CHEMICAL NEWS,} April 12, 1912 Chemical Notices from Foreign Sources. Fertility and Fertiliser Hints. By JAMES EDWARD 179 Die Nephritis. ("Nephritis "). By Dr. MARTIN H. Co. London: Williams and Norgate. 1911. THIS book is an abridgment of a larger work by the same author, entitled "Soil Fertility and Fertilisers." It may be regarded as an introduction to the study of the nature and action of fertilisers, which is sufficiently detailed for the use of the average farmer, or for the student who is beginning a course of agricultural chemistry. The composition of manures, methods of applying them, ways of maintaining the fertility of the soil and getting the greatest possible return from it, are described in simple straightforward language, and the subject is treated from a thoroughly practical point of view. The examples, how- The Value or Quinine in Combating Malarial Fever. By ever, are naturally drawn mainly from American practice, which would restrict the value of the book to English farmers, while a further drawback is the insertion of quite unnecessary and uninstructive illustrations, e.g., that of a hog-not to illustrate its special points, but simply as "one of the sources of bone phosphate." Analytical Report, 1911. Philadelphia Smith, Kline, S. S. ABRAHAMSON. Netherlands: Indies Association for the Promotion of the Interests of the Cinchona Planters. 1911. THIS small work contains a short popular account of the malarial mosquito and of the febrifuge qualities of quinine. The measures taken by different countries to promote the use of quinine in combating malaria are described, and interesting statistics relating to its consumption are added. The graphical appendix shows in a very striking manner. how remarkably the mortality from malarial fever has fallen in Italy since the Government undertook the distribution of quinine. and French Company. THIS analytical report contains the full results of the analysis of the drugs which have been examined by the chemical staff of Messrs. Smith, Kline, and French during the three years from June, 1908 to 1911. In addition a short account is given of the methods adopted in the physiological testing of some drugs, and the titles and brief abstracts of all the papers which have been published CHEMICAL NOTICES FROM FOREIGN by the staff are included. La Vie et les Travaux du Prof. Dr. St. de Kostanecki. "The Life and Works of Prof. St. de Kostanecki "). By E. NELTING. DR. E. Nolting, the colleague and friend of the late Prof. Stanislas Kostanecki, delivered the lecture which is reproduced in this pamphlet before the Swiss Chemical Society in August, 1911. In the lecture he sketched the life of Dr. Kostanecki, and gave a résumé of his chief contributions to chemistry. His career was short but brilliant, and his activity was remarkable. Most of his researches dealt with the synthesis of aromatic derivatives, particularly dyes and colouring matters, and the list of papers he published is an astonishing record; he reached many results of first-rate importance, and by his untimely death organic chemistry has suffered a severe loss. Magnetochemie. ("Magnetochemistry "). By Prof. Dr. E. WEDEKIND. Berlin: Gebrüder Borntraeger. 1911. (3 Mks.). SOURCES. NOTE.-All degrees of temperature are Centigrade unless otherwise expressed. Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de l'Académie des Sciences. Vol. cliv., No. 4, January 22, 1912. Bromine Compounds of Alkalolds of Peganum harmala.-V. Hasenfratz. - The seeds of Peganum harmala contain two alkaloids, harmaline C13H14N2O, and harmic acid, when they are oxidised by chromic acid in harmine C13H12N2O. They yield the same dibasic acid, presence of acetic acid, and harmic acid is transformed by The methyl iodide compound of apoharmine is decomposed distillation in vacuo into the secondary base, apoharmine. by potash yielding methylapoharmine. All four substances readily give monosubstituted bromine derivatives by the action of bromine in acetic solution, and bromine water gives a dibrominated compound with harmine. All these bromine derivatives are monacid bases. Action of Caustic Potash on Secondary Alcohols. to about 230° with caustic potash a very small amount is oxidised, giving rise to acids, while the greater part is transformed into condensed alcohols. Thus isopropyl alcohol gives a small quantity of acetic and formic acids, but the chief product is methylisobutylcarbinol formed by the con. densation of two molecules of isopropyl alcohol, and 2-4-dimethyl-6-heptanol