of the zircon by a most magnificent coloration, while the zircon itself is equally splendid. Words indeed are insufficient to describe the chromatic beauty of the polariscopic view. Curiously, there appears to be no strain to speak of in the vicinity of the crack through the garnet, as though the strain which once must have existed there and caused the crack had been relieved. Of course, one would expect more strain in general about a zircon inclusion than about a garnet one because of the somewhat greater coefficient of thermal expansion of the latter, especially along one of its crystal axes. This outstanding specimen illustrates very well the force of the two alternatives mooted above. For as internal strain still persists in spite of the present moderate temperature of the stone, it would appear that either the diamond must have crystallised at a surprisingly low cemperature or at some high one at which its coefficient of thermal expansion must have been relatively greater, compared with that of the zircon, than it is now. Arising out of the condition of the specimen in question an interesting point emerges Some broken diamonds, as we have said, show rounded holes in their cleavage faces, but others do not. Now we cannot conclude that those which do no show the holes were not broken by the expansion of a foreign mineral inclusion; for if the cracks bounding the zircon in our specimen were to spread outwards all round to the diamond faces, it looks as though, from their position, neither of the two outer fragments, of the three into which the diamond would break, would show signs of holes. Thus, even when a cleavage surface exhibits no imprint of a former mineral inclusion, it does not follow that the cleavage was not caused by an inclusion. It may be surmised, in passing, that the cracked yellow diamond spoken of in the last paragraph of Section II contained a mineral inclusion. (But diamonds suffering strain, and with visible internal cracks, though apparently containing no inclusion, are sometimes met with). The remarks in the present section apply in the main to more or less transparent diamond. Opaque diamond, other than bort, often enough is flawed, has little cohesion, and can be easily broken. 13. Diamond Inclusions. FALLING PRICES OF MATERIALS. THE report of the Committee of "Financial Risks attached to the holding of Trading Stocks" is now published by the Ministry of Reconstruction. The Committee were appointed early last year by Dr. Addison, who recogof losses, due to a tail in prices of raw material bought at nised that fear on the part of manufacturers and traders embark on full-scale production after the War and would war time prices, would tend to cause a reluctance to thereby retard the attainment of maximum national productiveness. He accordingly invited the Committee to enquire and report as to any measures which cocld be sdopted with a view to securing that manufacturers and others should be financially in a position to hold stocks after the War, and that reasonable safeguards should be established to prevent serious financial losses as a result of possible depression following on a period of great inflation, in respect of stocks of materials required for industry. After illustrating the enormous rise during the War in the prices of raw materials and goods, the Committee express the view that apprehension of loss due to a drop in prices is well founded. Five main causes are likely to bring about this fall: 1. The disappearance of War Risk insurance, &c. 3. Fall of wages compared with the rates prevailing 4. Additional production (due to cessation of the demand for military material) of staple articles now standing at "scarcity prices." 5. Reduction of the note issue to restore an effective Gold Standard, or in other words, "deflation" of credit. A natural corollary of the trader's fear that he will lose through falling prices is that he should wish to take a very conservative valuation of his unsold stock. This affects their valuation for the determination of excess profits duty. The three lines of possible relief that have been sug 1. Lower rates of taxation during the War. Diamonds enclosed in diamonds are not exactly uncommon. There are two very fine, nearly white, fair-gested by traders areshaped octahedra preserved in the De Beers office, each containing an inclusion. Both inclusions are practically of the same colour as their enclosures-one, a rounded octahedron, is certainly a diamond; the other is probably a diamond, but may be something else -say, quartz as a remote possibility. These diamonds show very fine colour effects under the polariscope, but neither is much flawed internally. Where the strain comes from, though, when one diamond encloses another is an enigma. Inclusions of diamond in diamond are not often symmetrical octahedra. Onel which was almost perfect in outline has been referred to in Section 4. A full description of this interesting object, which is still preserved, has been given by Williams (p. 506). The majority of such inclusions are irregular. A certain piece of Bultfontein cleavage, for example, which came from the wash already cracked nearly through, was found, when broken up, to contain a venerable looking and ill-shapen flake of diamond, the cavity in which it had been being lined with a soapy-looking substance, possibly apophyllite. In this connection it is strange that the apophyllite, or whatever the substance may be, prefers to stick to the enclosure and not to the inclusion. Pretty often in cases of this sort the portions of diamond separated by the crack are of different quality and colour. Tiny cavities, or what look like cavities, in diamonds are not uncommon. They may contain gas. It is not the rule to find any large amount of mechanical strain in their vicinity. (To be continued). 