January 8, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



67 



3. Classify in greater detail. Enter a paper 

 under each subject heading of which it treats 

 even though it seem unimportant. 



F. B. Weeks. 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 

 Thk Bulletin of the Michigan Ornitholog- 

 ical Club for December contains articles on 

 the ' Nesting of the White-breasted Nuthatch,' 

 by Edwin G. Mummery ; ' Purple Martin Notes 

 from Waynesburg, Pa.,' by J. Warren Jacobs; 

 ' Nesting of the Sandhill Crane in Michigan,' 

 by Edward Arnold. There is the third series 

 of portraits of Michigan ornithologists and 

 other illustrations, including a half-tone of 

 the University of Michigan Museum. Besides 

 the papers above mentioned and the official 

 ' Minutes of Club Meetings,' book reviews and 

 the constitution of the organization there are 

 numerous notes including ' Another Parasitic 

 Jaeger {Stercorarius parasiticus) from Mich- 

 igan,' by Alexander W. Blain, Jr., and ' Nest- 

 ing of the Cardinal Grosbeak (C. cardinalis) 

 in Ingham County, Michigan,' by Professor 

 Walter B. Barrows, being the first authentic 

 record of the breeding of the cardinal in the 

 state. Beginning with 1904 Charles E. Wis- 

 ner, of Detroit, will assume the business man- 

 agement of the Bulletin. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



NORTH CAROLINA SECTION OF THE AMERICAN 

 CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 



The seventh annual meeting of the section 

 was held in the chemical lecture room of the 

 Agricultural and Mechanical College, West 

 Kaleigh, on November 28, 1903, at 11 a.m., 

 with presiding officer, Chas. E. Brewer, in 

 the chair. 



Preceding the presentation of papers a short 

 business meeting was held and the foUdwing 

 officers were elected for the ensuing year: 



President— Bt. A. S. Wheeler, Chapel Hill, N. C. 



Vice-President — Dr. E. W. Page, Raleigh, N. C. 



Secretary-Treasurer — C. D. Harris, Raleigh, 

 N. C. 



Councillor — Professor W. A. Withers, Raleigh, 

 N. C. 



Reporters — W. G. Morrison, West Raleigh, and 

 S. E. Asbury, Raleigh, N. C. 



The following papers were presented and 

 discussed : 



Action of Ultra-violet Light upon Rare Earth 



Oxides: Charles Baskerville. 



See American Journal of Science, December, 

 1903. 



On the Action of Radium Compounds upon 

 Rare Earth Oxides and the Production of 

 Permanently Luminous Preparations hy 

 Mixing the Former with Powdered Min- 

 erals: Charles Baskerville and Geo. E. 



KUNZ. 



Will appear in American Journal of Science, 

 January, 1904. 



Phosphorescent Thorium Oxide: Charles 



Baskerville. 



As previously shown, thorium dioxide is one 

 of the two rare earth oxides (zirconium di- 

 oxide being the other) and the only radio- 

 active one which phosphoresces with ultra- 

 violet light. This method of testing was 

 applied to different fractions obtained from the 

 thorium dioxide by volatilization of the chlor- 

 ides. The three fractions obtained varied as 

 follows : The residue (containing the caro- 

 linium) is only faintly phosphorescent, due 

 doubtless to the retention of some thorium. 

 The crystalline sublimate is about ten times 

 as phosphorescent as the original oxide, where- 

 as the very volatile fraction {weisser Dampff 

 of Berzelius) does not phosphoresce at all. 

 The last-mentioned preparation contains a 

 little thorium. The radio-activity is greatest 

 in the residue and least in the volatile body. 

 The name herzelium is proposed for this 

 third fraction of thorium. 



A Simple Device for Illustrating the Periodic 



Law: Charles Baskerville. 



The device consists of blocks cut in length 

 according to the atomic weight, taking one 

 half inch for hydrogen. The blocks are planed, 

 presenting flat surfaces corresponding to the 

 valency. The electro-positive and negative 

 properties are indicated by painting blue or 

 red. When these blocks are arranged in an 

 ascending series according to their heights, 

 the resemblance of the properties of the ele- 



