from praseodymium. Furthermore, the most soluble fraction in the last series of Tani's material, No. 12, was tested for cerium by passing chlorine into a suspension of its hydroxide in dilute aqueous sodium hydroxide. The cerium dioxide remaining was found to represent about I per cent of the whole fraction. Fraction No. 8, in the last series of crystallisations, when examined in the same way, gave no indication whatever of cerium. Since the atomic weights of cerium and lanthanum are separated by only a single unit, even per cent of cerium would affect the average atomic weight of the mixture by only one-hundredth of a unit, hence the first eight fractions must have been amply pure for the purpose. The absence of cerium, since it falls between lanthanum and praseodymium in the order of separation, insures the absence of praseodymium as well. This The arc spectra of the different fractions were examined by photographing the ultra-violet region, A5000-2200, with a Féry quartz spectrograph. Pure graphite electrodes were used. In the spectrogram of Tani's Fraction No. 11, which must have contained less than 1 per cent of cerium, the lines of this element were plainly visible, but in the case of Fractions 1 and 5, even the presence of the stronger cerium lines was doubtful. was also the case with Chapin's fractions 3 and 4. The Preparation of Lanthanum Chloride. Selected fractions of material were converted to chloride in a fashion identical with that used in the case of neodymium and praseodymium, as follows. Lanthanum oxalate was precipitated with an excess of oxalic acid and the precipitate was washed, dried, and ignited in an electricallyheated muffle to a mixture of oxide and carbonate. Then the oxide was dissolved in nitric acid and the process repeated twice. The ignited oxide was now dissolved in a quartz dish in hydrochloric acid which had been distilled through a quartz condenser. After the solution had been evaporated to small bulk, the salt was separated by saturating the solution at zero degrees with hydrogen chloride conducted to the solution through a quartz tube. Centrifugal drainage followed, and then the salt was recrystallised four times in the same way. In order to remove superficial water as far as possible, it was left in a vacuum dessicator over fused potassium hydroxide for some time, with occasional crushing in an agate mortar. All of the reagents were carefully purified by processes that have been described in some detail in the papers on atomic weights of neodymium and praseodymium, The Drying of Lanthanum Chloride.-In order to prepare the lanthanum chloride in as nearly as possible an anhydrous condition, the crystal water was first removed by a series of processes of efflorescence, and the salt was finally fused as rapidly as possible in a current of dry hydrogen chloride. As has been pointed out previously Journ. Am. Chem. Soc., 1915, xxxvii., 527), it is of vital importance that the moisture be removed as far as possible at a low temperature before the final fusion, otherwise basic lanthanum chloride forms in appreciable quantities. The transition temperature of the heptahydrate we found to be about 91°. Therefore, until the greater part of the crystal water had been expelled, the tempera ture was maintained below 85°. Then the temperature was raised to about 130°, where the last molecule of crystal water evaporates. As soon as this process apparently was complete, the temperature was raised to about 360°, and kept at this point for some time. Finally, the salt was fused as rapidly as possible by means of an electrically heated sleeve. The salt was probably heated to nearly 1000 in this operation, for Bourion (Bourion, Ann, chim. phys., 1910, [8] xx., 547) found the melting point to be 890°. During the drying the salt was contained in a platinum boat placed in a transparent quartz tube connected with a glass-bottling apparatus, which is essential for the subsequent handling of hygroscopic salts. (Richards and Parker, Proc. Am. Acad., 1896, xxxvii., 59). After the fusion of the lanthanum chloride it was allowed to cool rapidly, and the hydrogen chloride was displaced by nitrogen, and this in turn by air. Then the boat was transferred from the quartz tube to the weighing bottle without exposure to moisture, and weighed. In some instances the salt gave a perfectly clear solution in water; in others, owing apparently to difficulty and delay in attaining the rather high fusing point of the chloride, traces of insoluble material were visible. Although not analysed, there is little question that this was the basic chloride, for both neodymium and praseodymium chlorides, under similar circumstances, become slightly basic (Jour. Am. Chem. Soc., 1915, xxxvii., 527; 1916, xxxviii., 305). The quantity of insoluble material apparently never exceeded a few tenths of a milligrm., and on allowing the solution to stand for a day or two, the basic salt dissolved completely in most cases. The Method of Analysis. The method of analysis was like that previously used with neodymium and