The

In

work, after a series of trials, a station was established at Calgary, Alta., in September, 1918. The final type of column, however, was not evolved from the original Claude column until the summer of 1919, and with this machine helium was regularly produced of a purity of 87.90 per cent. latest type of machine had been in use from December 3, 1919, until April 17, 1920, and in that time the rate of production had doubled. April, the plant was producing 700 to 800 cubic feet per run. In one week it produced nearly 2000 cubic feet. With further experience, Dr. McLennan believes that it would be possible to obtain helium gas of 97 per cent purity, and with an efficiency of So per cent. The estimated cost of production is less than 24d. per cubic foot. The market price for the gas in 1914, if it were possible to secure any, was £300 per cubic foot. At the close of his lecture to the Chemical Society, Dr. McLennan pleaded strongly for the establishment of a cryogenic laboratory, in order that a laboratory and supply station might be maintained, preferably at Calgary. The capital sum required would be £35,000, while the interest on £125,000 or £150,000 would maintain the station.

It is announced that the Honorary Advisory Council of Scientific and Industrial Research of Canada has awarded the sum of $5000 to assist Dr. McLennan in his work on conserving helium.

It is well to remember that Canada is the only part of the Empire that contains helium in any worth-while quantity. The helium content of the gas in New Zealand is only o'77 per cent, while gases tested in Italy contained no helium whatever. In his work on helium investigations, Dr. McLennan received valuable assistance from his colleagues, Professors John Satterly, E. F. Burton, and H. F. Dawes, of Toronto University; Captain H. A. McTaggart; Mr. John Patterson, of the Meteorological Branch, Ottawa; and Messrs. V. F. Murray, E. Edwards, J. T F. Young, H. J. C. Ireton, and Mr. K. H. Kingdon, of Toronto University. Canadian Chemical Journal, September, 1920.

NOTES.

UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM.-The Council and Senate of the University of Birmingham launched an appeal this week for half-a-million pounds. The University is growing at an enormous rate, and extension is necessary, if the students are to be retained. The growth in their number has been phenomenal, particularly in applied science, and all the industrial and technical faculties are crowded out. Sir Gilbert Barling, the ViceChancellor, told a CHEMICAL NEWS representative that it seemed a paradox, but it was true, that the greater the extent of the strength of the University with respect of students the greater the loss in money. This was explained by the fact that the students fees only covered a little more than the actual cost, and the Senate did not desire further to increase fees because that might drive away the very kind of student they wished to encourage. "We want it to be a democratic University," said the Vice-Chancellor, "and we want manufacturers to help us, because the

we

amount of financial help we get from the Government will be largely determined by the sum can raise." The Faculties of Physics and Chemistry have been removed with others from Mason's Science College to the Barnbrook Buildings, and ten army huts 70ft. by 30ft. have been erected as temporary laboratories, &c.

THE SOCIETY OF DYERS AND COLOURISTS.-The Council announces that the Rt. Hon. I ord Moulton, P.C., K.C.B., G.B.E., F.R.S., will give his Presidential Address in the Council Chamber, Town Hall, Bradford, on October 15, at 3 p.m.

MUNICIPAL TECHNICAL COLLEGE SWANSEA.

Acting Principal-T. GILBERT JONES, M.Sc., Wh. Sc., A.M.I.C.E. LECTURESHIP IN PHARMACY.

APPLICATIONS are invited for the above

lectureship. Salary £400 per annum. The appointment is a whole-time one in the Chemistry Department of the College. The lecturer will be briefly required to give instruction in Pharmacy and Materia Medica to students preparing for the Professional Examinations of the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, but qualifications in Botany and Chemistry are desirable. Applications, stating age and particulars regarding training qualifications and experience, accompanied by copies of testimonials to be sent to the undersigned not later than Monday, November 1st. T. J. REES, B.A., Director of Education, Education Offices, Swansea.

11th October, 1920.

LEEDS UNIVERSITY.

DEPARTMENT OF COLOUR CHEMISTRY

AND DYEING.

HE Council will shortly proceed to the THE

appointment of a Lecturer and Research Chemist in Colour Chemistry and Dyeing, at a salary of £450 a year. Preference will be given to a candidate with some works experience. Applications should be sent to THE SECRETARY, The University, Leeds, from whom further particulars may be obtained.

HE Council of the College invites applica

THE

tions for the post of Temporary Assistant Lecturer and Demonstrator in Metallurgy for the Session 1920-21. Salary £250. Further particulars may be obtained from the undersigned, by whom applications with testimonials (which need not be printed) must be received on or before Saturday, October 23rd, 1920. October 11, 1920. D. J. A. BROWN, Registrar.

