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Sir JAMES CRICHTON-BROWNE, also responding to the toast of "The Guests," said it was delightful to know that the members of the Royal Family, including His Majesty the King, were showing a great and intelligent interest in the work of the Royal Institution, which he, Sir James, represented. That interest was being extended to the forthcoming Congress at the Albert Hall. As to the general outlook, we had fallen upon lean years. We had with us unemployment and sombre anticipations of the next Budget. We look to the chemists for new knowledge which should not only enable us to redress some of the evils we saw around us, and, in a utilitarian sense, largely add to the comfort and convenience of human life, but which, better stlil, should make for the clarification of our conceptions of the Universe, and for the refinement and ennobling of our lives.

Prof. RAPHAEL MELDOLA, Past President of the Chemical | representative of the Church, which had disappeared, of Society, proposed the toast of "The City and Guilds of the law which was still worthily represented, and of various London," coupled with the names of Mr. F. A. Roberts, educational authorities whom he saw before him, and to Master of the Worshipful Company of Grocers, and Mr. whom he had been in servitude on former occasions. Walter S. Gardner, Master of the Worshipful Company of Drapers. It was a popular belief, declared Prof. Meldola, that City Companies were associated solely with City banquets and gorgeous palaces. As a servant of those Companies taking cognisance of what was going on in the upper regions, he could assure them that the holding of banquets was not their sole object of existence. We were perhaps familiar with their efforts in the cause of charity, but he wished to allude to the assistance they gave to the cause of education and science. It was thirty years since the cry of "Technical Education" was raised in this country. That cry meant that there was not a sufficiently close association between science and industry. The City and Guilds threw themselves into the breach, and boldly undertook the pioneering work of technical education in this country. They took over the work that the State had not touched hitherto, and the foundation of the City and Guilds of London Institute was the outcome; and during the period from 1878 to 1908, fifty two City Companies contributed to that Institute £768,360 to advance the cause of British technical education.

Mr. F. A. ROBERTS, responding for the Worshipful Company of Grocers, reciprocated the kindly sentiments of Professor Meldola. The Company were prepared to continue their good work, but hoped that there would be no outside interference with them, as he believed they were employing their money to the best interests of science, education, and charity.

Mr. WALTER S. GARDNER responded for the Worshipful Company of Drapers, and referred to the useful work of their Company in the matter of apprentices, a work which they hoped would mitigate to some extent the evil of sending boys out at an early age to earn a few shillings a week for three or four years, after which they become practically unfit for anything of service to the community, Prof. H. A. MIERS, proposing the toast of "Scientific Societies," coupled with the name of Sir Archibald Geikie, President of the Royal Society, said the tendency was for Societies to go on multiplying and specialising. The work of specialisation was becoming so serious that the fear was that when a paper was read at a scientific society nowadays, the only person who at all understood it was the author himself. Perhaps such a circumstance had its own field of usefulness, and he reminded them of the man who left £10,000 in his will to the Society whose meetings had proven such an excellent antidote to insomnia. He hoped that some method could be found to make use of the splendid amateur materials of which the various scientific societies consisted. Whether the societies were making the best use of their opportunities or not, there was one extremely wholesome sign about their present state-they were in no danger of becoming a Joint Mutual Admiration Society, but were living in the bracing atmosphere of criticism which was undoubtedly useful in the promotion of their work as a whole.

Sir ARCHIBALD GEIKIE, in response, said that science had grown enormously of late. There was the danger, as the President had pointed out, that specialisation would go on so far that the votary of one branch of science should be entirely unacquainted with what was taking place in another branch of it. It was a very bad thing, he declared, for a man to live in water-tight compartments of knowledge. It would enlarge his views if he took in something from other spheres of knowledge. Something, he was glad to say, was being done in that direction, and none of the societies moving that way had attained greater success than the Chemical Society.

Prof. J. EMERSON REYNOLDS proposed the toast of "The Guests," and alluded in warm terms to Lord Balfour of Burleigh and Sir James Crichton-Browne, whose names were coupled with the toast.

Lord BALFOUR OF BURLEIGH responded as the unworthy

ROYAL

INSTITUTION.

