did not understand it, his much-read and otherwise excellent book is also responsible for the confusion which prevails in this sphere of chemical science.—Journal of Physical Chemistry,

April, 1921.

PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.

ROYAL SOCIETY.

Ordinary Meeting, June 16, 1921.

PROF. C. S. SHERRINGTON, President, in the Chair.

THE following papers were read :

"Velocity of Sound in Gases at High Temperatures, and the Ratio of the Specific Heats." By H. B. DIXON, F.R.S., COLIN CAMPBELL, D.Sc., and A. PARKER, D.Sc.

"The Ratio of the Specific Heats of Air and of Carbon Dioxide." By J. R. PARTINGTON, D.Sc.

an

The ratio of the specific heats, y=c-p/c_v, has been determined by the method of adiabatic expansion for the gases air and carbon dioxide. The gas was contained in a 120-litre vessel, and the temperature change immediately after expansion followed by a platinum thermometer, with compensating leads of wire o001 mm. diameter, the resistance of which was observed by Einthoven string galvanometer of o'o seconds period. The fundamental temperature measurements were made by a mercury thermometer. The results were calculated by the characteristic equation of D. Berthelot, so that deviations from the ideal gaseous state were allowed for. The final results, which are believed to be accurate to 1 part in 1000, are: y for air at 17° C. =14034; y for carbon dioxide at 17°C. = 13022. From these numbers the specific heats of the gases were calculated by Berthelot's equation, with the following results for air at 17° C. =0 2387 cal.; c-, for carbon dioxide at 17° C. =0·1996 cal. All the values refer to atmospheric pressure.

"Light Body' Hydrophones and the Directional Properties of Microphones." By A. B. WOOD, D.Sc., and F. B. YOUNG, D.Sc..

Prof. W. H. Bragg's theory of the vibration under water of a rigid body of low density has been tested. It is found that a light prolate ellipsoid actually possesses directional properties by virtue of its shape. Quantitative results obtained agree with calculated values supplied by Prof. Lamb.

Owing to the pronounced intrinsic directional properties of the microphone (when suitably mounted), a spherical "light body" hydrophone is practically equal in directional efficiency to one of ellipsoidal form.

Though "light body" hydrophones are not so sensitive as hydrophones of other types, a miniature spherical one proved of great value as an experimental exploring instrument.

"Acoustic Disturbances produced by Small Bodies in Plane Waves transmitted through Water, with Special Reference to the Single Plate Direction Finder." By A. B. WOOD, D.Sc., and F. B. YOUNG, D.Sc.

The experiments were undertaken primarily with the object of elucidating the action of the "single plate direction finder" an instrument designed for detecting the direction of a source of sound submerged in water.

Sound distribution was explored round a number of discs immersed at a distance from a small submerged source of sound. By means of a pair of miniature hydrophones-one bi-directional, the other non-directional-it was possible to chart (1) direction of oscillation of the water particles; (2) relative amplitude of the movements; (3) relative amplitudes of the pressure oscillations.

The charts obtained fall broadly into two classes, according as the discs are solid or contain air-filled cavities, very minute air-filled spaces giving marked effects. Charts are shown of sound distribution round both the bi-directional and the uni-directional direction finders.

The behaviour of a typical baffle-plate is investigated. No satisfactory theory of the baffle can be offered to cover all experimental facts.

An Appendix deals with the exploration of the acoustic field produced on the reservoir by a small source of sound.

"Some Problems connected with Evaporation from large Expanses of Water." By M. A. GIBLETT.

The water which falls as rain, &c., is originally evaporated from the earth's surface, in particular from the oceans. It is therefore important to ascertain how the evaporated water distributes itself in an atmospheric current during its progress across a water-surface, and how the amount of water rendered available depends on the length of the path over the surface and on meteorological conditions.

These problems are considered for a current of air of uniform speed, moving over a water-surface of uniform temperature. In the immediate vicinity of the surface is a thin layer of air through which water-vapour diffuses slowly by molecular processes, but above this is a rapid transition to a turbulent régime, where diffusion becomes much more rapid. Account is taken of the complex molecular processes at and near the water-surface, by means of an empirical evaporation formula, and the problem is treated as one of eddy-diffusion with this as boundary condition.

