July 16, 1915] 



SCIENCE 



101 



2. A test for aromatic amines based upon the 

 fact that the oxalates of most primary aromatic 

 amines are only sparingly soluble in water while 

 those of secondary and tertiary amines are sol- 

 uble. Many of these oxalates may be titrated 

 quantitatively, thus assisting in the identification 

 of the amines. 



3. A rapid test for the nitro group by reduc- 

 tion with sodium amalgam is discussed. 



W. F. MoNCREiF, Jr., and J. T. McGill: Qualita- 

 tive Organic Analysis. 



An account is given of the development of sys- 

 tematic qualitative organic analysis; the methods 

 used by some of the workers in this subject are 

 compared; and the status of the subject in the 

 curricula of a number of American colleges and 

 universities is discussed. Emphasis is laid upon 

 its advantages as a supplement to the usual or- 

 ganic preparation work. 



E. C. White and S. F. Aceee: Becent Progress in 

 the Study of the Quinone Phenolate Theory of 

 Indicators. 



By the use of phenosulphonaphthalein it has 

 been possible to show that a solution of the mono- 

 basic salt of the structure 



(I) (Na03SCeH,)C(:0„H4:0) (CeH,OH) 



is not deeply colored as compared with that of the 

 diabasic salt 



(II) (Na03SCA)C(:C,H,:0) (OeH^ONa). 



The monobasic salt has precisely the same color as 

 the free acid, as is shown by titrating the aeid 

 with alkali (experiment performed at the meet- 

 ing) as well as by a study of the adsorption spec- 

 tra of solutions of the acid, the monobasic salt, 

 and the dibasic salt (spectrophotographs shown at 

 the meeting). The acid and the monobasic sul- 

 phonate are orange colored in solution, whereas 

 the dibasic salt is purple. The former two sub- 

 stances already have a quinone group, but as the 

 intense color does not appear until the dibasic 

 salt is formed, it is clearly demonstrated that not 

 the quinone alone, but the combination of quinone 

 and phenolate groupings is the cause of the in- 

 tense color. 



The effects of substituent groups on the acidity 

 of the phenol and sulphonic acids, and the rela- 

 tions of these effects to color in the acids them- 

 selves and their salts are being studied. The re- 

 sults secured up to this time with the tetrabrom 



and tetranitro derivatives indicate that the sig- 

 nificant color changes are associated with the for- 

 mation of the complex quinone phenolate anion 

 EC(:C.H,:0)(€eH,0). 



S. F. AGREE: A Theory of the Unsaturation of 

 Sugars and their Derivatives by Acids and Alka- 

 lies. 



In the mutarotation of sugars and their deriva- 

 tives, the catalytic activity of the hydroxyl ion 

 depends upon the formation of an anion of the 

 characteristic laotonyl hydroxide group 



I I i I I /R 

 — c—c^c— o— c— c— +, , 



analogous to R — C — O — H which all sugars pos- 



o' 



sess if they show mutarotation by alkalies. When 

 this lactonyl hydroxyl is used up in glucoside for- 

 mation such anions can not form and no mutaro- 

 tation by alkalies occurs. 



The catalytic activity of the hydrogen ion is 

 believed to be due to the formation of an oxonium 

 salt of the lactonyl hydroxide group or its alkyl, 

 corresponding anilide, etc., derivatives. That a di- 

 or tri-basic, etc., oxonium salt is not the active 

 salt in mutarotation by acids is shown by the fact 

 that the increased velocity of the reaction is pro- 

 portional to the first power of the concentration 

 of the hydrogen ion instead of the second, third, 

 etc., powers. 



This theory has been extended to the Walden 

 inversion, the rearrangement of such substance as 

 S and I menthone and many cases which logically 

 follow as details of this theory. 



S. F. Agree : On the Reactions of both the Ions 

 and Molecules of Acids, Bases and Salts. A Tie- 

 interpretation of the Beactions of Sodium 

 Methylate and Sodium Ethylate with 1, 2- 

 Dinitrohensene, 1, 2, i-Dinitrochlorbensene and 

 1, 2, i-Vinitroirombemene. 



The data of Heclit, Conrad and Brueckner, and 

 of Bruyn, Steger and Lulofs on the reactions of 

 sodium methylate and sodium ethylate with ali- 

 phatic and aromatic alkyl halides and nitro de- 

 rivatives can be reinterpreted on the basis of the 

 writer's theory that both the ions and the mole- 

 cules of acids, bases and salts are chemically ac- 

 tive. When the reaction velocities obtained by 

 these workers and our conductivity data are applied 

 to our equation KN=:Kia + Kmi'i- — a) we se- 



