April 23, 1920] 



SCIENCE 



401 



Professor Howe notes the value of an earlier 

 bibliography he was able to consult, that of 

 Professor C. Claus, contained in his pamphlet 

 entitled " Fragment einer Monographie des 

 Platins und der Platinmetalle." This was pub- 

 lished in 1883 by the St. Petersburg Academie 

 des Sciences, from manuscript sheets found 

 among Claus's papers after his death, which 

 had occurred more than twenty years before. 

 The bibliography extends to the year 1861, but, 

 owing probably to the illegibility of the manu- 

 script, many errors have crept in ; nevertheless 

 the unique knowledge of this author in the do- 

 main of the platinum metals made it of great 

 value. As only 300 copies were printed, this 

 pamphlet is now very rare. 



In Professor Howe's earlier edition Cof 

 1897) there were given 61 titles before 1800; 

 737 between 1800 and 1849, and 1,642 between 

 1850 and 1896, making in all 2,440 titles. The 

 following recapitulation shows the notable in- 

 crease in the second edition: 



Titlea before 1800 65 



1800-1849 749 



1850-1899 1,823 



1900-1916 1,924 



Total 4,-561 



As will be noted, the literature for the 

 seventeen years 1900-1916, gave a larger num- 

 ber of titles than were ofFered by the preced- 

 ing half -century. This well indicates the grow- 

 ing importance of this rare and valuable metal. 

 The titles are disposed chronologically, those 

 of each year being separately numbered. In 

 the indexes both the year and the nimiber are 

 given for each title, not the page of the bib- 

 liography. The author index, alphabetically 

 arranged, covers 29 pages and embraces nearly 

 2,500 names. This is followed by an excep- 

 tionally full subject-index of 74 pages; under 

 such subject the literature is given in chrono- 

 logical order, with year, number and author's 

 name. It will be seen that no pains have been 

 spared to facilitate the task of any one who is 

 seeking for sources of information as to plati- 

 num or any of the platinum metals. 



It is to be hoi)ed that this bibliography will 

 be continued, as Professor Howe is still in the 



prime of life, having been bom August 4, 1859, 

 at Newburyport, Mass. He graduated at Am- 

 herst in 1880, and received the degree of Ph.D. 

 from Gottingen, Berlin, and Massachusetts In- 

 stitute of Technology, successively. Since 

 1894, he has occupied the chair of chemistry 

 in Washington and Lee University. He has 

 done especially valuable work in the study of 

 ruthenium and other platinum metals. He has 

 published a very attractively written biograph- 

 ical notice of the French chemist, Chabaneau 

 (1754r-1842), the first maker of a platinum 

 ingot. This weighed some 23 kilograms (about 

 50 pounds). The writer gives many details of 

 Chabaneau's skill in using the newly-found 

 metal for ornaments, after he had discovered 

 the secret of making it malleable, by taking 

 platinum sponge at a white heat, at the 

 moment of formation, and hammering it re- 

 peatedly while in this state. 



The titles dating from before 1800, ban- 

 ning with the first printed mention of the 

 metal in Don Antonio de Ulloa's " Relacion 

 historica del viage a la America meridonal," 

 Madrid, 1748, show that Sweden shares with 

 France and England in the earliest investiga- 

 tions as to its composition and the best meth- 

 ods of refining it. With the names of Watson, 

 Brownrigg, Lewis, Morin, Macquer and Buffon, 

 must be associated those of Scheffer, Cronstedt 

 and Bergman, nor should we forget the Ger- 

 mans, Marggraf and Count von Sickingeru 

 The earliest records of the various platinum 

 metals naturally attract one's attention. The 

 iirst notice of palladium is in a communication 

 of R. Ghenevix to the " Philosophical Transac- 

 tions," London, Vol. 93 (180-3), p. 290. Ten- 

 nant's paper on iridium appeared in the Tran- 

 sactions for 1804, Vol. 94, p. 411, but his dis- 

 covery dates from a year or two previous to 

 this time; in 1804, A. F. Fourcroy and L. N". 

 Vauquelin describe it in the Annales de 

 Chimie, Paris, Vol. 49, pp. 188, 219. To W. 

 H. Wollaston in 1804 is due the credit of the 

 discovery and determinatixin of rhodium 

 (Phil. Trans., London, Vol. 94 (1804), p. 419), 

 and in the same year Tennant gives the first 

 description of osmium, in connection with that 

 of iridium The discovery of the sixth mem- 