Annual Meeting, May 1st, 1909.

Sir JAS. CRICHTON-BROWNE, Treasurer and Vice-President, in the Chair.

THE Annual Report of the Committee of Visitors for the year 1908, testifying to the continued prosperity and efficient management of the Institution, was read and adopted, and the Report on the Davy-Faraday Research Laboratory of the Royal Institution, which accompanied it, was also read. Forty-eight new Members were elected in 1908. Sixty-three Lectures and nineteen Evening Discourses were delivered in 1908. The books and pamphlets presented amounted to about 238 volumes, making, with 708 volumes (including periodicals bound) purchased by the Managers, a total of 936 volumes added to the Library in the year.

Thanks were voted to the President, Treasurer, and the Honorary Secretary, to the Committees of Managers and Visitors, and to the Professors, for their valuable services to the Institution during the past year.

The following gentlemen were unanimously elected as
Officers for the ensuing year :-

President-The Duke of Northumberland.
Treasurer-Sir James Crichton-Browne.
Secretary-Sir William Crookes.

Managers-Sir Thomas Barlow, Bart.; William Phipson
Beale, M.P.; Horace T. Browne; The Rt. Hon. Sir
Henry Burton Buckley; Charles Hawksley; Dr. Donald
William Charles Hood; Alfred B. Kempe; The Rt. Hon.
Lord Kinnaird; Sir Francis Laking, Bart.; Henry Francis
Makins ;, George Matthey; Rudolph Messel; The Rt. Hon.
Sir John Fletcher Moulton; Sir Andrew Noble, Bart. ; and
The Hon. Lionel Walter Rothschild, M.P.

Visitors-Dr. William Arthur Brailey, Arthur N. Butt, James Mackenzie Davidson, Richard T. Glazebrook, John William Gordon, Dr. James Dundas Grant, Major-General Sir Coleridge Grove, Charles Edward Groves, John List, Sir Philip Magnus, Robert Mond, Colonel Sir Frederick Nathan, The Hon. Charles A. Parsons, James Swinburne, and Arthur James Walter.

Royal Institution.-A General Monthly Meeting of the Members of the Royal Institution was held on the 3rd inst.; the Duke of Northumberland, K.G., President, in the Chair. Dr. H. S. Collier, Mr. J. Benson Kennedy, Prof. H. A. Miers, Mr. T. P. Warren, and Sir Almroth E. Wright were elected Members. The Chairman announced that he had appointed the following Vice-Presidents for the ensuing year:-Dr. Donald W. C. Hood, Mr. A. B. Kempe, Sir Francis Laking, Bart., Mr. George Matthey, The Rt. Hon. Sir John Fletcher Moulton, Sir Andrew Noble, Bart., Sir James Crichton-Browne (Treasurer), and Sir William Crookes (Honorary Secretary).

CHEMICAL NEWS, May 7, 1909

NOTICES OF BOOKS.

Notices of Books.

Elementary Agricultural Chemistry. By HERBERT INGLE, B.Sc. London: Charles Griffin and Co., Ltd. 1908. As a handbook for the agriculturist who knows no chemistry this work has some good features. The difficulties of giving practical men any real insight into the foundations of chemical science are very nearly insuperable when the attempt is made, as in this book, to compress the necessary information into one short introductory chapter. However, the author impresses upon his readers the necessity for consulting a text-book of general chemistry, and devotes his energy more particularly to the applications of the science to agriculture. In the chapter on the nature of soils the movement of water in the soil is well treated. The discussion of the composition of manures is well up to date, while the chapters on the life of the plant, the feeding value of various materials, &c., are practical and, for the size of the book, complete. Some useful notes are added on the chemistry of insecticides, disinfectants, and other miscellaneous agents. For the prospective colonist

the book has some value, for the practice of countries other than England is not neglected; thus, some account is given of the agricultural methods which are generally adopted in South Africa.

First Principles of Chemical Theory. By C. H. MATHEW. SON, Ph.D. New York: John Wiley and Sons. London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd. 1908.

