NEW CAPITAL ISSUES IN FIRST

HALF-YEAR.

According to Midland Bank statistics, new issues of capital in the first six months of the year amounted to £124,345,182, as compared with £106,215,409 in JanuaryJune, 1924, and £123,524,654 in the first half of 19232.

MERCHANT NAVIES OF THE WORLD.

In a review of Lloyd's Register of Shopping for 1925-26, the Board of Trade Journal shews the growth of the world's merchant tonnage during the past twelve months, since 1914 and since 1891. The reduction in sailing vessels, the increase of steam tonnage and motor-ships, and other other changes in types of vessels and of machinery are also surveyed.

BRITISH DRUG HOUSES, LTD. We have to acknowledge receipt of a catalogue of fine chemical products, including organic and inorganic chemicals, analytial reagents, indicators, standard stains, etc., of the above well-known company. The catalogue iş arranged in alphabetical order and the prices are given usually per oz., lb., and g. and kg.

PROCEEDINGS AND NOTICES OF SOCIETIES.

THE CHEMICAL SOCIETY. The Spatial Structure of cycloparaffins. Part I. A New Aspect of Mohr's Theory and the Isomerism of Decahydronaphthalene, by W. A. WIGHTMAN.

The dynamic possibilities of Sachse's two strain-free configurations of cyclohexane are examined by the aid of specially constructed models. It is revealed that strainless motion, comprising co-ordinated relative rotation of the atoms about the bonds of the ring, is possible in one form, but not in the other, and the bearing of this discovery upon the isomerism of decahydronaphthalene and upon the possible existence of two forms of cyclohexane is discussed.

Chenopodium Oil. Part II. The Hydrocarbon Fraction, by T. A. HENRY AND H. PAGET.

Chenopodium oil contains from 70 to 75% of an organic peroxide ,ascaridole, the remainder being p-cymene and terpenes. It

is now shown that the lavorotatory component is 1-limonene, and that the failure. to identify it previously is due to the large amount of p-cymene present, and in part to the interference of a fourth constituent, which forms a tetrabromide, yielding a low melting, unstable mixture with 1-limonene tetrabromide, and so prevents separation of the latter, unless it is removed prior to bromination. 1-Limonene has now been identified by its tetrabromide, and the isolation of its characteristic oxidation products, among which is a new acid,

CH(OH)Me.SH2.SH(CH2.CO2H).
CH(OH)CO,H

The fourth constituent of the hydrocarbon fraction is present in minute quantity, is not separable from its associates, and has only been isolated in the form of its tetrabromide. From the latter an acetoxybromo derivative has been prepared, which on oxidation by chromic acid yields methyl p-tolyl ketone. Indirect evidence as to the nature of the new terpene has been obtained by the isolation from the products of oxidation of the whole hydrocarbon fraction of a hydroxy-ketone C1H16O2, the semicarbazone of which readily loses a molecule of water forming a base CHON, yielding characteristic crystalline salts.

10

Echitamine, by J. A. GOODSON AND T. A. HENRY.

221 28

The alkaloid echitamine, which has been known since 1875, has now been obtained from a new source, Alstonia congensis, and the opportunity has been taken to charac terise the base and its principal salts, and to make a further examination of these products. The alkaloid, which has the formula C2,H,O,N, has not been obtained crystalline, but it yields a series of well-crystallised salts. It is a methyl ester, and is readily hydrolysed, yielding demethylechitamine CHON. It contains a methyliminogroup, and yields a diacetyl derivative and a nitroso-compound, both of which are well crystallised. On treatment with nitric acid a brilliant red substance is formed which has the empirical formula of a simple dinitroderivative of the base. Echitamine appears to have an indole nucleus, since it and all its derivatives referred to above give a blue colouration with Hopkin and Cole's glyoxylic reagent for tryptophan, and on distillation with alkalis, echitamine furnishes, in addition to methyl alcohol and methylamine, a substance having the characters of a simple indole derivative.

SOCIETY OF GLASS TECHNOLOGY. The May meeting of the Society of Glass Technology was held in London and was devoted to a Symposium on the Constitution of Glass. Two sessions were held, at both of which members of the Faraday Society, the Optical Society, and the Physical Society, and others interested in the subject, were present. At the first session on May 25, the President, Mr. T. C. Moorshead, was in the chair; at the second, on May 26, the chair was occupied by Professor F. G. Donnan, F.R.S., President of the Faraday Society.

The following papers were presented:The Nature and Constitution of Glass, by Professor W. E. S. TURNER, D.Sc.

