Untersuchungen über die Bidungsverhältnisse der ozeanischen | intended to obtain a picture of the constitution of the cel- Hoff, alone or in collaboration with other workers, on the subject of the formation of oceanic salt deposits. Most of the papers were originally published in the Reports of the Meetings of the Prussian Akademie der Wissenschaften. and physical chemists will find it a great convenience to be able to get them in book form. They are reprinted exactly as they were written, although the editors admit that van 't Hoff's style is often obscure and presents many difficulties to his readers. The original illustrations are reproduced, including those in two colours, which are collected at the end of the book. A memorial notice of van't Hoff's life and work by Prof. Emil Fischer is also inserted. OBITUARY. HENRY DE MOSENTHAL. HENRY DE MOSENTHAL was born in 1850 at Port Elizabeth, South Africa, and had been associated with Mr. Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, for some years before the formation in 1886 of the Nobel Dynamite Trust Company, Ltd., of which he was appointed technical secretary from the very first. This position he held until his death on December 17th last, from heart failure. He was a well-known figure in the explosive industry of the world, and his business wisdom and great ability earned for him a high reputation in the business world and in the industry with which he was more specially connected. De Mosenthal was a Fellow of the Institute of Chemistry for twenty years, and served for two periods of three years each as a member of the Council. He also belonged to the principal chemical and scientific societies, and will be remembered, not only on account of his connection with the manufacturing aspect of the explosives industry, but also for his valuable scientific work. Most of his researches were contributed to the Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry, and among these may be mentioned the following:-"Treatment of Gold Ores at the Witwatersrand (Transvaal) Gold Fields," 1894, vol. xiii., p. 326; "The Life Work of Alfred Nobel," 1899, vol. xviii., p. 443; "Observations on Cotton and Nitrated Cotton," 1904, vol. xxiii., p. 292; 1907, vol. xxvi., p. 443; 1911, vol. xxx., p. 782. The subject of Alfred Nobel was also treated in a biographical sketch in the Nineteenth Century of October, 1898, entitled "The Inventor of Dynamite," and, of course, De Mosenthal's intimate relations with Nobel enabled him to write a complete, and one might almost say classical, biography of Nobel's life and work. De Mosenthal also contributed articles on "NitroGlycerin and Nitroglycerin Explosives" and on "Permitted Explosives" to the work published by the Explosives Section of the Seventh International Congress of Applied Chemistry, and entitled "The Rise and Progress of the British Explosives Industry" (Whittaker & Co., 1909). De Mosenthal was an expert in microscopy and microphotographic work, and, indeed, the earliest of his papers, that on the Treatment of Gold Ore, was already illustrated by micro-photographs. His technique, patience, and manipulative skill enabled him to obtain the most remarkable results. His researches on Cotton and Nitrated Cotton were lulose molecule, and he early recognised that the colloidal condition of the substances he examined necessitated methods other than were employed for bodies of a crystalline character. De Mosenthal accordingly determined values for a large number of the physical constants of cotton and of nitrated cotton, and these, together with his deductions, have thrown a great deal of light on this debated question. In his first paper he was able to show the presence of stomata in the cotton fibre which had until then remained undetected. In his subsequent papers the effect of polarised light on nitrated fibres is described, and the coneffect criticised. The density of cotton and of nitrated nection between the degree of nitration and anisotropic shown to exist between the increase in molecular volume cotton was determined, and an important difference was with ascending degree of nitration in the case of cotton when compared with that afforded by the simpler alcoholic nitrates. The refractive index was investigated, films of the nitrated cellulose being employed, and from the values obtained the molecular refraction of the di- and tri-nitrates was calculated. The optical activity of nitrated cotton was examined, and its