Chemistry and Physics. 73 



SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE 

 I Chemistry and Physics. 



1. A New Process for the Industrial Production of Barium 

 Hydroxide for the Treatment of Molasses in Sugar Refining. — 

 Since the discovery of the sparingly soluble barium sucrate by 

 Peligot in 1838 many attempts have been made to extract the 

 cane sugar from molasses by the precipitation of this compound, 

 but up to the present time the cost of converting the barium car- 

 bonate produced in the process into the hydroxide has been too 

 great to render the operation remunerative, although it is stated 

 that in the French beet-sugar industry about 15% of the sugar 

 fails to crystallize directly. Deguide and Bode have now found 

 a promising method for carrying out this process. They ignite 

 the barium carbonate with an addition of silica in the proper pro- 

 portion to yield 3BaO.Si0 2 . This mixture does not fuse at the 

 temperature of about 1300° C. necessary for the transformation, 

 and when the product is treated with water a very large propor- 

 tion of the barium goes into solution as barium hydroxide. The 

 process has been tried on a rather large scale, but has not yet been 

 put into commercial operation. The authors state that the 

 mother-liquors from the filter-presses containing barium sucrate 

 allow the recovery of nitrogen and potassium taken from the soil, 

 representing 1% and 6%, respectively, of the molasses employed. 

 Comptes Rendus, 174, 1177. h. l. w. 



2. An Advanced Course of Instruction in Chemical Princi- 

 ples; by Arthur A. Noyes and Miles S. Sherrill. 8vo, pp. 

 310. New York, 1922 (The Macmillan Company).— This is a 

 very notable and unusual textbook of advanced physical chemis- 

 try. Instead of presenting the subject in the usual descriptive 

 manner, the course is so planned as to give an intensive training 

 in the application of the principles of the science to concrete 

 problems. The text is interspersed with numerous problems, 

 which generally require clear, logical thinking and a thorough 

 understanding of the principles for their solution. These prob- 

 lems are the important feature in the course of instruction. 



The subjects treated in the course have been selected on 

 account of their fundamental and practical importance to chem- 

 ists. For certain reasons, chiefly to avoid making the course of 

 study too long, some topics such as radiation, atomic structure, 

 colloidal solutions, etc., have not been included. The course of 

 study laid out is evidently not an easy one for the student, but 

 it should be of much value in developing his reasoning-power as 

 well as in equipping him for a career in educational, research, or 

 industrial chemistry in which the principles of physical chem- 

 istry may be applied. It is the opinion of the authors that 120- 



