January 20, 1905.] 



SCIENCE. 



109 



Some Notes on the Determination of Crude 

 Fiber. J. M. Pickel, Department of Agri- 

 culture, Ealeigh, N. C. 



A Method for the Extraction of Salicylic and 

 Benzoic Acids and Saccharine in Food 

 Products. W. M. Allen, Department of 

 Agriculture, Kaleigh, N. C. 



On Biot's Formula for Vapor Pressure. J. E. 

 Mills, University of North Carolina, 

 Chapel Hill, N. C. 



It was shown that Biot's formula for the 

 vapor pressure of a liquid, 



log P = A + bd* + vB', 



does not exactly represent the true vapor pres- 

 sui'e of a liquid in the immediate neighborhood 

 of the critical temperature. The article is 

 not suitable for abstraction and will shortly 

 be published in full. 



Note on the Law of Dulong and Petit. J. E. 

 Mills. University of North Carolina, 

 Chapel Hill, K C. 



Collected data for the specific heats of the 

 metals were exhibited in the form of curves. 

 The results show that the law of Dulong and 

 Petit in its present form has but slight basis 

 in fact. 



On the Chemical Combination of Hydrogen 

 and Oxygen u^hen Subjected to the Action 

 of Radium Radiations. Charles W. Ed- 

 wards, Trinity College, Durham, N. C. 

 I desire to announce to the North Carolina 

 Section of the American Chemical Society the 

 discovery of the synthetic action of radium 

 radiations in its chemical effects. Numerous 

 eti'ects have been observed and published 

 wherein compounds have been decomposed into 

 eleaients or transformed into simpler com- 

 pounds. For instance, radium bromide dis- 

 solved in water produces H and O, it produces 

 ozone in the air, and helium is produced by 

 the radium emanation. 



Certain investigations of a negative result 

 carried out last year in England concerning 

 the eflFect of ionization by ultra-violet light 

 on gaseous mixtures led mc to attempt the 

 same ]n-oMem, using radium as the ioniz'ng 

 agent. This 1 was able to do, thanks to the 

 kin.hiess of Dr. Bergen Davis and Dr. C. B. 



Pegrnm, of Columbia University, and of the 

 department of physics in various ways, espe- 

 cially in the loan of five milligrams of pure 

 radium bromide worth at present about $350. 



The amount of chemical combination was 

 measured by the change in volume of the gas 

 exposed to the radiations. The saturation 

 current was measured by the electrometer 

 method and the following data are based on 

 those measurements. I am now taking the 

 current by a ballistic method and measuring 

 volumes more accurately, so will soon have 

 more accurate results. I will reserve the de- 

 tails for a later paper, but will state now a few 

 results. 



The quantity of gas converted to water was 

 18 X c.c. per second. In one cubic centi- 

 meter there are 4 X 10" molecules, hence the 

 number of molecules of gas that disappeared 



was 



ii = 4X10'9X18X10-' = 7.2X 10' per sec. 



three molecules of the mixed gases. If M — 

 number of molecules of water formed per 

 second 



if = f X 7.2 X 10'^ = 4.8 X 10". 



If N — number of physical ions produced, then 

 in this case N = 7.32 X 10°. 

 Hence 



M 4.8 XIO''^ 

 ^=7.32X10='=^-^°°- 



From this it appears that 6,500 molecules of 

 water were formed for each ion produced by 

 the radium radiati-ons — a result far in excess 

 of expectations or theoretical predictions. 



After the program the visiting chemists 

 were the guests of the resident chemists at a 

 table d'hote dinner at Giersch's cafe. 



C. D. Harris, 



Secretary. 



SCIENX'E CLLB OF THE UNIVERSITY OF 

 MISSISSIPPL 



TnK first meeting of the Science Club of 

 the Univoi"sity of Mississippi for the current 

 session was held September 30, Professor 

 J. W. Johnson presenting a paper on ' The 

 Teaching of Physics.' 



At the October meeting Professor R. W. 