FOR Sale.-Crouch Microscope; 2 objectives,

lin. and in.; 1 eyepiece; mahogany case; £6 Os. Od. Balance by Beckers, 100 gms. to milligram, agate planes and knife edges, in case, £5 10s. Od. Also 5 x 4in. Plate Camera, F.P. and ordinary shutter, 6 aluminium double dark slides, leather case, etc., £4 10s. Od. No reasonable offers refused. On view any time at 37, Kingsley Avenue, West Ealing.

THE

October 15, 1920

WANTED an Assistant to take charge of

and develop Continental Import and Export business in heavy Chemical products, knowledge of which and general business principles essential.-Write "K.M.", c/o J. W. VICKERS * Co., LTD., 5, Nicholas Lane, E.C.

BARRATT & Co., Ltd., Confectioners,

Mayes Rd., Wood Green, London, N., have usually for sale: Sugar Bags, 2cwt., 100lbs., and 64lbs. Flour Bags, 140lbs. Also Glucose Barrels. Inquiries solicited.

PUPIL ASSISTANT.-A London Public

Analyst with a large practice has a vacancy in his Laboratory.
No premium. Apply "ANALYST," 24, Aldgate, London, E.1.

PATENTS, TRADE MARKS. Handbook

and advice free-B. T. KING, British and U. S. Regd. Patent Attorney, 146a, Queen Victoria St., London. 35 years reference

Users, Issuing Specifications.

WORKS CHEMISTS REFEREE ANALYSTS

...

Makers, Working to Specifications Independent.

THE importance of ozone as a means of research in a laboratory is growing day by day. It almost became an indispensable reagent in organic chemistry in matters of determining the chemical constitution of unsaturated compounds. As the demand for ozone is immense and the ozonisers that are used in the laboratory are inefficient to meet the demand, the authors wish to bring before the scientific world a new form of ozoniser which is simple and certain. Dealing with the production of ozonised air or oxygen, the authors do not propose to draw invidious comparisons between the few ozonisers that are known to the scientists; suffice it to say that there is not a single ozoniser simple and easy of construction, effective as an ozone producer, whether from oxygen or air, easily and quickly repaired. So in pursuing this inquiry, the following considerations were kept prominently in view in the construction of the ozoniser :

I. Simplicity of design.

trodes are made as short as possible within the tubes. I is the inlet tube for air or oxygen, and O the outlet tube for ozone. In the second apparatus the outermost tube is made of aluminium. In this case the electrodes are led into the tube EF through thick glass tubes as shown in Fig. 2. The advantages that accrue by using an outer case as aluminium are:

1. The gas can be conveniently cooled. 2. The gas is exposed to the silent electric discharge twice before it comes off finally, once in the annular space between the alminium tube and the tube EF, and again in the annular space between the tubes AB and EF. This treatment of the gas surely results in an increased production of ozone.

The Method of Estimation of Ozone. The most commonly used method of estimating ozone by potassium iodide is abandoned by us for certain obvious reasons that it gives inaccurate results. The results of estimating ozone by sodium sulphite or sodium arsenite solution vary considerably, and cannot be taken even as approximately accurate results. So, the method suggested by E. Molinari and Socini (Ber., 1906, xxxix., 2735-44) is worked out by us. P. Fenaroli had previously worked at the method and found that it gave very good results (Gaz. Chin. Ital., 1906, xxxvi., 292-298). Molinari and Socini have found that unsaturated fatty acids take up quantitatively ozone. Where the introduction of ozone produced thickening of the oil it is necessary to use a solvent, but oleic acid takes up ozone without the use of any solvent.

The first consideration is attended to in the construction of the ozoniser by making use of the most ordinary appliances at present found in any laboratory. As to the second point, the tendency to sparking is completely avoided and as such no chance is given to the production of nitrogen oxides in the corona. The last aim is secured by using a large ozonising surface and by even distribution of potential along the faces of the dielectrics which is done by using a rarefied gas as a conductor of electricity. Another feature of this new departure is that it renders the instrument to work under all conditions and makes it easy of manipulation.

