June 11, 1915] 



SCIENCE 



869 



Solar physics is represented by a number of 

 contributions. G. E. Hale and H. D. Bab- 

 cock seek witb tbe aid of the Stark effect to 

 measure the potential-gradient in the solar at- 

 mosphere, and find that at the level in question 

 it does not exceed two hundred times the 

 average value in the earth's atmosphere. A 

 study of the flash spectrum of the uneelipsed 

 sun leads W. S. Adams and E. G. Burwell to 

 infer that the observations without an eclipse 

 represented a lower level than those during 

 eclipse, and that there is a considerable gain 

 in accuracy (owing to the greater linear scale 

 of the Mt. Wilson photographs) ; the results 

 do not support the hypothesis of anomalous 

 dispersion as explanatory of solar phenomena. 

 C. E. St. John offers an extensive critique of 

 this hypothesis, and concludes that the theory 

 which bases the shifts in the spectral lines on 

 supposed velocities in the solar atmosphere is 

 far more satisfactory than that which explains 

 these shifts by anomalous dispersion. 



That spherical aberration may be induced 

 in a thoroughly corrected objective by rapidly 

 changing temperatures is noted by F. Schles- 

 inger, and mechanical devices for removing 

 the inequalities of temperature are described. 



C. E. St. John and H. D. Babcock have ex- 

 amined the spectral lines in the iron arc and 

 have discovered that tlie wave-lengths of many 

 of the lines depend upon the portion of the arc 

 from which the light is taken, a fact which 

 must be recognized in fixing precise standards 

 in spectroscopy. 



Chemistry. — Revisions of the atomic weights 

 of cadmium, lead and praseodymium are re- 

 ported by G. P. Baxter and various collabo- 

 rators. The values obtained are: cadmium, 

 112.417; lead, 207.20; praseodymium, 140.92; 

 01 = 35.457 and Ag = 107.880 being assumed 

 in the computations. There appeared to be 

 no difference between specimens of lead from 

 different geographical sources. 



W. A. Jacobs and M. Heidelberger offer a 

 proof of Dimroth's monomolecular formulas 

 for p-aminophenylmercuric compounds as 

 against Pesci's more complicated formulas. 



P. A. Levene and E. B. La Forge state that 

 the 2-aminohesose isolated by them and named 



chrondrosamine has the configuration of either 

 2-altrosamine or of 2-allosamine. 



In a series of papers on potassium anunono 

 argentate, barate, calciate, and sodate, on 

 metallic salts of ammono acids, and on am- 

 monobasic iodides of aluminium, E. C. Erank- 

 lin reports further progress on his extensive 

 investigation on the analogies between aqueous 

 and liquid-ammonia solutions. 



The use of J. J. Thomson's electron theory 

 of valence and of various modifications of that 

 theory is discussed by J. Stieglitz, both des- 

 criptively and (with collaborators) experiment- 

 ally. La papers on the molecular rearrangements 

 of triphenylmethane derivatives with the con- 

 clusion that the original Thomson theory is 

 extremely useful, but that its newer modifica- 

 tions are not necessary so far as the present 

 investigation is concerned. 



An extended investigation of the effects of 

 lipases in hydrolyzing esters is described by 

 K. G. Falk. He comes to the conclusion that 

 the specific character of these effects is due in 

 some cases to the influence of the ester on the 

 enzyme in causing its coagulation or precip- 

 itation, and in other cases to the influence 

 of the enzyme on the ester arising from the 

 presence in the former of special groupings 

 similar to those in amino-acids and peptides, 

 which also bring about hydrolysis of esters, as 

 shown by the experiments of the author made 

 in collaboration with M. L. Hamlin. 



E. W. Washburn and J. W. Bead show that 

 the freezing-points and the eutectic point of 

 solutions, however concentrated, of two sub- 

 stances which conform to the laws of ideal so- 

 lutions can be calculated; and they commu- 

 nicate experiments which show close concord- 

 ance of the observed eutectic points with those 

 calculated. They derive from their considera- 

 tions the following quantitative principle re- 

 lating to solubility: When a crystalline sub- 

 stance A is dissolved in any solvent B with 

 which it forms an ideal solution, its solubility 

 is independent of the nature of the solvent B, 

 and depends merely on the temperature and 

 on the melting-point and heat of fusion of the 

 crystals A. 



E. W. Washburn and E. B. Millard show 

 that the electrolysis of a solution of cesium 