The abnormal properties recently observed in glass when heated in the annealing range (properties including greatly increased thermal expansion, heat absorption, and modification of specific electrical conductivity; and the changes of density and refractive index on heat treating glass) had their counterpart in the charges of plasticity which glass exhibited when remelted, or when the raw materials had considerable quantities of moisture or of certain salts present. Two fundamental factors must necessarily be involved in any explanation of these phenomena, namely, molecular complexity and the presence of compounds in glasses. The author proceeded to discuss our knowledge of these two factors in glasses and to suggest explanations for the behaviour of glasses.

On Glasses as Supercooled Liquids, by Professor G. TAMMANN.

In the absence of the author a translation of this paper by Mr. J. H. Davidson, M.Sc., F.I.C., was presented by Mr. F. F. S. Bryson, M.A., B.Sc. A discussion of the influence of degree of undercooling, nucleus. number, viscosity and other factors on the production of the glassy state. The customary soda-lime-silica glasses might be regarded as ternary mixtures of Na,, SiO2, Ca Si O, and Si O,. The two components Na, Si O, and Ca Si O, crystallised readily, as did practically all metasilicates, and this also applied to their mixtures, from which mixed crystals separated. With an excess of silica, the nucleus number of these mixed crystals was reduced extraordinarily, so that mixtures with an excess of 8 per cent. of silica, or over, solidified as glasses.

On the Constitution and Density of Glass, by DR. A. Q. TOOL, AND E .E. HILL.

This paper was presented for the authors

by Mr. E. A. Coad-Pryor, B.A. The condition of a glass was one which was intermediate between the liquid and solid states. Its condition at ordinary temperatures might be considered as undercooled not alone with regard to the process of crystallisation, usually known as the true solidification, but also with respect to the completion of many processes normal to the vitreous condition. Experimental data on the variation of density and of refractive index of a glass through heat treatment were quoted. The maximum density change observed was 1.10.

cate-Calcium Metasilicate-Silica, by DR. G. W. MOREY, AND DR. N. L. BOWEN.

This paper was presented for the authors by Dr. M. W. Travers, F.R.S. The following new compounds were found and their properties determined: the compoun 2 Na,O, CaO, 3 Si O,, which melts incongruently, forming a liquid richer in Na, SiO, and Na, O, 2 CaO, 3 SiO,; the compound Na,0, 2 CaO, 3 SiO,, which has a congruent melting point at 1248°; and the compound Na,0, 3 CaO, 6 Si O2, which melts incongruently at 1045°, forming a mixture of wollastonite and a glass containing approximately 15 per cent. CaO, 67 per cent. SiO2. The melting point surfaces of the various unary, binary, and ternary compounds existing as solid phases had been determined, and the results were given in tables and curves. The relation of the facts discovered to speculations on the constitution of glass was discussed.

on

X-Ray Diffraction Measurements Some Soda-Lime-Silica Glasses (A Preliminary Note), by DR. R. W. G. WYCYOFF AND DR. G. W. MOREY.

This paper was presented for the authors by Miss V. Dimbleby, B.Sc. In some instances the broad bands thought to be characteristic of glasses had been found. In other, however, narrow bands or lines had been obtained, which were as sharp as the lines produced by crystals of colloidal dimensions. Sometimes only one such broad line was observed, in other cases the pattern consisted of several such lines. In still other instances the photograph from a single glass was a composite of lines and broad bands. The positions of the lines were sometimes different from glass to glass, though frequently several glasses agreed in having lines in the same positions. An extended discussion of the results was deferred until many more glasses had been examined.

The Structure of Quartz, by SIR WILLIAM H. BRAGG, F.R.S.

The author observed that the problem of the structure of quartz was one of the first to be attempted some twelve years ago, when the X-rays became applicable to the examination of crystals, and a partial solution was obtained. The data, however, did not completely fix the position of the eparate atoms of silicon and oxygen. Four parameters still remained to be determined. One of these referred to the position of the silicon atom, the other three to the positions

of the oxygen. The object of the present

paper fas to describe a new plan based on the fact that quartz changed its structure on passing through 575° The hightemperature quartz was more symmetrical than the low. A number of considerations showed, however, that the change was not severe, and that if the high-temperature structure could be found, the low-temperature form was not very different. The four unknown quantities reduced to one on passing to the high-temperature form; the silicon atoms are fixed. and the oxygen atoms must lie on certain straight lines. Attempts to fix the positions of the oxygen atoms could be made, based on intensity measurements. The most probable value showed somewhat unexpectedly that each silicon atom was at the centre of a regular tetrahedron, of which the four corners were occupied by oxygen atoms. If it was assumed that the low-temperature quartz was not very different from the high-temperature quartz as determined in this way, the various twinnings of quartz were readily accounted for.

