1008 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIV. No. 365. 



searches of the authors while in Professor Sir 

 William Eoberts- Austen's laboratory. 



Begular Meeting^ November 8. C. W, Vol- 

 ney, ' The Decomposition of Sodium Nitrate by 

 Sulphuric Acid,' in which he showed that the 

 reactions were much more complicated than has 

 been generally supposed. Martin L. Griffin, 

 of Mechanicsville, N. Y. , ' The proximate anal- 

 ysis of the spent alkali liquor from the reduc- 

 tion of poplar wood for paper stock by the soda 

 process, with a description of the method.' Mr. 

 Griffin said that these liquors contain nearly 10 

 per cent, of acetic acid. The possible recovery of 

 this great quantity of acid offers an interesting 

 problem for chemists. Phoebus A. Levene's 

 ' Preliminary Communication upon Gluco- 

 Phosphoric Acid ' was read by the secretary. 

 William Campbell, of London, gave an illus- 

 trated talk upon his studies of the constitu- 

 tion of ' The Alloys of Copper and Tin.' Daniel 

 D. Jackson, ' The PhotometricJDetermination 

 of Sulphates,' with exhibition of the appara- 

 tus. John A. Mathews, continuing his talk 

 upon the constitution of alloys begun at the 

 meeting of November 1, spoke upon ' Al- 

 loys and the Phase Rule.' This paper was il- 

 lustrated with lantern diagrams and showed 

 how the phase rule may be of use in explaining 

 problems of equilibrium in such complex sub- 

 stances as alloys. 



Begular Meeting, December 6. W. H. Birch- 

 more presented an introductory paper, ' Notes 

 and Studies on Molds and their Allies,' ac- 

 companied by an exhibit of many specimens. 

 Professor Edgar F. Smith spoke on ' The Value 

 of Electrolytic Methods in Chemical Analysis,' 

 urging upon chemists their use or at least a fair 

 trial of them. He contrasted the advantages 

 of the electrolytic methods with the usual gravi- 

 metric methods. Professor Smith stated that 

 twenty-five of the seventy elements could be con- 

 veniently determined in this way, and that more 

 than one hundred and fifty separations were pos- 

 sible. Particular mention was made of the elec- 

 trolytic determination of copper, mercury, bis- 

 muth, cadmium, molybdenum and uranium. 

 He also mentioned a rapid electrolytic method 

 for the oxidation of sulphur in natural sulphide 

 minerals, by means of a current of ten or fif- 

 teen volts and one ampere. The sulphide is 



mixed with fused caustic potash in a nickel 

 crucible which is made one of the electrodes, 

 and a stout rod dipping into the fused caustic 

 alkali is the other electrode. Fifteen minutes 

 serves to oxidize completely the sulphur in 

 pyrites, and most other natural sulphides re- 

 quire less time. Professor Wilder Bancroft 

 read a paper upon ' Analytical Chemistry and 

 the Phase Rule Classification.' Dr. Francis G. 

 Benedict, in a paper upon ' Some Aspects of 

 Ventilation,' gave experimental evidence to 

 show that the high temperature and excessive 

 humidity of expired air is a more potent factor 

 in producing discomfort among those who have 

 to breath it, as, for example, the inmates of a 

 crowded and ill ventilated room or hall, than 

 is the presence of a high percentage of carbonic 

 acid. The experiments were made with human 

 subjects in Professor Atwater's laboratory, and 

 the results are interesting in that they are very 

 much opposed to general ideas upon this sub- 

 ject and to the results which have been pub- 

 lished by previous experimenters as well. 

 John Alexander Mathews, 



Secretary. 



THE NORTHEASTERN SECTION. 



At the last regular meeting of the Section 

 held on November 19, 1901, the following 

 officers were elected for the year 1901-1902 : 

 President, L. P. Kinnicutt ; Vice-President, 

 Charles R. Sanger ; Treasurer, B. F. Daven- 

 port ; Secretary, Henry Fay. 



Professor A. A. Noyes addressed the Society 

 on the * Importance of Catalytic Agents in 

 Chemical Processes.' The lecture was illus- 

 trated by numerous experiments, and was dis- 

 cussed under the following headings : (1) Cata- 

 lytic Action in which the Catalyser Combines 

 Temporarily with one of the Reacting Sub- 

 stances. (2) Catalytic Action by Absorbent Con- 

 tact Agents. (3) Catalysis by Electrolytic 

 Agents. (4) Water as a Catalyser. (5) Cata- 

 lytic Action of Acids, Bases and Salts. (6) 

 Catalysis by Enzymes. (7) Colloids. 



At the next regular meeting to be held De- 

 cember 17, Professor C. F. Chandler will ad- 

 dress the Section on * Electro-Chemical Indus- 

 tries at Niagara Falls.' Henry Fay, 



Secretary. 