THE author of this book may be congratulated upon having most successfully evaded the danger of producing a sketchy and more or less inaccurate outline of the leading principles of chemical theory in a presentation of the subject which is very simple and brief. The book may be said to have two distinct uses; for beginners it gives a clear review of theoretical principles, quite sufficient for the candidate for, say, the matriculation examination of the University of London, and although in some ways it goes a good deal beyond the syllabus of this particular examination, this is by no means a disadvantage. The short discussions of the at all too difficult for the average student at this stage in his work, and by most they will be found to be most illuminating and interesting. Moreover, the book will be found valuable by the more advanced student, to be used as a sort of skeleton round which to build up a more extended knowledge of the theory of chemistry, which may be acquired from larger and more specialised works. Given a really satisfactory outline, this method of studying the general principles of the science should be the best that can be adopted, for all haziness upon fundamentals is thus made practically an impossibility. Only a really admirable elementary text-book can, however, be used successfully in this way, and this book can be recommended with confidence as specially suitable for the purpose.

Law of Chemical Mass Action and the Phase Rule are not

Laboratory Notes on Industrial Water Analysis. By ELLEN H. RICHARDS. New York: John Wiley and Sons. London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd. 1908. SPECIAL methods of determining whether samples of water are suitable for use in boilers and for general engineering purposes are described in the laboratory exercises given in this book. Ordinary analytical processes for testing water are not treated. Waters are divided into four classes :I. Those which are scale-forming. II. Those which are moderately scale-forming. III. Corrosive waters which are not scale-forming. IV. Waters containing considerable amounts of sodium salts. Methods of ascertaining to which class a given sample belongs are given, and the action of corrosive waters on common metals is shortly discussed. Some remedies for objectionable waters are described, and a short scheme is given for the testing of boiler-scale. The second part of the book contains useful hardness and other tables, and also directions for the preparation of standard solutions.

227

Laboratory Guide of Industrial Chemistry. By ALLEN ROGERS, Ph.D. London: Archibald Constable and Co., Ltd. 1908.

ANY book which aims at bridging over the gap between factory and laboratory, and between the works chemist and the student, may be almost sure of being well received, and there is a good deal to be said for the plan of giving the technical student an insight into the processes conspecialise. In many ways this book is worth the study of cerned in other industries than that in which he hopes to demonstrators and instructors in technical schools and colleges, and though not without faults it should certainly be found helpful by those engaged in the teaching of industrial chemistry. The industries treated include dyeing, paints and varnishes, soaps, paper, and leather, the first being treated at the greatest length. In fact, in this subject there is rather a muitiplication of exercises somewhat unnecessarily given up to directions for the prewhich are not always typical. In addition some space is paration of important inorganic and organic substances. The demonstrator could very readily pick out from a work on general practical chemistry such preparations as would be suitable, and, indeed, most students would have performed a good many of the experiments in their preliminary work. The directions given in the book only differ from those in an ordinary practical book in suggesting the use of rather larger quantities of ingredients, and also in recommending the student to estimate the cost per pound of the substance in question.

Die Stearinfabrikation. ("The Manufacture of Stearin "). By Dr. Phil. BELA LACH. Halle-a.-S: Wilhelm Knapp. 1908.

THIS book may almost be described as an amplification of the author's monograph on the manufacture of glycerin, and resembles it in many respects. It is marked by the same thoroughness, and aims at giving special prominence to practice and passing over theory. It contains detailed descriptions of many typical modern factories, accompanied by drawings and plans; not unnaturally German methods are considered more fully than those which are employed in other countries. The applications and uses of stearin are shortly treated in an appendix, and a very brief account is given of the simplest and quickest way to determine the free fatty acids in mixtures of fats. No attempt is made to discuss the analysis of fats in general, but the summary of results obtained with fats of different origin and composition will be found a useful feature of the book.

The Geology of the Goldfields of British Guiana. By J. B. HARRISON, C.M.G., M.A., F.I.C., F.G.S. London: Dulau and Co. 1908.