praseodymium and other chlorides. The salt was dissolved in water and the solution was diluted to a volume of 1000 to 1500 CC. in a glass-stoppered precipitating flask. Pure metallic silver, equivalent to the chloride within a few tenths of a milligrm., was weighed out, dissolved in nitric acid and diluted to about the same volume. The silver solution was then added to the chloride solution in small portions, with frequent agitation. After standing at room temperature for some time, the clear solution was tested in a nephelometer for excess of chloride or silver. The estimated deficiency of either was added in the form of oo N solution, and the solution was again thoroughly shaken, allowed to clarify and tested as before, and the process was repeated until exactly equivalent quantities of silver and chloride had been used. In computing the quantity of silver equivalent to the chloride, allowance was made for solution removed and not returned in the nephelometric tests. In all but one of the analyses several months intervened between the precipitation and the final adjustment of equilibrium, so that occluded material had abundant opportunity to be leached out. After the end-point of the comparison had been established, an excess of o'05 g. of silver nitrate was added for each litre of solution and the analywere allowed to stand some time longer. Then the silver chloride was washed several times ses 9'52463 0'570368 (a) The concentration of AgCl in the aqueous washing was assumed to be the average of that found in the other experiments, o'00120 g. per litre. with silver nitrate solution containing o'05 g. per litre, and many times with cold water, before being collected on a weighed platinum-sponge Gooch crucible. The chloride was dried in an electrically-heated air-bath at 290° for at least 18 hours and weighed. Residual moisture was determined by the loss in weight when the main bulk of the precipitate was fused in a porcelain crucible. The weight of silver chloride dissolved in litre of the filtrate and silver nitrate washings, was assumed to be o'00005 g. per litre (calculated from the solubility product of silver chloride at 20° as found by Kohlrausch, 1× 10-1o, Z. physik. Chem., 1908, lxiv., 167). Chloride dissolved in the aqueous washings, together with that obtained from the precipitating flask by rinsing with ammonia, was estimated by nephelometric comparison with standards. In most of the experiments the portions of the original solution removed for nephelometric comparisons were rejected, and a correction of 0.00015 g. was added for each 100 cc. of solution removed. In a few experiments the test portions were returned and a correction applied for the silver chloride thus introduced. All objects were weighed by substitution for similar counterpoises, a No. 10 Troemner balance being used for the purpose. Weights were standardised to hundredths of a milligrm. by the Richards substitution method (Richards, Journ. Am. Chem. Soc., 1900, xxii., 144). The following vacuum corrections were applied. not included because the fused salt and its solution were not satisfactory in appearance. The average atomic weight of lanthanum found by us, 138.91, is nearly one-tenth of a unit lower than the value selected by the International Committee on Atomic Weights, 139'0, but just as much higher than the value 138 8 calculated by Clarke (Smithsonian Misc. Coll, "Constants of Nature," Part V. "A Recalculation of the Atomic Weights," 1910, 493). Nearly all the earlier determinations depend upon the results of methods in which lanthanum oxide plays an important rôle. The recognised difficulty of preparing rare-earth oxides free from traces of the compounds from which they are made by ignition is probably a chief cause of the wide variation among earlier determinations. It is to be noted that the presence of the usual companions of lanthanum, namely, cerium, praseodymium, and neodymium would raise the apparent atomic weight of lanthanum so that the value obtained in this investigation unquestionably represents a maximum.-Journal of the American Chemical Society, May, 1921. ABSTRACTS OF SOME RECENT FOREIGN NORWAY.-Urea being a very good fertiliser, various methods have been proposed for its production. Commercial cyanamide has been the principal material employed, it having been proposed to treat it with an acid or different acid salts. The use of acids, however, is very expensive and inconvenient. One might suppose that when commercial cyanamide or neutral or basic salts is treated with water, the cyanamide, owing to the presence of water, is converted into di cyanamide or ammonia. According to a recent invention by M. Egil Lie and the North-Western Cyanamide Co., of Norway, the surprising discovery has been made that urea can be obtained by employing soluble salts of alkaline or alkalino terreous metals, without the use of acids. (517900). Humid nitrate of urea being very acid, is not satisfactory when utilised as a fertiliser, owing to the action of this acidity on the soil, and the fact that the bags in which it is packed are liable to be destroyed in damp air. All this is remedied, it is claimed, by the "Narsk Hydro-Elektrisk Kvaelstofaktieselskab" by mixing the nitrate of urea with carbonate of lime. When this fertiliser is put into a humid soil and the components of the mixture begin to act, nitrate of lime is formed, an excellent fertiliser, especially in a soil poor in lime. Free urea is also an excellent fertiliser. Then carbonic acid gas is produced, which dissolves the other plant foods, without attacking the roots. (517478). BELGIUM.