dextrorotatory character confirmed. Work on the dialysis of solutions of nitrocellulose in acetone ultimately established that the substance could not pass through a sound membrane, nor was it possible to detect any osmotic pressure. In the last paper of the series De Mosenthal applied the results of his work to the nature of the constitution of cellulose, and stated his reasons for considering that it had an open chain structure. Whatever the view which will ultimately prevail as to whether this or a cyclic constitution is the more rational, the values of the constants determined by De Mosenthal, the description of his methods, and his impartial discussion of the results, constitute a material contribution to the advancement of our knowledge on this difficult subject. De Mosenthal's papers were the result of much care and infinite thought. It is characteristic that on the day before his death he discussed his ideas and future programme of research with a friend, and it has been arranged that they shall form the subject of a scientific investigation by two of his friends and colleagues as a tribute to his memory. As an illustration of his great versatility, it may be mentioned that, apart from his scientific work, De Mosenthal published several monographs of a popular nature on Explosives, in which he exhibited to a remarkable degree his talent for popular exposition of abstruse technical subjects and for making them understood by the general public. Some of these monographs appeared in the Savage Club Papers, of which Institution he was an esteemed member. De Mosenthal was a bachelor and a remarkable linguist. He knew the four or five languages which he spoke with a thoroughness as though each was his own, and in addition he possessed the rare faculty of immediately grasping the vital point in a controversy. He was a trenchant, fearless, yet kindly critic, and he will be sorely missed by a wide circle of friends and colleagues whom it is no exaggeration to say he could count in every quarter of the globe. JOHN W. MALLET, Ph.D., M.D., LL.D., F.R.S. It is with much regret that we announce the recent death, at the University of Virginia, of Dr. J. W. Mallet, F.R.S., after a brief illness. Born in 1832 in Ireland, John William Mallet early showed his aptitude for natural science, which was fostered and encouraged by his father, himself a distinguished engineer and scientific man. After his graduation as Bachelor of Arts at Trinity College, Dublin, in 1853, when he received a gold medal for Experimental Physics, he proceeded to Göttingen, where he devoted himself to the study of chemistry, having the good fortune to come } CHEMICAL NEWS, Jan. 3, 1913 under the inspiring influence and the incomparable instruction of Wöhler. After receiving the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, he went to America, where he remained for the rest of his life, although he never became a naturalised American. He was appointed Chemist to the Geological Survey of Alabama in 1854, and subsequently became lecturer in chemistry at the University of Alabama, which post he resigned to place his services at the disposal of the Ordnance Department of the Confederate States. He took a prominent part in the control of the Arsenal and Ordnance Departments during the Civil War, and showed marked powers of organisation in strenuous and difficult positions. In 1865 he was called to the chair of chemistry at the University of Louisiana, which he vacated when he took a post as professor of industrial chemistry and director of laboratory studies at the University of Virginia. On the death, in 1871, of Dr. Maupin, the Professor of General Chemistry, he was appointed his successor, and this post he held with some breaks until his resignation in 1908. For family reasons he went to the University of Texas in 1883, returning to Virginia a year later and again leaving to take for a short time the professorship of Chemistry at the Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. He resumed his post as Professor of Chemistry at the University of Virginia in 1885, and although he resigned from the teaching staff in 1908 he continued to live at the University until his death. Chemical Notices from Foreign Sources. Dr. Mallet's work as a teacher of Chemistry won him wide recognition in America. His most important publications include reports on the accurate determination of the atomic weight of aluminium and on water analysis. He was joint author with his father of the British Association Catalogue of Earthquakes. CHEMICAL NOTICES FROM FOREIGN NOTE. All degrees of temperature are Centigrade unless otherwise expressed. are Ether Salts derived ftom Cyclanols and Acids of the Formic Acid Series.