958 



SCIENGE. 



[N. S. Vol. IV. No. 104. 



motors, were instituted. The theory of the 

 various types of motor next follows and a brief 

 study is made of the several forms of motor 

 now coming into use, with more or less success, 

 in the impulsion of these ' horseless vehicles. ' 



The body of the work is devoted to a de- 

 scription of the construction of the new ' auto- 

 mobile ' carriages which have within a few 

 years become known on the road, and this 

 includes an account of the forms of Ameri- 

 can as well as European apparatus which have 

 been brought into competition in long-distance 

 trials and races. Some valuable matter is also 

 given in the form of reports, embodying data of 

 interest and value to the constructing engineer. 



The concluding portion of the book deals 



with details of construction. This is a good 



time to bring out such a work, and the author 



appears to have made a success of his part. 



The book is the work of an expert, and no 



doubt reliable as to fact as well as correct in its 



descriptive matter. It is well worth its price. 



E, H. Thurston. 

 CoENELL University. 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS. 

 AMERICAN CHEMICAL JOURNAL, DECEMBER. 



Investigations on the two Isomeric Chlorides of 

 Orthosulphobenzoic acid : By Ira Remsen, S. R. 

 McKee, J. R. Hunter and W. J. Karslake. 

 These articles contain the results of investi- 

 gations carried on during the last two years on 

 the preparation and behavior of the chlorides 

 of orthosulphobenzoic acid. They have been 

 obtained in pure condition, the high-melting 

 one by treating the mixture with ammonia, 

 which destroys the low-melting one, and crys- 

 tallizing the product from ligroi ; and the low- 

 melting one by fractional crystallization of the 

 mixture. When treated with water both give 

 the same product, orthosulphobenzoic acid. 

 Phenol and resorcinol were also found to yield 

 the same products with the two chlorides. 

 When treated with aniline the high-melting 

 chloride yields only the fusible anilide, while 

 the low-melting one yields both the fusible and 

 and infusible anilides. When these anilides 

 are treated with phosphorus oxychloride they 

 both yield orthosulphobenzodianil, from which 

 the infusible anilide can be regenerated by boil- 



ing with glacial acetic acid, and the anil of ortho- 

 sulphobenzoic acid by treatment with concen- 

 trated hydrochloric acid. The evidence shows 

 that the infusible anilide is derived from the 

 unsymmetrical chloride by the replacement of 

 the two chlorine atoms by the aniline residues. 

 When the high -melting chloride is treated with 

 ammonia the product is the ammonium salt 

 of benzoic sulphinide, while the low-melting 

 one forms ammonium orthocyanbenzenesul- 

 phonate. From all the data available it seems 

 to be hardly possible to explain the formation 

 of the latter compound, except from the 

 unsymmetrical chloride. The first action prob- 

 ably leads to the formation of an imide which 

 by an intramolecular change passes over to 

 orthocyanbenzenesulphonic acid. The product 

 formed by the action of benzene and aluminium 

 chloride was the same from both chlorides. 



On the Non-existence of two Orthophthalic Acids : 

 By H. L. Wheeler. An article was published, 

 in the May number of this Journal, by W. T. 

 H. Howe, on the existence of two orthophthalic 

 acids. The work has been repeated by H. L. 

 Wheeler, who found it impossible to prepare 

 the new acid described by Howe. He says the 

 experimental work is absolutely incorrect, and 

 that only the ordinary orthophthalic acid was 

 obtained, although the experiments of Howe's 

 were carefully repeated a number of times. 



A Pure Carbide of Iron : By E. D. Campbell. 

 The author has succeeded in obtaining a pure 

 carbide of iron of the formula CFCg by carefully 

 annealing steel bars and then suspending them 

 in an acid solution and passing a current through 

 the solution. The steel-gray powder formed 

 on the surface was removed each day with an 

 aluminium brush, and washed and analyzed. 

 When treated with hot concentrated hydro- 

 chloric acid the substance was dissolved, form- 

 ing the chloride of iron and hydrocarbons. 

 The latter consisted both of paraffines and ole- 

 fines; but their exact composition was not de- 

 termined. 



The Alkali Trihalides : By C. H. Herty and 

 H. V. Black. The authors have tested the 

 rubidium trihalides to determine whether they 

 are isomorphous mixtures or true chemical 

 compounds. Repeated crystallizations failed to 

 produce any change in the composition of the 