The description of the Instrument. The diagrams are self-explanatory, and as such no elaborate descriptions of the instruments are needed. AB, CD, and EF are three concentric glass tubes, fused into one another as shewn in the Figures. When fusing becomes a difficult job, all the joints can be made of sealing wax and paraffine. The chambers AB and EF are exhausted by means of filter-pumps. The diminution of the pressure which a good filter-pump can secure is sufficient to make the gas conduct the high tension electric current. T, T', T", and T" are platinum terminals ending in small discs fused into the glass tubes AB and EF. The elec

of ozone. One molecule of oleic acid takes up one molecule The oil is contained in a five-bulb apparatus as used in combustion work, and the gas containing ozone is passed through the oil at the rate of 150 bubbles per mniute; the temperature is maintained below 40° and above 10°. A calcium chloride tube is joined on to the absorption bulbs, as it was found that even a carefully dried oil gives off a little moisture during the experiment. The increase in the weight of the oil corresponds exactly to the addition of a molecule of ozone for each double linking of the fatty compound.

Results.

The diameter of the tube AB is 30 mm., that of CD 34 mm., and that of EF 70 mm. The length of the apparatus is 800 mm. The annular space between the aluminium tube and the tube EF is 1.5 mm. With the first apparatus, a yield of 40-50 mgrms. of ozone per litre of oxygen is obtained, and with the second apparatus a yield of 50-60 mgrms, of ozone per litre of oxygen. Both the instruments are worked at 15° C., and the oxygen used is dried by phosphorus pentaoxide. The length of the spark of the induction coil is about 2 inches.

Maharajah's College, Vizianageram, S. India 2nd March, 1920.

12408 grms, of zirconia ore was fused with. 12 to 15 grms. of potassium hydrogen fluoride in a platinum dish. The potassium hydrogen fluoride was prepared by treating potassium fluoride with a slight excess of hydrofluoric acid and evaporating over a very small flame until a clear fused mass was obtained. After allowing it to cool, it was broken up. The mixture of zirconia ore and fluoride was carefully heated by a very small flame. When the mixture became fused, it was stirred with a platinum rod, and the size of the flame was gradually increased. After the whole had become solid and white, it was heated over a powerful burner until it just fused to a clear liquid The lowest possible temperature for this operation was always used. The cooled melt was next treated with about 50 cc. of 1: 1 sulphuric acid, gently heated until nearly all water was removed, and then more strongly heated until abundant fumes were evolved. The cold residue was boiled with water, cooled, and diluted to 250 CC. 100 cc. of this solution was diluted, boiled, and precipitated by ammonium hydroxide in the presence of ammonium chloride. The hydroxides were filtered off and well washed. The filter paper and the precipitate were treated with 36 cc. of conc. hydrochloric acid and about 40 cc water, boiled, diluted to 700 cc., and precipitated by selenious acid. (If phosphoric acid is present, the insoluble phosphate must be filtered off and treated as mentioned under phosphoric acid). The insoluble selenite was removed by filtration, washed with 3 per cent hydrochloric acid, dried and ignited. The resulting oxides weighed o 4286 grms. 50 cc. of the solution treated in a similar manner gave o 2141 grms. These quantities represented 86 36 and 86.40 per cent respectively, of zirconium and titanium oxides.

of

Average by selenious acid... 86:38 per cent. By cupferron was 86.36 per cent. 02591 grms. of another sample of zirconia ore gave o 1939 grms. of oxides of zirconium and titanium, or 74.84 per cent, while the average given by cupferron was 74:70 per cent.

The method described above was found to be very rapid, simple, and accurate for the determination of zirconium. The reagent, selenious acid, is cheap.

MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE WORLD.

Borates.

THE world's production of borate minerals for the years 1913 to 1919 inclusive, is (according to a pamphlet issued by the Imperial Mineral Resources Bureau, entitled, "The Mineral Industry of the British Empire and Foreign Countries") as shown in Table I.

Natural borates of commercial importance are found as (1) borax (hydrated sodium borate), (2) ulexite (hydrated borate of sodium and calcium); (3) Colemanite (hydrated calcium borate); and (4) boracite (borate and chloride of magnesium). Table II. shows the composition of these borate minerals.

Boric Acid Lime Magnesia

TABLE II.

Iron and Alumina Soda

Sodium Chloride
Carbon Dioxide
Sulphur Trioxide
Water and organic matter
Insoluble matter

100'00 10018 100'00

The uses of boron and its compounds are enumerated, and it may be useful to give a resumé of them.

Borax is a valuable flux for chemical and

metallurgical purposes. It is used in the manufacture of pottery glazes and enamels, and as a glaze for paper and linen. It is used in tanning and glue manufacture, also in the manufacture of soap and glass. As an antiseptic it is used as medicine and as a food preservative.

Chromium borate is used as a pigment in calico printing.

Borates of manganese and lead are used as drying agents in the paint trade.

The perborates of sodium and calcium are used to generate pure hydrogen peroxide.

Boron is added to metallic castings to strengthen them, especially those of aluminium and nickel.