-J. B. Senderens and Jean Aboulenc.-Using sulphuric acid as a catalyser the authors have prepared the ether salts resulting from the etherification, by acids of the formic acid series, of cyclohexanol, and o-, m-, and p-methylcyclohexanols. These ether salts are colourless liquids, which do not alter in air, except those of the ortho series, which slowly turn yellow. They have an agreeable smell, especially the formates and acetates. For the same alcohol the boilingpoint rises 18.5 – 19° for each CH2 group introduced in the acid; the formates are an exception to this rule. The densities diminish as one passes from the lower to the higher homologues of the acids, but not regularly. The indices of refraction in the ortho series are higher than those of the corresponding members of the meta series, while the indices of the meta and para series are about the same for ethers derived from a single acid. Photolysis of Saccharose by Ultra-violet Rays.— Daniel Berthelot and Henri Gaudechon.-The authors' first experiments on the action of the ultra-violet rays on saccharose were carried out with relatively short waveUsing slower lengths, which rendered the liquids acid. ultra-violet radiations they have now found that the action takes place in two stages. Firstly, the saccharose is split up without liberation of gas, and secondly, gas is liberated. Thus the degradation of polyoses takes place in the same successive stages under the action of light as with ferments. Transformation of an Alcohol into Sulphide or Peroxide by means of Sulphuretted Hydrogen or Hydrogen Peroxide.-R. Fosse.-When xanthydrol is treated with a liquid containing sulphide or hydrogen peroxide it behaves like a base, replacing two atoms of hydrogen by its own radical. Thus sulphide of xanthyl, CHCHS, or peroxide of xanthyl is formed. It is possible that the sulphydrate or hydroperoxide is formed as an intermediate product. Complex Compounds of Platinous Chloride with Amino-acetal.-J. Tchougaeff and B. Orelkine.-When Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de l'Académie amino-acetal is added to a dilute solution of potassium des Sciences. Vol. clv., No. 19, November 4, 1912. chloroplatinite a yellow crystalline substance is deposited. Forms in which Phosphorus and Calcium Its formula is Pt.2A-ACl2, where A represents the formula present in Casein from Milk. - L. Lindet.-When milk of amino-acetal. At the same time a colouriess compound When a solution of this casein is precipitated by means of rennet it contains of formula Pt.4ACl2 is formed. chloride is precipitated with potassium chloroplatinite the quantities of phosphorus and calcium which represent a phosphate intermediate between dicalcic and tricalcic isomers of formula (Pt.2A.2NH3)Cl2 failed, and the salt (Pt.4A)PtCl is obtained. Attempts to prepare two phosphate. The author has found that half the phos-isomerism described by Jörgensen does not seem to exist phorus is present as phosphate of lime, while the other half is present as P2O5 in an organic compound. Threefifths of the calcium saturates the phosphoric acid, and the rest saturates the free acid of the casein. No. 20, November 11, 1912. This number contains no chemical matter. No. 21, November 18, 1912. New Reagent for Free or Combined Chlorine or Bromine.-G. Denigès and L. Chelle.-To prepare the fuchsine reagent for detecting chlorine or bromine 10 cc. of a o'1 per cent solution of fuchsine are added to 100 cc. of a 5 per cent (by volume) solution of sulphuric acid. The mixture gradually loses its colour, and in less than an hour it is ready for use. In the case of free chlorine or bromine a mixture is made of 25 cc. of this reagent, 25 cc. of acetic acid, and I cc. of sulphuric acid, and the liquid to be tested is added to 5 cc. of this mixture. A yellow colouration is produced with chlorine and reddish violet with bromine. For the combined halogens a mixture is made of o 2 cc. of HCl, 1 cc. of concentrated H2SO4, I cc. of the fuchsine reagent, 5 cc. of the liquid to tested, and I cc. of chloroform. If the liquid contains 1 mgrm. of bromine per litre a violet colouration is produced. in this case. Berichte der Deutschen Chemischen Gesellschaft. Anhydride of Bromacetic Acid.