formed by the condensation of three molecules of isopropyl alcohol. The action of caustic potash on an alcohol of high molecular weight may be employed to determine whether it is a primary or secondary alcohol. If it is the former it is transformed entirely into the potash salt of the corresponding acid, which salt is soluble in water. If it is a secondary alcohol only a very small proportion of acid is formed, and the greater part of the alcohol either remains unchanged or else is transformed into condensed alcohols which float on the surface when the product is taken up with water. MAGNETOCHEMISTRY is a growing branch of the science, which has developed particularly rapidly since it has been-Marcel Guerbet.-When secondary alcohols are heated established that magnetisability is a molecular as well as an atomic property, and also since the diamagnetism of the organic compounds has been made the subject of careful investigation. This monograph treats briefly of the relations between the magnetic properties and the chemical nature of substances; it is written mainly from a chemical point of view, but the author gives an outline of the fundamental principles of magnetism, and describes shortly the methods of research employed. The results which have been obtained in the study of ferromagnetic materials, the magnetism of dissolved salts, the susceptibility of para- and diamagnetic substances are critically discussed and clearly summarised, and a brief account is given of Weiss's magneton theory, which, in the author's opinion, is a most important contribution to chemistry, and will have great influence in the solution of magnetic as well as of purely chemical problems. Berichte der Deutschen Chemischen Gesellschaft, Vol. xlv., No. 2, 1912. Platinum, Rhodium, and Hydrogen.-A. Sieverts and E. Jurisch.-The authors have determined the solubility of hydrogen at atmospheric pressure in platinum wire from 1340° upwards. It increases as the temperature rises. If platinum saturated with hydrogen is allowed to cool in the gas practically no hydrogen is retained. At room temperature compact platinum takes up no appreciable amount of hydrogen. The power of absorption of platinum for hydrogen is less than that of an equal weight of iron or nickel, and very much less than that of copper. If the temperature is constant the quantities absorbed by platinum wire are proportional to the square root of the pressure of the hydrogen. Carbon monoxide and sulphur dioxide give no indication of solubility in platinum. Precipitated rhodium when heated in vacuo gives up considerable amounts of CO2, O2, H2, and H2O. Four grms. of the ignited metal do not dissolve measurable amounts of hydrogen and carbon dioxide between 420° and 1020°. = F = Magnetisability of Oxides and Sulphides of Vanadium.-E. Wedekind and C. Horst.-The authors have prepared a number of compounds of vanadium, and have calculated their specific susceptilibity, X, from the formula X Ko + F(x-xo), where F and F' denote the observed pressure, and the pressure on the normal substance x' and xo are the susceptibility of the normal substance and air, d and p are the true and apparent density of the substance. The results obtained are as follows: VO, X = +50 06 × 10-6; V2O3, X = +13.88 x 10-6; VO2, X = +373 × 10-6; V205, X = +0.86 x 10-6; VS, X +7 22 X 10-6; V2S3, X = +865 × 10-6; V2S5 X = +12.56 × 10-6; VN, X = +413× 10-6; VOČI, X +27.16 × 10−6. New Red Hydrocarbon. -Rudolf Pummerer.-By the distillation of diphenic acid with lime Kerp obtained a red substance, which he described as a pseudo-diphenylketone. The author, however, has found that the substance is a mixture which contains a new hydrocarbon, for which he has suggested the name rubicene. It is a bright red substance of formula C26H14, and appears to be a condensed di-biphenylene-ethene. = = Bulletin de la Société Chimique de France. Vol. xi.-xii., No. 4, 1912. At Solubility of Nickel and Cobalt Perchlorates.-H. Golblum and F. Terlikowski.