-An invention for utilisation of sewage, night-soil, &c., by M. V. D. Steyaert, consists in incorporation of bisulphate of soda, NaHSO,, with the crude materials. Thus the ammoniacal matter is transformed into a solid odourless product, which can be put into bags and kept without loss of nitrogen, and is sufficiently rich in fertilising elements. A specially constructed plant is employed from which the dry fertiliser makes its exit. (517548). HOLLAND.-A Dutch inventor, Mr. A. Messerschmitt, discovered that it is possible to decompose certain rocks containing potash, especially leucite, so rapidly and profoundly, by heating them with solutions of salts of soda at a high temperature and under pressure, that the reaction is practically utilisable to obtain potassic fertilisers soluble in water and pure potash salts. If, for example, a finely pulverised leucite slime is heated with a solution of soda salts in autoclaves under pressure, provided with agitators, the potash in the rock is displaced by soda, and a mixture is obtained formed of an aqueous solution containing the separated potassium salt and residues soluble in water, which after removal of the soda can yet give potash. The slime when dried gives a fertiliser of great value. (578368). NOTES. THE JOHN FRITZ MEDAL, the highest honour that can be conferred by the American engineering profession, has been presented to Sir Robert Had field. In presenting the medal, the American societies "express their high regard and appreciation for what the British engineers did in the war for the preservation of civilisation." THE Analyst for July contains an important paper by John C. Thresh, M.D., D.Sc., F.I.C., on the "Action of Water upon Lead." A great many carefully conducted experiments are described, and as the matter is one that the late Sir William Crookes devoted much time to, on account of its great national importance, we draw attention to the following conclusions arrived at by the author: "The experiments recorded prove that water has no action whatever on lead; that it is the foreign matters dissolved in water which affect the metal, the oxygen combining with it to form a soluble oxide or hydroxide, which remains in solution (to the point of saturation) in the absence of other substances capable of combining with it. This solution is of a colloidal nature, and of such coarse degree of dispersion or so liable to adsorption that it will not pass through a Pasteur filter, and may not even pass a fine paper filter. In the presence of acids forming soluble lead salts, such salts are formed, and will pass through any filter. If the acid forms insoluble salts, these are thrown down, and may be deposited on the metal in such a way as to prevent any further action. Any soluble salts present in the water may likewise act upon the lead hydroxide. Water is merely an inert medium, by means of which these foreign substances are enabled to act upon each other, the water itself taking no part other than that of a solvent." PROFESSIONAL STATUS.-A Fellow has directed attention to a letter which appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald early in February commenting on announcements regarding vacancies under the Public Service Board: Head teacher blacksmithing-qualification, technical experience in the trade, salary £371; Head teacher, plumbingqualification, expert knowledge of the trade, salary £340; Bio-chemist, Health Departmentqualification, special training in bio-chemistry, Physiological chemistry, and immunology, must hold a university degree as Bachelor of Sciencesalary £298 158. Under the nom de plume "Perplexed Parent," the writer of the letter comments. on the circumstance that a man specially trained in three abstruse branches of science is offered a salary which the authorities do not dare to offer to a plumber, and shows good reason for hesitating whether to give his son a university training or to put him to plumbing. It is clear from the above that the Australian Chemical Institute and analogous organisations in the British Commonwealth must continue to co-operate actively in fostering among Government Departments a higher appreciation of science if the Empire is to reap the best advantage from its talent.-Journal of the Institute of Chemistry, June, 1921. CHILIAN STATE RAILWAY REQUIREMENTS.