April 15, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



619 



having been shown in Part I. of this paper 

 (read November, 1903). 



The effect of mixtures of nitric and sul- 

 phuric acids on organic compounds was then 

 discussed and compared with the reactions 

 obtained by the use of mixtures of nitric acid 

 and anhydrous phosphoric acid under similar 

 conditions. The conclusion reached was that 

 nitrosulphuric acid or the ' mixed acids ' of 

 commerce are not merely mixtures, but con- 

 tain the product of hydrolytic reactions of 

 sulphuric acid in excess on nitric acid, thus 

 explaining their reaction on organic com- 

 pounds and production of nitro-substitutions, 

 especially of nitro-Gellulose. 



The Chemistry of Buhber Colors: M. TocH. 



Mr. Toch pointed out that many of the 

 ordinary pigments are not applicable to the 

 coloring of rubber goods, either because the 

 color would be changed by the heating and the 

 reagents used in vulcanizing and finishing 

 rubber, or because of some objectionable effect 

 of the pigment upon the rubber mass. Oleic 

 acid, used as a vehicle for aniline colors, is 

 very deleterious. Stearic acid may be used for 

 the same purpose and is less objectionable. 



The following were mentioned as being 

 among the most important of the mineral 

 pigments used : Zinc oxide, zinc sulphide, 

 barium sulphate, vermilion (less used than 

 formerly), iron oxide pigments prepared from 

 the sulphate, antimony sulphide, zinc chro- 

 mate, ' chrome green,' sesquioxide of chro- 

 mium and ultramarine. 

 Notes on the Analysis of Type Metal: E. H. 



Miller and M. A. Lamme. 



Dr. Miller referred briefly to some of the 

 difficulties experienced in the analysis of type 

 metal alloys, which are explained by the fail- 

 ure to obtain the tin completely in the stannic 

 condition, and recommended that Clarke's 

 separation be followed by the electrolytic 

 deposition of tin as given by Herz, Ztsehr. 

 fiir Anorganische Ohemie, 37, 1 (1903). 

 H. C. Sherman, 

 Secretary. 



NORTHEASTERN SECTION. 



The fifty-first regular meeting of the sec- 

 tion was held Wednesday evening, March 16, 



in Huntington Hall, Massachusetts Institute 

 of Technology, Boston, with President W. H. 

 Walker in the chair. About 1,000 members 

 and invited guests were present. 



Professor E. Rutherford, of McGill Univer- 

 sity, Montreal, gave an address on ' Radio- 

 activity,' in which he reviewed the history of 

 the discovery of the property of certain forms 

 of matter of giving off radiations, and de- 

 scribed the properties of such radiations, as 

 Riintgen rays. X-rays, the alpha, beta, and 

 gamma rays of radium, etc. 



The theory of the continuous breaking down 

 of the molecule of a high to one of a low 

 molecular weight was adduced to explain the 

 phenomena of the emanations and the enor- 

 mous amount of energy manifested. The sub- 

 ject was thoroughly illustrated by experi- 

 ments, among which was the transference of 

 the condensed emanation of radium from one 

 tube to another cooled with liquid air. 



Arthur M. Comey, 



Secretary. 



the onondago academy of sciences. 



The February meeting of the academy was 

 held on the nineteenth, at the College of 

 Medicine, Syracuse University. 



Mr. I. U. -Doust and Mr. W. H. McClelland 

 were elected to membership. 



Dr. E. H. Kraus, as a reelected president, 

 delivered an inaugural address, of which the 

 following is an abstract: 



Some Interesting Mineral Occim-ences in the 



Salina Epoch: E. H. Kraus. 



Crystals which proved to be hematite were 

 discovered in sewer excavations in the city 

 of Syracuse during the spring of 1903, and 

 in the summer of the same year celestite was 

 found in the vicinity of Jamesville; the latter 

 mineral up to that time had not been known 

 to occur in that locality. 



The crystals of hematite usually occur in 

 the cracks and crevices of the red shale and are 

 from one sixteenth inch to one half inch in 

 length. They occur in scales and plates in 

 which the basal pinacoid is much larger than 

 any of the other faces of the crystal. The 

 hematite, as usual, occurs associated with 

 small quartz crystals. 



