Chemistry and Physics. 471 



duced by silver nitrate, and by another indirect method, it was 

 shown that the gas probably has the composition corresponding 

 to the formula GeH 4 , corresponding to Winkler's tetraethyl com- 

 pound Ge(C 2 H 6 ) 4 . — Zeitschr. anorg. Chem., xxx, 325. h. l. w. 



4. Compounds of Beryllium with Organic Acids. — Lacombe 

 has prepared a series of basic beryllium salts with a number of 

 fatty acids. The acetate has the formula (C 2 H 3 2 ) 6 Be 4 0, while 

 the formate, propionate, the normal and iosobutyrates and the 

 isovalerate have analogous compositions represented by the 

 formula A 6 Be 4 0. The remarkable property of these salts is their 

 volatility. The best means of purifying them is by distillation 

 under diminished pressure. The formate is insoluble in all sol- 

 vents, while the higher members become soluble, and may be 

 recrystallized readily. The author was unable to prepare the 

 normal salts of beryllium with these acids, such as (C 2 H 3 2 ) 2 Be, 

 while with strong mineral acids no salts of a type corresponding 

 to the organic salts could be made. — Comptes Mendus, cxxxiv, 

 7*72. h. l. w. 



5. The Use of Floats in Burettes. — An elaborate study of the 

 use of burette-floats has been made by Kreitling. It was found 

 that Erdmann's floats, as well as the so-called spherical floats, 

 give irregular results in comparison with those obtained without 

 the use of any float, and this was the case with different burettes 

 and with floats of varying calibre. The causes of the variations 

 could not be satisfactorily explained, but the conclusion was 

 reached that it is not advisable to use any float whatever in a 

 burette. — Zeitschr. angew. Chem., xv, 4. h. l. w. 



6. Beitragezur Ghemischen Physiologic und Pathologie, heraus- 

 gegeben von Fr. Hofmeister. II Band, 4 Heft. Braunschweig, 

 1902. (Fr. Vieweg und Sohn.) — In an experimental study of the 

 action of salt solutions isotonic with the blood, HAAKEand Spiro 

 have ascertained that even small quantities of such solutions 

 slowly introduced into the circulation call forth diuresis. Sodium 

 chloride solutions are peculiar in producing less marked effects. 

 E. Fuld has contributed a long paper on the reaction of rennin 

 with milk, with particular reference to the relation between clot- 

 ting-time and the quantity of enzyme present. The theory of 

 rennin action is also discussed. In a second paper Fuld presents 

 analyses of compounds of metaphosphoric acid with various pro- 

 teids. While some of these synthetic products are quite constant 

 in composition, they differ distinctly from the natural phosphorus- 

 containing proteids. Neuberg and Heymann report an investi- 

 gation of the nature of the carbohydrate groups in the so-called 

 pseudo-mucin of ovarial cysts, in which they have demonstrated 

 that chitosamin occurs. l. b. m. 



7. Velocity of Bight. — The Decennial Publications of the Uni- 

 versity of Chicago, 1902, contain a suggestion by Professor 

 Michelsox of a new method for determining the velocity of light. 

 The author reviews the previous results, contrasts the astronom- 

 ical methods, the electrical and the optical methods, and proposes 



