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SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XVII. No. 438 



SCIENCE; 



A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER OF ALL THE ARTS AND SCIENCES 



lurgy and uses of metallic alluminitni and its alloys, and they have 

 contributed to the great reiuction in price of the metal and to its 

 more general use in the arts. • 



PUBLISHED BY 



N. D. C. HODGES. 



47 Lafayette Place, New York. 



Subscriptions.— United States and Canada $3.50 a year. 



G-reat Britain and Europe 4.50 a year. 



Communications will be welcomed from any quarter. Abstracts of scientific 

 papers are solicited, and twenty copies of the issue containing such will be 

 mailed the author on request in advance. Rejected manuscripts will be 

 returned to the authors only when the requisite amount of postage accom- 

 panies the manuscript. Whateyer is intended for insertion must be authenti- 

 cated by the name and address of the writer; not necessarily for publication' 

 but as a guaranty of good faith. We do not hold ourselves responsible for 

 any view or opinions expressed in the communications of our correspondents. 



Attention is called to the "Wants" column. All are invited to use it in 

 soliciting information or seeking new positions. The name and address of 

 applicants should be given in full, so that answers will go direct to them. The 

 *' Exchange " column is likewise open. 



THE CHEMICAL LABORATORY OF THE CASE SCHOOL. 



The "First Annual Report of the Chemical Laboratory of Case 

 School of Applied Science," Cleveland, Ohio, which is under the 

 directorship of Professor C. F. Mabery, contains a brief review of 

 its development since the school was opened in 1881. The liberal 

 expenditure at first granted by tlie trustees for chemical supplies, 

 and for equipment of the temporary laboratory, laid the founda- 

 tion for immediate arrangement of the course of study, which be- 

 came necessary to meet the demand for instruction in chemistry. 

 Upon the removal of the school to the new building on Euclid 

 Avenue, in September, 1885, the commodious, well-lighted rooms 

 on the third story were assigned to chemistry, and they were occu- 

 pied until the building was burned in October, 1886. In promptly 

 providing for the continuance of instruction after the fire, in a 

 separate building, the trustees made it possible to resume labora- 

 tory work with a delay of less than four months. This building 

 has served an excellent purpose during the four years it has been 

 occupied, and the great amount of labor that has been expended 

 in developing the course of study will be apparent when they are 

 expanded in the more spacious rooms of the new laboratory. The 

 first graduates in chemistry were of the class of 1886, and fifteen 

 now fill responsible positions as chemists and professors of chem- 

 istry. Two of the graduates have received the degree of doctor 

 of philosophy from the University at Berlin, and two others have 

 nearly completed au advanced course of study, one at the Univer- 

 sity at Heidelberg, Germany, and the other at Zurich, Switzerland. 



For the best development of chemical training, the beneficial 

 influence of original research or study of special problems upon 

 students as well as instructors, is recognized ; and while it may be 

 possible to include very little of this work in a course of study for 

 undergraduates, the general effect of such an atmosphere is stimu- 

 lating to their ambition. Then, too, questions constantly arise in 

 professional pursuits that can only be determined by the applica- 

 tion of knowledge independent of routine methods. The investi- 

 gations carried on were on subjects of considerable practical 

 importance. An exhaustive study by Mr. A. W. Smith of the 

 composition of the water of the lake at different points along the 

 shore, and the influence of varying currents in causing contamina- 

 tion, indicated the direction that an extension of the inlet tunnel 

 should take to provide the best supply for the city. A paper on 

 salt brines led to the perfection by Dr. Dow of a process now in 

 operation for the extraction of bromine from brines that promises 

 to replace the older methods. Although many methods have been 

 proposed and protected by patents for theremovalof sulphur from 

 Ohio petroleums, the results of investigations made at Case School 

 gave the first information concerning the forms of the sulphur 

 compounds in these oils. The examination of oils from other 

 localities promises interesting results. Since 1884 investigations 

 have been constantly in progress in the laboratory on the metal- 



THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MICROSCOPISTS. 



This association, now in the thirteenth year of its existence, 

 will hold its fourteenth annual meeting in Washington, D.C., be- 

 ginning Aug. 10. and continuing in session five days. Its roll of 

 active members contains about three hundred and fifty names, 

 embracing nearly every person in the United States who is at all 

 prominent as a microscopist. Its membership consists of two dis- 

 tinct classes ; viz., professional men and students of the natural 

 sciences, who use the microscope m their daily avocations as an 

 instrument of research, diagnosis, or precision ; and amateurs, or 

 those who find pleasure and profit in the revelations of the instru- 

 ment. Many of the latter class, from having early chosen special 

 lines of study and investigation, have acquired high reputations in 

 their respective departments of microscopical research. In its 

 earlier yeai's this class predominated in the membership of the 

 society, but at present the professional element is largely in ex-- 

 cess. 



The qualifications for membership are very simple. The appli- 

 cant must be a respectable person socially, and interested in the 

 use of the micrnscope. 



The advantages of membership are dual in their nature; i.e.,^^ 

 general and social, or those which accrue to the individual from 

 association with others engaged or interested in the same ijursuits- 

 in any and all walks of life; and special, in that the meetings of 

 the society are to a certain extent educational in their nature. In 

 the "working sessions" experts in every department of micro- 

 scopical technology are engaged in giving manual demonstrations 

 of the details of their lines of work; in the informal evening eon- 

 versaziones the room of every worker who has anything special to- 

 exhibit or demonstrate is open for the reception of all those who- 

 wish to witness the demonstration ; finally, the soiree affords an 

 opportunity of displaying for the benefit of the members, as well 

 as the public generally, all that is most beautiful, interesting, and 

 instructive in the cabinets or laboratories of the exhibitors. Of 

 late years the soirees have been attended by many thousands of 

 visitors in every city in which the society has met, and have beer» 

 regarded as distinguished social as well as scientific events. 



The dues are only two dollars per annum, and in return the 

 member gets a volume of the " Annual Proceedings," which costs 

 very nearly this amount. All peisons, professional or amateur, 

 interested in microscopy and not already on the rolls, are invited 

 to send in their applications for membership to the secretary, Dr. 

 W. H. Seaman, 1424 Eleventh Street, Washington, D.C. The 

 application should be accompanied by three dollars, which is the 

 initiation fee and one year's dues. Any further information con • 

 cerning the society or the approaching meeting may be obtained 

 by addressing Frank L. James, president. Box 568. St. Louis, 

 Mo. ; W. H. Seaman, secretary. 1424 Eleventh Sti-eet, Washington, 

 D.C; or C. C. Mellor, treasurer, 77 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, 

 Penn. 



INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF GEOLOGISTS. 



The Committee of Organization of the International Congress 

 of Geologists announces the following details with regard to the 

 meetings of the Fifth Geological Congress, to be held in Washing- 

 ton from Aug. 26 to Sept. 2, and for excursions which will fol- 

 low. 



The meetings will be held in the rooms of the Columbian Uni- 

 versity, at the corner of Fifteenth and H Streets. A large lec- 

 ture-room, and smaller rooms for meetings of the council, exhibi- 

 tion of maps, rocks, minerals, etc., have been set apart for this- 

 purpose. Special postal, telegraph, and messenger service will 

 be arranged in the building during the week of the meeting, and 

 a bureau of information, where members will register. Those 

 who arrive before the opening of the congress are requested to 

 register their names at the secretary's office, 1330 F Street. 