3. A redefinition of "profits" now chargeable to taxation by way of permission to create reserves before arriving at the sum chargeable to taxation as profits, or by the adoption, when making up periodical accounts, of different principles of valuing stocks from those generally obtaining in industry hitherto, or admitted by the taxing authorities. Up to the present taxation relief has been granted by two concessions contained in the White Paper Cd. 8623), viz., I. An allowance is made for the fall in the value of stocks held in the last accounting period, to the extent to which they are realised in the succeeding two years. 2. The "Base Stock" method of valuation, i.e., that of valuing a constant quantity of stock at a constant price which is permitted in certain classes of industry wherein it is a practice of the Trade. The first concession is criticised as being (1) Unworkable, because the physical identity of the stock sold cannot in practice be ascertained, and (2) Inadequate, as relating to only one set of sales. Only a very limited number of industries have obtained the second concession. Those which have done so will commence the post-war period with stocks valued considerably below Jan. 31, 1919 their market price, and therefore, in the opinion of the Committee, have established no further title to relief. Suggested Remedies. The Committee (preface their general recommendations by saying they) regard it as most desirable that the position of industry should be specially strengthened when on the threshold of a period in which markets have to be re organised or created, and in which industrial conditions are in the highest degree uncertain. The most hopeful line of approach to a solution of this problem lies, they think, in a reduction of the present rates of excess profits duty. The present 80 per cent duty, they consider, encourages extravagance and discourages enterprise, the reward being paltry, while little margin is left for renewals, development, and the capture of new markets, to say nothing of the establishment of reserves against bad times. The Committee recommend two alternative remedies 1. A reduction in the Excess Profits duty from 80 per cent to 65 per cent for the accounting period approximating to the year 1918 now in course of assessment, on the understanding that the duty so remitted is retained in the business and not distributed. This reduction might be accompanied by the withdrawal of the first concession in the White Paper, which was largely a result of the raising of the duty to 80 per cent. 2. If this course is impracticable, the Committee suggest that part of the duty now to be paid should be treated as a suspensory reserve for a period of five years, the amount so treated to be represented by a special kind of War Loan to be held on joint account by the Government and the taxpayer. The amount of this reserve should be 20 per cent of the average excess of profits in the last two years of the duty. After five years this reserve should either revert finally to the State, or in the following circumstances become wholly or in part the property of the taxpayer. NOTICES OF BOOKS. Treatise on Applied Analytical Chemistry. By Prof. VITTORIO VILLAVECCHIA. Translated by THOMAS H. POPE, B.Sc., A.C.G.I., F.I.C. Volume II. London: J. and A. Churchill. 1918. Pp. xv+536. Price 25s. net. In the second volume of this treatise a very wide range of subjects is covered, including meat, milk, flour, sugars, alcoholic liquids, essential oils, varnishes, rubbers, colouring matters, textile fibres, &c., and although the book is bulky only a comparatively small space can be given to each subject, with the result that the treatment is in some cases rather deficient as regards detail. The methods selected for description do not appear to have been always very well chosen, sometimes perhaps because Italian practice is not entirely in accord with that adopted in this country, although in some cases the text has been slightly modifie on that account, and the section on beer, for example, has been practically rewritten for the English edition. In the section on milk no mention is made of the Werner Schmidt process, nor are any of the widely adopted modifications of Kjeldahl's process mentioned. The sections on the organic colouring matters and their identification on woollen and cotton materials are somewhat too much compressed to serve as really useful guides in