Formulæ are obtained for humidity at any point of the air-current, and for rate of evaporation from stretches of water extending any distance downwind. Introducing numerical values for the constants in the empirical formula, the distribution of water-vapour is obtained for some typical cases, and an estimate made of the rate of evaporation from long stretches of water under various conditions of wind, water-surface, temperature, and turbulence. The formulæ are employed to examine the nature and magnitude of the effect which each of the last-mentioned elements may exert, when varied within their natural range, and to compare the evaporation under different sets of possible conditions. The results emphasize, amongst other things, the control exercised by atmospheric turbulence over evaporation from large areas.

"The Photographic Efficiency of Heterogeneous Light." By F. C. Toy, M.Sc., A. Inst. P.

This paper investigates the question of the action of heterogeneous light on the photographic plate. Two possible laws of action are discussed :

(1) All the different radiations composing the heterogeneous beam may act simultaneously but independently, i.e., each may act as though the

NEWS

others are not present.

(2) All radiations may act simultaneously, but not independently.

This question is investigated theoretically, and it is shown that the possibility of testing it experimentally depends on the form of law connecting the probability of a single grain of the photographic emulsion being made developable with the intensity of the exciting light. The form of this law, recently proved experimentally by Slade and Higson, is considered, and a result is deduced which can be directly tested by experiment. From the evidence thus obtained it is concluded that over the spectral range used in the experiments (4350 to 4000) radiations of different frequencies do not act independently in producing the photographic effect, but simply as a total amount even when a difference in quality exists.

NOTICES OF BOOKS.

Famous Chemists: The Men and Their Work. By Sir WILLIAM TILDEN, F.R.S., D.Sc., LL.D., Sc.D., Professor Emeritus of Chemis try in the Imperial College of Science and Technology. London: George Routledge & Sons. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co. 1921. Price 12s. 6d. net.

THE above work by Sir William Tilden is not a history in the usual sense of the word, it is rather a series of sketches collected with much apparent care of the lives of many men of the past whose names and work are familiar enough in the scientific world, and well-known to the educated public. The work is of peculiar interest, for the author has related in a very charming manner many details in the lives of those great men of whose labours we are reaping the fruit, while he has unconsciously added not a little of his own personality. As a result, the book has a fascination that those who know the author can very fully appreciate.

Sir William, in arranging the material for his book has taken for a guiding principle the Evolution of the Atomic Theory from the early idea of the chemical element, the Laws of Combination, Application of the Atomic Doctrine to the explanation of chemical phenomena, the application of the idea of Valency to the constitution and structure of the Molecule, and the study of the Properties of Atoms. The men whose lives are recorded are those who have taken a leading part in researches in this domain.

The material of the work is arranged in ten groups, commencing with Robert Boyle as the father of chemistry in 1691, through the period of the Phlogistians, to Scheele in 1786, and then on to the Anti-phlogistic Revolution in 1794, where we have the melancholy history of Lavoisier told with a pathos that enhances the interest in one of the saddest deeds of the French Revolution; the account is so vividly told that in reading it one seems to be carried back into the scenes of that very dark time. The animosity of Murat brought about by the fact that he once attempted to make himself prominent in connection with physical science and had propounded a "Theory of Fire" that was condemned by Lavoisier in no measured terms-the disgraceful behaviour of the

chemist Fourcroy-the lodgment in the Port-libre prison-the frantic efforts of his devoted wife to obtain his release—the pathetic letter that he wrote to her begging her not to exhaust herself in useless efforts, and the last scene, when, having first witnessed the end of his friend and father-in-law Paulze, he was placed under the axe, constitute one of the saddest pages in human history. "The world has seen many revolutions since that day, and other revolutions will arise so long as injustice continues to be imposed by the few on the many." The application of Electricity to the service of Chemistry is introduced by a clearly-written biography of Sir Humphry Davy, which is very fully illustrated; the Poet-Chemist seems to live again, and in reading the account one passes from one place to another in the life of this remarkable man with an interest that makes it difficult to lay the book aside; in these days of after-war darkness, with strikes, labour troubles, murders, and the nauseating activity of the divorce courts, it is interesting indeed to follow the mind of Davy in one of his early poems.