The Viscosity of Glass, by VAUGHAN H. STOTT, M.Sc.

The results of a critical study of the measurements of Dr. G. Washburn and G. Shelton, and of S. English, had been recently published by H. Le Chatelier. In the present paper these measurements were reconsiderd in conjunction with some additional determinations which had been carried out at the National Physical Laboratory. If it was desired to obtain final relations between viscosity and composition, in which errors due to impurities or inaccurate compositions generally, were not considerably greater than the errors of the viscosity determinations themselves, it would be necessary to prepare the glasses from materials of known purity and melt them without contamination. This procedure, which at present precluded the melting of large pieces of glass, would limit the design of viscosimeters.

NOTICES OF BOOKS.

Apologia Alchymice, by R. W. COUNCELL. (A Re-statement of Alchemy.) 88pp. London: John M. Watkins, 21 Cecil Court, Charing Cross Road.

This is an unconventional Book if ever one was written. Not only is the theory of the alchemists extolled until it apparently becomes an edifice of demonstrated truth, which none dare deny, but there is many a sly dig at, as well as open rebuke of, the great works of both ancient and modern scientists. The author, and also the writer of the foreword, are clearly enthusiasts in a heterodox cause but their enthusiasm does not equal in intensity that of a writer who, not many years ago, wrote a treatise in which he demonstrated to his own satisfaction that the earth was as flat as the proverbial pancake. So mote it be.

Base Exchange in Soils. Being a series of papers and general discussion held by the Faraday Society, December, 1924. Price 5s. Limp Cloth. Faraday Society, 90, Great Russell Street, London, W.C.1.

These papers and the discussion, constitute a useful book by a number of authors on an interesting subject. The first paper is by Dr. D. J. Hissing (Groningen, Holland). He says a part of the bases (lime, magnesia, soda, potash and ammonia) which are or may be present in the soil, is displaced on treating the soil with a solution of neutral salt. Way describes this process as early as 1850 in his famous paper. "On the Power of Soils to absorp Manure." His investigations led him to conclude (1) That the salt was not absorbed as a whole, but only the base; (2) That the filtered liquid contained the acid of the given salt united to lime; (3) That the quantity of lime acquired by the solution corresponded exactly that that of the base removed from it-the action was therefore a true chemical decomposition; (4) That the combination between the soil and the base was rapid, if not instantaneous, partaking, therefore, of the nature of the ordinary union between acid and an alkali. The process of change may be shewn as follows:

an

ex

Soil Mg + Mg Cl

Dr. Missink deals fairly exhaustively with the subject.

"Base

The papers are by N. M. Comber, D.Sc., A.R.C.S., F.I.C., "The Role of the Electronegative Ions in the Reactions between Soils and Electrolytes; H. J. Page and W. Williams," Studies on Phase Exchange in Rothamstead Soils"; G. W. Robinson, M.A., and Rice Williams, M.Sc., Exchange in Relation to the Problem of Soil Acidity."; S. F. Saint, B.Sc., A.I.C., on "The Relation between the pH Value, the Lime Requirement and the Thiocyanate Colour of Soils; E. A. Fisher, M.A., B.Sc. F.I.C., F.Inst P., On Base Exchange in Relation to the Swelling of Soil Colloids "; and then is given a general discussion.

The Physical Chemistry of Igneous Rock Formation. Being a number of papers and a general discussion before the Faraday Society in October, 1924. Limp Cloth. 6s. 6d.

Modern Inorganic Chemistry. By DR. MELLOR. New Edition, 1123 pp. Price 12s. 6d. net. Longmans, Green and Company, 39, Paternoster Row, London, E.C.

The present new and enlarged edition of the above standard work is very welcome, especially as the author has re-written several chapters. A not unimportant matter is the fact that the price remains the same as for the smaller book, 930 pp., as compared with the present edition of 1123

pages.

New Patents.

This list is specially compiled for The Chemical News by Rayner and Co., Registered Patent Agents, of 5, Chancery Lane, London, from whom all information relating to Patents, Trade Marks, and Designs, can be obtained gratuituously.

Latest Patent Applications. 16917.-Ashcroft, E. A.-Treatment of sulphide ores, etv. July 1st.