November 9, 1900.] 



SCIENCE. 



731 



NOTES ON INOEGANIC CHEMISTRY. 

 An account is given in the Chemiker- Zeitiing 

 of a dangerous accident occurring in the ship- 

 ment of sodium peroxid. The material was 

 destined for Japan and was in nine cases of sixty 

 kilos each. It was contained in thin zinc boxes. 

 In unloading, one of the first two cases exploded 

 with a very loud report, a number of workmen 

 were injured, several fatally, and a fire was 

 caused. Serious consequences to the shipper 

 may ensue, for the cases were merely labeled 

 'chemicals,' no evidence of the dangerous na- 

 ture of their contents being furnished. 



In the manufacture of superphosphate for 

 fertilizer, when apatite is used, large volumes 

 of hydrofluoric acid are evolved, which contam- 

 inate the atmosphere very seriously, aside from 

 being a commercial loss. A process has been 

 devised by C. Elschner, which is described in 

 the Chemiker- Zeitung, for the recovery and util- 

 ization of these gases in the form of fluorsilicic 

 acid. This is used in the manufacture of arti- 

 ficial stone, and for hardening bath for both 

 soft limestone and soft sandstone. A patent 

 has also been issued for the utilization of fluor- 

 silicic acid as a medium for preserving stable 

 manure. The crude acid is absorbed by burnt 

 and ground clay. This is dried again, pul- 

 verized and sprinkled upon the fresh manure 

 in conjunction with a second powder consisting 

 of either a mixture of sulfuric acid and kiesel- 

 guhr or a ground bisulfate. It is claimed by 

 the use of these powders all the valuable con- 

 stituents of the manure are perfectly preserved. 



A SERIES of articles on hydraulic cements by 

 O. Rebuflfat has appeared in the Gazzeita, from 

 the laboratory of the School of Engineering at 

 Naples. The natural puzzolana mortar is, 

 when used under sea water, changed into a hy- 

 drated aluminum silicate containing little lime, 

 and this silicate is very slightly influenced by 

 the sea water. It seems to be much better to 

 use the cement in the way generally used a few 

 years ago that is, by grinding the puzzolana to 

 an extremely fine powder rather than to mix 

 it with sand. Artificial puzzolana can now 

 rarely be made on terms which will enable it to 

 compete with the natural product. 



■ Some time since Professor Fittica of Marburg 



announced that he had succeeded in transmut- 

 ing phosphorus into arsenic. Professor Clemens 

 Winkler seemed to be the only chemist who took 

 Fittica's astounding claims seriously enough to 

 refute them. Winkler showed that Fittica's 

 results could indeed be obtained, but the ar- 

 senic was due, not to transmutation from phos- 

 phorus, but to impurity in the phosphorus. 

 Fittica seems not to have availed himself of 

 Winkler's offer of a specimen of phosphorus 

 free from arsenic, with which to repeat his 

 transmutation experiments. Now a rather ex- 

 tended paper by Fittica appears in the Chemioal 

 News, apparently translated fr«m the Chemiker 

 Zeitung, in which the author not only repeats 

 his claim to have transmuted phosphorus into 

 arsenic, but also claims, by varying the method, 

 to obtain small quantities of antimony. He 

 claims that Winkler's failure to obtain arsenic 

 from pure phosphorus is due to his neglect to 

 follow Fittica's method with exactness. A 

 dozen years ago Fittica gave public utterance 

 to the expression that at heart all chemists are 

 still alchemists, in the sense of believing possible 

 the transmutation of metals. Now he consid- 

 ers he has justified this expression. 



A SERIES of experiments have been carried 

 out by Alex, de Hemptinne for the purpose of 

 determining whether in general an influence is 

 exerted by magnetism on the equilibrium of a 

 chemical reaction. These are described in the 

 Bulletin of the Royal Belgian Academy. The 

 reactions included the solution of iron in hydro- 

 chloric acid, the catalytic action of the hydrogen 

 ion upon the saponification of methyl acetate 

 and upon the inversion of sugar, and the union 

 of hydrogen and chlorin. In all these cases the 

 quantitative efi'ect of a magnetic field Was less 

 than the probable error of experiment, so that 

 it may be concluded that in these cases, at 

 least, the influence of magnetism, if it exists at 



all, is very slight. 



J. L. H. 



CURRENT NOTES ON 3IETEOR0LOGY. 



MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW. 



The Monthly Weather Review for August (dated 

 October 16, 1900) contains a number of articles 

 of more than ordinary interest. A report on 

 ' Meteorological Observations during the Burn- 



