December 27, 1901.] 



SCIENCE. 



1019 



long been known that ammonia is rapidly de- 

 composed into nitrogen and hydrogen by the 

 action of red-hot iron, but the effect upon the 

 iron has attracted less attention. The authors 

 find that whatever the metal used, it becomes 

 changed in its appearance and very brittle. 

 With some metals, as iron, the action is very 

 rapid, with others slower, but even gold and 

 platinum cannot resist this action of ammonia. 

 Under the microscope the metal gives evidence 

 of having been fused or semi-fused, and of 

 bubbles of gas having escaped through the 

 fused metal. The authors conclude that under 

 the influence of the ammonia a nitrid of the 

 metal has been formed, which is stable only 

 within narrow limits of temperature, and which 

 is fusible at the temperature of its formation. 

 At slightly higher temperatures than that of its 

 formation, it is decomposed into the metal and 

 the escaping nitrogen gives the peculiar ap- 

 pearance to the metal. Pure iron was found 

 to be rendered hard and brittle by the absorp- 

 tion of small quantities of nitrogen and a rod of 

 charcoal iron was made so hard that it could be 

 used as a drill. The thought naturally sug- 

 gests itself that the presence of nitrogen may 

 play some part in the manufacture of cement 

 steel. The results of this investigation make it 

 clear that there is no metal of which pipes can 

 be made for the conveyance of ammonia at 

 high temperatures, and that porcelain is the 

 only available material for this purpose. 



FITTICA'S LATEST TRANSMUTATION. 



Professor Fittica has been heard from 

 again, and this time he claims to convert boron 

 into silicon, or rather he considers boron to be an 

 oxid of silicon, contaminated perhaps with car- 

 bon. By heating boron in a silver dish with 

 sodium or potassium or their hydroxids, he ob- 

 tains a dark, oily mass, from which carbon can 

 be isolated by acidifying. The chief constitu- 

 ent of this mass, however, is silicic acid, as 

 shown by familiar tests. The alkali was proved 

 to be originally free from silicic acid, but no 

 evidence is presented that the boron used did 

 not contain silicon. Other methods for effect- 

 ing this conversion were successful, but all 

 seem to be open to the same criticism. 



J. L. H. 



CIRCULAR OF INFORMATION OF THE NA- 

 TIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS, NO. 1. 

 ANNOUNCEMENT OF ORGANIZATION. 



By an act of Congress approved March 3, 

 1901, the Oflaceof Standard Weights and Meas 

 ures of the Treasury Department was, on July 

 1, 1901, superseded by the National Bureau of 

 Standards, the functions of which are as fol- 

 lows : The custody of the standards ; the com- 

 parison of the standards used in scientific in- 

 vestigations, engineering, manufacturing, com- 

 merce, and educational institutions with the 

 standards adopted or recognized by the Govern- 

 ment ; the construction, when necessary, of 

 standards, their multiples and subdivisions ; 

 the testing and calibration of standard measur- 

 ing apparatus ; the solution of problems which 

 arise in connection with standards ; the deter- 

 mination of physical constants and the proper- 

 ties of materials, when such data are of great 

 importance to scientific or manufacturing in- 

 terests and are not to be obtained of sufficient 

 accuracy elsewhere. 



The Bureau is authorized to exercise its func- 

 tions for the Government of the United States, 

 for any State or municipal government in the 

 United States, or for any scientific society, edu- 

 cational institution, firm, corporation, orindivid- 

 ual within the United States engaged in manu- 

 facturing or other pursuit, requiring the use 

 of standards or standard measuring instru- 

 ments. 



For all comparisons, calibrations, tests, or 

 investigations, except those performed for the 

 Government of the United States or State 

 governments, a reasonable fee will be charged. 

 Provision is also made for the purchase of a 

 site and the erection of a suitable laboratory, 

 its equipment with the most improved facilities 

 and the personnel necessary for the organi- 

 zation of the Bureau. 



A suitable site has been selected in Washing- 

 ton in a locality free from mechanical and 

 electrical disturbances, and yet easy of access. 

 Plans are being prepared for a physical labora- 

 tory which will be equipped with apparatus- 

 and conveniences for carrying on investigations, 

 and for testing standards and measuring instru- 

 ments of all kinds. Also a somewhat similar 

 building, to be known as a mechanical labora- 



