Chemistry and Physios. 313 



The oldest Reptiles, the Proganosauria, had only the fora- 

 men entepicondyloidemn ; from those the Theromora and 

 Mammalia took their origin.* Some of the Proganosauria, 

 which we do not know yet, probably developed also the fora- 

 men ectepicondyloidenm ; such forms connected the Phyncho- 

 cephalia. Then the entepicondylar foramen was lost again 

 and later also the ectepicondylar foramen. 



New Haven, Conn., March 5th, 1889. 



SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE. 



I. Chemistry and Physics. 



1. On the Presence of a New Metal in Nickel and Cobalt. — 

 Keuss and Schmidt have discovered a new metal in both nickel 

 and cobalt. These chemists had undertaken to determine the 

 atomic mass of nickel and of cobalt, using for the purpose the 

 pure material prepared by Zimmermann, the method of Winkler 

 and the atomic mass of gold as corrected by Krilss, 196*64. When 

 the solution of sodium-gold chloride was treated with metallic 

 nickel or cobalt, the precipitated gold was found to be mixed 

 with a small quantity of one or the other of these metals thrown 

 down apparently by a secondary action. By dissolving the 

 weighed precipitate in aqua regia, precipitating the gold with 

 sulphur dioxide, subtracting its mass from that of the precipitate, 

 the excess of nickel or cobalt was ascertained and allowed for. 

 But still the method did not give concordant results. Finally it 

 was noticed that in washing the gold precipitate obtained by 

 sulphur dioxide from a solution of a previous precipitate thrown 

 down by cobalt, the red color of the filtrate, due to cobaltous 

 chloride, became gradually paler and finally acquired a pale 

 greenish color. This portion of the wash water was collected and 

 evaporated in a platinum dish, and left after ignition a slight resi- 

 due which dissolved in concentrated hydrogen chloride solution 

 on warming, with a beautiful green color, the color disappear- 

 ing on cooling. A similar result was obtained when nickel was 

 used to precipitate the gold. A chloride solution was obtained 

 on evaporating the wash-water and dissolving in hydrogen 

 chloride in which no nickel or other known element could be 

 detected. In order to obtain a larger quantity of the new sub- 

 stance, nickel sulphide was treated with ammonium sulphide so 

 long as the solution became brown. The new element became 

 concentrated in the residue. So an increase of the new chloride 

 in the mother liquors was obtained by crystallizing the 

 double chloride of mercury-nickel or mercury-cobalt from a 



* Baur, G. Ueber die Kanaele im Humerus der Amniotea. Morph. Jahrbuch, 

 vol. xii, 1886. pp. 299-305. On the Phylogenetic Arrangement of the Sauropsida. 

 Journ. of Morphology, vol. i, No. 1, Sept., 1887. 



