CHEMICAL NEWS,

March 26, 1909

Mr. S. G. STARLING said one of the important points about the battery was that it could be washed and put away, and was then ready for use on any future occasion. The AUTHOR, in reply, said that the only other elements he had used were copper and zinc. He had used different liquids, but always got a lower voltage. Short-circuiting of course caused a fall of potential, but there was not much chemical action on account of the very high resistance of the battery.

A paper "On the Least Moment of Inertia of an Anglebar Section" was read by Mr. H. S. ROWELL.

The author pointed out that errors in strut design are unavoidably large, particularly those of angle section. Thus an approximate value of the moment of inertia is sufficient. If the mean lengths of the legs are a and b, then, the angle which either principal axis makes with the leg of length a, is given by the equation

He

He

Dr. RUSSELL expressed his interest in the problem. suggested that the phrase "second moment of an area was preferable to "moment of inertia of an area." asked the author whether he had compared the numbers obtained by his formula with the numbers given in manufacturers' catalogues. He noticed that manufacturers introduce corrections for tapering flanges, rounded corners, &c., and that the numbers they gave for the minimum radius of gyration varied largely with the thickness of the web. Large factors of safety were used in practice, but it was highly desirable that the theoretical numbers should be as accurate as possible. Unfortunately, the author had made some approximations which were not really necessary, and these made it difficult to know what weight to attach to his results. Personally he thought that the best way of finding the second moments of angle-bar or other sections was to use an Amsler's integrator. These integrators had been extensively used for many years, more particularly by naval architects, and their accuracy was not inferior to that of graphical methods.

NOTICES OF BOOKS.

Introduction to the Rarer Elements. By PHILIP E. BROWNING, Ph.D. Second Edition. New York: John Wiley and Sons. London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd. 1908.

A CONCISE account of the methods of extraction and the properties of those elements which are not usually discussed at any length in a general course of inorganic chemistry is given in this book. Some experimental work is described, and many references to current literature and to larger text-books are included. The author has perhaps not been very happy in his choice of material, or rather not judicious in deciding how to apportion out his space. Thus lithium, rubidium, cæsium, and beryllium, which are not usually passed over even in fairly elementary text-books, are given

155

half as much space as all the rare earths together, while platinum again is treated more fully than necessary. Although the second edition has been brought up to date it makes practically no mention of scandium, upon which element very important work was published some months before the book was issued. The additions to the second edition include a fuller treatment of the radio-active elements and also considerable enlargements of the chapter on the rare earths.

The Principles of Inorganic Chemistry. By WILHELM OSTWALD. Translated by ALEX. FINDLAY, M.A., Ph.D., D.Sc. Third Edition. London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd. 1908.

VERY few changes have been made in the third edition of this excellent text-book of inorganic chemistry. Some trifling errors have been corrected, and the additions

include a short allusion to the value of the evidence which has been put forward to demonstrate that deviations from the law of conservation of mass are not unknown. A note is also given on the synthetic manufacture of nitric oxide from the air, which at the time of the publication of the second edition had not been performed successfully on a commercial scale.

Untersuchung und Nachweis Organischen Farbstoffe auf Spektroskopischem Wege. ("Investigation and Identification of Organic Dye-stuffs by the Spectroscopic Method "). By JAROSLAV FORMANEK, in collaboration with Dr. EUGEN GRANDMOUGIN. Part I., Second Edition. Berlin: Julius Springer. 1908. PROF. FORMANEK was a pioneer in applying spectroscopic analysis in the chemistry of dyes and colouring matters, and although many books on the subject have followed

the first edition of this work, which appeared nine years ago, it still holds its own among them. However, the very rapid improvement of methods of using the spectroscope and the large number of data which has been collected by various workers have to a certain extent put the earlier edition out of date, and the time was quite ripe for the appearance of a revision and completion of it. The second edition has been divided into two parts, the first of which is purely theoretical. The introduction explains the foundations of spectroscopic methods, and describes the type of instrument which is most suitable for this class of work. The connections between colour, fluorescence, and absorption on the one hand, and constitution on the other, are next discussed, while in the remainder of the book the

author proceeds to the consideration of the individual colouring matters, grouping them together as di- and triphenylmethane derivatives, quinonimide and acridine derivatives, and products obtained from anthraquinone. A tabular summary shows clearly the chief characteristics of the spectra of the different compounds, while the spectra of some of the more important substances are reproduced in two plates.

CORRESPONDENCE.

THE INSTITUTE OF CHEMISTRY AND RESEARCH WORK.

To the Editor of the Chemical News. SIR,-In his Address to the Institute of Chemistry, reported in your issue of March 12 (CHEMICAL NEWS, xcix., 129), Prof. Frankland, F.R.S., referred to "the criticism of the Institute by Prof. Kipping in his Presidential Address to the Chemical Section of the British Association at the meeting last year."

