206 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. VIII., No. 187 



that Professor Branner and others following him, 

 in a discussion of the scheme of map colors adopted 

 by the International conference of geologists, took 

 occasion to severely criticise the scheme proposed 

 as being too rigid, and wanting in adaptability to 

 new regions. Among the other papers of note, 

 we would call attention to the following : ' The 

 geological features of a district in south-western 

 Colorado,' by Dr. J. B. Comstock ; ' The outcrop 

 and thickness of the Tally limestone in the neigh- 

 borhood of the finger lakes of western New York,' 

 by S. G. Williams ; ' The molluscan fauna of the 

 New Jersey marls,' by R. P. Whitfield ; ' A revision 

 of the Cayuga Lake (New York) section of the 

 Devonian,' by H. S. William'; ; ' A process of 

 mechanical deformation for the Connecticut valley 

 triassic formation,' by W. M. Davis ; ' Work in 

 Nebraska,' by L. E. Hicks ; ' Our cretaceous flora' 

 and ' Our Devonian and carboniferous fishes,' by 

 Professor Newberry ; ' Fossil wood from Ohio,' by 

 Professor Claypoie ; ' Geography and topography 

 of the head of Chesapeake Bay,' by W. H. McGee ; 

 ' Holyoke trap range,' by B. K. Emerson ; ' Some 

 dynamic effects of the ice-sheet,' by F. J. H. Mer- 

 rill. 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE SECTION OF 

 CHEMISTRY. 



Professor Wiley prefaced his vice-presidential 

 address by announcing the much-to-be-regretted 

 death of William Ripley Nichols, his predecessor 

 as chau'man of the section. 



W. H. Seaman, who, with A. C. Peale and 

 C. H. White, forms a committee of the chemical 

 society of Washington for the purpose of bring- 

 ing about uniformity in the methods of stating 

 water analyses, read a report upon this sub- 

 ject, and desired the approval of the section for 

 the method recommended. After much debate, 

 the matter was referred to a committee of the 

 section, consisting of Professors Caldwell, Lange- 

 ley, Myers, Mason, and Warder, who are to re- 

 port another year what action is desirable. 



Miss Helen C. De S. Abbott read a paper upon 

 the proximate composition of a bark from 

 Honduras, known as ' chichipati,' which con- 

 tains a new camphor and a yellow coloring-mat- 

 ter, chichipatin, apparently of value as a dye and 

 substitute for fustic. The same author also pre- 

 sented some considerations of the relations of the 

 chemical constituents of plants to their morphol- 

 ogy and evolution, believing that the chemical 

 constituents follow jjarallel lines with the evolu- 

 tionary course of plant forms, the one being in- 

 timately connected with the other, and the height 

 of the scale of progression being indicated by 



these constituents, Avhich are therefore appro- 

 priate for a basis of botanical classification. 



H. C. Bolton, of the committee on indexing 

 chemical literature, after presenting their report 

 showing the large amount of valuable work which 

 was being done, read a paper on the confusion 

 which exists in the abbreviations employed in 

 chemical bibliography, and the desirability of 

 uniformity in designations of scientific periodicals. 



C. F. Mabery's paper on the products of the 

 Cowles electric furnace was of particular interest, 

 and attracted much attention. He stated that 

 the past year had been devoted more especially to 

 the development of an increased commercial 

 efficiency of the furnace, so that now three hun- 

 dred horse-power could, by means of a large 

 dynamo, be applied with greater economy in the 

 results ; and by coating the charcoal employed in 

 the furnace with lime, by soaking it in lime-water, 

 the production of graphite was largely avoided, 

 and a marked improvement in the working of the 

 furnace introduced. The results — although, as 

 compared to what would eventually be accom- 

 plished by electric smelting, they may seem crude 

 — have reached a stage where their commercial 

 success can be demonstrated. 



It was also found that when the electrodes 

 entered the mixture in a slanting position the 

 product was increased. They are now also moved 

 in and out with advantage, being gradually with- 

 drawn as the resistance falls. Professor Mabery 

 replied to the criticisms of Hehner of Berlin, 

 Siemens, and others, that no new principle was 

 involved, showing that the Cowles furnace is 

 quite different from all hitherto constructed, and 

 the only one of practical application by which a 

 dynamo of three hundred horse-power could be 

 used, as by means of a resistance-box and the 

 arrangement of the furnace the sudden breaking 

 of the current is prevented from burning out the 

 dynamo. The presence of copper for the reduc- 

 tion of aluminium was shown to be unnecessary ; 

 and, by complete exclusion of air from the fur- 

 nace, buttons of the metal were easily obtained. 

 A product which has attracted considerable at- 

 tention during the past year is obtained by redu- 

 cing aluminium in presence of iron. A cast iron 

 is formed containing sometimes as much as ten 

 per cent of aluminium, and this product is used 

 to facilitate the working of crude iron and to in- 

 troduce into the various grades a small percentage 

 of aluminium. In the reduction of aluminium 

 in the presence of copper, a yellow product is 

 frequently taken from the furnace which is com- 

 posed of metallic aluminium to the extent of one- 

 half or three-fourths, the balance being silicon 

 and copper. It is also formed in the absence of 



