122

H2O2.

Fo202,2F002Bг,

and subsequently into bromo-glycolyl-bromide,Fo2Bг2,2 FOO2Br,

I proceed upon the hypothesis that the product of the action of the first molecule of perbromide on the glyoxylate is the dioxyglycolyl-bromide, as expressed by the formula

H2O2.

Fo202,2F004Br,

where the molecular changes consist in the replacement by bromine of that particular hydroxyl molecule which belongs to the oxyformate of water group; again, that the product of the action of a second molecule of perbromide on the latter derivative-namely, the abovementioned bromoxyglycolyl-bromide-is expressed by the formula Fo2Br2,2F0O4Br, where the molecular changes consist in the replacement by bromine of that particular hydroxyl molecule which belongs to the colligated formylic alcohol group. But as regards the mode of formation of the third derivative, since, as our formula implies, there is no more hydroxyl to replace, it becomes manifest that the reaction must of necessity take a different course. This course, I venture to say, will consist in the previous conversion of the bromoxyglycolylbromide into the isomeric dibromacetate

{CHEMICAL NEWS,

Sept. 15, 1876.

determidation of lithium by diluting a solution of the metal till a drop, when ignited, ceases to give the chracteristic spectrum. Two or three months ago I made a series of experiments with potassium and the alkaline earths, with the idea of estimating them in solution, by diluting till a measured quantity, generally o'3 c.c., introduced into the flame, ceased to give the most characteristic line of the metal employed. I attached to platinum wires pellets of cotton-wool, or filter papers folded as if for burning, which were made to absorb the quantity of solution, then introduced into the edge of the Bunsen flame. After the drying and burning of the combustible matter, the ash, which is left in the state of a fine network impregnated thoroughly with the salt introduced, gets strongly ignited, and gives the desired spectrum. I found, however, that by diluting the spectra lost their brilliancy so imperceptibly that it was very difficult to fix the point at which they disappeared, especially so with the alkaline earths. It is possible thus to estimate the amount of potassium in a solution, the error allowed being about ten times the quantity of metal to be estimated. I also tried diluting the solution till the line was equal in intensity to that produced by the ignition of a measured quantity of a very dilute solution of the metal of known strength, but met with no better success.

The results of these experiments, and the strain upon the eyes, produced by repeatedly looking attentively for a very faint line, or by looking for a line which you think ought to appear, induced me to give up this method of experimenting.

I would add that a filter paper (as before described) with so much solution of potassic chloride as contained 0'0000006 grm. of metal, when ignited gave the Ka line distinctly. Roscoe gives o'00000032 grm. of potassium as the minimum observable quantity; but by the nature of his experiment that quantity was introduced every second, whereas in the other case the minute portion was introduced once for all.-I am, &c., HENRY C. JONES.

Highbury, September 4, 1876.

MISCELLANEOUS.

Association for the

British Advancement of Science. The meeting of the British Association for 1877 will be held at Plymouth, and will commence on the 15th August. Dr. Allen Thomson, F.R.S., has been nominated President-elect, and the Vice-Presidents chosen are the Earl of Mount Edgecumbe, the Earl of Devon, Lord Blackford, W. Spottiswoode, F.R.S., W. Froude, F.R.S., and C. Spence Bate, F.R.S. The meeting for 1878 will be held at Dublin. The following is a complete list of the papers brought before the Chemical Science Section of the Glasgow Meeting, under the Presidency of Mr. W. H. Perkin, F.R.S.; they will be published CHEMICAL NEWS:in full or in abstract, according to their importance, in the

:

124

The

{CHEMICAL NEWS, Sept. 15, 1876.

The next Winter Session will commence on Monday, October 2nd, when the Introductory Lecture will be given by Dr. Andrew Clark, Senior Physician to the Hospital.

The Perpetual Fee to Lectures and Hospital Practice, with two years' Practical Anatomy, is 90 guineas if paid in one sum, or 100 guineas if paid by three instalments. Special entries can be made to Lectures or Practice. The Hospital contains about 800 beds. The in-patients during 1875 were 5804, and the out-patients 40,717.

1, 2. Two Entrance Science Scholarships, value £60 and £40. 3, 4. And Two Burton Scholarships, value £30 and £20, will be offered for competition at the end of September. Entries for the above must be made on or before the 20th September. 5. A Scholarship, value £20, in Human Anatomy, for first year 6. A Scholarship, value £25, in Anatomy, Physiology, and Chemistry, for first and second year students.

Students.

7. A Hospital Scholarship, value £20, for Clinical Medicine. 8. A Hospital Scholarship, value £20, for Clinical Surgery. 9. A Hospital Scholarship, value £20, for Clinical Obstetrics. A Prize of £5 to the student who has attended most Midwifery cases during the preceding twelve months.

The Duckworth Nelson Prize, value £10, for Practical Medicine and Surgery (Biennial).

Money Prizes to the value of £60 given annually by the House Committee for zeal in Dressing Out-Patients and knowledge of Minor Surgery.

For particulars as to appointments, &c., see the Prospectus, which will be forwarded on application to the Secretary, Turner Street, Mile End, E.