Will you grant me space to point out that Prof. Frankland seems to have entirely misunderstood this "criticism," and

My suggestion was that the Institute of Chemistry shouls insist on good research work in the case of all candidated for the Fellowship, so that it would be possible to distinguish between those who are capable routine chemists and those who might be expected to advance pure and applied science. Prof. Frankland replies that the results of research work are not necessarily recorded in any scientific journal, and that there is a vast amount of research involving originality and attainments of the highest order which from its nature could not be published at all, and then he asks :-" :-"Should chemists who are engaged on such research be debarred from the Fellowship because their names are not at the head of so many dozen pages apiece of the Journal of the Chemical Society or in a similar publication?"

Of course not! The very fact that an Associate had

shown himself capable of carrying out good original work should forthwith entitle him to demand the Fellowship in accordance with my suggestion.

I need no assurance that Prof. Frankland has "met chemists whose names are not associated with such academic researches, who were nevertheless fully equipped and highly original investigators."

His experience is not unique, but his question, "Should these men not have been admitted to the Fellowship of the Institute?" is again superfluous, as my suggestion was that the Fellowship should be awarded for good original work.

of them, Concentrated hydrochloric acid has no action. Concentrated nitric and sulphuric acids cause coals to lose their power of giving coke. Fused potash and Schweitzer's reagent both diminish it. The successive actions of aqueous potash, concentrated hydrochloric acid, and Schweitzer's reagent completely destroy it, apparently because the cupropotassic liquid dissolves all matter of cellulose origin. The humic acid found in non-coking coal is derived from these hydrocarbons existing in a more or less polymerised state in the coal. The fact that anthracites do not give agglomerated coke can be explained very readily. This variety of coal represents a very advanced state in the transformation of vegetable matter and does not contain cellulose, and humic matter cannot be detected in it. Indigoid Colouring Matters derived from Phenylisoxazolone.-A. Wahl.-Products characterised by the -C = Cchromophone group can be prepared by the -CO CO action of isatin chloride upon phenylisoxazolone and its derivatives. Methoxyphenylisoxazolones are thus converted into the corresponding indolindigos, which are coloured crystalline products. They give a violet coloration with soda or alcoholic ammonia, and the addition of sodium hydrosulphite to the alkaline solution gives a yellow liquid from which acids do not precipitate the colouring matter, which only reappears upon the addition of an oxidising agent such as hydrogen peroxide.

MEETINGS FOR THE WEEK.

F. STANLEY KIPPING.

CHEMICAL NOTICES FROM FOREIGN SOURCES.

NOTE. All degrees of temperature are Centigrade unless otherwise expressed.

Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de l'Académie des Sciences. Vol. cxlviii., No. 6, February 8, 1909. Role in Nature of the Dissociation of Carbonophosphates.-A. Barillé.—In a previous note the author has reported that carbon dioxide, in presence of water and under pressure, produces with phosphates the metals of which are capable of forming bicarbonates a new class of compounds, carbonophosphates, easily dissociated in air, which cannot be isolated from their solutions. In decomposing these carbonophosphates yield two substances, a dibasic phosphate and the corresponding bicarbonate, which finally becomes a neutral carbonate. Thus the dissociation of carbonophosphates explains many very different natural phenomena, e.g., the maintenance of the comparatively high tension of carbon dioxide in the blood, and the assimilation of phosphates by plants.

Coking of Coal.-O. Boudouard.-Various organic solvents such as ligroin, benzene, naphthalene, &c., have very little or no modifying action on the quality of coke given by coal, and by evaporation of the solvents tarry brown masses are obtained in small proportions, except in

TUESDAY, 30th.-Royal Institution, 3. "Evolution of the Brain as an Organ of Mind," by Prof. F. W. Mott, F.R.S. WEDNESDAY, 31st.-Royal Society of Arts, 8. "The Island of St. Helena," by J. C. Melliss.

"Aerial Flight in Theory and Practice," by Prof. G. H. Bryan, F.R.S. Chemical, 8.30. Affinity Values of certain Alkaloids," by V H. Veley. "Preparation and Properties of the n-Tribrome Substituted Hydrazines, usually styled the Diazoperbromides," by F. D. Chattaway. "The Coloured Salts and Derivatives of the Thiovioluric Acid Group," by P. C. C. Isherwood. "Nitrosoacetylamino-derivatives of the Benzene and Diphenyl Series," by J. C. Cain. "Observations on Phycoerythrin, the Pigment of the Red Algæ," by E. K. Hanson. FRIDAY, 2nd.-Royal Institution, 9. "Electrical Striations," by Prof Sir J. J. Thomson, F.R.S.

SATURDAY, 3rd.-Royal Institution, 3. "Properties of Matter," by Prof. Sir J. J. Thomson, F.R.S.

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Introduction.-Historical.-Chap. I. Radio-activity or Uranium and Thorium; Radio-active Minerals.-Chap. II. Method of Research.-Chap. III. Radiation of the New Radio-active Substances.-Chap. IV. Communication of Radio-activity to Substances Initially nactive.—Nature and Cause of the Phenomena of Radio-activity.

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