-Wilhelm Steinkopf. -When an equimolecular mixture of bromacetyl bromide and sodium bromacetate is distilled in vacuo a distillate is obtained, from which by repeated fractionation a fraction boiling at 133-135° under 12'5 mm. pressure can be prepared. When this fraction is allowed to stand it solidifies to a white crystalline mass, fusing at 41-42°. This substance is the anhydride of brom-acetic acid. It cannot be distilled under atmospheric pressure without undergoing decomposition. The anhydride can be prepared by distilling together bromacetyl bromide and sodium acetate under diminished pressure, but the yield is very poor, as is also the case when it is obtained by distilling in vacuo bromacetic acid with phosphorus pentoxide. It dissolves slowly in cold, but quickly in hot water, It rapidly volatilises in air; when allowed to stand even in the dark and in absence of air, it turns dark coloured. It has a piercing smell. It gives bromacetamide with ammonia, and bromacetic acid ethylene ester with glycyl. No. 15, 1912. alkyl iodides were used the mixture was heated on the Simultaneous Action of Catalysts.-WI. Ipatiew.water-bath for several hours. The use of methyl iodide Ordinary camphor when heated in presence of nickel oxide is converted into borneol at 320-358°, while borneol yields camphor when it is heated to 350-360° in presence of alumina. When camphor is heated in presence of both catalysts a reaction begins to occur at 200°, and the chief product is crystalline isocamphane. Borneol also yields isocamphane when heated to 220° with nickel oxide and aluminium oxide. To explain this action of the two catalysts the author assumes that a labile complex NIO,Al2O3 is formed, and readily decomposes, its components being thus separated in statu nascendi. Thus each component acts more energetically, and the reaction occurs at a much lower temperature, the result being the product of the complete reduction of camphor, isocamphane. In the reduction of camphor the primary catalyst is nickel oxide, while with borneol it is alumina. New Gasometric Method of Estimating Nitric Oxide. Oskar Baudisch and Gabriel Klinger. When atmospheric air is led into nitric oxide which is in contact with solid potassium hydroxide, N2O3 is formed, and is immediately absorbed by the potash. The equations are 4NO + O2 = 2N2O3 and 2N2O3+4KOH = 4KNO2+2H2O. Since four volumes of nitric oxide react with one of oxygen four-fifths of the contraction gives the volume of NO. The process is carried out in a Fuller's gas analysis apparatus. Some damp caustic potash is placed in a pipette, and all air is removed by means of mercury. The gas G is then introduced into the pipette, and then the air (L). The residual gas is then measured (V). The contraction K is given by K=G+L -V, and Kx is the volume of NO. This method is rapid and accurate, and it is immaterial whether N2O or H are present. The Philippine Journal of Science, Action of Sunlight on Methyl Alcohol.-H. D. Gibbs. When solutions of p-quinone in methyl alcohol are exposed to sunlight the principal products are formaldehyde and quinol. The oxidation of methyl alcohol to formaldehyde is catalysed by sunlight. Methyl alcohol is oxidised by hydrogen peroxide, the temperature being an important factor of the speed of the reaction. The chief product is formaldehyde. All evidence points to the conclusion that hydrogen peroxide is produced by the action of sunlight upon water and oxygen, both in the open air and in sealed tubes, and when water is present the formation of hydrogen peroxide will account for various sunlight oxidations. Interference of Hydrogen Peroxide with the Milk Tests for Formaldehyde.-H. D. Gibbs.-The Hehner and Leach tests for formaldehyde in milk both depend upon the colour produced with milk proteids in the presence of iron salts and strong acids, the former with sulphuric and the latter with hydrochloric acid. The tests are very sensitive and the presence of I part of formaldehyde in 250,000 parts of milk can be detected by Leach's method. It, however, hydrogen peroxide is present, instead of the characteristic violet or purple colourations the colours obtained are yellow cr brown. If the hydrogen peroxide is removed by a reducing agent a positive result can be obtained. Memoirs of the College of Science and Engineering, Kyoto Imperial University. Vol. iii., No. 12, 1912. Formation and Decomposition of the Quaternary Ammonium Bases and Salts.