analyses, whilst on the other hand, for completeness sake, some comparatively unimportant substances have been included. Nevertheless, the author and his colloborators may be congratulated upon having produced a work which achieves a considerable degree of success, and in which many difficulties have been surmounted. CHEMICAL NOTICES FROM FOREIGN SOURCES. NOTE. All degrees of temperature are Centigrade unless otherwise expressed. He must show that his annual profits over that period are less than the amount of the percentage standard to which he was entitled or would have been entitled under Excess Profits duty, and that these deficiencies have been Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de l'Académie des Sciences. Vol. clxvii., No. 17, October 21, 1918. associated with the holding, during this period, of stocks This number contains no chemical matter. at falling prices as distinct, for example, from bad management or reduced turnover. He would then be entitled to relief to the extent of 80 per cent of the deficiency; but for no greater sum than the amount of the reserve. In the case of the second remedy the Committee consider that the undertakings given in the White Paper should continue to stand and that each business should state, when making its return for assessment for the last period of excess profits duty whether it proposes to come under the first concession in the White Paper, or, waiving all rights thereunder, to come under the five year War Loan system of relief. A reservation by four of the ten members of the Com mittee expresses the view that the "base stock" method of valuation should be permitted by all traders, but that the valuation prices must not be lower than they have actually been within the trader's experience. Further, they are of opinion that if the suggested remedy by way of reduction in the duty cannot be granted, the amount of the reserve allowed in the second remedy should be at least double. The Committee recognise rhat they have been unable to formulate any scheme of relief for those who pay no Exces Profits Duty. They also consider that a business which has denuded itself of its "immanent stock," at the instance of the Government, to meet immediate needs, has a claim for consideration which is best preferred to, and granted by, the Department of State to which the assistance was rendered. No. 18, October 28, 1918. Inversion of Cane-sugar by Colloidal Silica.Albert and Alexandre Mary.-Colloidal silica was prepared chemically by the action of hydrochloric acid upon sodium silicate, and its action on cane sugar studied. Like mineral acids, acetic acid, hydrosols of palladium, &c., it causes an appreciable amount of invers on. In some circumstances its activity increases with the temperature up to a variable optimum (below 100? C.), and then decreases until it becomes completely inactive. In some respects the conditions of its activity are comparable with those of the colloidal metals, but no chemical reason can be given for this resemblance. No. 19, November 4, 1918. This number contains no chemical matter. MISCELLANEOUS. Royal Institution.-Next Tuesday, February 4, at 3 o'clock, Prof. J. T. Macgregor Morris will deliver the first of a course of two lectures at the Royal Institution on "Study of Electric Arcs and their Applications." On Thursday, February 6, Dr. W. Wilson will give the first of two lectures on "The Movement of the Sun, Earth, and Moon" (illustrated by a new Astronomical Model); The Friday evening Discourse on February 7, at 5.30 will be delivered by Prof. J. G. Adami on "Medical Research in its Relationship to the War"; on February 14, by Prof. Cargill G. Knott on "Earthquake Waves and the Interior of the Earth." Methane.-William Malisoff and Gustave Egloff.The authors have brought together the results of investigations upon methane, including the physical charac teristics and chemical properties, and its synthesis and decomposition. A very useful part of the paper deals with research possibilities on methane. Many suggestions are made as to subjects and details which demand further or new research; these include the checking of some of the physical constants, oxidation, nitration, and sulphonation, the formation of derivatives by electrical Ch methods, and he reactions of methane in the silent discharge with nitrogen, carbon monoxide, and various other substances. In all 53 different researches are tabulated, and some of them, if successfully accom plished, might lead to results of considerable practical utility.-Journal of Physical Chemistry, vol. xxii., No. 8, P. 529. MEETINGS FOR THE WEEK MCNDAY, Feb 3rd.