152 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XI. No. 265. 



there were elected at this meeting 18 active and 

 two corresponding members. A new board of 

 officers also were elected, for the term of three 

 years, including Professor C. S. Slichter, Uni- 

 versity of Wisconsin, President; Professors 

 Harriet B. Merrill, Milwaukee-Downer College, 

 C. H. Chandler, Ripon College, E. G. Smith, 

 Beloit College, Vice-Presidents ; Professor F. 

 C. Sharp, Secretary ; Professor L. Kahlenberg, 

 Librarian, both of the University of Wisconsin. 

 The library of the Academy will be installed 

 in the fine large building provided for the State 

 Historical Society after the dedication of the 

 building next May. 



A. S. Flint, Secretary. 

 Madison, Wis., Jan. 1, 1900. 



THE KANSAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 



The thirty-second annual meeting of the Kan- 

 sas Academy of Science was held at McPherson, 

 on December 28-29th. This Academy is a co- 

 ordinate branch of the State Board of Agricul- 

 ture, and as such has rooms in the State House, 

 and its Proceedings are printed by the State. 

 The following papers were read at the meeting : 



'On Apooynum oannabinum,' by L. E. Sayre. 



' The first great roof, ' by Charles H. Sternberg. 



' Geology of the Glass Mountains of "Western Okla- 

 homa, ' by Mark White. 



'Silica cement mortars,' by William Tweedale. 



' The home of the Kansas tiger beetle, ' by Warren 

 Knaus. 



' An apparatus for determining the relative heating 

 power of coal and gas,' by E. H. S. Bailey. 



' Some interesting pyrite crystals,' by J. C. Cooper. 



'The Leonid meteors of 1833 as observed by a 

 native Kansan,' by J. R. Mead. 



'An example of variation in the human cranium,' 

 by H. J. Harnly. 



'Additions to the published flora of Kansas,' by 

 A. S. Hitchcock. 



' The testing of paving bricks, ' by F. O. Marvin. 



'An historical list of Kansas mammals,' by D. 



E. Lantz. 



' Stratigraphy of Eastern Kansas, ' by G. I. Adams. 

 ' On some Diatomacfe of Silver Lake and vicinity,' 

 by George H. Curtis. 



' Analysis of a magnesium water near Madison, ' by 



F. W. Bushong. 



' Collecting notes from Southwest Kansas, ' by War- 

 ren Knaus. 



' Notes on a trip through Western Wyoming, ' by 

 J. E. Mead. 



' Comparison Of the fauna of the Permian of Eng- 

 land and America,' by J. W. Beede. 



' A geological section of Lyon and Chase counties, 

 along the Cottonwood River,' by Alva J. Smith. 



'Harmonic forms,' by B. B. Smyth. 



'Ecological areas in Florida flora, ' by A. S. Hitch- 

 cock. 



' Some mineral deposits in Central Missouri,' by S. 

 Z. Sharp. 



' The Corona of the sun,' by E. Miller. 



Address of the retiring president on ' A theory of 

 the cosmos,' by E. B. Knerr. 



E. H. S. B. 



WASHINGTON CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 



The regular meeting was held on December 

 14, 1899. 



The first paper of the evening was read by 

 Dr. Bigelow, and was entitled ' The Determina- 

 tion of Metals in Canned Goods,' by W. D. 

 Bigelow and L. S. Munson. 



After an examination of a number of the 

 methods most commonly employed, the auth- 

 ors gave preference to a modification of Allen's 

 method. 



The entire contents of the can are thoroughly 

 mixed, and 75 to 100 grams taken for analysis. 

 Often it is found preferable to dry the entire 

 sample, extract with petroleum ether, again 

 dry and grind, to obtain a permanent sample. 

 In this case only 25 grams are employed in the 

 determination of metals. 



In either case the sample taken is treated 

 with 4 cc. of strong sulfuric acid, 2 cc. of nitric 

 acid and 3 grams of magnesia. The whole is 

 heated on a water bath until it becomes pasty. 

 It is then ignited over a Bunsen burner or in a 

 muffle furnace, until thoroughly charred, ground 

 in a mortar, again ignited to complete combus- 

 tion, nitric acid being added from time to time 

 towards the close of the operation. The resi- 

 due is then boiled for a half hour in about 40 cc. 

 of 1-3 hydrochloric acid, almost neutralized 

 with sodium hydroxid, precipitated with hy- 

 drogen sulfid and filtered. The precipitate is 

 dried and thoroughly mixed with one gram 

 each of sodium carbonate, potassium carbonate 

 and sulfur, fused for one-half hour in a covered 

 porcelain crucible, digested in water and filtered. 

 The insoluble portion contains copper and lead. 

 It is dissolved in nitric acid, and divided into 



