June 10, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



791 



ena as the one in which the next important 

 advances in general chemistry will be 

 made," says Ostwald, who concluded his 

 address thus, the aim of physical chem- 

 istry is to discover relations between the 

 different branches of science and, instead 

 of increasing the gap between them, to be 

 an important factor in effecting their 

 union. 



In the afternoon a banquet was given to 

 those present and in the evening the stu- 

 dents held a ' Kommers.' 



Thus was opened the finest laboratory for 

 physical chemistry now in existence, it be. 

 ing the fourtli in Germany alone. That of 

 Landolt, in Berlin, is the oldest, while the 

 laboratories of van't Hoff, in Berlin, and 

 Nernst, in Gottingen, have scarcely two 

 years of history. When we consider these 

 facts, and, in addition, the number of places 

 in which physical chemical investigations 

 are in progress, especially iu other labora- 

 tories in Germany, in France, Eussia, Scan- 

 dinavia, Austria, Japan, Holland, Great 

 Britain, and America, we i-ecognize that 

 this branch of science has taken its place 

 among the more important natural sci- 

 ences. 



And when we consider, further, that 

 work of the character of that which 

 is described as belonging to the ' Leipsic 

 school ' has been in progress for only a 

 little more than a decade of years, we 

 are impressed by what has already been 

 accomplished, especially in the way of 

 generalization. 



It is to Ostwald that we are in- 

 debted for the Zeitsahrift in which investi- 

 gations could be published ; for the experi- 

 mental verification of the most important 

 theories, and for the systematic presenta- 

 tion of the facts, in his monumental work 

 — ^the Lehrbueh. 



Harry C. Jones. 



Chemical Laboratory, 



Johns Hopkins University. 



WIRELESS TELEGRAPSY* 

 During the last few months the Solent 

 has been the scene of some interesting ex- 

 periments in wireless telegraphy. Under 

 the direction of Signer Marconi two stations 

 have been fitted up— one in Bournemouth, 

 just opposite the end of the pier, and the 

 other at Alum Bay, in the Isle of Wight — 

 and between these places, which are 14^ 

 miles apart, regular communication has 

 been maintained without the use of any 

 intervening connecting wires. On occasion 

 an even greater distance has been traversed, 

 for with portable instruments temporarily 

 set up on the cliffs at Swanage it has been 

 found possible to speak with the station at 

 Alum Bay — nearly 18 miles away. But 

 Signor Marconi does not believe that this 

 represents anything like the limits up to 

 which his apparatus can be worked, and he 

 is now making thei necessary arrangements 

 for exchanging signals with Cherbourg, a 

 distance of some 60 miles. 



The instruments employed at Bourne- 

 mouth and at Alum Bay are alike in all es- 

 sential respects. The only outward sign at 

 either place is a tall mast, some 120 feet 

 high, from which depends a metallic conduc- 

 tor. Sometimes this is a simple wire; at 

 others a narrow strip of ordinary wire net- 

 ting has been tried as affording more elec- 

 trical capacity, but there does not appear to 

 be any great difference in the results. In- 

 side the stations the first piece of apparatus 

 that catches the eye is an induction coil 

 capable of giving a spark 8 or 10 inches 

 long. This with an apj^ropriate battery 

 and a key to control the current constitutes 

 the sending instrument. The discharge 

 from the coil passes between two brass balls 

 about 1^ inches apart, thus giving rise to 

 electro- magnetic waves which are radiated 

 in all directions. One of the balls is con- 

 nected with the external conductor already 

 mentioned, the other is put to earth. Some 

 * From the London Times. 