-Shigeru Komatsu.The author has prepared many compounds of the general type Na b c d X, by the action of different alkyl iodides upon tertiary amines. In the preparation of the quaternary ammonium oxide, when allyl iodide or benzyl iodide was used, the mixture was cooled with cold water and the reaction was completed in twenty-four hours. When other was avoided as far as possible, for the methyl group has a tendency to expel the other groups combined with the nitrogen. The reaction product was washed with ether and acetone successively and then re-crystallised from hot alcohol, ethyl acetate, or water. Melting-point determinations gave results which frequently differed from those of other investigators. The quaternary hydroxides were prepared by treating the iodides with moist silver oxide and their decomposition by heat was studied. It was found that in the benzyl series the benzyl group is always given off. In the allyl series, when the compound contains two smaller radicles than allyl itself, the allyl is given off, but when one radicle is larger (excepting phenyl) and the other smaller than allyl, the smaller one is always given off. In other series of compounds the smallest group is never given off but remains attached to the nitrogen. In all cases one and the same ammonium hydroxide always yields the same tertiary amine. to MISCELLANEOUS. Definition of "Fungi." - The United States Department of Agriculture have issued the following Amendment the Rules and Regulations for carrying out the Provisions of the Insecticide Act of 1910:-"The term fungi,' as used in the Act and these regulations, is understood to mean all non-chlorophyll bearing plants of a lower order than mosses and liverworts (i.e., nonchlorophyll bearing thallophytes), comprising rusts, smuts, mildews, moulds, yeasts, bacteria, &c." A Presentation to Otto N. Witt.-On March 31st, 1913, Prof. O. N. Witt will celebrate his sixtieth birthday. token of recognition and remembrance is to be presented to him that day as an acknowledgment of his success as a teacher, his many sided activity as an investigator, his tireless promotion of chemical industry, his masterly command of language, both in speech and writing. The undersigned friends, colleagues, and pupils intend to offer him a plaque, executed by a master hand, and will be glad to receive subscriptions. Those who subscribe will receive a copy of the plaque in remembrance of the event. Subscriptions may be sent to Herr Dr. Frhr. C. v. Girsewald, Berlin-Halensee Karlsruher. Str. 29, or to the Commerz- und Discontobank, Depositenkasse KL, Berlin-Halensee, Kurfürstendamm 130, marked "Witt Testimonial." 66 New Materials for the Manufacture of Paper.Experiments have been made with the following fibrous materials to investigate the possibility of their application for paper making :-Papyrus from the Sudan and East Africa Protectorate, Spanish reed and Aristida from the Transvaal, "Nipa" fibre from the Federated Malay States, Borassus flabellifer leaves from Mozambique, bromelia leaves from Brazil. All these materials are capable of conversion into pulp suitable for the manufacture of paper, but as the raw materials would not realise more than about £3 per ton in the United Kingdom, it is unlikely that they could be profitably exported. Probably the best way to deal with these fibrous products would be either to convert the raw material into "half-stuff" and ship the latter, or to employ it locally for the manufacture of paper.-Bulletin of the Imperial Institute, x., 3. 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.). "In his bulky volume Sir William reproduces the gist of the sensational Bristol Address, and supplements it with carefully prepared answers to his chief critics and confirmatory chapters on the future wheat supply of the United States."-Morning Post. "The appearance of the papers in this convenient form will be welcome to everyone who appreciates the importance of the problem."-Scotsman. CHEMICAL NEWS OFFICE, 16, NEWCASTLE ST., FARRINGDON ST, E.C. NOTICES. C E an. 3, 1913 FREDK. JACKSON & CO., Ltd., ORSAT GAS ANALYSIS APPARATUS. THE 14, CROSS STREET, MANCHESTER. GENERAL CHEMICAL APPARATUS, HEMPEL and ORSAT GAS ANALYSIS THE LONDON GAS REFEREES' GAS BURETTES OF VARIOUS KINDS. ILLUSTRATED PRICE LISTS FREE ON APPLICATION. AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHER COVERS FOR BINDING. and PORCELAIN- 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. January 3, 1913 |