386 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVII. No. 427. 



The chief source of coal-tar is the coal-gas 

 manufacture, but large amounts are also ob- 

 tained from the by-product coke ovens, the 

 water-gas industry, etc. During the year 

 1900, twenty per cent, of the gas produced in 

 the United States was coal-gas, requiring the 

 distillation of 1,350,000 tons of coal, and pro- 

 ducing thirteen and one half billion cubic 

 feet of gas, i. e., 10,000 cubic feet per ton of 

 coal. The yield of tar is approximately five 

 per cent, of the weight of the coal used; the 

 product of tar was, therefore, 67,000 tons. If 

 we add to this the 52,000 tons of tar from the 

 by-product coke ovens, we have a total of 

 about 120,000 tons of tar produced in 1900 

 from coal. This is less than one fifth of the 

 amount produced in England from similar 

 sources. The total production of coal-tar in 

 Europe for the year 1898 was 1,120,000 tons. 



Coal tar is first roughly divided into the 

 following fractions: (1) First runnings, or 

 light oil (lighter than water) ; (2) middle oil, 

 or carbolic oil ; (3) heavy oil, dead oil, or 

 creosote oil; (4) anthracene oil, or green 

 grease; (5) pitch (remains in the stills). 



These five products were taken up in de- 

 tail, and about one hundred drugs, perfumes, 

 etc., were exhibited, the method of derivation 

 of the substances being explained. 



S. A. Mitchell, 

 Secretary of Section. 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 



The 366th meeting was held Saturday, Feb- 

 ruary 7. 



"Vernon Bailey spoke on ' The Goodnight 

 Herd of Buffaloes and Cataloes in Texas,' say- 

 ing that this comprised fifty buifaloes and 

 about seventy cataloes, or crosses between the 

 buffalo and domesticated cattle. The breed 

 selected for crossing was the Polled Angus, 

 and the half-bloods resembled these more 

 than they did the bufialo, being black, of the 

 same build, and often hornless. This cross 

 has most excellent beef qualities, growing 

 rapidly and reaching a weight of 1,800 pounds, 

 while it is unusually hardy. Mr. Goodnight 

 hopes to establish a fixed breed of this grade. 

 So far all crosses have been between buffalo 

 bulls and Polled Angus cows, the demand for 



buffaloes being such that the buffalo cows have 

 been kept breeding pure-blooded calves. 



T. H. Kearney presented a paper entitled 

 ' Further Observations on the Effect of Sodium 

 and Magnesium Salts, with and without Cal- 

 cium, upon Seedlings.' 



In experiments upon seedlings of the white 

 lupine (Lupinus albus) it was found that the 

 degree of toxicity of certain salts of sodium 

 and magnesium was greatly affected by the 

 presence or absence of calcium. In pure solu- 

 tion magnesium sulphate was found to be far 

 the most toxic, and sodium bicarbonate the 

 least. In solutions to which an excess of 

 calcium sulphate had been added the order 

 of toxicity was quite different, sodium car- 

 bonate being toxic in slightest concentration, 

 while magnesium sulphate became decidedly 

 the least toxic. In pure solution a 0.00125 

 normal solution of magnesium sulphate repre- 

 sents the maximum concentration permitting 

 the root tips of lupine seedlings to retain their 

 vitality during a twenty-four-hours culture. 

 Upon the addition of an excess of calcium 

 sulphate, however, the root tips could survive 

 in a normal 0.6 solution of the magnesium 

 salt. 



The question whether other higher plants, 

 under exactly similar conditions of experi- 

 ment, would show a corresponding relation to 

 the same salts, immediately presented itself. 

 With lucerne or alfalfa (Medicago sativa) 

 almost identical results were obtained, the 

 salts proving toxic in the same order and 

 almost in the same degree, both in pure solu- 

 tions and in solutions to which calcium sul- 

 phate was added. 



As it was desirable to ascertain the effects 

 of these salts on plants of widely different 

 relationships, the experiments were repeated 

 on maize, the criterion of toxic effect being the 

 death point of the strongest rootlet. Very un- 

 expected results were obtained, for with pure 

 solutions both the relative and the absolute 

 toxicity of the salts were found to be widely ' 

 different from those observed in the case of 

 the lupine. In pure solution the salt which 

 killed at the lowest concentration was sodium 

 carbonate, while the least toxic of all was 



