I'EBEUAEY 7, 1896.] 



SGIENGE. 



215 



the region, in that the intruded rocks have 

 proved to be in two separate laccolites, where 

 they were formerly thought to be in innumer- 

 able dikes. The paper was discussed by J. F. 

 Kemp, who referred to the fact that the meta- 

 morphic changes were doubtless due to vapors 

 or heated waters set in circulation by the dike ; 

 to which the speaker assented. The paper will 

 appear in fiill in the Transactions. 



J. F. Kemp, 

 Secretary. 



MEETING OF THE NEW YORE SECTION OF THE 

 AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 



The regular monthly meeting of the New 

 Tork Section of the American Chemical Society 

 was held at the College of the City of New 

 York, 23d street and Lexington avenue, on 

 Friday evening, January 10th. 



Mr. G. C. Henning, M. E., delegate for the 

 American Society of Mechanical Engineers, re- 

 viewed the ' Present Status of Iron and Steel 

 Analysis, ' calling attention to the discrepancies 

 in some recent work of different chemists in de- 

 termining the constituents of the same quality 

 of steel, with special reference to carbon and 

 phosphorus, and to the omission of the direct 

 determination of iron, which he thinks condu- 

 cive to overlooking such elements as titanium, 

 tungsten and others, which are more often 

 present than the usual iron analysis would in- 

 dicate, as they are but infrequently determined 

 •directly. 



He considers that the microscope has opened 

 a field which marks a great advance in methods 

 of determining the condition and quality of 

 iron and steel, and thinks that chemical meth- 

 ods need great improvement to distinguish the 

 ■conditions in which the carbon exists. 



Mr. Rossi in discussing Mr. Henning's paper 

 thought it would be very difficult, if not impos- 

 sible, to recognize the diflferent combinations of 

 iron and carbon by chemical means, at least in 

 the present state of chemical science, since 

 there is so little outside of physical characteris- 

 tics to distinguish them. In replying to these 

 remarks, Mr. Henning said that several steel 

 and iron companies in this country have already 

 established very complete micrographic labora- 

 tories, where in three hours an accurate deter- 



mination of the condition of any specimen of 

 the daily output may be secured. 



Papers were were read by Mr. G. C. Stone 

 on ' The Probable Formation of Permanganates 

 by Direct Combustion of Manganese ' and ' Ee- 

 marks on the Volhard Method of Determining 

 Manganese ;' by Dr. E. E. Squibb, on the 

 ' Manufacture of Acetone and Acetone-Chloro- 

 form from Acetic Acid,' in which he reviewed 

 the history of acetone from its first mention to 

 the present date, and by Mr. J. S. Stillwell on 

 Highly Compressed Gases. ' 



Dr. Squibbs showed that owing to the quota- 

 tion, in standard works of reference, of erroneous 

 results obtained by earlier experimenters, the 

 progress of the manufacture of acetone had, for 

 many years, been obstructed, and consequently 

 the successful manufacture of chloroform from 

 acetone had been correspondingly delayed. 



Mr. Stillwell discussed the causes of explo- 

 sion of cylinders of compressed gases with es- 

 pecial reference to those explosions which were 

 supposed to result from the chemical combina- 

 tion of the compressed gas (oxygen) with oil or 

 grease used as lubricant, and carried into the 

 cylinders. He maintains that a temperature of 

 400° F. is required to produce such chemical 

 combination, and that this temperature is never 

 reached under normal working conditions. 

 DuRAND Woodman, 



Secretary. 



GEOLOGIGAL SOCIETY OP WASHINGTON. 



At the 41st meeting of this Society, held in 

 Washington, D. C. , January 22d, two communi- 

 cations were presented, one by Mr. Arthur 

 Keith, on the ' Crystalline Groups of the South- 

 ern Appalachians, ' and the other by Prof. Chas. 

 E. Van Hise, of the University of Wisconsin and 

 the U. S. Geological Survey, on ' Primary and 

 Secondary Structure and the Forces that Pro- 

 duced them.' 



Mr. Keith described seven classes of forma- 

 tions, in which no sedimentary origin appeared. 

 These comprised mica, gneiss and schist of three 

 types, granite of five types, diorite of two types, 

 gabbros of two types, peridotite and pyroxenite 

 of five types, basalt and diabase of five types, 

 andesite of two types, quartz porphyry and 

 rhyolite of four types. 



