870 



SCIENCE. 



[N.S. Vol. IV. No. 102. 



was evident that sucli a scheme would be 

 impracticable and undesirable. 



The following is a list of the papers read 

 at the sessions : 



The Fringillidse of Dodge County^ Wisconsin. Will 

 Edwin Snyder. 



An Ornithological Tour in Yucatan and Mexico, illus- 

 trated by lantern slides. Fkank M. Chapman. 



Some New England Birds Nests, illustrated by lantern 

 slides from original photographs. William Bkews- 



TEE. 



The Philadelphia Vireo ( Vireo philadelphicus) . Jona- 

 than DWIGHT, Je. 



The Moult of the Song Sparrow {Melospiza fasciata), 

 and of the Bed-eyed Vireo ( Vireo olivaceus). Jona- 

 than DwiGHT, Je. 



Notes on the Black Bail {Porzana jamaicensis) in 

 Southern Connecticut. John N. Claek. 



Notes on the Birds of Oregon. C. Haet Meeeiam. 



Some Notes on the Nesting Habits of the White-tailed 

 Kite {Elanus leucurus), with exhibition of eggs. 

 Chestee Baelow. 



Two Carious Birds' Nests. William Beewstee. 



A Series of Bedpolls. William Beewstee. 



On the Terns of Penilcese Island, Massachusetts. 

 Geoege H. Mackat. 



On the Terns of Muskeget Island, Massachusetts. 

 Geoege H. Mackay. 



The next meeting of the Union will be 

 held in New York City, beginning Novem- 

 ber 8, 1897. Jko. H. Sage, 



Secretary. 



NOTES ON INOBGANIC CHEMISTBY. 

 In an inaugural dissertation (Amster- 

 dam, 1896), W. P. Jorissen makes a contri- 

 bution to the knowledge of ' active oxygen.' 

 When a number of substances are slowly 

 oxidized in air or oxygen a part of the 

 oxygen becomes endowed with peculiarly 

 active properties. On studying the oxida- 

 tion of triethyl phosphin 'P{G^^)^^ Joris- 

 sen finds that oxygen is taken up from the 

 air in quantity corresponding to the forma- 

 tion of the oxid PCC^HJgO; but if indigo, 

 which is not oxidized by ordinary oxj^gen, 

 is present, twice the quantity of oxygen is 

 consumed and the indigo is also oxidized 

 with loss of color. Other substances act in 



a similar way. The conclusion drawn by 

 the author is that in the slow oxidation of 

 a body the same quantity of oxygen is 

 rendered ' active ' as is taken up in forming 

 the primary product of oxidation. 



In the last number of the Berichte of the 

 German Chemical Society, Victor Meyer 

 and Max von Recklinghausen give an ac- 

 count of a series of experiments on the 

 slow oxidation of hydrogen and of carbon 

 monoxid by potassium permanganate. Pure 

 hydrogen in a test tube or a flask inverted 

 over a solution of the permanganate is 

 slowly but completely absorbed. Similarly 

 carbon monoxid is in the course of a few 

 days completely oxidized to carbon dioxid. 

 When the solution and gas are shaken in 

 an agitator the same reaction takes place 

 provided the permanganate solution is alka- 

 line or neutral. If, however, it is acid, 

 there is an evolution of oxygen, the quan- 

 tity being about half that of the hydrogen 

 absorbed. With carbon monoxid and acid 

 permanganate solution there is on agitation 

 also an evolution of oxygen, but not much 

 more than half as much as is the case with 

 hydrogen. This evolution of oxygen is 

 difficult to account for, as in every other 

 known case of oxidation by potassium 

 permanganate the oxygen is wholly con- 

 sumed in the oxidation process, and none 

 of it escapes. Prof. Meyer suggests a pos- 

 sible similarity of this phenomenon with 

 those of slow oxidation studied by van't 

 Hoff and Jorissen (see above note), where 

 the oxygen molecule seems to divide into 

 two portions with different properties. 

 According to this a molecule of oxj^gen 

 from the permanganate would divide, one- 

 half going to oxidize the hydrogen, while 

 the other escapes to form molecular oxygen. 



In the same journal G. P. Drossbach de- 

 scribes an investigation of monazite sand in 

 which he finds what he considers to be a 

 new metal, difiering somewhat in its prop- 