Greatly increased facilities are now offered by adjacent railways and

SCIENCE AND ART.

During the Twenty-sixth Session, 1876-77, which will commence on the 2nd of October, the following COURSES of LECTURES and PRACTICAL DEMONSTRATIONS will be given:

1. Chemistry. By E. Frankland, Ph.D., F.R.S.

2. Metallurgy. By John Percy, M.D., F.R.S.

3. Natural History. By T. H. Huxley, LL.D., F.R.S.

4. Mineralogy. By Warington W. Smyth, M.A., F.R.S., 5. Mining.

6. Geology. By John W. Judd.

Chairman.

7. Applied Mechanics. By T. M. Goodeve, M.A.

8. Physics. By Frederick Guthrie, Ph.D., F.R.S.

9. Mechanical Drawing. By Rev. J. H. Edgar, M.A.

The Lecture Fees for Students desirous of becoming Associates are £30 in one sum, on entrance, or two annual payments of £20, exclusive of the Laboratories.

Tickets to separate Courses of Lectures are issued at £3 and £4 each.

Officers in the Queen's Service, Her Majesty's Consuls, Acting Mining Agents, and Managers may obtain Tickets at reduced prices. Science Teachers are also admitted to the Lectures at reduced fees. For a Prospectus and information apply to the Registrar, Royal School of Mines, Jermyn Street, London, S.W.

TRENHAM REEKS, Registrar.

ROYAL VETERINARY

COLLEGE.

INCORPORATED BY ROYAL CHARTER.
WINTER SESSION, 1876-7.

The Winter Sessional Course of Instruction will commence on MONDAY, OCTOBER 2.

The chair will be taken by R. W. Gaussen, Esq., and the Introductory Address delivered by Professor Pritchard, at i p.m.

Lectures, Clinical and Pathological Demonstrations, and General Instruction are given on Pathology and Diseases of the Horse and other Domesticated Animals, including Epizootics, Parasites, and Parasitic Affections; also on Anatomy, Physiology, Histology, Che mistry (General and Practical), Materia Medica, Toxicology, Botany, Therapeutics and Pharmacy, Hospital Practice, Obstetrics, Operative Surgery, the Principles and Practice of Shoeing, &c.

Students are required to attend two Summer and three Winter Sessions before being eligible for examination for the diploma of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.

A Scholarship of £25 per annum, tenable for two years, will be awarded at the close of the Summer Session of 1877.

Annual Exhibitions, Gold and Silver Collegiate Medals, a Cattle Pathology Silver Medal, and Certificate of Merit will also be awarded in addition to the Coleman Prize Medals. Class Prizes will be given in each division of the student's studies. Certificates of Distinction will likewise be conferred on students who pass a superior examination for the Diploma of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. Graduates who obtain Certificates of Distinction will be entitled to compete for the Prizes offered by the Royal Agricultural Society for proficiency of knowledge of the diseases affecting Cattle, Sheep, and Pigs. The Prizes consist of a Gold Medal and £20, Silver Medal and £10, and a Bronze Medal and £5.

College Entrance Fee 25 Gs., the payment of which confers the right of attendance on all the Lectures and Collegiate Instructions, with the exception of Practical Chemistry.

The Matricular Examination will be held on the 30th of September, at 10 a.m. Fee £1 Is. Candidates for the Scholarship, as well as those who select any of the voluntary subjects as an addition to the obligatory ones, are requested to inform the Principal of their intention, and to name the subjects at least a week previously to the Examination.

A Prospectus containing the Regulations of the College, and copies of the Matriculation Examination Papers set last Session will be forwarded on application.

August, 1876.

JAMES B. SIMONDS, Principal.

of The East Railway Company Station is directly opposite the Hospital. Lodgings can be obtained in healthy localities in the immediate vicinity of the Hospital, at a very reasonable charge.

EXPERIMENTAL MILITARY and NAVAL SCIENCES, under the direction of Professor E. V. GARDNER, F.E.S., &c. of the late Royal Polytechnic Institution and the Royal Naval College. The Laboratory and Class Rooms are open from 11 to 5 a.m. and from 7 to 10 p.m.daily.

Especial facilities for persons preparing for Government and other examinations.

Private Pupils will find every convenience.

Analyses, Assays, and Practical Investigations connected with Patents, &c.,conducted.

UN

For prospectus, &c., apply to Prof. E. V. G., 44, Berners-street, W
NIVERSITY OF DURHAM COLLEGE
OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE, NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE.
Sixth Session.

The Examinations for Admission and for Exhibitions will commence on MONDAY, the 2nd OCTOBER. Three Exhibitions of the value of £15 each will be awarded to entering students who show sufficient merit in the above Examinations. Candidates for these Exhibitions must send in their names to the Secretary on or before Saturday, the 23rd September.

Prospectus and conditions to be had on application.

THEO. WOOD BUNNING, Secretary.

CHEMICAL NEWS, Sept. 22, 1876.

125

PRESENT methods of dealing chemically with sewage resolve themselves into, first, treatment with lime; secondly, treatment with metallic oxides or salts; and, thirdly, treatment with carbon.