-Tenders are invited by the Chilean State Railways up till 10 a.m. on August 31 next for the supply of emery and grindstones, bolts, nuts, cotter-pins, rivets, nails, and screws, telegraph and telephone apparatus, chemicals, &c. The estimated value of the material required is £44,000. Copies of the specifications (In Spanish) may be seen by United Kingdom manufacturers and exporters on application at the Enquiry Room of the Department of Overseas Trade, 35, Old Queen Street, Westminster, S. W. 1. It is understood that the Paris ((88, Boulevard St. Michel) has been inrepresentative of the Chilian State Railways in structed to obtain prices in the United Kingdom and remit same by cable on the day previous to the opening of tenders. GENERATIVE REACTIONS OF MAGNESIUM.-The demands for magnesium during the war, directed the attention of M. Matignon to the question of new methods for manufacture of this metal. He sought for an economic method, studying the three following reactions for this object: (1) MgCl, sol+C,Ca sol=CaO sol +2Csol+Mg sol+224 cal.; (2) MgO sol +C2Ca col = CaO sol+2C+Mg sol -84 cal.; (3) MgOMgCl2+2C2Ca=CaOCaCl2+ 4C+2Mgsol +1 cal. 1×2; in which all the bodies are refractory, except magnesium and chloride of magnesium, the latter having, however, a very high boiling point, and resisting high temperatures without rapid volatilisation. -- Comptes Rendus, 1921. 165144-Jones, F. B., Bury E. and Minerals Separation, Ltd.Flotation treatment of carbonaceous matter. 165167-Trotter, J. W.--Process for the production of gasoline from kerosine and like hydrocarbon oils. 148392-Schwabe & Co.-Process for the production of smoke on the stage by means of ammonium compounds of volatile acids. 148885-Casale, L.-Process for preparing nitrogen or nitrogen and hydrogen mixtures. Messrs. Rayner & Co., will obtain printed copies of the published specifications and will forward on post free for the official price of 1/- each. NEW COMPANIES. CLAPHAM DRUG STORES, LIMITED.-(175590)-Registered 7th July, 1921. 37, Landor Road, S.W.9. To carry on the business of Chemists and Druggists. Nominal Capital: £2,000 in 2,000 Shares of £1 each. Directors: T. C. Laws, 10, Lynette Avenue, Clapham, S.W.4. (Governing Director). Qualification of Directors: £10. Governing Director: 250 Shares. Remuneration of Directors: To be voted by Company in General Meeting. A. W. HOCKIN, LIMITED.-(175517).-Registered 2nd July, 1921 133, Western Road. Hove, Sussex. To acquire and carry on the business of Chemists and Druggists. Nominal Capital: £1,500 in 1,500 Shares of £1 each. Directors: A. W. Hockin, 63, London Road, Brighton; J. Van Koert, 85, Montpelier Road, Brighton. Qualification of Directors: £100. Remuneration of Directors: To be voted by Company in General Meeting. New Patents. THIS List is specially compiled for the Chemical News by Messrs. Rayner & Co, Registered Patent Agents, of 5, Chancery Lane, THE London, W.C.2., from whom all information relating to Patents, Latest Patent Applications. 17701-Adler, R.-Manufacture of decolorizing charcoal of high activity. June 29. 17499-Carteret, G.-Preparation and purification of titanium compounds. June 27. 17661-Ellis, G. H.-Dyeing or colouring acetyl cellulose. June 29. 17833-Hormann, L.-Manufacture of acid anhydrides. June 30. 17619-Howe, B.-Production of jink oxide or blown oxides from jink ores or products. June 28. 17810-Schwargkopf, R.-Method of manufacture of raw alkalicellulose for working into viscose. June 30. Specifications published this Week. 138113-Byrness, C. P.-Process of making aldehyde, fatty acids and aldehydes from mineral oils and their distillates. 140060-Duparc, L. and Urfer, C.-Process for the synthetic production of ammonia. Owners of British Patent 127852 relating to a "PROCESS FOR OBTAINING NITROGEN FROM AIR" are desirous of entering into negotiations with firms in Great Britain to exploit the above invention either by sale of the Patent Rights, or by granting licences to manufacture under Royalty. Enquir es should be addressed to Messrs. ABEL & IMRAY, Chartered Patent Agents, 30, Southampton Buildings, W.C.2. PATENTS, TRADE MARKS. Handbook and advice free-B. T. KING, British and U. S. Regd. Pateni Attorney, 146a, Queen Victoria St., London. 35 years reference CHEMICALLY PURE TIN CAPPER PASS & SON, Ltd. BEDMINSTER SMELTING WORKS BRISTOL. Pioneer Movement for Establishing a British Bureau of Standards BRITISH CHEMICAL STANDARDS STEELS (Plain Carbon and Alloy) AND CAST IRON. Analytically standardised by, and issued under the auspices of Co-operating Chemists representing different districts and sections of industry. GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT ANALYSTS RAILWAY CHEMISTS... MOTOR OR AERO MAKERS CHEMISTS... Users, Issuing Specifications. WORKS CHEMISTS.. REFEREE ANALYSTS Makers, Working to Specification. Independent. With every portion of standard turnings a Certificate is issued, showing the type of method used by each analyst, his results, and the average of all New Carbon Steels: "M", C. 0.23% & Si 0.05 %; & "01", C. 0.33% (complete analysis) just issued Already a knowledged and used by over 300 Works and Independent Analysts at home and abroad. Can be obtained of leading Chemical Dealers, or at Headquarters, 3, Wilson Street, Middlesbrough. |