318 
nitric acid until perfectly white. The cop- 
per nitrate is very easily soluble in the 
nitric acid, while the silver nitrate is almost 
wholly insoluble. Any trace of silver dis- 
solved by the nitric acid can be recovered 
by treating with salt. This is by far the 
simplest method proposed for obtaining 
pure silver salts from coin or plate, and de- 
serves trial in our laboratories. 
H. TRYLiEr describes in the Berichte a new 
turbine for laboratory use, which lays claim 
to the advantages of steadiness, noiseless- 
ness and economy of water. To the axle 
is attached a circular piece of wire gauze, 
rotating in a thin cylindrical space. The 
jet of water strikes the edge of the gauze 
at a tangent and escapes by a pipe in the 
center opposite the end of the axle. A 
speed of four thousand revolutions is easily 
attained. The turbine is to be manufac- 
tured by M. Koehler and Martini, of Berlin. 
J. L. EL. 
SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 
THE meeting of the British Association at 
Toronto has proceeded in accordance with the 
program. The members in attendance, about 
1,200 in all, have been received with great hos- 
pitality, and many important papers have been 
given before the sections. The meeting is still 
in progress as we go to press, and we shall de- 
fer an account of the proceedings until next 
week. 
TuE British Medical Association will meet in 
Edinburgh in 1898, under the presidency of 
Professor T. Grainger Stewart. 
ACCORDING to the latest lists about 5,000 
members had expressed their intention of at- 
tending the 12th International Medical Congress 
meeting this month in Moscow; about half of 
the number are Russians, 800 are from Ger- 
many, 600 from Austria, 500 from France, 250 
from England and from Italy, and 100 from 
America. 
THE sixty-ninth meeting of German Men 
of Science and Physicians will, as we have al- 
ready noted, be held at Brunswick from the 
SCIENCE. 
[N. 8. Vox. VI. No. 139. 
20th to the 25th of September. The social 
arrangements begin on the preceding day with 
a reception, a banquet and an exhibition of 
sports. The first general meeting opens on the 
20th with the reports of officers, followed by 
two addresses, one by Professor Richard Meyer, 
of Brunswick, on the relations between chem- 
ical research and technical chemistry ; the other 
by Professor Waldeyer, of Berlin, on fertiliza- 
tion and inheritance. At the second general 
session Professor Orth, of Gottingen, will speak 
on medical instruction and the practice of medi- 
cine, and Dr. Hermann Meyer, of Leipzig, on 
central Brazil. Several joint meetings of the 
sections have been arranged, one of special 
interest being a discussion of scientific photog- 
raphy in its applications to the natural sciences 
and to medicine. 
THE Scientific Society of Argentina, says Na- 
ture, is organizing a Congreso Cientifico Latino 
Americano, to be held at Buenos Ayres in April 
next, in commemoration of the twenty-fifth an- 
niversary of its foundation. The Congress will 
be under the patronage of the President of the 
Argentine Republic and the Ministers of Jus- 
tice, Foreign Affairs, and Public Instruction. 
There will be seven sections, dealing respec- 
tively with exact sciences (pure and applied 
mathematics, astronomy, geodesy and topog- 
raphy), engineering, physics and chemistry, 
natural science, medical sciences (including hy- 
giene and climatology), anthropology and so- 
ciology. 
WE noticed sometime since the appointment 
of a committee to investigate the condition of 
the Coast and Geodetic Survey. This committee 
has now presented a report which will not be 
made public. The Washington Star, however, 
states that it is practically decided that a suc- 
cessor to the present Director of the Survey will 
be appointed, and that the selection will be 
made without reference to political considera- 
tions and on the grounds of scientific standing. 
ProFessor C. B. Howes, writing Dr. Thurs- 
ton to inform him of the condition of the work 
of the Huxley Memorial Committee, states that 
the statue is now in progress, in the hands of 
Mr. Ford, the sculptor, and promises to be most 
excellent. It is tobeaseated figure in a gown, 