Is this a time of minstrelsy,

When Nature rests in deathlike sleep,
And roots and buds and herbage lie
Embalmed in cerements deep.

It is a time of minstrelsy,

For round these walls what magic forms
Appear in grace and harmony;

The pencil of the artist warms.

The coldest scenes and powers sublime,
Awakening moral forms of things,
And new creations steal from Time
His scythe, and close his wings.
It is a time of minstrelsy.

For social converse wakes the mind
To pure and happy sympathy;
And elegance and taste refined.
Call to the hospitable board

The force of reason, and the flow
Of memory with wisdom stored
Which might awake a grateful glow.
In Fancy e'en though checked by age.
Make sunshine in the darkest day,
And kindle in the coldest sage

Some strain of vocal minstrelsy. Many illustrations are given, including the humorous sketch of the Theatre of the Royal Intitution by Gillray, where Davy, acting as assistant, is seen administering a dose of some gaseous compound to a trustful member of the audience.

The life history closes with a reproduction of the tomb of Davy in the cemetery of Geneva.

The life of Faraday falls on to Group VI., "Electro-Chemistry," and there is to be found a fund of information that fails in interest only by the fact that the history has been written so frequently.

In the chapters headed "Molecules and Atoms Defined" are to be found the lives of Avogadro and Cannizzaro, followed by Liebig, Dumas, Frankland, and Williamson, and the last groups are devoted to Mendeleeff, Crookes, and Ramsay.

The life and work of Crookes is given in great detail, accompanied by a good recent portrait that was taken in his study, together with several photographs of the Laboratory in Kensington Park Gardens; the account is strictly accurate, as can be vouched for by the writer, who acted as his private assistant from 1881 until his death. Sir William Crookes was very retiring, and but little is known of his private life.

The life of Ramsay has more the character of narrative than that of Crookes; the brilliant researches that led to the discovery of the inert

gases of the atmosphere are in themselves sufficient to fill a volume, and indeed that has already been done by Sir William himself in his "Gases of the Atmosphere." In the sketch before us, the life and the work of the man are happily blended together, and the reproduction of some letters written from Bombay and on board ship on the occasion of an official visit to India are full of human interest and touches of humour that will be prized by those who had the pleasure of his acquaintance.

The book ends with an "Epilogue” in which the recent developments in chemical theory brought about by the demonstration of the properties of radioactive matter are briefly reviewed.

The work is certainly one of the most interesting that has appeared since the war, and by its publication the author has brought a real pleasure within the reach of all lovers of pure science, and many a tired one will be grateful for a few hours' quiet spent over "Famous Chemists: The Men and their Work."

J.H.G.

com

Bibliotheca Chemico-Mathematica Catalogue of Works in Many Tongues on Exact and Applied Science. With a Subject Index compiled and annotated by H.Z. and H.C.S. With 127 plates, containing 247 Portraits and Facsimiles. Vol. I. London : Henry Southern & Co. 1921. In two volumes. Price 3 Guineas net. This remarkable work (the writer of the preface modestly calls it a catalogue), was menced in 1906, and gradually assumed the proportion in which it now appears, occupying twowell-bound volumes, and extending to 964 pages. The work is claimed to be the first historical catalogue of science that has been published; it is certainly the most complete that we have seen, and will undoubtedly be welcomed by all lovers of books. The illustrations, which form the striking feature of the work, are half-tone plates printed on special paper, and include besides facsimiles of illustrations and portraits, textual passages from the more important works; it is claimed that many of them are reproduced for the first time

The books are arranged in alphabetical order, together with the price, bibliographical particulars, and historical references.

was

The value of the work is still further enhanced by the inclusion of a very complete Index, which embraces not only the books in the catalogue, but also those of further lists that have been published since the "Chemico-Mathematica" printed; this, although it lacks the interest due to the illustrations that are given in the main volume is in itself a valuable asset. The authors express their indebtedness to Heinrich Zeitlinger of Linz, "a well-wisher of learning and of England," to whom is due the greater part of the work.

