May 20, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



707 



is taken up with a comprehensive grammar 

 and dictionary of the native language of 

 Cbili, called hj some the Araucanian, but 

 in this instance the Auca. The author is 

 Mr. Eaoul de la Grasserie. His treatise 

 occupies 372 pages and embraces a large 

 number of texts. To these he adds a 

 literal translation and a grammatical 

 analysis. His previous studies on Ameri- 

 can languages and on the philosophy of 

 language in general guarantee his accuracy 

 and thoroughness. He has used the moder- 

 ately abundant writings of previous scholars 

 with judgment, and throws new light on 

 several points heretofore obscure in the con- 

 struction of the tongue. (Langue Auca, 

 Paris, 1898, J. Maisonneuve.) 



D. G. Beinton. 

 University of Pennsylvania. 



NOTES ON INORGANIC CHEMISTRY. 

 At a meeting of the Institution of Civil 

 Engineers (Great Britain) held March 15th 

 Mr. Henry Fowler read a paper on ' Cal- 

 cium Carbid and Acetylene,' which sum- 

 marized the present knowledge of the sub- 

 ject. From the full abstract in Nature we 

 note the following : As the power theoret- 

 ically required to produce one pound of 

 calcium carbid in the electric furnace is- 

 more than 2 H.P. hours, its manufacture is 

 at present restricted to localities where 

 power is cheap, as, for instance, where 

 water-power is available. The acetj^lene 

 flame has a high actinic value, and causes 

 light colors to appear lighter and dark 

 colors darker than when exposed to sun- 

 light. The gas, when inhaled, combines 

 with the hemoglobin and renders the blood 

 incapable of taking up oxygen; it is no 

 more dangerous, however, in this respect 

 than coal gas. With calcium carbid at $80 

 a ton, acetj'lene can compete with coal gas 

 at 62 cents per thousand feet, where flat 

 flames are used for the latter, and a light 

 of not less than 30 candles is required. It 



is now used for lighting a station on the 

 Great Southern and Western Railway of 

 Ireland, and at the Salford Docks of the 

 Manchester Ship Canal. Its price prevents 

 its use for gas-engines. It cannot be used 

 economically to enrich coal gas, as with low 

 percentages the increase is not above 1 

 candle-power for 1 per cent, acetylene. 

 With water gas it is even less applicable, 

 as more than 10 per cent, is required before 

 any illumination is obtained. Methane 

 and nitrogen are claimed to carry the gas 

 without affecting its illuminating power. 



The subject of the Watt Memorial lec- 

 ture, delivered March 11th at Watt Me- 

 morial Hall, by Professor Thorpe, was 

 ' James Watt and the Discovery of the 

 Composition of Water.' The honor of 

 this discovery, which is one of the land- 

 marks of the history of chemistry, has been 

 shared by Cavendish and Lavoisier, but 

 Professor Thorpe shows that Watt, whose 

 connection with the discovery has been 

 generally regarded as incidental, in writing 

 to Priestley, April 21, 1783 : " Are we not, 

 then, authorized to conclude that water is 

 composed of dephlogisticated (oxygen) and 

 inflammable (hydrogen) air or phlogiston 

 deprived of part of their latent heat," was 

 the first, as far as we can prove from docu- 

 mentary evidence, to state distinctly that 

 water is not an element, but is composed, 

 weight for weight, of two other substances, 

 one of which he regarded as phlogiston and 

 the other as dephlogisticated air. It was 

 on June 25th following that Lavoisier an- 

 nounced his discovery to the Academic des 

 Sciences, while Watt's letter to Priestley 

 was published with another letter of his in 

 in the Philosoj^Mcal Transactions as having 

 been read on April 29, 1784. In reality, 

 however. Watt antedated Lavoisier more 

 than two months. 



The rare element gallium has been found 

 by Professor Hartley and Mr. Hugh Eamage 

 to be very widely distributed in the earth 