LIEBIG'S EXTRACT OF MEAT COMPANY, LIMITED.— Mr. J. Percy Clarke, C.B.E., M. Inst. C. E., has been elected to the Board of the Liebig's Extract of Meat Company, Limited, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of the late Mr Maurice Glyn.

NEWS

I. That the British system of units of weights and measures be retained in general use in the United Kingdom; that no proposals for mod:fication of these units with the object of improving their inter-relation be entertained; and that no new fundamental unit be established. In preference to any such alteration, the Committee would recommend the whole-hearted adoption of the Metric System.

II. That, while the Committee does not recommend the general adoption of the Metric System for internal use, it nevertheless considers that a definite movement towards compiling statistics in Metric units, or in Metric and British, but not in British alone, should be set on foot. It recommends that, wherever possible, alternative scales of Metric and British units should be shown as on geographical maps, cadastral maps, and plans; that, whenever possible, contours should be shown in metres and not in feet; and that whenever data of any description are published which will be used in conjunction with foreign data, the Metric equivalents should be given if Metric units are not employed alone.

III. That serious attention be given to the decimalisation of British weights and measures, and to the elimination of those which do not lend themselves readily to this purpose; but the Committee insists still more strongly on the primary reform that quantities should be expressed in terms of a single unit, rather than in a complex of units. Thus, while it would not propose the disuse of such units as the mile, the yard, the foot, and the inch, it would insist that distances should be expressed in miles and decimals of a mile, or in feet and decimals of a foot, but not in any complex of miles and yards, feet and inches; that railway charges should be calculated in tons and decimals of a ton, or in pounds, but not in hundredweights, quarters, and pounds; and SO on. The Committee believes that if an intelligent lead in this direction were given by the various Departments of State, a great part of the arguments against the British system would be swept away.

On this principle it suggests the following simplifications of the British system :—

Measure of Length.-The abolition of the pole, furlong, and league; the limitation of the link and chain to use in the determination of area.

Measures of Weight.-The abolition of the grain, dram, stone, quarter, and hundredweight of 112 pounds, and the complete abolition of Apothecaries' Weight.

Measures of Capacity.-The use of the gallon as the general standard, with the customary subdivision into quarts and pints for retail use, but not otherwise; the abolition of the peck, bushel, quarter, chaldron, and barrel, and the substitution of measure by weight.

Measures of Areas.-The abolition of the square rod or perch, and the rood, all areas of land being in acres and decimals, or in square feet for small plots, and all other superficial measures being in square feet.

IV. That in the use of the Metric System many of the names of multiples and subdivisions of units should be omitted: otherwise it is to be feared that British habit will tend to say, 4 metres, 7 decimetres, 9 centimetres, 4 millimetres, instead of 4794 metres or 4794 millimetres. The Committee also recommends that the recent French proposal for rejecting the use of units of capacity as distinct from units of volume should be followed. The Committee calls attention to the very inconvenient names of the proposed new French units, especially of the sthène; it would agree to the proposal to call the centigrade scale of temperature the centesimal; but it would resist any proposal for the centesimal division of the quadrant. It is impressed by the need for very careful examination of the abbreviations to be used for the various units, and by the importance of defining the standards in terms of the international prototypes instead of the national copies. V. That the use of the metric system be made compulsory with as little delay as possible in the whole trade in fine chemicals and drugs, and in all specifications and prescriptions relating to such products.

Coinage.

VI. That no change in the existing system of British coinage be attempted in present circum

stances.

Legislation.

VII. Very little legislative action would be required to give effect to the recommendations of your Committee if they were adopted. Having regard to the character of the various proposals for legislation which have been put forward by the Decimal Association and other responsible bodies, the Committee consider that it may be useful to make certain general observations upon the conditions which should, in their judgment, be observed in giving effect to any proposals of this nature.

VIII. The "Metric System" must be sufficiently defined, especially in view of the considerable extension of the system under consideration by the French Government and discussed in Sections 16-26 of this Report. There must be explicit reference to the International Metric Convention. The Board of Trade copies must not be defined as standards without reference to their errors in comparison with the international prototypes. The Parliamentary copies must not be required of irridium-platinum without consideration of substituting nickel-steel or quartz. The respective equivalents between British and metric measures must be defined in the Schedule; this is particularly necessary in view of the difference between the existing legal equivalents in the United States and Britain.

IX. If the metric system of weights and measures be enforced, but the decimal use of numbers not enforced, there would be nothing to prevent the continued dealings in dozens, scores, conventional hundreds of 60 and 120, bakers' dozens, and so on, which form so confusing a feature of the present British practice.