March 9, 1906.] 



SCIENCE. 



389 



1906. First a very sharp, loud report was 

 heard, then followed a rumbling for thirty 

 seconds, when a shower of over a dozen stones 

 fell, weighing from one ounce to twelve 

 pounds each. The stone is an almost white 

 pulverulent mass with minute specks of na- 

 tive iron or troilite, with occasional white 

 glassy cleavable feldspar inclusions. 



Mr. J. Howard Wilson discussed ' Notes on 

 the Glacial Geology of Nantucket and Cape 

 Cod.' Mr. Wilson outlined the various i-e- 

 treatal phases of the Nantucket and Long 

 Island glacial lobes, and discussed the history 

 of Glacial Cape Cod Lake, in which were 

 built the sand plains of Truro, Wellfleet and 

 Eastham. The paper was illustrated by lan- 

 tern views and maps. 



The last paper was by Mr. Thomas T. Read, 

 entitled, ' Gold Mining in the Southern Ap- 

 palachians.' Mr. Eead first pointed out that 

 this region was one of the first to which the 

 search for gold was directed after the dis- 

 covery of the new world. After tracing the 

 early development up to the present, the geo- 

 logic structure of the region and the methods 

 of occurrence of the ore were described. 

 After touching on the methods of working 

 and the present state of the industry a few 

 remarks were made as to the probable future 

 worth of the deposits. 



A. W. Grabau, 



Secretary. 



THE CHEMICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 



The 164th regular meeting of the society 

 was held on February 8, 1906. 



Mr. L. S. Munson, of the Contracts Labo- 

 ratory, U. S. Department of Agriculture, read 

 a paper on ' Writing Inks,' giving in detail 

 the results of work recently done by himself 

 on thirty kinds of ink. Twenty-seven of 

 these were iron-tannic (or gallic) acid inks, 

 the remainder being logwood-bichromate inks. 

 They were classed as writing, copying and 

 combined copying and writing inks. They 

 were tested by exposing to sunlight, and by 

 treating with hypochlorites, alcohol, water, 

 etc., stripes made upon white paper, so as to 

 get an idea of their relative permanence. 



Only one third of the samples were found to 

 be satisfactory for record inks, and the copies 

 made from most of them were even less per- 

 manent, owing to the small amount of iron 

 tannate taken up by the copying paper. 



A paper on ' Typewriter Ribbons,' by Miss 

 A. M. Doyle, of the same laboratory, was also 

 presented. Forty-three kinds of ribbons, both 

 new and worn-out, as well as of different 

 colors, were studied. Tests were made of the 

 ribbon fabric and of the ink itself, and the 

 ribbons were rated according to the original 

 writing, copies made from it, and their per- 

 manence when exposed to sunlight and the 

 action of reagents. Inks containing the most 

 lampblack are most permanent, though they 

 give poor copies, as this is insoluble. The 

 aniline dyes present soon fade. Variations 

 in the excellence of the writing depend largely 

 upon variations in the fabric. 



Mr. F. C. Weber, of the Bureau of Chem- 

 istry, exhibited a Zeiss immersion refractom- 

 eter and explained its varied applications. It 

 can be used for the estimation of sugars, for 

 testing alcoholic beverages, for detecting 

 watered milk, methyl alcohol in ethyl alcohol, 

 etc. 



Mr. Rufus F. Herrick, a visiting member, 

 exhibited an alcohol lamp with Welsbach 

 mantle, and, in connection with it, enumer- 

 ated some of the advantages of having tax-free 

 denaturized alcohol. 



Mr. Herrick was followed by Mr. Leonard 

 V. Goebbels, of the Otto Gas Engine Com- 

 pany, who told of some tests in which de- 

 naturized alcohol was used in gasoline engines. 

 It compares favorably with gasoline, as far 

 as cost and efficiency were concerned, and is 

 a much cleaner fuel to handle. 



Dr. Harvey W. Wiley spoke in favor of 

 denaturized alcohol, and said that, in his 

 opinion, the cost and risk of removing the 

 denaturizing substances are so great that it 

 would practically never be attempted. Be- 

 sides, the obvious advantages to manufac- 

 turers are so great that there is no good reason 

 why the bill before Congress, authorizing the 

 sale of tax-free denaturized alcohol, should 

 not be passed. 



Dr. C. E. Waters exhibited Bishop's form 