-The perchlorates of nickel, cobalt, and chromium have very similar crystallographic properties, crystallising in the hexagonal system. Didymium perchlorate crystallises in the cubic system. Nickel and cobalt perchlorates both crystallise with five molecules of water at the ordinary temperature. -213° they contain nine molecules of water of crystallisation. Their solubility is very great, and increases with the temperature. Ni(CIO4)2 is the less stable of the two perchlorates, decomposing at 103° to give a basic salt, and hydrolysing in aqueous solutions. The cryohydratic point of Ni(ClO4)2 is 49°, and that of Co(CIO4)2 is -62.20. NEWS primary alcohols give hydrogen and a certain proportion of ethylenic hydrocarbon, while those containing from C upwards are totally transformed into the corresponding acids. Thus with these the caustic potash acts as an oxidising agent, CnH2n+1CH2OH + KOH=C„H2n+1CO2K +4H. With alcohols of lower molecular weight it also acts as a dehydrating agent, CnH2n+1CH2OH-H2O+CnH2n=CH2. With isoamyl alcohol the yield is 91 per cent of the theoretical yield, and alcohols containing more than six atoms of carbon are practically quantitatively transformed into acids. Development of Active Principles of Medicinal Plants in 1911.-James Burmann.-Tha author has determined the alkaloids or glucosides in specimens of aconite, belladonna, digitalis, and colchicum grown in the year 1911. On the whole, the year was favourable to the development of toxic principles in these plants. In spite of the dryness of the season the percentages of water showed only very slight variations. MISCELLANEOUS. Faraday Society.-The next meeting of the Faraday Society will take the form of a general discussion on "Magnetic Properties of Alloys." The discussion will take place on Tuesday, April 23rd, at 8 p.m., at the Institution of Electrical Engineers, Victoria Embankment, London, W.C. The meeting will be open to members of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, of the Physical Society of London, and of the Institute of Metals. Others interested in the subject desirous of being present should apply to the Secretary of the Faraday Society, 82, Victoria Street, London, S.W. Sir Robert Hadfield, F.R.S., will preside over the discussion. The following provisional programme has been arranged : Prof. E. Wedekind will read a paper on "The Dependence of Magnetisation on Valency in Chemical Compounds." Dr. Alexander D. Ross and Dr. J. G. Gray will read papers on "The Magnetic Properties of a Variety of Special Steels at Low Temperatures," and on "The Heusler Alloys." The following papers will be communicated:"The Equipment of the Magnetic Laboratory of the Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt, Charlottenburg." By Geheimrat Dr. E. Gumlich. "The Nature of the Heusler Alloys":-"The Physical Aspect." By Dr. E. Take. "The Chemical Aspect." By Dr. F. Heusler. "Variation of Ferromagnetic Properties of the Heusler Alloys with Composition and Heat Treatment." By Prof. A. A. Knowlton. "The Relations between the Mechanical Hardness and the Retentivity and Permeability of Ferro-alloys." By Prof. C. E. Burgess and Mr. James Aston. The subject will then be open for general discussion. MEETINGS FOR THE WEEK. WEDNESDAY, TUESDAY, 16th.-Royal Institution, 3. "Algernon Charles Swinburne -His Early Life and Work," by Edmund Gosse, LL.D. 17th.-Microscopical, 8. "Life History of a Marine Diatom from Bournemouth," by J. D. Siddall. "Modified Form of the Lever Fine-adjustment, and a Simple Turnout Device for the Substage Condenser," by E. B. Stringer. Royal Society of Arts, 8. "Municipal Chemistry," by J. H. Coste, F.I.C. 18th.-Royal Institution, 3. Utilisation of the Magnetic Field as a Reagent of Constitution.-Paul Pascal.-The unexpected fall of the diamagnetism of monohalogen derivatives is even more marked in the polyhalogen compounds, especially in those in which the atoms of chlorine, bromine, and iodine are attached to the same carbon. Fluorine exhibits some interesting peculiarities. In the dihalogen ethylene derivatives the decrease is approximately that which characterises a double bond, and when the number of halogen atoms is THURSDAY, increased the lowering is also accentuated, but not in the same proportion. Action of Caustic Potash on Primary Alcohols.Marcel Guerbet.-When heated in sealed tubes to temperatures of 200-230°, the lower members of the series of "Synthetic Ammonia and Nitric Acid from the Atmosphere," by Prof. A. W. Crossley, F.R.S. FRIDAY, 19th.-Royal Institution, 9. "Electricity Supply-Past, Present, and Future," by A. A. Campbell Swinton, M.I.E.E., &c. SATURDAY, 20th.-Royal Institution, 3. "The Architecture of the Renaissance in France," by Reginald Blomfield, F. E. BECKER & CO., 17-27, HATTON WALL, E.C. Cloth, 316 Paper covers, 216. (Postage, 4d. extra). THE WHEAT PROBLEM: Based on Remarks made in the Presidential Address to the British Association at Bristol in 1898. REVISED WITH AN ANSWER TO VARIOUS CRITICS By SIR WILLIAM CROOKES, F.R.S. WITH PREFACE AND ADDITIONAL CHAPTER, BRINGING THE With Two Chapters on the Future Wheat Supply of the OPINIONS of the PRESS. "The student of economic science and sociology will find this volume full of interesting material. . . The entire subject is of the profoundest interest, and an excellent purpose has been served by the publication of these papers in a single volume."