900 
ical Society ; Executive Committee, W. A. 
Withers, W. J. Martin, Jr:, and ©. B. 
Williams. 
The following program was presented 
and discussed : 
‘ Basis of Scientific Thought,’ by CaaRLeEs 
 BASKERVILLE. 
‘The Chemical Composition of Cotton 
Seed Meal,’ by W. A. Wirners and G. S. 
FRAPS, 
The authors found that the average 
amount of betain and cholin in seven sam- 
ples of cotton-seed meal was 0.28 per cent., 
the ratios being (the average of two sam- 
ples) betain : cholin :: 78.5: 21.5. Gossy- 
pein if present is in minute quantity. Of 
the nitrogen-free extract 29.2 is pentosans, 
and 47.4 per cent. raffinose. 
The pentosans of the meal are insoluble 
in diastase and are contained entirely in 
the nitrogen-free extract, unless an unusu- 
ally large amount of hulls is present. 
Cotton seed meal. contains no starch and 
no appreciable quantities of sucrose or of 
reducing sugars. The average of five 
samples gave 0.48 per cent. of organic 
acids. 
‘The Recent Advances in Physiological 
Chemistry,’ by A. S. WiEELer. 
‘Aleobol as an Antidote for 
Acid,’ by E. V. Howe tu. 
1. In this paper attention was called to 
the fact that experiments by the author, 
beginning early in 1899, show that alcohol 
removes the escharotic effect of carbolic acid 
onthe arm and inthemouth. 2. That, on 
account of the alarming increase in its use 
for suicidal purposes and the large number 
of accidents because of its general use as a 
disinfectant, carbolic acid should be sched- 
uled as a poison in the poison laws of the 
various States and its sale restricted. 3. 
That alcohol is on record as an antidote and 
the results demand a thorough investiga- 
tion. It must act most probably in one of 
three ways: (a) As a simple addition to 
Carbolie 
SCIENCE. 
[N. S. Von. XIII. No. 336. 
counteracting the escharotic effect; (b) asa 
chemical antidote, forming an inactive or 
less active compound ; (c) as a physiolog- 
ical antagonistic, its stimulating effect com- 
bating the depressant effect of the phenol. 
In investigations being carried on, so far no 
chemical reaction between carbolic acid 
and alcohol, or carbolic acid and camphor 
(which also remoyes the escharotic effect) 
has been observed. 
‘The Presence and Detection of Arsenic 
in Beer,’ by W. Gries Haywoop. 
This paper was a review of the recent 
cases of poisoning in England, due to the 
presence of arsenic in beer, and a compari- 
son of the methods for the determination of 
that element. 
‘A New Meteorie Iron from Davidson 
county, North Carolina,’ by JosrrpH HyprE 
PRATT. 
This iron was found on a hillside rising 
just east of Lexington—Troy road, about 
a half-mile south of Cid P. O., Davidson 
County. The iron originally weighed 13 
Ibs. 14 0z., and was somewhat oblong in 
shape and its surface more or less pitted. 
Testing the polished surface failed to reveal 
either the Widemannstattian figures or the 
Neumann lines; but the etched surface pre- 
sents a granular or stippled appearance 
overlain with a network of fine lines, and 
the fractured surface shows traces of what 
is apparently an octohedral cleavage. This 
etched surface, while being different from the 
other meteorites, is also different from any of 
the manufactured irons that have been test- 
ed. An analysis by Dr. Baskerville gave: 
iron, 93.89; manganese, .92; nickel, .30 ; 
cobalt, .84; silicon, .62; carbon, 3.88; but 
sulphur, phosphorus, titanium, aluminum 
and copper were absent. Dr. Pratt claims 
that the presence of nickel and cobalt and 
the absence of sulphur, phosphorus, ete., 
together with its structure and the more or 
less isolated country in which it was found, 
lead to the belief that this iron is of me- 