-Royal Institution, 5 (General Meeting). Metals, Minerals, Analyses; Plant control and organisation. Research (Inorganic) and new plant inception specially preferred. Good references and varied experience. Aldress, Organiser," CHEMICAL News Office, 16, Newcastle Street, Farringdon Street, London, E.C. 4 Ex x-Officer, disabled, four years experience of Analysis, including Foods and Drugs, requires responsible Position. Address, X. O, CHEMICAL NEWS Office, 16, Newcastle Street, Farringdon Street, London, E.C. 4. Glass-blowers (Scientific) wanted. Apply, Baird and Tatlock, Ltd., 45, Renfrew Street, Glasgow, or 38, Portland Street, Manchester. their Applications," by Prof. J. T. MacGregor Inter. B.Sc. requires post in Chemical Works Morris. Röntgen Society, 8.15. "Protection in Diagnostic (Annual General or Laboratory, in or near London. Lately demobilised as student. Address, W. G. B., 7, Livingstone Road, Clapham Junction, S.W. II. London Honours Graduate, A.I.C., twenty years' experience Foodstuffs, General Analysis, and Bacteriology, now supervising Works Laboratory, desires responsible progressive Post where energy and initiative will meet with recognition. -Address, L. H., CHEMICAL NEWS Office, 16, Newcastle Street, Farringdon Street, London, E.C. 4. Value for Non-textile Purposes," by Edward Required for Factory near Bristol, man with Carstensen de Segundo. THURSDAY, 6th.-Royal Institution, 3. "The Movements of the Earth, Royal Society, 4.30. "The Elasticity of Metals as Biochemical knowledge, a quainted with Bacteriology and Botany. Capable of carrying out Research on Food Products -Reply, sta.ing age, experience, salary required, and published investigations, to "Chemist," Box 25, care of W. H Smith and Son, Kingsway, London, W.C. 2. Cowley and H. Levy. "A New Method for the Wanted immediately for the Chemical Depart Absolute Determination of Frequency" (with a "Medical Research in its Relationship to the War," by Prof. J. G. Adami. SATURDAY, 8th.-Royal Institution, 3 "The Works of J. S. Bach," by Prof. H. P. Allen. FRIDAY, 7th.-Royal Institution, 5.30 HEAD OF CHEMISTRY AND APPLIED CHEMISTRY DEPARTMENT (a Specialist in Applied Chemistry). Com. mencing salary £500 per annum. Applieations on foolscap paper, stating age, full qualifications, teaching and other experience, and giving copies of not more than three testimonials, should reach the PRINCIPAL (from whom further particulars may be obtained) by MARCH 17, 99 ment, a Laboratory Assistant. State salary required -Apply, Secretary, South-Eastern Agricultural College, Wye, Kent. Works Analytical Chemist required. One conversant with Soap Manufacture, Nicotine Extractions, and Agricultural and Horticultural Preparations. State full particulars and salary required.- Address, W. A, CHEMICAL NEWS Office, 16, Newcastle Street, Farringdon Street, London, E.C. 4. Wan Street, London, E.C. 4. Relatives of eligible men on War Service are requested to bring this Government, readers of the "Chemical News" are advertisement to their notice. City Hall, Cardiff. JOHN J. JACKSON, B.A., Director of Education. requested to ensure a regular supply of the paper by placing an order with their Newsagent, THE CHEMICAL NEWS AND JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE Proprietor and Sir Wm. Crookes, O.M., F.R.S.] (WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE "CHEMICAL GAZETTE"). Established go. Published Weekly. Annual Subscription, free by post £t Entered at the New York Post Office as Second Class Mail Matter. Transmissible through the Post-United Kingdom, at Newspaper rate; Canada and Newfoundland, at Magazine rate. Friday February 7, 1919 PAGE 61 64 67 68 70 71 71 72 72 Registered as PRICE ad. CHEMISTS. HE facilities afforded by the Appointments are available, free of charge, to Companies and Firms requiring the Services of properly qualified Analytical, Research, and Technological Chemists, and to Universi ties, Colleges, Technical Schools, &c., requiring Teachers of Chemistry and Technology. The War has brought to many manufacturers the realisation that in the great majority of productive industries the assistance of an adequate staff of properly trained and qualified Chemists is not only essential but highly profitable. CAPPER PASS & SON, Lim., analysis, in research, in plant control and management will shortly be Many qualified Chemists with valuable practical experience in available. During the past four years the INSTITUTE OF CHEMISTRY has been the chief agency through which Chemists have been engaged for Government Service both with the Forces and in industries connected with the War. With the approach of more normal conditions, the Institute is now co-operating with the Appointments Department of the Ministry of Labour, which is concerned with the Re-settlement of Officers, and is also in touch with a large number of Chemists who have been engaged under the Ministry of Munitions and in controlled establishments Companies and Firms are therefore invited to notify their requirements to the Registrar of the Institute. The requirements should indicate (i.) the industry, (ii) the general nature of the duties to be entrusted to the chemists, (iii.) the salary and prospects attaching to the appointments, and (iv.) to whom replies should be addressed. In cases where appointments at salaries of £300 a year and upwards (with prospects) are offered, a good selection of candidates may be expected. All communications to be addressed : THE REGISTRAR. INSTITUTE OF CHEMISTRY, 30, Russell Square, London, W.C. 1. A. BOAKE, ROBERTS, & CO. (LIMITED), JOHN J. 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