J.H.G. Extra Pharmacopeia of Martindale and Westcott. Revised by W. HARRISON MARTINDALE, Ph.D., F.C.S., and W. WYNN WESTCOTT, M B. (Lond). D.P.H. Seventeenth Edition. Vol. II. London: H. K. Lewis & Co., Ltd. 1921. Price 17s. 6d.

This volume forms an addition to Vol. I., which was issued in June, 1920. The authors state in

their preface that they have submitted many of the statements that have appeared in recent scientific literature to laboratory test; the general results of these experiments are given in alphabetical order in the early pages of the book. These practical notes cannot fail to be of value. The section includes a short but comprehensive account of the science of Radiology Ultra-Violet Light. Of course, it is not intended to be other than a condensed note, but the condensation has been pushed to such a degree that we almost fear it may be misleading. In referring to the theory of Isotopes, we notice the bald statements that "Mercury is composed of five or six isotopes, Neon mixture of isotopic elements of different weights, as is also Chlorine." Should this meet the eye of a pharmaceutical student with but little knowledge of modern science, the result might be confusing.

is a

The Condensed Chemical Dictionary. Compiled and Edited by the Editorial Staff of the Chemical Engineering Staff of the Chemical Engineering Catalog (F. M. TURNER, Jr., Technical Editor). Pp. 525 New York : The Chemical Catalog Co., Inc., 1, Madison Avenue.

This book gives a list of chemical substances in alphabetical order, giving their synonyms (if any), colour, and properties, constants, solubility, containers, uses, railroad, shipping regulations, &c.

This should prove a valuable help to not only the non-technical mind, but also to the chemist, who comes up against substances of which he wants a little knowledge, but being not directly concerned with it in his everyday routine of business, has generally to search through either one of the big dictionaries on chemistry or academical treatise. To give an example of the method employed in this book, one is taken at hazard:

Dioxyanthraquinone (Chrysazine)
C1H,O,(OH), 1: 8.

an

Colour and properties: Reddish-brown needles. Constants: Melting-point 191° C. Soluble in

alcohol; sparingly soluble in water. Derivation From dinitroanthraquinone (18) by reduction and subsequent diazotization. Method of purification: Crystallisation. Grades Technical.

Containers Wooden kegs.
Uses Dyestuffs.

Fire hazard: None.

Railroad shipping regulations: None.

The dictionary is primarily compiled for the use of exporters and importers, brokers, lawyers, insurance companies, and many other classes of firms and individuals who have frequent need for information regarding chemicals and chemical products. Beside the dictionary proper there are a few pages relegated to the definition of units, also temperature conversion tables, &c. It should prove very useful to those for whom it is intended.

N.B.M.

CLOWES, COLEMAN, xvi+241.

Elementary Practical Chemistry. Part I., General Chemistry. By FRANK D.Sc. (Lond.), and J. BERNARD A.R.C.Sc. Seventh Edition. Pp. London: J. & A. Churchill. 1920. Price 6s. This little volume is especially intended for pupils of secondary schools, and other students who are not training for the profession of consulting and analytical chemistry. It accordingly comprises a course of instruction which gradually presents the principles of chemistry to the student by means of a selected series of experiments.

It commences with a description of the metric system of weights and measures, and the determination of density and temperature. Concise directions are then given for the preparation and use of some simple bench apparatus, such as the making of a wash-bottle, and the mounting of a platinum wire. The student next studies the composition of air and water, the process of combustion, and the properties of some important nonmetals and metals and their compounds.

Many quantitative experiments are given, including some which illustrate the laws of chemical combination and of chemical equivalence, and the relation of acid to alkalis as regards their neutralising power.

The book is divided into fourteen sections, the last being comprised of miscellaneous exercises, such as the preparation of crystalline salts, &c. An Appendix is added in which is given a list of atomic weights, chemical equivalents of elements, conversion of tables of thermometer scales, and other data useful to the student.

