642 



SCIENCE. 



[S. S. Vol. I. No. 23. 



It is stated that S. A. Andee's plan 

 for reaching the North Pole bj' balloon 

 under the auspices of the Eoyal Swedish 

 Academy of Science will be assisted by a 

 subscription of 30,000 kroners by King 

 Oscar. 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS. 

 THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL JOURNAL FOR MAY. 



The principal articles in this number are 

 those containing reports of the investiga- 

 tions carried on by Eemsen and others, on 

 the chlorides of orthostilphobenzoic acid. 

 Early in the investigation it was found that 

 when the chloride was treated with aniline 

 two products were obtained, which were 

 most easily explained on the hypothesis 

 that the chloride is a mixture of two iso- 

 meric chlorides corresponding to those of 

 phthalic acid. This was afterwards shown 

 to be the fact. Two chlorides were isolated 

 and studied, and the results led to the con- 

 clusion that the so-called higher-melting 

 chloride (melting point 76°) is the sym- 

 metrical one, having the formula 

 „ XT ^CO Cl 



and the other, the lower-melting chloride 

 (melting point 21.5°-22.5°), the unsj'mmet- 

 rical one, with the probable structure 



Both chlorides give ordinary orthosulpho- 

 benzoic acid when treated with water, but 

 act differently when treated with ammonia, 

 the symmetrical one forming benzoic siil- 

 phinide thus : 



Co H.i<|'°^^\-|-4NH3=Ce H.,<^§^>N. NH^+2 XH.Cl 



while the unsymmetrical one forms the am- 

 monium salt of orthocyanbenzenesulphonic 

 acid, 



Ce H.,<^^''=>0 +4NH3=C„ H4<|'|^ j^TH +2 NH.Cl. 



As the unsymmetrical chloride is acted upon 

 much more readily than the symmetrical 

 one, it is only necessary to treat the mixture. 



under certain conditions, with ammonia, to 

 obtain the symmetrical one in pure con- 

 dition. The action of benzene and alumi-. 

 num chloride, on the mixture or on the 

 pure symmetrical chloride, leads to the 

 formation of two products, 



^6 ^*< SOjCl ^"^"^s-^^^SOjCsHs. 

 The latter breaks down when treated with 

 potassium hydroxide, yielding diphenyl- 

 sulphone and benzoic acid : 



CsH4<^§'^^^' +KOH — CsHjSOj.CeHj +CbH5 COOK. 



Besides these articles there are several 

 shorter ones, one by Stone and Lotz show- 

 ing the identity of the sugar called Agavose, 

 with Sucrose, and one by Trevor on ' The 

 Law of Mass Action.' Chase Palmer gives 

 the results of an investigation of the chro- 

 mates of thorium, and Cushman describes 

 a method of separating copper and cadmium, 

 which is more satisfactory than the method 

 depending upon the precipitation of the 

 cadmium in presence of the copper. He 

 finds that cadmium sulphide is easily 

 soluble in warm dilute hydrochlorie acid in 

 the presence of an excess of alkaline chlo- 

 rides, and is easily precipitated, after filter- 

 ing to remove the copper sulphide, which is 

 unacted upon. There are also two very 

 interesting reviews, by Professor Mallet, of 

 the Reports on Chemical Industry at the 

 World's Fair, prepared by the German and 

 French chemical representatives. 



J. Elliott Gilpin. 



THE botanical GAZETTE. 

 Issiied May 18, 1895. 48 pp., 2 pi. 

 Tlie Develoimient of Botany in Germany during 

 the Nineteenth Century: Eduard Stras- 



BURGER. 



Professor Strasburger wrote an account 

 of the progress of botany in Germany dur- 

 ing the present century for the sumptuous 

 work. Die Deutschen Universitciten, pi-epared 

 under the direction of the imperial govern- 

 ment for the educational department of the 



