0\ THE ELECTROLYTIC METHODS OF QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS. 187 



forty-eight hours in presence of sulphuric or nitric acid the decolorisa- 

 tion is incomplete. This direct method of determination is therefore 

 inapplicable. The results are recorded to prove that the salts and 

 organic matter are practically without influence on the deposition of 

 the iron. The only alternative, therefore, is to evaporate to dryness, 

 ignite, best after a preliminary drying at 180° C, and then proceed as 

 above, omitting, of course, the decomposition with nitrous acid. Thus 

 modified the method loses much of its absolute, but none of its relati\e 

 value. A mixture of equal volumes of sulphuric acid (1:2) and hydro- 

 chloric acid (cone.) is best for the extraction ; the solution is then con- 

 centrated to remove hydrochloric acid, and electrolysed to destroy all 

 traces of organic matter ; it is then ready for treatment with ammonium 

 oxalate and the final electrolysis as described. 



The following results with normal urine were obtained by this 

 method : — 



Volume of urine taken. Iron found. 



c.c. m. e;r. 



.3,750 l-l) 



1,320 l-l 



1.020 0-9 



i.eoo 0-9 



Taking a day's discharge at 1,500 c.c, the average amount of iron per 

 diem in the above experiments is 091 mgr., a value v/^hich confirms the 

 most reliable of the results given above. 



In all cases in which the determination of very small quantities of 

 iron in organic products is concerned, the exceptional delicacy of the 

 electrolytic method, its freedom from the sources of error that arise with 

 other methods on account of the inherent presence of salts and of organic 

 matter, and, finally, the ready check on the nature and amount of the 

 deposited metal, render it capable of giving reliable and comparable 

 results under all conditions. We have made use of it, with advantage, 

 not only in the analysis of urine, but also in the determination of iron 

 in liver, spleen, and fjeces, both under normal and pathogenic conditions. 



The Teaching of Science in Elementary Schools. — Report of the Com- 

 mittee, consisting of Dr. J. H. Gladstone (Chairman), Professor 

 H. E. Armstrong (Secretarij), Lord Avebury, Professor W. E. 

 Dunstan, Mr. George Gladstone, Sir Philip Magnus, Sir 

 H. E. EoscoE, Professor A. Smithells, and Professor S. P. 

 Thompson. 



It has been the custom of your Committee to give some comparative 

 tables derived from the return of the Education Department showing the 

 relative attention given to the teaching of scientific subjects in elementary 

 schools for a period of years. By these it has been shown that for the 

 eight years prior to 1890, during which time English Grammar was an 

 obligatory subject provided any class subject was taken in the school, and 

 as the Code allowed only two class subjects to be taken for the purpose of 

 a grant, it was only in those schools where two of these were taken th^t 