N.B.M.

A Text-book of Organic Chemistry. By A. F. HOLLEMAN, Ph.D. Edited by A. JAMIESON WALKER. Fifth Edition. Pp. xviii. +642. 1920. London: Chapman & Hall. Price 18s. 6d. net.

The first English edition of this text-book was published in 1903, and it has just appeared in its fifth edition, which shows how much the author's work has been appreciated. In the two parts the whole field of organic chemistry is well covered. The first part deals with the aliphatic compounds; the second with the cyclic compounds. There are illustrations occurring through the book to render the text more casily understood. The book has a good index, which runs into 32 pages.

N.B.M.

The use of flotation methods for the concentration of ores has been greatly extended recently, and is now widely employed in various parts of the world, and for many different kinds of ores. More than 70 million tons of ore are now treated by flotation processes annually, and there is every reason to believe that this does not represent by any means the maximum amount that can be reached, although it does not appear at all probable that wet methods will ever be entirely superseded. This book, which is a short resumé of the work that has been done upon the theory and practice of these processes, comes at an opportune moment, and will be found to give a useful outline of the subject. The factors to be taken into account in applying the method are reviewed shortly, and such questions as the choice of oils are well discussed and summarised. The author is inclined to claim too much for German skill and enterprise, and the references to English and American literature are distinctly inadequate, while the lists of potent specifications include only those taken out in Germany. Hence there are many omissions of very important patents which considerably reduces the value of the book. The author attributes most of the advances that have been made to the work of German chemists, and evidently considers that the methods of "patent trial" adopted by the scientific men of other nations are hardly to be regarded as true research work. However, the book has a real value as a careful compilation and summary, and in many cases it indicates the directions in which useful research work is waiting to be done.

CHEMICAL NOTICES FROM FOREIGN SOURCES.

Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de l'Académie des Sciences. Vol, clxxii., No. 23. "On Titanium Peroxide."-By M. Maurice Billy. "Contribution to the Study of Oils derived from Grape Pips."-By M. Emile André.

"On Some New Sulphonate Derivatives of Oxindol and Isatin -By MM. J. Martinet and O. Dornier.

"Allotropic Mdlle, S. Veil.

Modifications of Oxides."-By "Preparation of Mixed Secondary and Tertiary Phenolic Amines."-By M. A. Mailhe and F. de Godou. No. 24.

"Surface-tension of Mercury in Different Gases."

"Molybdo-malates of Ammonium and Sodium." By M. E. Darmois.

SO

Part II., entitled "Organic Combustions,' deals with the quantitative analysis of organic radicles; division A dealing with the determination of carbon and hydrogen; division B with nitrogen. N.B.M.

"Action of Sodium Carbonate on Chrome Alum Solutions."-By MM. L. Meunier and P. Caste. "Dehydration of Phenyl-1-dimethyl-2-2-butanol1, and Diphenyl 1-3 dimethyl-2-2-propanol-1."By Mdlle. Jeanne Apolit.

"Composition of the Essence of French Turpentine, and of the Bromide of a-Pinene."-By M. Pauselle.

"The Tetrahydronaphtols." By MM. A. Brochet and R. Cornubert.

"Influence of Ammonium Molybdate on the

Rotatory Value of Mannite."-By M. Georges Tauret.

"Decomposition of Metallic Alcoholates and Phenates by Heat."-By M. J. F. Durand. "Stereoscopic Photography of Crystals."-By M. Maurice François.

"Some Crystalline Rocks of Albania."-By MM. Jacques Bourcart and René Abrard.

NOTES.

UNLADEN WEIGHT OF HEAVY MOTORCARS.—The General Secretary of the Commercial Motor Users' Association (Inc.) draws attention to the

importance of seeing that the unladen weight

In a

which is painted on the offside of every heavy motorcar corresponds with the unladen weight as shown on the licence. Proceedings were recently taken by the police in the City of London where the weights shown on the licences were 7 tons and the weights on the vehicles were 5 tons, being the old registered weights. number of cases these proceedings were withdrawn, owing to the intervention of the Ministry of Transport at the instance of the Association. The Heavy Motorcar Order, 1904, has now been amended by increasing the maximum unladen weight of heavy motorcars to 7 tons, and the maximum combined unladen weight of a heavy motorcar and trailer to 9 tons. Users of heavy motor vehicles who desire further information are recommended to communicate with Mr. F. G. Bristow, General Secretary, Commercial Motor Users' Association (Inc.), 50, Pall Mall, London, S.W.1.