-The Eagle (Brooklyn, N.Y.). 9 "Sir William Crookes .. has propounded a problem which in the next century [written in 1899] is bound to engage the close attention not merely of agricultural experts, but of economists and statesmen."-Speaker. "If these somewhat gloomy prognostications result in drawing the attention of chemists more seriously to what has hitherto been only an interesting laboratory problem, Sir William Crookes will have conferred an incalculable benefit on the race."-Western Morning News. CHEMICAL NEWS OFFICE, 16, NEWCASTLE ST., FARRINGDON ST., E.C NOTICES. E B. EDITORIAL.-All Literary communications, and Books, Chemical SUBSCRIPTIONS, £1 per annum, payable in advance, should be ADVERTISEMENTS.-All communications for the Advertisement Whole page SOALE OF CHARGES. Half page, or Whole column Business Cards, Trade and other brief Announcements, Contract terms for extended periods by arrangement. Where replies are to be forwarded 8d. extra should be sent. Cheques and Postal Orders to be made payable to Sir WILLIAM CROOKES and crossed "London County and Westminster Bank. Half penny Postage Stamps received for amounts under £1. THE CHEMICAL NEWS, 16, Newcastle Street, Farringdon Street, LONDON, E.C. FREDK. JACKSON & CO., Ltd., ORSAT GAS ANALYSIS APPARATUS. THE 14, CROSS STREET, MANCHESTER. GOODS ENTRANCE: Io, Half Moon Street. TELEGRAPHIC ADDRESS: BALANCES, Apparatus, Manchester. GENERAL CHEMICAL APPARATUS, HEMPEL and ORSAT GAS ANALYSIS THE LONDON GAS REFEREES' GAS BURETTES OF VARIOUS KINDS. ILLUSTRAFEd price lisTS FREE ON APPLICATION. AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHER COVERS FOR BINDING. and PHOTOGRAPHIC NEWS. Edited by F. J. MORTIMER, F.R.P.S. Price TWOPENCE-Every TUESDAY. The Leading Paper for Everyone interested in Photography, Special Articles on PICTORIAL and MODERN SCIENTIFIC PHOTOGRAPHY. The best and brightest Photographic PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED. Office: 51, LONG ACRE, LONDON, W.C. PORCELAIN Cloth, Gilt-lettered Covers for Binding the Half-year! CHEMICAL NEWS may now be obtained. Price 1/5 each (post free 1/8). Volumes Bound in Cloth Cases, Lettered and Numbered at as. 6d. per volume CHEMICAL NEWS OFFICE. 16, NEWCASTLE ST.. FARRINGDON ST., E.C. MICA. Telephone P. WIGGINS & SONS, 102/8/4, Minories, London, E. HALDENWANGER Can be obtained from all businesses which deal in Chemical Apparatus. London: Printed and Published for the Proprietor by EDWIN JOHN DAVEY, at the Office, 16, Newcastle Street, Farringdon Street, E.C. April 12, 1912 THE lekiem Kab CHEMICAL NEWS Edited by AND JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE Sir Wm. Crookes, O.M., F.R.S.] (WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE "CHEMICAL GAZETTE"). Published Weekly. Annual Subscription free by post £1. Entered at the New York Post Office as Second Class Mail Matter. Vol. 105.-No. 2734. reserved. Friday, April 19, 1912. CONTENTS. ARTICLES: PAGE Recent Devolopments in Bakelite, by L. H. Baekeland 181 183 The Determination of Copper, by E. C. Kendall A Method of Analysing some Commercial Gold Alloys-Metals MEETINGS FOR THE WEEK........ ........................ 184 186 Registered as [PRICE 44. a Newspaper. POST FREE 4jd. Chemist (30) wishes to improve position. Ten years' experience in Metallurgical, General Analytical, and Research Work, both in Works and Public Laboratories. Specialist in the Analysis of Rubber and Rubber Works Materials. Highest references. Address, R. I., CHEMICAL NEWS Office, 16, Newcastle Street, Farringdon Street, London, E.C. Chemist, B Sc. (28), University trained, ex perienced in control of large Works Laboratory, desires Post. Would assist Experimental or Research work or Analyst.-Address, "C.28," CHEMICAL NEWS Office, 16, Newcastle Street, Farringdon Street, London, E.C. 187 Wanted young and competent Chemist for LABORATORY. PURE 12 Page Illustrated Pamphlet, fully describing various forms of Apparatus and method of using them, Post Free to Readers of the "Chemical News." OZONAIR, Ltd., 96, Victoria Street, Westminster, London, S.W. CHEMICALS NEW PRICE LISTS NOW READY. Free on application. SOLE DEPÔT JOHN J. GRIFFIN & SONS, LTD., |