August 12, 1898.] 



SGIENGE. 



181 



tinctly marked, represented in history by 

 the successive conquests of the Etruscans, 

 Komans and Merovingians. Megalithic 

 monuments and remains of ancient walled 

 cities attest the conflicts of these possessors 

 of the land. 



THE EACES OP EUEOPE. 



De. J. Denikee, a high authority, gives 

 in U Anihropologle for April the results of 

 his long and minute studies on the consti- 

 tutive races of Europe outside of those 

 who we know were historical immigrants 

 (Semites, Finns, Lapp, Huns, Gypsies). 

 He makes six ' primary ' races as follows : 

 (1) Blond, dolichocephalic, tall, in the 

 north; (2) blond, sub-brachycephalic, 

 short, in the east (Great Russia, eastern 

 Prussia) ; (3) dark, short, dolichocephalic 

 (Iberians) ; (4) dark, short, brachycephalic 

 (Celts, Rhsetians) ; (5) dark, tall, meso- 

 cephalic (littoral of Mediterranean) ; (6) 

 dark, tall, brachycephalic (about the Adri- 

 atic) . 



To these he would add several ' second- 

 ary ' races, with the somatic criteria more 

 or less mixed. 



He does not claim that these are original 

 types. They are all the result of admix- 

 tures of several lines ; but the distinct prev- 

 alence over wide areas of the characteris- 

 tics named justify the assumption of line- 

 age. 



D. G. Beinton. 



UNivEEsiiy OF Pennsylvania. 



NOTES ON INORGANIC CHEMISTRY. 

 Attention was recently called to the 

 determination of the atomic weights of 

 cobalt and nickel by T. W. Eichards, of 

 Harvard, in conjunction with Cushman and 

 Baxter. The method used was the deter- 

 mination of the bromin of the bromids by 

 weighing as silver bromid in a Gooch cru- 

 cible. In the last Zeitschrift fib- anorganische 

 Chemie, Clemens Winkler, of Freiberg, criti- 



cises their work in three respects : presence 

 of the oxybromid ; possible presence of hy- 

 drobromic acid not removed by heating in 

 nitrogen ; use of Gooch crucible. He con- 

 siders the method used by himself in his 

 work a few years ago much less liable to in- 

 accuracy. In this the electrolytically de- 

 posited metal was acted on by excess of 

 iodin in presence of water, and the iodin 

 not used measured by titration with stand- 

 ard sodium thiosulfate solution. "Winkler's 

 results are A^i = 58.86 and Co = 59.51 as 

 against Cushman's Ni = 58.69 and Baxter's 

 Co =58.99 (0 = 16). It is noticeable, 

 however, that while these results differ 

 among themselves, in both cases the atomic 

 weight of nickel appears to be less than 

 that of cobalt, while the periodic law would 

 seem to require the reverse to be the case. 



In the same number of the Zeitschrift, Al- 

 fonso Cossa, of Turin, announces the dis- 

 covery of tellurium in the concretions on 

 the inner wall of the crater of Vulcano 

 (Lipari Islands). These concretions are 

 largely of potassium aluminate; thallium, 

 cesium and rubidium also being present. 

 In the same region large quantities of potas- 

 sium fluosilicate are found. The amount 

 of tellurium recovered was about 2 gm. per 

 3 kilos material. Selenium is present in 

 the stalactites of sulfur, but in far smaller 

 quantities than tellurium. 



Peofessor Lebeau has been experiment- 

 ing on the action of the heat of the electric 

 furnace on the emerald in a carbon tube. 

 The experiments were carried out in some 

 cases on as much as 100 kilos of emerald. 

 With a current, 950 amperes, 45 volts, most 

 of the silicia distils off and there is left a 

 melted mass with metallic luster. This is 

 a mixture of carbids of aluminum and of 

 glucinum, and silicids of iron and of carbon. 

 Dilute acids dissolve the mass, giving solu- 

 tions of aluminum and glucinum. If hydro- 

 fluoric acid is used, fluorid of glucinum is 



