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SCIENCE- G OSSIP. 



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CHEMISTRY 



VOTED 



M. BEAD. E 3 



The Society op Chemical Industry. — The 

 recent annual meeting of the Society of Chemical 

 Industry was more than usually interesting, in 

 that, for the first time in its history, the members 

 were addressed by a President from the United 

 States. In the selection of Professor Chandler of 

 Xew York the unity of men of science throughout 

 the world is again exemplified, and the Society 

 has not only done honour to itself, but has given 

 to English members the opportunity of meeting 

 one who is amongst the leaders of chemical 

 thought across the Atlantic. The subject of Pro- 

 fessor Chandler's address was the development and 

 present position of Chemistry in the United States, 

 from both its scientific and technical aspects. I: 

 would be un f ai r to attempt to give an abridgment 

 of an address, the salient points of which will long 

 remain in the memory of those who were so 

 fortunate as to hear it. One of the most striking 

 contrasts to which allusion was made was that 

 while, when Professor Chandler commenced the 

 study of chemistry, there were only four schools of 

 science in the United States, to-day they are so 

 numerous he could not give the precise number. 

 The Society finished its annual meeting with a trip 

 to Paris, one of the most interesting features of 

 the excursion being a visit to the factory of the 

 Societe Anonyme Anglo-Fran cais Parfums Parfait 

 " . urbevoie, where the members saw the applica- 

 tion of ozone in the synthetic preparation of such 

 perfumes as vanillin, heliotropin, coumarin. and 

 other scents. 



Glass Pavxvg Blocks. — During recent years 

 an industry of considerable importance has sprung 

 Tip in France in the manufacture of paving blocks, 

 imitation granite, etc.. from waste glass. Beaumur 

 pointed out in 1*27 that when fragments of glass 

 are softened by heat and then compressed into a 

 mass the glass undergoes considerable change in 

 its physical properties, becoming devitrified and 

 opaque, also showing a marked increase in hard- 

 ness and capacity for resisting shock or crushing. 

 After seventy years Reaumur's discoveries are being 

 utilised, and two factories in France are now 

 engaged in making this new material. It has 

 already been tried for paving at Nice, and is said 

 "to give satisfactory results. The applications of 

 such a substance are so varied that we may, before 

 long, see a huge development of the industry. 



F< htxdatk :•>-■?." — We are extremely 

 glad to notice the appearance of a second edition 

 of Ostwald's " Foundations of Analytical Chemistry." 

 I: is only a few years since the first edition was 

 published, and we may take the present edition as 

 an earnest of the fact that the scientific treatment 

 of analytical chemistry is being more and more 

 recognised. A striking feature of present-day ana- 

 lysis — we refer to that carried out by the ordinary 

 student — is the slipshod and often slovenly manner 



in which the work is done, and salts -spotted. 

 There is, no doubt, a tendenc If -trained 



mind to endeavour to escape the stern morals 

 which the true spirit of scientific work exacts : anv 

 ra&r - ssing this backward tenden? 



to be heartily welcomed. Ostwald's - Foundat: 

 certainly does not appeal direct to the students 

 fresh to chemistry, but. none the less, its indirect 

 effect through the medium of a teacher is bound 

 to make itself evident. Though we do not consider 

 the ionic hypothesis as the be-all and end-all of 

 chemistry, we cannot but draw attention to the 

 vast fields opened this new treatment of 



analytical chemistry. The book is delightful read- 

 ing, the equations involved in the theoretical part 

 are extremely simple, and the treatment of what 

 we may call the " practical "" part is very thorough. 

 The last chapter of the book is one of the most 

 interesting. In it Ostwald draws attention to the 

 great discrepancy which holds in the stating of 

 analyses of inorga ni c compounds, as compared with 

 organic ones ; while, in the latter case, the analyses 

 are given in absolute percentages of the elements 

 present : in the former the analyst endeavours to 

 group his elements into proximate constituents, in 

 accordance with the old dualistic hypothesis of 

 Berzelius. 



Examination of Flesh Foods. — "Fl sfa 

 Foods." their chemical, microscopical, and bacter- 

 iological examination, by C. Ains worth Mitchell. 

 B.A., F.C.S. (336 p a ,g e ' s -^th illustrations and 

 frontispiece. London : Charles Griffin & Co. 

 Limited. 10s. Gd. >. has been recently published. 

 In the preface to this work the author states that 

 •• it has been his endeavour to collect and sum- 

 rds : investigation scattered through- 

 out English and foreign scientific books and 

 periodicals," and the present work is evidence how 

 well he has succeeded in his task. It is a veritable 

 dictionary, and a work which those who are 

 engaged on the subject will heartily welcome. 

 N : t the least pleasant feature is the enormous 

 number of referen:-- te ::ginal papers. The 

 arrangement of the subject matter and the printing 

 :-.7t " ":;. -"-n: -~>r.~. 



Liquid Feel. — In consequence of the high price 

 of coal, the French Society of Civil Engineers have 

 been again discussing the calorific values of various 

 petroleums. They publish the following table of 

 proportions of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen in 

 various hydrocarbons, the calories being per kg : 





C 



H 







Calorific 

 power 



Light petroleum oil — \ 

 American .. .. | 



- - 1 



13-107 



— 



10,913 



Refined 



85-491 



14-216 



0-293 



11.047 



Petrolenm spin: 



- r -- 



1-5-101 



4-316 



11,086 



Crude petroleum 



• V. 



! -- 



3-090 



11,094 



Lielit oil from Baku 



'■:■'. 



:;■ ~ 



— 



10.843 



Petroleum irom the Cau-1 

 casus . . . . 1 



-— ■ 



11-636 



- 



". . -- 



Ozokerite from Eorrslaw . . 



• . r : 



14-440 





11.163 



Recent investigations show the necessity for ex- 

 ceeding care in their conduct. To obtain the 

 theoretical calorific power and the highest tem- 

 perature of combustion, the supply of air furnishing 

 the precise amount of oxygen is a necessity, as is. 

 also, the most intimate possible contact between 

 the atmosphere and the fuel. 



