Apeil 29, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



(iyy 



This indicates the presence in solution of 

 combinations of the ions with the solvent to 

 form complex ions, which break up at the 

 electrodes. The results show only the differ- 

 ence in the amount of solvent carried by the 

 two ions. The application of the law of mass 

 action to one such equilibrium shows that 

 by it van't Hoff's form of Eudolphi's em- 

 pirical dilution law can be readily derived. 

 Thus, if MA is the salt and 8 the solvent, we 

 have 



2MA + (X+ 2y + Z)S=(,3I, ■ XS) 



+ 2{A ■ rB) + 2S, 



and if Og is the undissociated concentration 

 and G. that of one of the ions and z large 

 compared to x and y, it follows that 



Ci ' = 4 —^ = constant, 



The authors call attention to the fact that 

 in this way it is easy to account for the varia- 

 tion in the speed of migration of the ions 

 with the dilution, the presence of solvent 

 of crystallization and the variation in the 

 value of n in the general empirical dilution 

 law (7 ."/C'*= constant. It was observed that 

 this takes nothing away from the theory of 

 ionization, but, in fact, conditions only those 

 portions of the theory which have hitherto 

 failed to hold. 



Thorium,, Carolinium, Berzelium: Charles 



Baskerville. 



Professor Baskerville reviewed the history 

 of thorium, and especially the recent work 

 bearing upon the question of its complexity. 

 The study of radioactivity of thorium prep- 

 arations led to the conclusion that thorium 

 itself is not primarily radioactive and that 

 the radioactive substances existing in thorium 

 as ordinarily prepared are far too small in 

 quantity to influence the atomic weight values 

 as reported. Discrepancies in atomic weight 

 determinations led to the fractionation of 

 thorium by means of phenylhydrazine. The 

 investigation of the fractions thus obtained 

 and of the so-called ' volatile thorium ' has 

 given evidence of the two new elements, caro- 

 linium and berzelium, which differ markedly 

 from thorium in the densities and solubilities 



of the oxides and i^ the results of atomic 

 weight determinations by the sulphate meth- 

 od. The purified thorium shows phosphores- 

 cence with ultraviolet light, while carolinium 

 and berzelium do not. 



Exhibition and Demonstration with Radium 

 of 1,800,000 Activity and Actinium, of 

 10,000 Activity and their Action upon Min- 

 erals and Oems: G. F. Kdnz. 

 Dr. Kunz showed a number of photographic 

 prints made from specimens of pitchblende 

 now in the possesion of the Imperial Museum 

 of Vienna, and added to that collection in the 

 years 1806, 1807, 1814 and 1853. There 

 seemed to be no difference in the intensity of 

 the radioactivity of the specimens recently 

 found (within a year or two in the mines) 

 and those that are fully one hundred years 

 old. Another photograph shown was made in 

 eight seconds by laying a diamond upon a 

 photographic plate and holding a specimen of 

 radium (300,000 activity) on the back. Ac- 

 tinium chloride made by Dr. Debeirne and 

 radium bromide from the Curie laboratories, 

 were exhibited and their effects upon diamond, 

 kunzite and willemite were shown experi- 

 mentally, as well as a number of illustrations 

 of the penetrating power of the radium rays. 

 H. 0. Sherman, 



Secretary. 



THE anthropological SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 



The 358th meeting was held March 22. 

 The election of Lieutenant William E. W. 

 MacKinlay, U. S. A., was announced. The 

 secretary read the notice of the 14th Inter- 

 national Congress of Americanists which will 

 be held at Stuttgart, August 18-24, 1904. 



Professor Holmes gave an account of the 

 successful archeological work in the West 

 Indies in which Dr. J. Walter Fewkes is en- 

 gaged this winter. 



Dr. I. M. Casanowicz read a paper entitled 

 ' The Scarab.' He gave a description of the 

 beetle and spoke of the ideas of the ancients 

 concerning the habits of this peculiar insect. 

 The earliest scarabs are those of King Nebka, 

 3,000 B. C. They were in use for 3,000 years, 

 and show the earliest sculpture and evidences 

 of art. The scarab is essentially an Egyptian 