BRITISH ENGINEERS' ASSOCIATION. Although the British Engineers' Association, being a purely trade association, confines its activities to the promotion of the commercial interests of the engineering industry, and plays no part in labour disputes or wages negotiations, it is vitally interested in their effects upon output, costs of production, and selling prices. As representing the commercial side of the industry, i.e., the side concerned with the profitable disposal of the products of their joint labours it may claim to speak alike in the interests of employer and employed. The present situation in the engineering trades is so grave, and the consequences to the nation threaten to be so serious, that the Council feel it their duty to present the following facts and reflections for the earnest consideration of all engaged in the engineering industry, both masters and men, and of every thinking citizen. Even before the national stoppage of work in the coal mines, a critical situation was rapidly developing in the engineering industry, because our costs of production were far too high in relation to the purchasing power of an impoverished world, in which many prospective customer countries were further restrained from buying by adverse exchanges, entailing insupportable losses. A contributory cause of our loss of trade was the ability of the United States, Germany, and Belgium to undersell us. To the extent that Germany has been able to produce and export the depreciation of her

exchange has enabled her to quote prices with which the British engineering manufacturer could not possibly compete. In a lesser degree this also applies to Belgium. In spite of the strenuous efforts of directors and managers, of which we have abundant evidence, our engineering firms are quite unable to secure the volume of business required to replace the orders executed during the last six months, or now rapidly approaching completion. The fact is that although the world is in urgent need of vast supplies of products of engineering industry, to make good the losses due to the war and increase the future rate of wealth production, these supplies cannot be ordered until prices are brought within the purchasing power of the customer. This applies even to the home market, where many big schemes are being held in a state of suspense because of the prohibitive prices. To the extent that our competitors can cost of carrying them into execution at present

undersell us, they will not only capture the overseas trade, but also invade our defenceless home market. It must not be imagined that the resumption of coal-mining will, by itself, revitalise the engineering industry, even though the settlement be on terms consistent with a low enough price for industrial coal. It cannot be too clearly and widely understood that the engineering industry has no chance of recovery unless and until a substantial reduction has been made in the costs of production. This is the problem to be solved, and failing its solution, other considerations will be of little more than academic interest. At some time, in the not very distant future, masters and men in the engineering trades will be compelled by the pressure of stern necessity to compose their All differences and agree upon a modus vivendi. their thoughts and energies will be needed for the task of salving the industry by which they live. Delay in making this great constructive effort will merely increase the amount of leeway to be painfully and laboriously recovered, and imperil the chances of ultimate success.—D. A. BREMNER, Director.

REACTIONS OF CARBON MONOXIDE AND IRON OXIDES.-Moissan demonstrated that when CO reduces ferric oxide, Fe,0,, FeO, and finally Fe are successively produced. The two last reactions are limited by oxidation of iron and ferrous oxide due to carbonic anhydride. M. G. Chaudron resumed these experiments, utilising a device enabling the employment of the interferential method for analysis of the gaseous mixture. The three solid phases coexist in equilibrium at 580° C., and at a lower temperature the ferrous oxide gives a magnetic mixture of iron and oxide. This last transformation is reversible.-La Nature, March 19, 1921.

THE NON-TOXICITY OF COPPER SALTS FOR MILDEW. Since 1886, subsequently to the work of Millardet, the employment of copper salts seemed to be essential in the composition of anticryptogamic mixtures. M. and Mme. Villedieu have already contradicted certain hypotheses hitherto accepted, regarding the formation of a hydrocarbonate which, dissolving in rain water, would give a medium where life of zoospores would be impossible. The new note demonstrates that the conidia of mildew develop, and then, in