof. Chrystai. The mathematical 

 theory, which was an application of the laws of viscosity 

 of gases, showed that with external pressure increasing 

 at a steady gradient the microbarograph tended to a maxi- 



NO. 2019, VOL. 78I 



mum, that a wave-like variation of pressure was recorded 

 on tlie instrument with the crests and troughs preceding 

 in time the corresponding rounded crests and troughs in 

 the external variation, but that with a sharp, abrupt 

 change in the rate of change of the pressure the corre- 

 sponding pinnacles and troughs on the instrumental 

 record occurred simultaneously with the external changes. 

 Observations had been made at three stations in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Lochs Tay and Lochearnhead with the object 

 of measuring the rate' of progression of rapid oscillations 

 of pressure across the district. It was found that the 

 majority of these were from the west, in this respect 

 resembling cyclonic depressions, and that their speeds of 

 progression also varied within much the same limits which 

 characterised the progression of cyclones. — The effects of 

 chloroform on the metabolism : Prof. Noel Paton. The 

 object of the paper was to study the conditions under 

 which late chloroform poisoning occurred. From a series 

 of experiments on the administration of chloroform to dogs 

 by the respiratory passages, by the stomach, and under 

 the skin, the conclusions were drawn that when given by 

 the mouth and hvpodermically chloroform acted as a 

 poison, decreasing the activity of the liver, but that when 

 administered through the respiratory passages it increased 

 the disintegration of the protein in the body and stimulated 

 the liver. The reason of this was demonstrated in a second 

 paper, by Miss Dorothy Lindsay and Prof. Paton, in 

 which it' was shown that chloroform given by the lungs 

 was rapidly taken up and rapidly eliminated, but when 

 administered by the other methods it was slowly taken up 

 and slowly eliminated, and got fixed to the liver in large 

 quantities' — Asteroidea, Ophiuroidea, and Echinoidea of 

 the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition : Prof. Koehler. 

 Of the ninety-four species collected, seventy-six were 

 records from A'ntarctic and sub-Antarctic regions, including 

 forty-one new species and two new genera. — Holothuroidea 

 of the Scottish National .\ntarctic Expedition : Dr. Clement 

 Vaney. Of the thirty-four species described twenty-one 

 were new. Nearly all the new species are from very high 

 southern latitudes, and from depths of 1400 to 2600 

 fathoms. Both these papers were communicated by Dr. 

 W. S. Bruce. 



P.4RIS. 



Academy of Sciences, June 29.— M. Bouchard in the 

 chair.— Observation of the partial eclipse of the sun of 

 June 2.S, iqoS, at the Observatory of Paris by various 

 observers : B. Baillaud. Observations were made of the 

 contacts and length of the common chord of the two discs, 

 and numerous photographs were taken. The observers 

 were MM. Bigourdan, Schaumasse, Chatelu, Popoff, 

 Puiseux, and Baillaud.— Decomposition of the alcohols 

 under the catalytic influence of wood charcoal (braise de 

 houlanger) : Georges Lemoine. Details are given of the 

 products obtained by the catalytic decomposition of methyl, 

 ethyl normal propyl, isopropvl, and isobutyl alcohols in 

 prc'se'nce of charcoal. The results varied somewhat with 

 the nature of the charcoal employed, but the mam reaction 

 was the production of hydrogen and the aldehyde, differing 

 from the reaction with purified animal charcoal, the latter 

 giving chiefly water and the corresponding olefine. The 

 Temperatures at which the decompositions took place were 

 considerably lower than those at which the alcohol was 

 decomposed in the absence of charcoal.— A new mineral 

 species and the minerals which accompany it in the tourma- 

 line layers of Madagascar : A. Lacroix. The new mineral 

 is a si'licate of aluminium, calcium, beryllium, magnesium, 

 lithium, sodium, and potassium, the formula proposed from 

 the analyses being 



ioSiO,!,8AL03,5-s(Ca, Be, Mg)0,i-s(Li, Na, K),0,7H,0, 

 and for which the name bityite is proposed.— A new rheo- 

 graph designed for the projection of the curves _ of 

 alternating currents : Henri Abraham and J. Carpentior. 

 The instrument is on the lines of one described in 1897, 

 and is distinguished bv the fact that its moving parts are 

 relatively heavy, and capable of carrying a mirror of large 

 surface.' A demonstration of the apparatus was given 

 before the academy.- Electrocapillarv measurements by the 

 method of large drops : M. Gouy. The capillary electro- 

 meter giving only relative figures, the present paper 

 is concerned with' absolute measurements. The drop of 



