Decembee 12, 1919] 



SCIENCE 



547 



and provisions made for contributing, sustain- 

 ing and patron memberships. 



A preliminary meeting to discuss organiza- 

 tion plans and to nominate officers of the 

 American Meteorological Society will be held 

 at the close of the meteorological program of 

 the Philosophical Society of "Washington, 

 Saturday evening, December 20. The meet- 

 ing for organization will take place at Soldan 

 Hill School, St. Louis, December 29, at 2 p.m., 

 and sessions for the presentation of papers 

 will be held December 30 and 31. Joint 

 sessions are being arranged with the Amer- 

 ican Physical Society and the Association 

 of American Geographers for December 31 or 

 January 1. Plans are being made for a meet- 

 ing in New York on January 3. 



A tentative constitution and by-laws, con- 

 forming as far as possible with the numerous 

 and diverse suggestions received, is being 

 drafted, and will be printed about December 

 10, along with the programs and abstracts of 

 papers to be presented at the St. Louis and 

 New York meetings. These, with details as 

 to hotel accommodations in St. Louis, will be 

 mailed up to December 20 to those who have 

 indicated their desire to join the society. 



Charles F. Brooks 



Weather Bukeau, 

 Washington, D. C. 



THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 

 V 



TERTILIZER DIVISION 



F. B. Carpenter, Chairman 

 H. C. Moore, Secretary 

 Injurious effects of horax in fertilizers on crops: 



B. W. KiLGORE. 



The conservation of nitrate of soda in the cham- 

 ber process for the manufacture of sulfuric acid: 

 Andrew M. Faielie. In comiection with the 

 prevalent protest against the high cost of food, 

 means for conserving nitrate of soda in the manu- 

 facture of sulfuric acid has a two-fold interest: 

 (1) The lowest possible consumption of nitrate of 

 soda in the manufacture of sulfuric acid means 

 low cost for producing the acid, and, as sulfuric 

 acid is a principal item in the cost of making acid 

 phosphate, cheaper sulfuric acid should result in 

 cheaper phosphate, and cheaper phosphate, in 



cheaper food. (2) Nitrate of soda is itself an 

 important ingredient of fertilizer, and any de- 

 crease in the eonsumation of nitrate for making 

 acid should react in favor of a decreased demand, 

 and so of a lower price, for nitrate of soda. The 

 various methods of introducing nitrogen com- 

 pounds into the acid-making process are reviewed, 

 and the methods in common use for controlling the 

 chamber process are briefly described. Attention 

 is directed to the gradual extension of the analy- 

 tical method for chamber-process control, and to 

 the improved results attained where this method 

 has been adopted. The Gay-Lussac tower, as a 

 means of recovering the nitrogen compounds, is not 

 yet an ideal, nor yet an etiicient, piece of appa- 

 ratus, and the need exists for either (1) an im- 

 proved type of Gay-Lussae tower; (2) an auxiliary 

 to the Gay-Lussac tower; or (3) a substitute for 

 that tower, capable of effecting a higher percent- 

 age of niter recovery. 



Check meal worTc of the Society of Cotton Prod- 

 ucts Analysts (in particular reference to the mois- 

 ture and ammonia determinations : F. N. Smalley. 



The Deroode-perchloric acid method for deter- 

 mining potash: T. E. Keitt. 



A rapid and accurate method for determining 

 nitrogen in nitrate of soda by the Devarda method, 

 and the use of the Davission scrubber bulb : 0. A. 

 Butt. A rapid and reliable method for determin- 

 ing nitrogen in nitrate of soda, suitable for rou- 

 tine analysis, consists of reduction of the nitric 

 nitrogen to ammonia by the use of 3 grams De- 

 varda 's Alloy, 20 mesh, in a solution of 300 c.e. 

 volume containing 3-5 c.c. sodium hydroxide 45° 

 Be. The distillation of the ammonia is carried out 

 synchronously with the reduction, using the regu- 

 lar Kjeldahl apparatus fitted with the Davisson 

 type of scrubber, which prevents alkali mist reach- 

 ing the receiving flask. An aliquot of the nitrate 

 solution, corresponding to .8517 grams sample, is 

 used and the ammonia collected in A''/2H;S04. Ti- 

 trations are made in the usual way, using methyl 

 red indicator. Results are reported showing accu- 

 racy of method. 



The rapid and accurate determination of nitrate, 

 as ammonia, in nitrate of soda by a modification 

 of the Kjeldahl-Gunning method vs. the deceptive 

 west coast or refraction method. Correct and rapid 

 application of the modified Kjeldahl-Gunning 

 method to mixed fertilizers containing nitrate: H. 

 C. Moore. The author compares the various meth- 

 ods in common use for analysis of nitrate of soda, 



