120 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. LVI, Ko. 1439 



Determination of true specific gravity of coTce: 

 Haeold J. Rose. Methods published, and in 

 actual use, for the determination oi: the true spe- 

 cific g^'avity of coke, include important variations 

 in practically every detail of the test. The wTiter 

 presents data which shows that discrepancies of 

 many per cent, may be obtained by the use of 

 various wetting liquids. A distinct increase of 

 the true specific gravity figure was found as the 

 fineness of the sample was increased. The paper 

 shows the need for a uniform method for making 

 this determination. 



Smokeless fuel for Salt Lake City: G. St. J. 

 Pekrott and H. W. Clark. A consideration of 

 the practicability of by-product coking of Utah 

 coals for supplying smokeless fuel to domestic 

 consumers of Salt Lake City. A summary is 

 included of smoke abatement work carried out in 

 Salt Lake City since 1919 and of experiments by 

 the Bureau of Mines in determining the coking 

 ■properties and by-product yields of Utah coals 

 at low temperatures. 



The ultimate analysis of coal ty utilization of 

 sodium peroxide fusions: S. W. Paer. All heat 

 developed in combustion comes from the sulfur, 

 carbon and hydrogen present. The amount of 

 the first two constituents being known, their heat 

 value can be calculated and subtracted from the 

 total heat determined by the calorimeter. The 

 remaining heat comes from the available hydro- 

 gen whose percentage is equal to the remaining 

 heat divided by 34,450, the accepted value for 

 hydrogen. The formulas are given in the com- 

 plete paper which is to be published later. The 

 total carbon factor is obtained from a fusion 

 with sodium peroxide and the carbon discharged 

 as CO^, which is measured. From this the weight 

 of carbon present is derived. 



The value of brands to huyers: W. D. Collins. 

 Materials often have been purchased by trade 

 name at higher prices than when purchased oil 

 specifications. A pure merchandise law regu- 

 lating dealings in all kinds of merchandise in 

 the way the food business is regulated by the 

 pure food law has been suggested. The ten- 

 dency to standardization and adoption of uniform 

 specifications has been marked during the past 

 ten years, but drawing up acceptable specifica- 

 tions and standards of products involves much 

 work and time. Specifications failing to insure 

 proper quality or demanding unnecessarily high 

 standards as to raise the cost out of proportion 

 to the benefits received may be adopted. For a 

 long time small buyers will benefit by securing 

 material by brand than specification. 



Acetone, hutanol and ethanol in gas from the 

 hutyric fermentation of corn : Arthur L. Davis. 

 Gases produced during fermentation of corn by 

 anerobic, spore-forming bacteria (B. granula- 

 hacter pectinovorum) carry with them consider- 

 able quantities of solvents since the temperature 

 of operation is from 39° to 40° C. The enriched 

 gases are passed through activated carbon to 

 remove all condensible material. The carbon is 

 then distilled with cresol and the distillated freed 

 of cresol by agitation with sodium hydroxide 

 solution with subsequent distillation. The volume 

 of total solvents was found by removing water 

 from a definite volume of the aqueous solution 

 with potassium carbonate. The acetone content 

 is determined by the Messinger method. There 

 is no known manner of conveniently separating 

 the butanol and ethanol when only small quan- 

 tities of a mixture containing them is available. 



Crystallisation in transparent soap : A. F. 

 Thal. Three types of spots in transparent soap 

 are described. Two are crystalline with evi- 

 dently the same chemical composition but differ- 

 ing in crystalline structure. The first type con- 

 sists of a large mass of small needles which are 

 interspersed with soap. These are obtained in 

 an impure state by extracting the soap with boil- 

 ing alcohol. The second type are compact, hard, 

 glass-like crystals which can be removed me- 

 chanically. These consist of two mols of sugar 

 combined with one mol of sodium carbonate 

 probably in the form of a double compound. The 

 third type is amorphous soap which has sep- 

 arated from solution on slow cooling. 



The control of industrial processes liy light 

 sensitive means: Lloyd Looan. A proposed 

 method of automatically controlling chemical and 

 other industrial processes is described and its 

 possible field of application outlined. This meth- 

 od includes the use of light-sensitive cells to 

 detect, through changes in the optical character 

 of the substance undergoing treatment, deviations 

 from the desired constitution of the product and, 

 by suitable relays and valves, to correct the char- 

 acter of the product. Among the properties of 

 the final and intermediate products, variations in 

 which may be used to alter the illumination of 

 the photoelectric cell sufficiently to operate the 

 control, are color, e. g., on addition of a chemical 

 indicator, absorptive power for white or mixed 

 light, index of refraction, power of scattering 

 light, specific rotatory power, reflective power, or 

 intensity of light emitted at a given temperature. 



Charles L. Parsons, 



Secretary. 



