Septembeb 13, 1895.] 



SCIENCE. 



337 



different institutions and to arrange for 

 the carrying-out of investigations of gen- 

 eral utility. It was decided that a con- 

 ference, similar to that of Munich, should 

 be held in Paris in September, 1896. The 

 Cloud Committee, consisting of Messrs. 

 Hann, Hildebrandsson, Mohn, Eiggenbach, 

 Rotch and Teisserenc de Bort reported 

 upon the proposed cloud atlas, its cloud 

 definitions and the instructions for observ- 

 ing them. It was recommended that meas- 

 urements of the altitude of clouds (prefera- 

 bly by photographic methods) at a limi- 

 ted number of stations, and direct observa- 

 tion of the velocity of motion of clouds at 

 a larger number of stations throughout the 

 world, be commenced May 1, 1896, and con- 

 tinued one year. 



A. Lawrence Eotch. 



THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 

 The American Chemical Society held its 

 eleventh general meeting at Springfield, 

 Mass., August 27th and 28th. The address 

 of welcome was delivered by Mayor Charles 

 L. Long, and the response to the same was 

 made by the President of the Society, Pro- 

 fessor Edgar F. Smith. No business was 

 transacted, the entire time of the three 

 sessions being wholly devoted to the read- 

 ing of the following papers and to their dis- 



1. 'Determination of the Heating Effect of Coal, ' 

 "W. A. Noyes, J. R. MoTaggart and H. W. Craven. 



2. ' Use of Aluminum for Condensers, ' T. H. Norton. 



3. 'A Case of Mistaken Identity' (relating to the 

 tetrachloride of zirconium), F. P. Venable. 4. 'The 

 Determination of Sulphur in Refined Copper, ' George 

 L. Heath. 5. ' The Possibility of the Occurrence of 

 Hydrogen and Methane in the Atmosphere, ' Francis 

 C. Phillips. 6. 'The Evolution Method for the 

 Determination of Sulphur in Iron,' Francis C. 

 Phillips. 7. ' Metaphosphinic Acids and their 

 Derivatives,' Henry N. Stokes. 8. 'The Analy- 

 sis of Alloys Containing Tin, Lead and Anti- 

 mony, ' Launcelot Andrews. 9. ' Observations 

 on Double Platinum Salts,' Charles N. Herty. 



10. ' A New Electrical Process in Making White- 

 lead,' R. P. Williams. 11. ' Estimation of the Ex- 

 traction in Sugar Houses' (by title), M. Trubeck. 

 12. 'Tellurium, its Separation from Copper Residues 

 with Notes on some New Reactions, ' Cabell White- 

 bead. 13. ' Arsenic in Glycerol, ' George E. Barton. 

 14. ' The Occurrence of Trimethylene Glycol! as a Bi- 

 Product in the Glycerine Manufacture,' Arthur A. 

 Noyes. 15. 'The Electrolytic Reduction of Para- 

 nitro Compounds in Sulphuric Acid Solution,' Arthur 

 A. Noyes. 16. 'Speed of Oxidation by Chloric Acid,' 

 Robert B. Warder and Herman Schlundt. 17. 

 ' Acidimetric Estimation of Vegetable Alkaloids, ' 

 Lyman F. Kebler. 18. ' A Study of Some of the 

 Gas-producing Bacteria' (by title), A. A. Bennett. 

 19. 'Piorates' (by title), George B. Pfeiffer. 20. 'A 

 New Burette Holder, ' W. K. Robbins. 21. ' A New 

 Form of Water Bath,' W. P. Mason. 22. 'The Re- 

 action Between Concentrated Sulphuric Acid and 

 Copper, ' Charles Baskerville. 



After all the papers had been read Presi- 

 dent Edward Morley, of the American As- 

 sociation, who was present, was called upon 

 for remarks, and he summed up the results 

 that have been secured by the various 

 workers who have labored to determine 

 with accuracy the atomic weight of oxygen, 

 giving as the final probable average of the 

 results 15.879. These remarks were of 

 especial interest, as Prof Morley himself 

 has done more than any other investigator 

 to determine the atomic weight of oxygen, 

 spending years upon the subject and mak- 

 ing a number of elaborate and careful de- 

 terminations. President Smith, of the So- 

 ciety, then gave a warm tribute to the work 

 done by Prof. Morley and congratulated 

 the chemists of this country on having 

 among their number one whose work ranks 

 with the highest done by any investigator 

 in the world. 



The Society visited the works of the ' 

 Holyoke Paper Company, of the Merrick 

 Thread Company, the plant of the Farr Al- 

 paca Company, the Hampton Paint and 

 Chemical Company and the U. S. Arsenal. 



The present membership of the Society 

 is 950. Eight active sections now exist in 

 various parts of the United States, with 



