August 8, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



213 



Mechanical College. His efficiency and re- 

 fined character evidenced themselves in the 

 affection of his students. He carried his cul- 

 ture and high standard of rectitude into 

 commercial work, serving as chemist and 

 subsequently general manager of the Nauas- 

 sa Guano Co., of Wilmington, N. C. On the 

 absorption of that corporation by the Vir- 

 ginia-Carolina Chemical Company he was 

 promoted to the position of superintendent 

 in charge of South Carolina Division. He 

 was married, April 10, 1901, to Miss Pur- 

 den Smith, of York, Pa. The dread disease 

 phthisis deprived technical chemistry in 

 the South of an able, conscientious, high- 

 minded worker, and us of a much beloved 

 friend. 



The officers elected for the ensuing year 

 were: 



President, Chas. E. Brewer; Vice-President, G. 

 S. Fraps; Secretary-Treasurer, C. B. Williams; 

 Covneilor, B. W. Kilgore; and Executive Com- 

 mittee, Chas. E. Brewer, G. S. Fraps and C. B. 

 Williams. 



The program as presented and discussed 

 was as follows : 



Molecular Attraction: J. E. Mills. 



Assuming that the total intrinsic energy 

 of a molecule is the sam.e in the liquid a& 

 in the gaseous state, it is shown that the 

 change in the latent heat of vaporization 

 at different temperatures can be accounted 

 for, to a fair approximation, on the sup- 

 position that the attraction between the 

 molecules varies inversely as the square of 

 their distance apart. Other lines of argu- 

 ment advanced to prove this assumed law 

 of attraction agree well with the observa- 

 tions. 



The conclusions drawn are that the mo- 

 lecular attraction, like the attraction of 

 gravitation, varies inversely as the distance 

 apart of the molecules and does not vary 

 with the temperature. Unlike gravitation, 

 the attraction does not depend primarily 



upon the mass, but upon the chemical con- 

 stitution of the attracting molecules. 



The paper is mathematical and not suit- 

 able for abstraction. It will appear in the 

 Journal of Physical Chemistry. 



Bromination of Heptane under Pressure:: 



Alvin Sawyer Wheeler. 



As the best yield of ^3-heptyl bromide 

 gotten by Venable was only 30 per cent, of 

 the theory, an attempt was made to increase 

 it by conducting the bromination under 

 pressure. The reflux condenser was at- 

 tached to a jar filled with solid potash to 

 absorb the hydrobromic acid. To the fur- 

 ther end of the jar was attached a tube 

 extending 190 mm. under mercury. The 

 bromine was forced into the reaction flask 

 by air pressure. The yield of ;9-heptyl 

 bromide was not increased. However, the 

 yield was increased to 36 per cent, by using 

 an excess of bromine, the higher bromina- 

 tion products also increasing and the un- 

 changed heptane decreasing considerably. 

 But this experiment was carried out at 

 atmospheric pressure. 



Notes on the Occurrence of Cohalt in Wake 

 County, North Carolina: S. E. Asbury. 



Action of Chloral Upon the Nitranilins: 

 Alvin Sawyer Wheeler and H. E. 

 Weller. 



The work done by Baskerville and Eib- 

 ner, independently, upon the condensation 

 of chloral with para-nitranilin was extend- 

 ed to the ortho- and meta-nitranilins. The 

 reactions are readily carried out in benzol. 

 Two molecules of a nitranilin condense 

 with one molecule of chloral to form a tri- 

 chlormethylendi-nitrophenylamine. They 

 are all beautiful crystalline substances. The 

 para and ortho bodies are very stable while 

 the meta is easily decomposed. By work- 

 ing in the cold, additional products may be 

 formed first. 



