Maech 13, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



419 



In the discussion which followed this paper, 

 Mr. M. R. Campbell alluded to the close simi- 

 larity between the relations of the even crest 

 lines of the ' hog back ' ranges described by Mr. 

 Darton, and the Appalachian ridges, and en- 

 dorsed the view that they are similarly the 

 remnants of peneplains preserved by the harder 

 rocks. 



Mr. F. W. Crosby presented a paper entitled 

 ' The Sea Mills of Cephalonia. ' These mills are 

 run by sea water which flows into fissures with 

 considerable velocity. The origin of these fis- 

 sures and the conditions which enables the sea 

 water to sink into them below the level of the 

 sea have been the subjects of popular specula- 

 tion for many years, but they appear to have at- 

 tracted but little attention among geologists. 

 Mr. Crosby then quoted a paper by his son, 

 Prof. W. O. Crosby, in which the mechanism of 

 the phenomena was discussed and a hypothesis 

 offered to account for it. 



A paper on the ' Stratigraphy at Slate Springs, 

 California,' by Mr. H. W. Fairbanks, was read 

 by Mr. Lindgren. 



W. F. MOESELL. 

 CHEMICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 



The 85th regular meeting, which was also 

 the 12th annual meeting of the Society, was held 

 January 9, 1896. The following were elected 

 to membership: Messrs. E. C. Wilson, E. W. 

 Magruder and C. C. Moore. The publication 

 of Bulletin No. 9, was announced and the fol- 

 lowing officers were elected : President, E. A. 

 de Schweinitz ; Vice-Presidents, W. D. Bigelow, 

 W. G. Brown ; Treasurer, W. P. Cutter ; Secre- 

 tary, A. C. Peale ; additional members of the 

 Executive Committee, Chas. E. Munroe, F. P. 

 Dewey, V. K. Chesnut, H. N. Stokes. 



The first paper read was by Dr. H. W. Wiley, 

 on a 'Steam Jacketed Drying Oven,' and the 

 oven was shown in actual operation. In order to 

 surround the drying space of the oven entirely 

 with steam, the door of the ordinary steam 

 jacketed oven is made with double walls, and 

 the steam from the oven conducted into it fi-om 

 the oven by two metal flexible tubes at the top 

 and bottom of the door, so arranged as not to 

 interfere with its opening. The temperature is 

 regulated by a pressure gauge in which, when 



a given pressure is reached, the steam cuts off, 

 the gas by acting on a column of mercury. 

 When steam is used the temperature can be 

 regulated by setting the gauge to read at any 

 position, to read from the boiling point of water 

 up to 105°. For other higher temperatures 

 other liquids can be used, as alcohol or amyl. 

 alcohol, but ether cannot be safely employed 

 on account of the danger of explosion if there 

 is any leakage. 



Dr. Wiley also read a paper on the ' Heat 

 of Bromination in Oils.' The especial diffi- 

 culty on the process of proposed by Hehner 

 and Mitchell is in handling the liquid bromine 

 in quantities of one cc. at a time. Dr. Wiley 

 found that the process is made practicable by 

 dissolving both the oil or fat and the bromine in 

 chloroform when the solution is easily handled 

 by means of a special pipette. He described 

 the process in detail and said the determinations 

 should be conducted in a room when the tem- 

 perature is as constant as possible, and the 

 pieces of apparatus should be exposed to the 

 open air for at least half an hour after complet- 

 ing one determination and before beginning 

 another, in order that it may be restored to the 

 standard room temperature. Duplicates usu- 

 ally agree within one or two-tenths of a degree. 

 The ratio of the heat of bromination to the or- 

 dinary number must be established for each 

 system of apparatus employed. The process 

 seems to be one of considerable analytical value. 

 For exact scientific purposes calorimetric meas- 

 urement of the degree of heat produced must 

 be made. 



Prof. Chas. E. Munroe made some remarks 

 upon 'The Corrosion of Electric Mains,' and 

 exhibited sections of electric light cables, in 

 which the lead coating had become so corroded 

 that in some places the interior conductor was 

 exposed, while at others the cable was coated 

 with nodular earthy looking masses. The 

 cables were parts of a three-wire system, 

 which carried a direct current of 110 volts on 

 each wire, and which had been laid under- 

 ground in the upper compartment of the terra 

 cotta conduit. The corroded main was a 

 branch in an alley, while the principal main 

 was in the street and was not attacked. An- 

 alysis showed the incrustation to be nitrate, 



