68 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIX. No. 471. 



ments in the different families of the periodic 

 law is strikingly presented. 



Upward Filtration and Its Application in the 

 Determination of Crude Fiber: J. M. 



PiCKELL. 



This is a rapid method of washing and 

 filtering fiber by sucking the fiber (contained 

 in a beaker) up against a linen filter which is 

 stretched across the top of a small funnel, or 

 better, across a ' carbon filter,' which is pro- 

 vided with a rim for this purpose. The time 

 consumed in a filtration is usually a fraction 

 of a minute, but in the more difiicult cases, 

 two, three, four and in rare cases, ten or 

 fifteen minutes. In the few cases tested 

 (cotton-seed meal, wheat bran) it was found to 

 pass (and thus lose) 0.2 per cent, to 0.3 per 

 cent, of solids, which a good thick, but slow- 

 filtering asbestos (Gooch) filter took out. 

 With cotton-seed meal, corn bran, wheat bran, 

 rice chaff, ground corn cobs, peanut hulls, 

 peanut middlings, it gave duplicates agreeing 

 within 0.01 per cent, to 0.30 per cent. A de- 

 tailed description of the apparatus and method 

 will be soon published. It is thought that un- 

 glazed terra-cotta disks and with suitable pro- 

 tection, even filter paper, especially the hard- 

 ened variety, may be substituted for linen, and 

 the method applied quantitatively to difficult 

 filtrations other than those of fiber. Experi- 

 ments in this line are in view. 



The Constitution of Cellulose (a report) : 



Alvin S. Wheeler. 



A review of the literature on the subject 

 up to date. The empirical formula of the re- 

 acting unit is CjHjjOj. The evidence favors 

 a cyclic formula for the unit. The fact that 

 the tetra acetate of cellulose is a normal ester 

 shows that four oxygens are hydroxylic. The 

 fifth oxygen is carbonyl oxygen and the be- 

 havior of cellulose clearly indicates the CO 

 group to be ketonic and not aldehydic. Fen- 

 ton and Gostling's production of tu-brom- 

 methylfurfural from cellulose is exceedingly 

 interesting in this connection. The provi- 

 sional formula CO < (CHOH), > CH, has 

 many suggestions in it. The subject is a 

 very complicated one. C. D. Harris, 



Secretary. 



THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY. NEW YORK 

 SECTION. 



At the regular meeting held on December 4 

 the section elected to the council of the so- 

 ciety. Professors E. H. Miller and Virgil 

 Coblentz, and Drs. Leo Baekeland, Hugo 

 Schweitzer and Durand Woodman. 



The following papers were then read: 



The Dissociation of Lead Nitrate: Leo Baeke- 

 land. 



Dr. Baekeland described the methods and 

 results of an extended investigation of the 

 dissociation of lead nitrate under different 

 conditions and discussed the principles of 

 chemical dynamics involved in the interpreta- 

 tion of his results. Several pieces of appa- 

 ratus especially designed for this research 

 were described and illustrated. 



On the Conversion of Lead Sulphate to 

 Barium Sulphate and a Method for the 

 Determination of Sulphur in Lead Slags: 

 E. H. Miller and J. F. Thompson. 

 This paper showed that the conversion which 

 would be expected from the difference in the 

 solubility products of the sulphates could not 

 be made to take place, as the mechanical coat- 

 ing of the lead sulphate by barium sulphate or 

 a barium lead sulphate always prevented com- 

 plete conversion. By varying the procedure 

 and dissolving the lead sulphate in hydro- 

 chloric acid, a satisfactory precipitation of 

 SOj ions as barium sulphate was obtained. 

 This was made the basis of a method for sul- 

 phur in lead slags. A variety of slags were 

 tested in comparison with the Fahlberg-Hes 

 method. 



The End Products of Self-Digestion of Ani- 

 mal Glands (first communication) : P. A. 

 Levene. 



Dr. Levene gave the results of experiments 

 with the pancreas gland and the liver. The 

 pancreas was subjected to self-digestion in a 

 0.5 per cent, sodium, carbonate solution, the 

 liver in a 0.2 per cent, acetic acid solution. 

 The present report covers the examination of 

 the end-products for amino-acids. Alanin, 

 amino-isovalerianic acid, leucin, glutamic acid, 

 plienylalanin and tyrosin were found in 

 each case. The presence among the digestion 