THIS Volume may be regarded as the official report on the geology of British Guiana, having been published by the direction of the Governor, Sir Frederic M. Hodgson, K.C.M.G. It contains a systematic account of the petrography of the various rocks found in different districts, with excellent microphotographs of sections of typical specimens. The descriptive geology of the colony is also treated fully, and is illustrated with photographs of places which are interesting from a geological point of view. The structures and soils of the auriferous areas are described in detail, and the book concludes with practical hints to intending miners and prospectors on such subjects as transport facilities, labour, &c. The laws and regulaions governing the mining industry are given in an appendix.

Laboratoriumsbuch für die Erdöl Industrie. ("Laboratory Book for the Petroleum Industry "). By Dr. RICHARD KISSLING. Halle-a-S.: Wilhelm Knapp. 1908.

THIS book is the companion volume to the author's monograph on the preparation and uses of petroleum belonging to the series of monographs on technical chemical manu

factures issued by the same publishers. It describes the most important methods used in practical work, purposely avoiding a great choice of processes, while at the same time giving full information for the qualitative and quantitative investigation of petroleum. The different types of apparatus in use for determining flash-point, viscosity, &c., are carefully explained, and the use of them is adequately treated. Some details of the testing of substances which are employed in the refining of petroleum will be found of value. The absence of an alphabetical index is a drawback even to a book of this size.

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. 12, March 22, 1909. Experimental Study of the Coefficient of Distribution and its Application to the Volatile Acids of Wines.-Philippe Malvezin.-By applying Berthelot and Jungfleisch's rules and determining the ratio p'lp of the quantity of volatile acids dissolved by ether and water, the author finds that it is possible to ascertain very rapidly the volatile acidity of wines. The solubility of these acids in sulphuric ether at 65° is found, remembering that they dissolve in the proportion 72: 100. This method is very rapid and exact, and no distillation is required.

New Method of Preparing the B-Halogen Derivatives of Naphthalene.-G. Darzens and E. Berger.When the halogen derivatives of phosphorus act on the sodium compounds of alcohols and phenols, phosphorous and phosphoric ethers are formed and also hydrochloric ethers. This reaction can be applied to sodium 3-naphthol, and the product is 6-brom or B-chlor-naphthalene. yields are good, the trihalogen phosphorus compounds giving the best results.

The

Rôle of Magnesia in the Transformation of Saccharose at Different Temperatures.-J. Tribot In experiments of short duration the transformation of saccharose begins to become stationary with diastase containing magnesia at 40°, while it continues to increase up to 60° with diastase and no magnesia. The influence of diastase purified by successive precipitations and giving only an imponderable mineral residue is not zero, though much diminished. At high temperatures more saccharose is transformed in the same time by diastase with magnesia than by diastase without magnesia.

MEETINGS FOR THE WEEK.

MONDAY, 10th.-Royal Society of Arts, 8. (Cantor Lectures). "Aerial Flight," by F. W. Lanchester.

TUESDAY, 11th.-Royal Institution, 3. "Cosmogonical Questions," by Prof. Svante Arrhenius, D.Sc.

WEDNESDAY, 12th.-Royal Society of Arts, 8. "The Principles of Heredity as applied to the Artificial Production of New Forms of Plants and Animals," by Prof. A. Dendy, F.R.S.

THURSDAY, 13th.-Royal Institution, 3. "Newfoundland," by John G. Millais, F.Z.S.

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Royal Society of Arts, 4.30. "Some Phases of
Hinduism," by Krishna Gobinda Gupta.
FRIDAY, 14th.-Royal Institution, 9. "Solar Vortices and Magnetic
Fields," by Prof. G. E. Hale, LL.D.

Physical, 8. "Bifilar Vibration Galvanometer," by W.
Duddell. "Effect of Temperature on the Hysteresis
Loss in Iron in a Rotating Field," by W. P. Fuller
and H. Grace. "Method of Testing Photographic
Shutters," by A. Campbell and T. Smith.

SATURDAY, 15th.-Royal Institution, 3. "Burke's Prose," by Prof.
Walter Raleigh, M.A.

A Selection from

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This, and the preceding volume on the Non-metallic Elements, constitute the most complete and up-to-date Treatise on Inorganic Chemistry now available in the English language.

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