43 
Herting, Otto, regrets that the committee of revision did not include 
specific directions for determining the melting point of substances, 
as he considers this a factor of prime importance in determining the 
identity and the purity of chemical substances. — Deut.-Amer. Apoth. 
Ztg,. N. Y., v. 26, 1905, p. 72. 
Guttmann, Leo Frank, discusses the determination of melting 
points at low temperatures. — Chem. News, Lond., 1905, v. 92, p. 8. 
Hiittner and Tammann discuss the relation of the melting points 
of salts to the converting point from one crystalline form to another, 
coupled with some observations on the cooling curves. — Ztschr. f. 
anorgan. Chem., 1905, v. 43, pp. 215-227. 
Landsiedl, Anton, describes and figures an apparatus that is de- 
signed to facilitate the rapid and correct determination of the melt- 
ing point of organic substances. — Oesterr. Chem. Ztg., 1905, v. 8, 
p. 276. 
Siedler, P., in a discussion of the melting points of the German 
Pharmacopoeia, calls attention to the need for and the use of melting- 
point determinations, and describes the several methods that have 
been devised for making these determinations. Siedler prefers the 
apparatus devised by Gatterman. — Pharm. Post, Wien, 1905, v. 38, 
p. 568; also other pharmaceutical and chemical journals. 
Ubbelohde, Leo, discusses the need for determining the temperature 
at which solid fats and wax-like substances tend to form drops. The 
author has designed and figures an apparatus which is intended to 
facilitate the determination of this factor. — Ztschr. f. angew. Chem., 
1905, v. 18, pp. 1220-1225. 
11. THERMOMETRIC TABLES. 
Hinrichs, Carl G., criticises the thermometric tables as being un- 
reasonable and impractical. “ There is no use going beyond that 
which can be detected with certainty. Chemists are happy if they 
get the tenth of a degree with certainty.” — Am. J. Pharm., Phila., 
1905, v. 77, p. 512. 
12. POLARIZATION AND REFRACTION. 
Walden, P., reviews the literature relating to the development of 
our knowledge of optically active bodies, the nature and number of 
optically active bodies, the mathematical designations that are used, 
the variability of the rotatory power, the influence of temperature on 
the rotary powers, the influence of wave lengths of light, solvents, 
the influence of time, and finally some attempts to explain the varia- 
bility of the rotatory power. — Ber. d. deutsch. chem. Gesellsch., 1905, 
v. 38, pp. 345-409. 
Marckwald and Paul, in a preliminary publication, record some 
observations on the conversion of racemic bodies into the optically 
active varieties. — Ibid ., pp. 810-812. 
