726 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. VIII. No. 204. 



aim, made a series of determinations of the 

 solubilities of argentic halides in solutions 

 of sodic tbiosulphate, and obtained data 

 wbicb may be of use in determining the 

 mechanism of this reaction. Messrs. Har- 

 rington and Henderson made a few inter- 

 esting observations on some cases in which 

 the dissolving of a solid in a solution caused 

 a lowering instead of a rise in the boiling 

 point, and Mr. Churchill made a careful 

 determination of the melting point of crys- 

 tallized Glauber's salt. The aim of this last 

 labor M'as to secure a new fixed point for 

 the standardizing of thermometers, and we 

 succeeded in showing that the point was as 

 easilj' .obtained and as constant at 32.484° 

 as could be desired. This means of verifying 

 thermometers will be a great boon to those 

 who have not a standard instrument at hand. 

 The paper will appear in the September 

 numbers of the Zeitschrift fur physikalische 

 Chemie and the Ainerican Journal of Science. 



Besides these varied researches, a pro- 

 tracted study of the causes of the occlusion, 

 and the unequal release of gases by the 

 oxides of metals formed from the nitrates, 

 occupied most of my spare time. It be- 

 came evident that the excess of oxygen 

 usually present in such material has a 

 tendency to work its way out by a process 

 of dissociation and recombination which re- 

 minds one of the old-fashioned explanation 

 of electrolysis. The nitrogen, not being 

 able to escape in this fashion, is retained. 

 This paper has just appeared in the Pro- 

 ceedings of the American Academy. 



In addition to these, several other re- 

 searches were also in progress, which, al- 

 though they belong strictly to the domain 

 of inorganic chemistry, would never have 

 been undertaken but for the theoretical in- 

 terests involved. Prominent among these 

 were the revisions of the atomic weights of 

 cobalt, nickel, uranium, strontium and ' 

 calcium, undertaken by Dr. Cushman, 

 Messrs. Baxter and Merigold, and myself. 



Of course, it sometimes happens that 

 physico-chemical problems involving the 

 use of complicated apparatus may be more 

 readily solved in a physical than in a 

 chemical laboratory, and in any case the 

 cooperation of these two departments is 

 highly advisable. I am happy to say that 

 Dr. Duane and others have been conducting 

 such chemico-physical investigations at the 

 Jefferson Physical Laboratory of Harvard 

 College, but of these I have no authority to 

 speak. 



When one has been discussing the past 

 and present progress of any subject it is 

 natural that the mind should turn to the 

 future also. What fields are likely to 

 prove the most fruitful in the years to 

 come ? What researches will probably best 

 advance the interests of science and, there- 

 fore, of the life of man? Prophecy is al- 

 ways an uncertain business, but if one 

 recognizes the uncertainty it has few 

 dangers and becomes at least amusing. In 

 this case, however, it presents few ditfi- 

 culties. 



The whole field of physical chemistry is 

 so fruitful when treated by modern meth- 

 ods that one can hardly single out any sec- 

 tion as especially unpromising. Almost 

 every subject is worthy of research ; a more 

 important question is the sjnrit in which the 

 research is to be undertaken. 



There have always been two parties as 

 regards any question brought forward by 

 mankind for discussion — the conservative 

 partj' and the radical party. The former 

 has a tendency to cling to old ideas simply 

 because they are old, and the latter has a 

 tendency to adopt new ideas simply because 

 they are new. It seems to me that neither 

 of these tendencies is legitimate. One 

 should seek new points of view continually, 

 but he should hold to that which is good 

 until something is proposed which seems to 

 him better. In every case he should weigh 

 the respective arguments for and against 



