November 25, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



759 



XVI. On the brecciated fossil marble from Kishiu, 

 Japan, O. C. Marsh. 



XVII. On some rare antiquities from Mexico, O. 

 C. Marsh. 



XVIII. Report upon worlc in spectrum analysis 

 carried on by help of the Bacbe Fund, H. A. Row- 

 land. 



XIX. Observations on the Zeeraan effect with the 

 echelonspectroscope, A. A. Michelson. 



NEW YORK SECTION OF THE AMERICAN CHEM- 

 ICAL SOCIETY. 



The November meeting of the New York 

 Section of the American Chemical Society was 

 held on Friday evening, the 11th, at the Col- 

 lege of the City of New York, and was of un- 

 usual interest. 



The first paper was descriptive of a ' New 

 Apparatus for the Determination of Volume,' 

 by Dr. C. F. McKenna. The instrument is de- 

 signed to obviate the defects in other forms, 

 such as those of Schumann or Candlot in re- 

 spect to accuracy of readings, leakage of ground- 

 glass joints, etc. In the apparatus proposed 

 the powdered solid is introduced through one 

 tube, and the reading is made on another, so 

 slender that tenths of a cubic centimeter can 

 be easily read and hundredths quite accurately 

 estimated. This avoids the difficulty in read- 

 ing which frequently occurs where the pow- 

 dered substance is introduced through the same 

 tube on which the readings are made. 



Professor Venable, of the University of North 

 Carolina, reviewed the ' Present Status of the 

 Periodic Law,' exhibiting tables and calling at- 

 tention to the imperfect knowledge of the ele- 

 ments as the cause of much, if not all, the diffi- 

 culty in arranging the elements in satisfactory 

 groups under MendelejefF's periodic or natural 

 system. 



Mention was made of the peculiar position of 

 hydrogen, and the light which may be thrown 

 on it if the various new gases recently discov- 

 ered shall fall into a group of which hydrogen 

 is at present the only known member. The 

 question as to the elemental character of the 

 accepted elements was also touched upon in 

 connection with the seven concordant groups. 

 Speaking of the want of accuracy in many of 

 the determinations of atomic weight, Professor 

 Venable thought it quite possible that the frac- 



tional parts of these values might be of great 

 importance, which would, of course, emphasize 

 the need for accuracy in their determination. 



Mr. R. H. Atwater read a paper on ' Chem- 

 ical Glassware,' in which he took up the ques- 

 tions relating to the ordinary forms of glassware 

 used in the chemical laboratory, referring to the 

 proper form of necks, lips and stoppers of re- 

 agent bottles, engraved, etched, molded and 

 sandblast labels, the best method of protecting 

 the lips and mouths from dust, etc. 



Referring to the nature and properties of 

 glass, he said that glass is not usually a true 

 salt, but a compound of true crystalline salts 

 with an indefinite proportion of uncrystalline 

 glass or flux. Soda glass is hygrosapic, there- 

 fore lead glass is much more satisfactory for 

 electrical non-conductors. 



In at least one factory in this country polar- 

 ized light is used for testing the character of 

 the annealing. 



In conclusion, Mr. Atwater said that the 

 American market for chemical glassware is the 

 best in the world, and would reward the home 

 manufacturers for making ware of as good a 

 quality as that made abroad. 



In the discussion of the paper Dr. Squibb 

 recommended reagent bottles with loose caps 

 over the stopper to keep away dust, and ad- 

 vised inverting bottles with ' set stoppers ' in 

 water over night. 



A communication from the General Secretary 

 was then read stating that the invitation from 

 the Section to the Society at large to hold the 

 winter meeting in New York had been accepted 

 by the Council, and the date fixed for Decem- 

 ber 27th. 



DuEAND Woodman, 



Secretary. 



chemical society of WASHINGTON. 



The regular monthly meeting was held on 

 October 13, 1898. 



The first paper of the evening was read by 

 Dr. H. W. Wiley, and was entitled 'Prelimi- 

 nary Report on the Vienna Congress of Applied 

 Chemistry.' Dr. Wiley gave an interesting ac- 

 count of the proceedings of the Third Interna- 

 tional Congress of Applied Chemistry. Some 

 of the more important papers which were pre- 



