AEo'ctober,^9oa7'm"}      American  Pharmaceutical  Association.  495 
The  Importance  of  a  True  Conception  and  Expression  of  Atomic 
Combining  Values. 
By  Oscar  Oldberg. 
The  author  spoke  of  the  importance  of  recognizing  the  intimate 
relations  of  electricity  and  chemistry,  and  summarized  his  deductions 
as  follows :  Atomic  combining  values  are  not  fully  represented  by 
valence.  The  use  of  algebraic  expressions  of  combining  value  aids 
greatly  in  understanding  chemical  changes.  Positive  and  nega- 
tive elements  can  be  identified  according  to  their  relative  positions 
in  the  periodic  system  of  classification.  The  combining  values  of 
negative  elements  are  constant.  A  new  periodic  table  is  presented 
which  masses  the  typical  elements  about  the  newly  discovered 
gaseous  elements  of  the  atmosphere,  which  occupy  the  center  of  the 
table,  with  the  negative  elements  to  the  left  and  the  most  pro- 
nouncedly positive  elements  to  the  right. 
The  paper  was  discussed  by  Messrs.  Puckner,  Asher,  Sadtler, 
Coblentz  and  Charles  E.  Caspari,  one  of  the  questions  which  arose 
being  the  relative  importance  of  teaching  theoretical  and  practical 
chemistry  in  colleges  of  pharmacy. 
Some  Notes  on  the  Classification  of  the  Principal  Inorganic 
Compounds. 
By  Oscar  Oldberg. 
The  author  considered  the  modern  definitions  of  acids,  bases  and 
salts  based  on  the  theory  of  ionization,  objecting  to  the  classifica- 
tion of  the  halides  and  sulphides  of  metals  as  "  salts,"  and  the 
corresponding  hydrogen  compounds  as  "  acids,"  because  this  classi- 
fication ignores  structure.  He  said  the  properties,  including  those 
dependent  upon  ionization  and  hydrolysis,  should  receive  due  con- 
sideration, but  not  at  the  expense  of  structural  analogy.  A  too 
general  classification  is  less  valuable  than  one  which  differentiates 
between  compounds  of  decidedly  different  structure,  without  ignoring 
similarities  of  general  behavior. 
Poison  Sumac  (Rhus  Venenata). 
By  A.  B.  Stevens  and  L.  E.  Warren. 
This  valuable  contribution  will  appear  in  the  November  number 
of  this  Journal. 
