68 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIV. No. 341. 



title), Frederic W. Simonds, Ph.D., professor 

 of geology in the University of Texas, 



'Notes on the Yellow Oxide of Mercury,' 

 E. P. Schoch, M.A., and O. W. Wilcox, school 

 of chemistry, University of Texas. 



Professor Sutton's paper was a thoughtful 

 exposition of the subject — ' Contributions of the 

 Nineteenth Century to Education' — though 

 necessarily brief. The closing paragraph, in the 

 form of a summary, was as follows: "In con- 

 clusion, let us consider for a moment the ques- 

 tion, AVhat is the significance of all these contri- 

 butions which the last one hundred years have 

 made to education ? Upon what principle can 

 be explained the accomplishment of a task so 

 stupendous as to involve, first, the most radical 

 changes with respect to the aim in education ; 

 second, the vast expansion of the culture-mate- 

 rial to accomplish this aim ; third, the discovery 

 of scientific method in instruction ; fourth, the 

 provision for the professional training of teach- 

 ers ; fifth, the organization and partial develop- 

 ment of gigantic systems of public instruction 

 at public expense ; sixth, the increase of num- 

 ber of the learned professions by recognizing 

 the dignity of applied sciences ; and lastly, the 

 extension of the privileges of education to the 

 child in the kindergarten, and to the parent in 

 the home ? There can be but one answer to 

 this question — it is the spii-it of real humanism, 

 which is the distinctive characteristic of the 

 nineteenth century, a spirit which through the 

 reign of reason seeks to bring all men to a 

 knowledge of the truth, and which has for its 

 ultimate purpose the complete physical and 

 spiritual enfranchisement of the human race." 



Mr. Thompson in discussing ' The Texas 

 Eailway Stock and Bond Law, ' called attention 

 to the fact that Texas is the only State in which 

 the issuance of railway stocks and bonds is 

 controlled by the government, and also that it 

 is the only one which has prescribed an absolute 

 basis for the valuation of railway properties. 



The Stock and Bond Law declares that the 

 issuance and execution of all railway securities 

 are 'special privileges' subject to the absolute 

 control of the State ; and that no indebtedness 

 shall be authorized beyond the ' reasonable 

 value of property ' to be fixed by the Railroad 

 Commission in accordance with actual cost. 



Railways existing at the time of passage of the 

 law were valued at the estimated cost of repro- 

 duction. 



The causes that led up to the enactment of 

 the law were discussed, and it was shown that 

 the contention by investors in railway stocks and 

 bonds, that they should be entitled to charge 

 freight and passenger rates sufficient to earn a 

 fair rate of interest on their holdings, and the 

 support of the Courts in the matter, led the 

 State to limit the issuance of such securities, 

 and to absolutely prohibit the current practice 

 of ' watering' stocks and bonds. 



It was shown from the reports of the Rail- 

 road Commission that the average amount of 

 stocks and bonds outstanding against the rail- 

 ways of Texas, under the eflect of this and 

 other laws, had been reduced from $43,961 per 

 mile in 1894 to $36,926 per mile in 1900. As 

 the Stock and Bond Law continues in effect 

 this will be further reduced, thus permitting a 

 larger per cent, of the net earnings to be used 

 in the upbuilding of the roads and guaranteeing 

 safer investments to the purchasers of railway 

 securities. Notwithstanding the restrictions of 

 the law, railway building in Texas is progress- 

 ing at a rapid rate — building for purely specu- 

 lative purposes is checked and legitimate con- 

 struction promoted. In 1901 it is thought that 

 Texas will easily lead the States of the Union 

 in miles of new railway. 



The following notes on the red oxide of mer- 

 cury were presented by Messrs. Schoch and 

 Wilcox : 



" The yellow oxide of mercury has been care- 

 fully examined in the laboratory of the school 

 of chemistry of the University of Texas, with a 

 view to clearing up disputed points. By heat- 

 ing up to 200°C. and weighing the water 

 evolved only 0.6^ was obtained, which invali- 

 dates the statements of Walker and Schaffner 

 that the substance is mercuric hydroxide — a 

 statement made on the basis of results obtained 

 by heating the substance in the open air and 

 reporting the loss as water, and corroborates 

 the work of Siewert. The substance is dis- 

 tinctly crystalline ; its specific gravity is 10.6 

 as determined by Mr. J. M. Kiihne, while that, 

 of the red oxide is 11." 



Upon the report of Messrs. A. M. Ferguson 



