SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVII. No. 957 



TJ. 8. Pharmacopoeia in the future should be car- 

 ried out by a method of publication more in har- 

 mony with modern practise. 



DIVISION OP INDUSTRIAL CHEMISTS AND CHEMICAL 

 ENGINEERS 



G. D. Kosengarten, chairman 

 M. C. Whitaker, secretary pro tern. 

 Carl A. Nowak: The Training of the Fermentol- 

 ogist. 



The constant demand on the part of the fer- 

 mentation industries for university-trained men 

 offers a profitable field of work for the young 

 chemist. The future fermentologist should pos- 

 sess considerable specialized training in analytical 

 and research work pertaining to the raw materials 

 entering into these industries. The paper dis- 

 cusses the manner in which such scientific training 

 is provided abroad, in England and on the conti- 

 nent, and points out that while, as yet, there is 

 no such provision made at any of the universities 

 in this country it does not seem improbable that 

 with the financial assistance of the men interested 

 in the fermentation industry this could easily be 

 accomplished. 



John Samuel Staudt: The Training of the Tech- 

 nical Chemist. 



The paper makes a survey of what the training 

 of the technical chemist is at present, and points 

 out what the training of the technical chemist 

 ought to be. A comparison and analogy of the 

 training of the technical chemist is made with 

 that of the civil, mechanical and electrical engi- 

 neer. The paper reviews technical education as it 

 exists in England, Germany and America, and 

 makes a comparison of the methods in vogue. 



In discussing what the training of the technical 

 chemist ought to be, the writer points out what 

 the world demands, and in what respects our 

 present system of technical education is faulty. 

 It advocates a more thorough study in the liberal 

 arts and more cooperation between the university, 

 or technical institution and the industries, favor- 

 ing a permission of technical students to work for 

 the cooperations during their summer vacations. 



Graduate study as a direct continuation after 

 graduation is not favored, but is recommended 

 after a year or two in practise. 



Francis C. Feart and M. Gordon Mastin: The 

 Determination of Zinc in Treated Ties. 

 Over nine million railroad ties were preserved 



by treatment with chloride of zinc in 1911. Prac- 



tically all these are bought under the specification 

 that they must contain half a pound of zinc chlo- 

 ride per cubic foot. The method of determining 

 the zinc after decomposing the wood of the sample 

 with nitric and sulphuric acids, as generally used, 

 is slow and troublesome, and with red oak ties it 

 appears to be impossible to destroy all the organic 

 matter. This prevents the precipitation of the 

 zinc, and the result is that analysis of such ties 

 will show less than half of the zinc actually 

 present. 



The authors have worked out a method of de- 

 composing the wood by fusion with caustic potash 

 and a little saltpeter, which removes every trace 

 of organic matter, and leaves the solution in such 

 a condition that the zinc can be determined by 

 titration with potassium ferrocyanide solution. 

 Accurate results are easily and quickly obtained. 

 Check determinations with shavings from un- 

 treated red oak ties, to which known amounts of 

 zinc chloride solution were added, showed that the 

 recovery of the zinc was practically complete. 



A. M. MucKENFUSS: Preliminary Seport upon a 

 Practical Accelerated Test for Faints and Var- 

 nishes. (Lantern.) 

 S. W. Parr: Coal Ash. 



Edward Gudeman : Analyses of Glucose and 

 Starch Sugars. (See Agricultural and Food 

 Chemistry.) 

 Horace C. Porter and Guy B. Taylor: The Spe- 

 cific Heat of Coal and its Belation to the Pres- 

 ence of Combined Water in the Coal Substance. 

 The specific heats of four coals were determined 

 by the method of mixtures with an accuracy of 

 2 to 3 per cent. The values for dry coal ranged 

 from 0.261 to 0.315, according to the type of coal, 

 within the temperature interval 28''-63'' C. A 

 Wyoming sub-bituminous, of 11 per cent, moisture 

 showed a value of 0.370. At higher temperatures 

 the specific heats were higher. 



Comparison of the specific heats of dried and 

 undried coal shows the specific heat of the water 

 present to be about 0.72 and indicated thus that 

 the water is present in a state other than that 

 of free superficial moisture. The facts also that 

 heat is developed by the action of water on dry 

 or partially dried eoal, and that coal containing 

 water has a vapor pressure considerably below the 

 normal aqueous tension of free water, tend to 

 support the theory of the presence of combined 

 water, although the low vapor tension may pos- 

 sibly be explained also as due to capillarity or 

 adsorption. 



