238 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXIV. No. 608. 



spirit and what is called the religious senti- 

 ment. "Religion," said Bishop Creighton, 

 "means the knowledge of our destiny and 

 of the means of fulfilling it. ' ' We can say 

 no more and no less of science. Men of 

 science seek, in all reverence, to discover 

 the Almighty, the Everlasting. They claim 

 sympathy and friendship with those who, 

 like themselves, have turned away from the 

 more material struggles of human life, and 

 have set their hearts and minds on the 

 knowledge of the Eternal. 



TEE ITHACA MEETING OF THE AMERICAN 

 CHEMICAL SOCIETY. II. 



SECOND GENERAL SESSION. 



At the second general session the follow- 

 ing addresses were given: 



Hydronitric Acid: L. M. Dennis. 



Recent Progress in Industrial Chemistry: 



J. D. Pennock. 



The address first cites the rapid progress 

 of the ammonia soda process in comparison 

 with the Le Blanc, showing that from 1870 

 to 1903 the world's production of soda by 

 the ammonia process increased from 2,600 

 to 1,150,000 tons per annum, and the Le 

 Blanc process decreased from 447,000 in 

 1870 to 150,000 in 1903. The reason for 

 the continuance of industrial life in the 

 Le Blanc works is the income obtained from 

 bleaching powder and sulphur products. 

 The progress of the electrolytic process is 

 then discussed and a statement is made that 

 in 1905 considerable profit was made by at 

 least two concerns in England on the manu- 

 facture of electrolytic caustic soda and 

 bleaching powder. Comment was made on 

 the development of the treatment of fatty 

 acids by carbonate of soda in the manufac- 

 ture of soap, rather than the old method of 

 treating neutral fats with caustic soda and 

 thereby making a considerable saving. It 

 was predicted that the tendency in indus- 



trial operations to the use of fuel gas from 

 coke ovens and producers will ultimately 

 do away with the smoke nuisance. The 

 utilization of peat for producer gas and in 

 the making of crude paper are interesting 

 developments along this line. The intro- 

 duction of alcohol free from tax after Jan- 

 uary 1, 1907, will call for a denaturizing 

 substance of some sort. Doubtless the 

 United States will follow the German prac- 

 tise of using a 2.5 per cent, solution made 

 up of four liters of wood alcohol and one 

 liter of pyridine added to 100 liters of 

 alcohol. The future source of suitable 

 nitrogen for the soil was then discussed. 

 First dealing with Dr. Frank's calcium 

 cyanimide process, then with Birkland and 

 Eydes fixation of atmospheric nitrogen, 

 and with the immediate and more practical 

 application of ammonium sulphate manu- 

 factured on a large scale by the by-product 

 coke ovens. It was predicted that in about 

 thirty years the supply of nitrate of soda 

 will be exhausted. The source of nitrogen 

 must then be furnished by one of the above 

 described processes. 



Some Problems of Biological Chemistry: 



Waldemar Koch, 



It was pointed out that it is possible to 

 investigate a tissue from the point of view 

 of a chemist without isolating definite 

 chemical substances, by dividing the con- 

 stituents into the following groups: pro- 

 teids, carbohydrates, fats, lecithins, extract- 

 ives, ash. These groups have a physiolog- 

 ical significance and the distribution among 

 them of definite substances or elements like 

 phosphorus, which was especially dis- 

 cussed, can vary in some of these groups 

 within wide limits under different physi- 

 ological conditions. The possibility of de- 

 termining the physiological value of the 

 different combinations of phosphoric acid 

 to the cell was illustrated by a number of 

 examples. 



