240 



SCIENCE. 



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



made at ordinary pressures in contact with 

 water. BeC04 + 4H0 described by Klatzo 

 does not exist, and attempts to make it by 

 his method yield only slightly carbonated 

 hydroxide. Basic beryllium carbonate ap- 

 pears to have no definite composition and 

 can be almost completely converted into the 

 hydroxide by boiling in water. All at- 

 tempts to increase the proportion of the 

 CO2 components over the proportion 

 2B6(0H)2.BeC03 failed, although CO2 

 was passed for three months through the 

 basic carbonate under slightly increased 

 pressure. The basic carbonates described 

 in literature must have contained at least 

 one or two per cent, of the carbonate used 

 as a solvent or precipitant. 



The Separation and Esiimaiion of Beryl- 

 lium: Chas. L, Parsons and Stuart R. 

 Barnes. 



Beryllium is separated from aluminum 

 and iron by the complete solubility of its 

 hydroxide in a hot saturated solution of 

 acid sodium carbonate — ferric hydroxide 

 and aluminum hydroxide being completely 

 insoluble. Double precipitation is essen- 

 tial. Beryllium hydroxide must be washed 

 with water containing an electrolyte in 

 solution, for when pure it rapidly washes 

 through the filter in a colloidal condition. 

 Sodium acetate used in this manner gave 

 excellent results. 



The Elementary Nature of Tellurium: 



J. F. NORRIS. 



On account of the fact that the atomic 

 weight of tellurium is inconsistent with its 

 position in the family which contains sul- 

 phur and selenium in the periodic classifi- 

 cation of the elements, the author under- 

 took a series of experiments to determine 

 whether tellurium contains an undiscovered 

 element. In order to free the tellurium 

 from diTij element which does not belong 

 to the sulphur family, it was converted 

 into the compound Na2S4Te06, and from 



this derivative of sodium pentathionate, 

 the tellurium was separated. In order to 

 determine whether the element contained 

 another element in the sulphur family, with 

 an atomic weight higher than that of tel- 

 lurium, a sample of carefully purified tel- 

 turium dioxide was subjected to fractional 

 sublimation. Atomic weight determina- 

 tions were made of the element in the 

 various fractions as well as of that in the 

 unsublimed oxide and of the tellurium pre- 

 pared from the derivative of the sodium 

 pentathionate. The result was the same 

 in all cases, namely, 127.6. The work es- 

 tablishes more defini1;ely than has been 

 done heretofore the elementary nature of 

 tellurium. 



On the Mercuri-ammonium, Salts and 



Bases: E. C. Franklin. 



It will be shown in this paper that the 

 so-called mercuri-ammonium salts are not 

 substituted ammonium salts at all, but are 

 to be classified under the three heads as 

 (1) mercury salts with ammonia of crystal- 

 lization, (2) ammoni-basic mercuric salts, 

 and (3) mixed hydro-basic ammono-basic 

 mercuric salts. For example, the fusible 

 white precipitate is mercuric chloride with 

 ammonia of crystallization, HgCL . 2NH3, 

 and not mereuri-diammonium chloride, 

 Hg(NH3)2Cl2, the infusible white precipi- 

 tate is ammono-basic mercuric chloride, 

 NHgHgCl, a compound related to ammonia 

 as the ordinary basic salts are related to 

 water and is not mercuri-ammonium chlo- 

 ride, HgNHaCl, while the chloride of Mil- 

 Ion's base is a salt basic both to ammonia 

 and water and is not oxydimercuri-am- 

 monium chloride nor yet a hydrated di- 

 mercuri-ammonium chloride. 



Potassium Ammono-zincate : E. C. Frank- 

 lin and F. F. Fitzgerald. 

 Eecalling the analogy between liquid 

 ammonia and water as electrolytic solvents 

 as emphasized in earlier papers by Frank- 