In reference to the lime process chemists are familiar with the literature upon the subject.

The second method, viz., the use of a metallic oxide or salt has certain advantages when the precipitant can be obtained cheaply and the sewage to be dealt with is largely contaminated with refuse from dye-works, as is the case at Leeds and Coventry. Subsulphate of alumina has been used in such cases. The third method of dealing with sewage, viz., by the agency of carbon, appears to me to be most generally useful, for whilst possessing the power of abstracting noxious matter from the sewage in at least as great a ratio as any chemical that can be used, the carbonaceous deposits are not liable to subsequent noxious decomposition, and the manurial value of the mud is not interfered with. In practice carbon is used in processes such as the ABC, where alum is an essential part of the system.

The efficiency of carbon for these purposes is doubtless dependent upon its being in a fine state of division, and in practice a cheap form of carbon, suitable for deodorising, has not been by any means easy to get. Common coke, peat charcoal, carbonised street sweepings, and, as proposed by Mr. Stanford, carbonised excreta, have been proposed or actually used, but all these forms of charcoal require expensive and cumbrous plant in the form of retorts, and condensing arrangements for vapours evolved in the distillation, and involve a large consumption of fuel for carbonisation, so that I have never known of any kind of charcoal being obtainable under at least 10s. per ton prime cost, the market price being generally from 20s. to 6os. per ton. My attention has been directed to a waste product produced largely-in fact, to the extent of 500,000 or 600,000 tons annually in Scotland alone. I mean the carbonised shale after removal from the retorts of our mineral oil works. The quantity of fixed carbon it contains ranges about 10 per cent, and its state of division no doubt is similar to that contained in boneblack, the carbon in the former case being associated with silicates of alum, lime, and magnesia, and, in the la ter, with phosphates and carbonates of lime. An analysis of the mineral constituents shows the following composition, the material having been dried at 60° F. :—

with an equal weight of carbonised shale powder. The the mixture became odourless, and I preserved samples in partially closed wide-mouthed bottles. During 10 days and at a temperature of 60° F. no fœtid or unpleasant smell was noticeable, and the mass being somewhat pasty I mixed it with more shale powder, so as to bring it to a pulverulent state suitable for sowing by hand as a manure, and the sample has been kept until this date without emitting the least smell of organic putrefaction. Subsequently to this and in the month of June, 1875, experiments were made with the object of comparing its action with that of bone and wood charcoal. The same mixture of fæces and urine was used. As the general result of these experiments it was found that whether animal charcoal or carbonised shale were used the proportion of one part of carbon to two of excrementitious matter was insufficient to prevent a slight putrefactive smell, after the lapse of two or three weeks, but that equal parts of excrementitious matter and carbon formed a permanently odourless mass, whether animal charcoal or carbonised oil shale were used. It appears therefore that for deodorising excreta carbonised oil shale requires to be used in the same proportion as excreta charcoal is recommended to be used by Mr. E. C. C. Stanford. Experiments were also made with urine alone, in the proportion of one part of carbonised shale powder to 4 of urine. The latter was gradually changed into a liquid smelling purely of ammonia and without the slightest putrefactive smell although it was kept some weeks.

In order to make experiments with sewage the City Statute Labour Trust of Glasgow supplied sewage collected from the following points:

1. Sandyfaulds Street, Caledonia Road; 2. Duke Street; 3. Great Hamilton Street; 4. Gloucester Street; 5. Sauchiehall Street.

These samples were mixed so as to get a fair average, and coming from water-closet districts in dry weather, the smell was most offensive. It was divided into two portions. The first portion was agitated for ten minutes with finely divided bone-black in the proportion of 100 grains to the gallon, and the mixture was then thrown being collected. The second portion was agitated with a upon a funnel partially plugged with sponge, the liquid similar quantity of carbonised oil shale in the same proportion and manner. Both these filtrates came through deodorised, and have kept sweet to the present time. Examined some months afterwards after being kept in closely stoppered bottles, the unfiltered sample contained 4 210 free ammonia in 100,000 parts, and the sample, filtered through the carbonised shale, contained 0:428 free ammonia.

In regard to albuminoid ammonia the unfiltered sample contained 0.333 part and the filtered sample o 285 part. In reference to the adaptability of the material for the drycloset system, the ease with which it can be reduced to a soft charcoally powder is a great recommendation. Since these laboratory experiments have been made they have been confirmed by experiments on a large scale, and more particularly with the refuse from the water-closets and surgical wards of the Glasgow Royal Infirmary-the excrementitious matter from which is about as repulsive as any that can be met with. It is semi-liquid in character, and an experiment conducted by the author in conjunction with the medical superintendent proved that on mixing about 2 cwts. of this material with the same weight of the carbonised shale, it was, in the course of a few minutes, completely deodorised.

Experiments have been also made by the Sanitary Inspector of the City of Glasgow. His report to the Police Board, dated January of the present year, includes description of experiments made with about 7 tons of the ground material in three of the public privies of the city, and extending over a period of fifty-seven days.

The Sanitary Inspector fully endorsed the conclusions arrived at by the author as to the powerful deodorising