December 2S. 18NJ.] 



SCIENCi:. 



H29 



batli ill a solution of five parts carbonate of ammonia 

 to one hundred of water, this bath being followed by 

 a soaping, and lliorough washing with water. The 

 bleaching itself is performed either by immersing 

 the materials in the solution of oxygenated water, 

 and leaving them there at a temperature of from 20° 

 to 3U° (;., until the decoloration is complete, or the 

 materials are impregnated, when they are wrung out 

 and exposed in a room heated to about 20^ C. : they 

 are then left to dry. — {En;/ineer, .July 20.) [546 



Molecular volume of liquids. — In the determi- 

 natidM (if the molecular volume of liquids, K. Schiff 

 proposi'S to make the observations at the boiling-point 

 of the liijuid and in a special form of apparatus. 

 The latter consists of a small flask capable of holding 

 about one hundred grams of mercury: it is drawn 

 out to a narrow neck which is graduated to ten di- 

 visions, each of which corresponds to 0.01 of a cubic 

 centimetre; and each of tliese divisions is divided 

 into five parts, making each of the final divisions 

 equal to 0.05 of a cubic centimetre. The volume is 

 accurately determined by weighing the flask filled 

 with mercury to the zero-mark. To determine the 

 specific gravity of any liquid at its boiling-point, the 

 flask is filled with the liquid, placed within a jacket- 

 tube which contains a little of the same liquid, and 

 the latter boiled until ihe liquid in the fl.ask is heated 

 to its boiling-point. I5y means of a capillary tube 

 the liquid is withdrawn from the flask until it stands 

 at the zero-mark, and the: flask is corked, cleaned, 

 allowed to cool, and weighed. The specific gravity 

 of the liquid is referred to water at 4° C, and it may 

 lie calculated by means of the formula — 



< - ?- 



^''~ V,/l + K(t - 4)\ ' 



ill which P = the corrected weight of the liquid in 

 the flask, V, = the apparent volume which the liquid 

 occupies at t°. 



By this method the molecular volume of many of 

 the parafline and aromatic hydrocarbons, their lialo- 

 gen substitution products, alcohols, etc., were deter- 

 mined, and results were obtained which agreed closely 

 with those of other experimenters. — (Ann. chem., 

 220, 71.) c. F. M. [547 



AGRICULTURE. 



Aves guano. — A new phosphatic material under 

 this name has lately been imported into Germany 

 from the Aves Islands, in the Caribbean Se.a, near 

 the coast of Venezuela. Analyses of it by Miircker 

 and by Ileiden show it to contain about seventy-two 

 per cent of calcium phosphate, four to nine per cent 

 of calcium carbonate, seven per cent of organic mat- 

 ter, and twenty-five hundredths of one per cent of 

 nitrogen. The material consists of a fine powder, 

 with more or less fragments up to the size of a pea 

 or larger. Among the coarser portions, shells and 

 cor.Tl fragments are often found. The extent of the 

 deposit is said to be great. — {Bieilermann' s cpntr.- 

 blatt., xii. oS-2.) u. p. A. [548 



Comparison of nitrogenous fertilizers. — Miirck- 

 'T reports the results of pot-experiments by Albert 



on the relative value of various nitrogenous fertiliz- 

 ers for oats. Leather, either unprepared or ferment- 

 ed, gave as good as no increase of crop. The others 

 ranged in the following order, the bi'St being placed 

 first: horn-meal, nitrate of soda, fermented dried 

 blood, sulphate of ammonia, fermented steamed bone, 

 steamed bone, dried blood. The horn-meal is pre- 

 pared by treating horn-refuse with superheated steam. 

 In previous experiments it produced almost as good 

 an effect as nitrate of soda. It is to be observed, that 

 several of the materials used contained other ferti- 

 lizing ingredients than nitrogen, of whose possible 

 effect no account seems to have been taken. An 

 experiment in the following year with the pots ma- 

 nured with leather showed no noticeable effect from 

 the latter. — {lliedermann's centr.-blatL, xii. .584.) 

 H. P. A. [549 



Effect of fertilizers on composition of oats — 

 In the experiments reported in the preceding abstract 

 the composition of the oals produced by the aid of 

 the various fertilizers was determined. Those ma- 

 nured with leather and those without nitrogen con- 

 tained S.7 % to 10.7 % of proteine; those manured 

 with nitrate of soda and sulphate of ammonia, 11.2 % 

 and 11.1 %; those manured with the blood or bone 

 manures, 11.6 % to i;5.(3 %. The proportion of crude 

 fibre and ash was greatest in tliose manured with 

 leather and those without nitrogen : the others showed 

 only slight differences. The nitrogenous manures 

 delayed the ripening of the grain in some cases. 

 Warekcr divides them into three groups: 1°, those 

 which .allow the grain to ripen at the normal time, 

 their nitrogen being assimilated during the early 

 stages of growth (nitrate of soda, sulphate of ammo- 

 nia); 2°, those which delayed the ripening somewhat 

 (steamed bone, and the same fermented); 3°, those 

 wliieh delayed the ripening considerably, and ren- 

 dered it irreguKir (horn-meal, dried blood). The 

 last decompose slowly in the soil, and furnish a con- 

 tinuous supply of nitrogen until late in the autumn. 

 — {BieJermaitn'i>centr.-blutt..\n.oSl.) ii. P. A. [550 



Nutritive value of amido-compounds. — Wi'iske 

 has already shown that the asparagine which is foimd 

 in various fodders, along with other amides and 

 amido-compounds, can partially take the place of 

 proteine in nutrition. Zuntz has repeated his ob- 

 servations on asparagine and other amides, with the 

 .same result. — (liiedermami's eentr.-blatt., xii. (i02.) 

 II. P. A. [551 



SunflOTver cake as fodder. — This material has 

 been tested as fodder for milch-cows by Schrodt and 

 von Peter with very favorable results. Slightly more 

 milk was produced by its aid than' by that of an 

 equiv.ilent quantity of palm-nut meal; and the pro- 

 portion of fat in the milk was slightly increased, as 

 h.as sometimes been the case in feeding palm-nut 

 meal. Xo injurious effects on the health of the ani- 

 mals were noticed. — {Bieilermann' s centr.-blatt., xii. 

 009.) n. p. A. 1552 



GEOLOGY. 

 Lithology. 



Iiithology of the District of Columbia. — Ac- 

 cording to Mr. U. P. Merrill, the prevailing rock of 



