Jtilt 8, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



43 



of acids of different strengths. The addi- 

 tive power of methyl butyl ketone is greater 

 than that of acetaldehyde ; of substituted 

 aeetoaeetic ester, less than that of the ester. 

 The Carbon from Acetylene, the Fourth 



Allotropic Form of Carbon. William 



G. MiXTEE. (By title.) 

 Some Experiments on the Fuel Value of 



Coal Ashes. Henry Fay. (By title.) 

 Bleaching of Flour. Edwakd Gudeman. 



(By title.) 

 The Action of Water and Salt Solutions 



upon Certain Slightly Soluble Phos- 

 phates: F. K. Cameron and L. A. Hurst. 



The hydrolysis was shown to be relatively 

 great, and to depend upon the proportion 

 of solid in contact with the solution. The 

 effect of alkalies and acids was to increase 

 the amount of phosphoric acid dissolved 

 from iron or aluminum phosphate, but the 

 effect of neutral salts could not be pred- 

 icated. 

 The Action of Water and Some Solutions 



on the Phosphates of Calcmm: J. K. 



Cameron and Atherton Seidell. 



Owing to the similarity between results 

 obtained with iron and aluminum phos- 

 phates on one hand and tricaleium phos- 

 phate on the other, it was deemed advisable 

 to study also mono- and dicalcium phos- 

 phates, which can be obtained as definite 

 and Avell characterized solids. Mono- 

 calcium and tricaleium phosphates are 

 greatly decomposed by water, while dical- 

 cium phosphate is but slightly decomposed 

 and is the stable form under ordinary con- 

 ditions. 

 The Solubility of Calcium Sulphate in 



Solutions of Nitrates: Atherton Seidell 



and J. G. Smith. 



Experiments were made with the nitrates 

 of magnesium, calcium, sodium and potas- 

 sium, the character of the phenomena dif- 

 fering in each case. 

 The Disinfection of Public Water Supplies: 



George A. Soper. (By title.) 



Relation of Chemical Disinfectants to 



Hygiene and Sanitation: "Wm. Dreyfus. 



(By title.) 

 The Determination of Ammonia in Milk: 



H. C. Sherman and W. N. Berg. 



The method described is an adaptation 

 of the Boussingault vacuum distillation as- 

 modified by Shaffer for the determination 

 of ammonia in urine. The results ob- 

 tained in the examination of fresh milk are 

 believed to be accurate within a variation 

 of d= 0.0003 per cent, and furnish a very 

 delicate means of following certain types 

 of fermentation. The method is being 

 employed in a study of the amounts and 

 significance of ammonia in cows' milk. 

 The Variations in Standard among Ventzke 



Saccharimeters: Harris E. Sav^^yek. 



Examination of sixteen quartz-wedge 

 saccharimeters,— fourteen being Schmidt 

 and Haensch instruments,— has shown that 

 there seem to be two standards of adjust- 

 ment among polariseopes of this class. 



Five instruments were found which evi- 

 dently are intended to read 100°, on a 200 

 mm. column of sucrose solution, prepared 

 and polarized at 17^° C. and containing 

 26.048 grams of sugar in '100 Mohr c.e. 

 The other eleven instruments were as 

 obviously graduated to read 100° on a 

 solution of the same normal weight, at the 

 same temperature, in 100 true c.e. 



The comparison of these instruments was 

 made by the use both of quartz plates and 

 of standard solutions of sugar. 

 The Colorimetric Estimation of Magne- 

 sium: Oswald Schreiner and W. S. 



Ferris. 



Magnesium precipitated with KgHPO^, 

 then washed with three per cent, ammonia 

 solution, dissolved in aqueous nitric acid 

 and treated with ammonium molybdate, 

 gives a color suitable for comparison 

 against standard solutions prepared from 

 sodium phosphate. Results were given 



