476 Scientific Intelligence. 



formed. Assuming the average composition of the gasoline to 

 be that of pentane, C 6 H 19 , the results calculated from the carbon 

 dioxide agreed well with the liquid air method. — Jour. Indust. 

 and Eng. Chem., vii, 112. h. l. w. 



3. The Transmutation of the Chemical Elements. — In recent 

 years the ancient idea that the transformation of the elements is a 

 difficult but not impossible problem is gaining many adherents. 

 Ramsay says that it appears to him that only slight imagination 

 is needed in order to expect that while certain elements transform 

 themselves spontaneously (exothermically), giving off helium, 

 others only need external energy to give the same result. J. J. 

 Thomson considers it possible that the gases helium and hydro- 

 gen (H 3 ) which are evolved from many substances by bombard- 

 ment with cathode rays may result from a disintegration of the 

 atoms. Fajans is convinced that the transformations of the 

 elements form the basis of the periodic system. He indicates 

 that thallium could be produced from bismuth by an a-ray trans- 

 formation, and considers it not unbelievable that gold could be 

 obtained from lead or mercury, as was supposed to be possible in 

 the 17th century. W. P. Jorissen and J. A. Vollgraff pro- 

 pose to study this matter by subjecting several substances to the 

 action of powerful cathode rays, and also to repeat the trans- 

 formation experiments of Ramsay by means of radium emana- 

 tion. As the first part of their work they have subjected 

 uranium oxide to the action of cathode rays and have found that 

 this treatment imparts to the uranium no additional activity, 

 although such an effect has been supposed to occur by several 

 investigators. — Zeitschr. physikal. Chem., lxxxix, 151. h. l. w. 



4. The Chemistry of Cyanogen Compounds ; by Herbert E. 

 Williams. 12mo, pp. 423. Philadelphia, 1915 (P. Blakiston's 

 Son & Co.). — This book, which is of English origin, gives an 

 excellent and up-to-date treatment of the subject. The author 

 was led to undertake the preparation of the work on account of 

 the unsatisfactory and often misleading information given in the 

 existing chemical dictionaries. He himself has prepared and 

 examined many hundreds of cyanogen compounds, particularly 

 the metallic salts, and some of his results appear for the first 

 time in this book. The work is divided into three parts, the first 

 of which gives a description of a multitude of compounds. The 

 second part deals with the manufacture and application of cyano- 

 gen compounds. The last part is an excellent treatise on the 

 analytical problems connected with these substances. h. l. w. 



5. Die Chemie der hydraulischen JBindmittel ; von H. Kuhl 

 und W. Knothe. 8vo, pp. 347. Leipzig, 1915 (Verlag von S. 

 Hirzel). — This book deals with hydraulic cements from a scientific 

 point of view and it gives a very full and able discussion of the 

 subject. It will be valuable to all readers of German who are 

 interested in the theoretical side of this great industry, and it 

 may be observed that the scientific aspects of the subject are of 

 great practical importance. h. l. w. 



