332 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. VOL. III. No. 61. 



W. J. Dall described Sovie Characteristics of 

 the Genus Spirula. 



J. Howard Goee read a paper on The Gh-on- 

 ingen Land-lease System, being one of perpetual 

 lease to tenants and heirs. Groningen is one 

 of the most prosperous provinces of the Nether- 

 lands. Bernard E. Green, 



Secretary. 



MEETING OF THE NEW YORK SECTION OF THE 

 AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 



The New York Section of the American 

 Chemical Society held its regular meeting at 

 the College of the City of New York on Friday 

 evening, the 7th inst. 



The programme announced a paper by Dr. 

 R. G. Eccles on ' New Facts about Calycan- 

 thus,' and 'Items of Interest from the Cleve- 

 land Meeting,' by Prof. A. A. Breneman. 



Dr. Eccles stated that the calycauthus seeds, 

 on which his work had been done, were from 

 Tennessee, where they were considered as be- 

 ing poisonous. 



He had separated from them an alkaloid dif- 

 ferent from and more peculiar than any alka- 

 loids known to chemists. 



The seeds contain one-third their weight of a 

 bland, pale yellow fixed oil. This oil is wholly 

 removable by petroleum ether. When freed 

 from oil and placed in water the seeds ferment, 

 and the separated alkaloid gives the following 

 reactions: Green color, by strong nitric acid. 

 Pale canary, by hydrochloric acid. Red, by 

 sulphuric acid and bichromate of potash. 



Heated with strong caustic potash, a new al- 

 kaloid was developed and a sweetish odor pro- 

 duced. 



Dr. H. W. Wiley had also examined the seeds, 

 and had found that the alkaloid produced a fine 

 purple color with cane sugar and sulphuric 

 acid. The seeds themselves contain enough 

 sugar to give this reaction. A single seed 

 beaten up with a few drops of water yields the 

 fine purple color on addition of a drop of sul- 

 phuric acid. 



Ether alone will only extract a trace of alka- 

 loid from the seeds, but a mixture of ether, al- 

 cohol and ammonia gives a complete extrac- 

 tion. 



The author had isolated two alkaloids, the 



second in smaller quantity, and a third alkaloid 

 has been found by Dr. Wiley. 



The calycanthus-alkaloid gives different col- 

 ored reaction from the salts. 



The means of a series of combustions by Dr. 

 W. A. Noyes gave the following result : 



Carbon 71.56 



Nitrogen 15.26 



Hydrogen 8.34 



Oxygen 4.84 



100.00 



Dr. Noyes believes the formula to be C„H23 

 N3O. 



Its specific rotary power is exceedingly high, 

 being ten times that of cane sugar. 



The sulphate is a white prismatic salt giving 

 yellow oxidation products when heated in a 

 sealed tube with nitric acid. 



The author described the various salts which 

 he had prepared, and exhibited the color reac- 

 tions with both the salts and the alkaloids. 



Prof. Breneman' s review of the Cleveland 

 meeting had been postponed, owing to the 

 length of programme at the January meeting of 

 the section. 



The work of Prof. Maberry on oils, his labor- 

 atory and apparatus for conducting the pro- 

 tracted distillations of oils under reduced pres- 

 sure were briefly described. 



Dr. Durand Woodman exhibited a simple 

 lecture table apparatus for experimentally de- 

 monstrating the luminosity of the acetylene 

 flame. The meeting was then adjourned until 

 March 6th. Durand Woodman, 



Secretary. 



NEW BOOKS. 

 Primary Factors of Organic Evolution. E. D. 



Cope. Chicago and London, The Open 



Court Publishing Co. 1896. Pp. xvi+547. 



$2.00. 

 Greenland Icefields and Life in the North Atlantic. 



G. Frederick Wright and Warren Up- 



ham. New York, D. Appleton & Co. 1896. 



Pp. XV4-407. $2.00. 

 Die Insel Tenerife. Hans Meyer. Leipzig, 



G. Miezel. 1896. Pp. viii+328. 

 Elements of Botany. J. Y. Bergen. Boston 



and London, Ginn & Co. Pp. viii + 57. 



