962 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. V. No. 12». 



sian oil and partly on the results of Warren' s and 

 Pelonge's and Cahours' investigations of Penn- 

 sylvania petroleum. He shows that Pelonge's 

 and Cahours' distillations were not carried far 

 enough to obtain individual products and that, 

 while Warren's separations were very thorovigh, 

 his methods of purification were very crude and 

 insufficient. In the work here described two 

 principal objects were kept in view : the one to 

 determine the series of hydrocarbons which 

 form the main body of American petroleum, 

 and the other to ascertain whether the compo- 

 sition of Pennsylvania, Ohio and Canadian 

 oils, as regards their principal constituents, is 

 the same. The author concludes from the re- 

 sults of a very thorough and exhaustive study 

 that the constituents of Pennsylvania petroleum 

 with boiling-points at 163°-164°, 173°-174°, 

 196°-197°, and at 215°-216°, are decanes and- 

 constitute the main body of the petroleum 

 within these limits, and that whatever other 

 bodies may be present are to be found only in 

 small quantities. In order to obtain these prod- 

 ucts not only was prolonged distillation re- 

 sorted to, but the products were treated with 

 strong acids and sodium. In the Ohio petroleum 

 the same products were obtained ; but the 

 amount of aromatic hydrocarbons is greater here 

 than in the Pennsylvania oil. In the Canadian oil 

 the products were the same as the others up to 

 173°. Products boiling at 196° and 214° were 

 shown to belong to the series C„H2„ and not, as 

 the lower members do, to the series CnHjo+j. 

 Although sulphuric acid is used on the large 

 scale in refining oils, no definite information has 

 ever been obtained as to its chemical action in 

 these cases ; but the author suggests some pos- 

 sible explanations. The author and Mr. E. J. 

 Hudson have studied the refractive power of 

 these products and find that the refractive 

 power varies, as the specific gravity does, with 

 the purity of the distillate. 



On the Molecular Bearrangement of the Oximes 

 by Means of Certain Metallic Salts : By W. T. 

 COMSTOCK. The author has found that not 

 only does phosphorus pentachloride, strong 

 sulphuric acid and several other reagents effect 

 the Beckmann rearrangement of an oxime into 

 an amide,but that several metallic salts are capa- 

 ble of producing the same results. He has found 



that cuprous chloride and bromide and anti- 

 mony trichloride effect this reaction with the 

 greatest ease. An intermediate cuprous chloride 

 addition product is obtained in most cases, but 

 this easily breaks down when the benzene solu- 

 tion is heated and forms the amide. 



The Action of Urea and Primary Amines on 

 Maleic Anhydride : By F. L. DuNLAP and I. K. 

 Phelps. The authors have continued their 

 experiments on a method described by them for 

 obtaining imides by the action of urea on the 

 anhydrides of dibasic acids. The intermediate 

 addition product, which is an acid, was obtained 

 in some cases, and attempts were made to pre- 

 pare the imide of maleic acid by this method. 

 The intermediate product, maleiiric acid, was- 

 easily obtained, but all attempts to obtain an 

 imide in quantity sufficient for an examination 

 failed. Several products were obtained by the 

 action of primary amines on maleic anhydride. 



On the Isomeric Chlorides of p-Nitro-o-Sulpho- 

 benzoic Acid: By iRA Remsen and G. W. 

 Gray. The formation of two chlorides of or- 

 thosulphobenzoic acid suggested experiments- 

 with substituted acids to see if isomeric chlo- 

 rides could be obtained from these also. The 

 authors have obtained the two chlorides from 

 the p-nitro substituted acid in well characterized 

 form, and have studied the transformations 

 which take place under the influence of various- 

 reagents. Both give the same product with 

 water ; but when treated with ammonia the 

 symmetrical compound forms the ammonium 

 salt of the corresponding sulphinide, while the 

 unsymmetrical compound gives the ammonium 

 salt of the corresponding cyansulphonic acid. 

 The structure of the two chlorides is best repre- 

 sented by the following formula : 



C,H, {NO,) <^^^^i and C,H, (A^O,)<^J>0. 



A number of salts of the sulphinide and sul- 

 phonic acid were made and studied, as well as- 

 the chloride and amide of the acid. 



A Study of Ferric Hydroxide in Precipitation r 

 By V. J. Hall. It is well known that many 

 precipitates have the power to carry down other 

 substances with them, and this is generally ex- 

 plained as an act of mechanical inclusion. Re- 

 sults obtained in a study of the action of potas- 



