300 



BACON. 



of that author's original paper shows him to have been aware of the fact that 

 such an induction time only represented the period necessary for the liquid to 

 become saturated with mercurous chloride. I tested this, using the titration 

 method as follows: 



December 15, 1909. Manila. Bright sun during the greater part of the 

 experiment. Each flask contained 10 cubic centimeters of Eder's solution. The 

 decomposition is represented in terms of cubic centimeters of permanganate, 

 containing approximately 0.6 gram per liter. 



Number. 



Time (a.m.). 



Decom- 

 position. 



1_ 



10.C0-10.10 

 10.00-10.20 

 10.10-10.20 

 10.00-10.30 

 10.20-10.30 

 10.00-10.40 

 10.30-10.40 

 10.00-10.50 

 10.40-10.50 

 10.00-11.00 

 10.50-11.00 



2.0 

 4.0 

 2.0 

 5.0 

 2.0 

 7.0 

 2.0 

 9.0 

 2.0 

 10.0 

 2.0 



■> 





3 . 



8 



4 . 



9 _ _ 



5 



10 _ 



6 _ 



11 .. 





There is absolutely no indication of an induction period. In every 

 case the speed during the first ten minutes was as great as during any 

 of the same periods at a later time. Furthermore, the sum of the 

 controls 1, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 being greater than No. 6, shows that such 

 a period does not exist, but that the reaction actually becomes slower 

 with time, as Eder has already pointed out. 



A similar series made with a solution of 5 cubic centimeters 1 per 

 cent oxalic acid and 5 of 1 per cent uranyl acetate, demonstrated that 

 the reaction with this salt also shows no period of induction and for 

 short periods there is no retardation. The sum of the controls was equal, 

 within the limits of experimental error, to No. 6. Many tests have also 

 indicated that there is no hydrogen peroxide formed during the decom- 

 position of oxalic acid by sunlight in the presence of uranium salts. 



A few comparative measurements of the action of sunlight on the 

 oxalic acid-uranium acetate mixture were made in Manila and in Chicago. 

 These indicated, as is shown below, that the sunlight is much more 

 active, so far as this one reaction is concerned, here than it is in Chicago. 



Many places in the United States actually have a larger proportion of 

 sunlight during the year than the Philippines can show, owing to the 

 large proportion of cloudy days in this Archipelago. Thus, the United 

 States Weather Bureau gives the percentage of sunshine for the follow- 

 ing cities: for New York 56, Pittsburg 44, Atlanta 61, Chicago 

 57, Indianapolis 54, Cleveland 45, Cincinnati 38, Santa _Fe 76, Salt 

 Lake City 62, Los Angeles 73, San Francisco 63, Denver 69, as compared 

 with 51 per cent for Manila. The larger proportion of sunshine for 



