with scholars of different nationalities, as well as their replies to him, wherever it has been possible to find them. But the letters given only deal with subjects of scientific interest. Berzelius, in his youth acquired the habit of speaking and writing in French, which habit was more strongly developed owing to his long sojourn in France, in 1818 1819, and to the fact that he moved with the diplomatic circles in the capital of Sweden. On account of this, Berzelius conducted all his corre spondence in French. Among those whose letters are included in the above collection are Goethe, Dana, Wollaston Dumas, Gay-Lussac, Fischer, &c. The editor is to be congratulated on the care that he has taken in gathering these letters, which must have involved considerable labour and patience. The book is interspersed with photo graphs of eminent scientists, whose correspon dence with Berzelius i included. NOTES. ROYAL INSTITUTION.—A General Meeting of the Members of the Royal Institution was held on July 5; Sir James Crichton-Browne, Treasurer and Vice-President in the Chair. The Chairman announced that the Institution had received a legacy of £5,000 from the late Dr. Rudolph Messel, who was a Member for 30 years. The death of Professor Auguste Righi, an Honorary Member, was reported and a resolution of condolence with the relatives was passed. Mr. A. E. Butler, Mrs. R. de l'Hopital, and Dr. W. A. M Smart were elected Members. APPOINTMENT.-Professor Sir John Cadman, K.C.M.G., D.Sc., University of Birmingham, Mr. W. B. Hardy, Soc. R.S., Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, and Professor Sydney Young, D.Sc., F.R.S., Trinity College, Dublin, have been appointed by an Order of Council dated June 24, 1920, to be members of the Advisory Council to the Committee of the Privy Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. health and also in the help it had been in his DETERMINATION OF MERCURY.-C. M. Bouton and L. H. Duschak (Journ. Frank. Inst.).—The COMMEMORATION DAY AT LIVINGSTONE College. volumetric methods for the determination of merA very successful Commemoration Day, the first cury described in the literature permit the selecfor five years, was held at Livingstone College, tion of a variation of about 1 mgrm. of Hg. or Leyton, on Friday, June 25. A large number of within o per cent on a 1-grm, sample. As much guests were present, including th Lord Bishop of of the world's supply of the metal is obtained from Chelmsford, who occupied the Chair, the Bishop ores carrying less than I per cent mercury, a of Bendigo, the Bishop of Honduras, the Chap-method that will quickly and accurately determine lain-General of the Forces, Mr. R. L. Barclay (Treasurer of the College), Dr. and Mrs. C. F. Harford (Founders of the College). At the meeting held in the grounds, after prayer led by Bishop Taylor Smith, a short statement was made by the Principal. Speeches were given by three former students of the College, Rev. J. Kerswell, of the Primitive Methodist Missionary Society, Mr. W. H. Soamell, of the Church Missionary Society, and Mr. R. A. Lorrain, of the Lakher Pioneer Mission. With many interesting anecdotes each missionary spoke of the great debt he owed to Livingstone College as regards his own a variation of less than 1 mgrm. Hg is greatly to be desired. Of the numerous methods tested by the investigators of the Berkeley, Calif., stations of the Bureau of Mines in connection with a study of mercury condenser losses, the method of titration with potassium thiocynate, using ferric sulphate or nitrate as an indicator, proved to be the only one capable of the desired refinement. The titration is vitiated by the presence of any halide; therefore, in bringing the sample into solution, a method must be employed which absolutely excludes all halogen compounds. With slight modification, the method can be applied to the determination of mercury in practically any material, including that containing considerable quantities of organic matter. Details as to the equipment used, analytical procedure, the modifications necessary when organic matter or much sulphur is present, procedure for assaying a filtered precipitate, alternative procedure for refractory samples; and the results of experimental determination of distillation procedure, effects of evolution of gas, possibility of retention of mercury by the charge, trial assay with sulphur and organic matter present, interfering elements, and titration are given in Technical Paper 227 of the Bureau of Mines. With readily provided facili NOTICES. BOITORIAL.-All Literary communications, and Books, Chemical Apparatus, &c., for review or notice to be addressed to the EDITOR. SUBSCRIPTIONS, £1 125 per annum, payable in advance, should be addressed to the MANAGER. BACK NUMBERS and VOLUMES can be purchased on application to the MANAGER. THE CHEMICAL NEWS, 97, SHOE LANE, LONDON, E.C. 4. ADVERTISEMENTS. dressed to—re ties one operator can make 50 to 60 determinations All communications for this Department should be ad- TG SCOTT & SON, 63, LUDGATE HILL, LONDON, E C. 4. UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER, DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY. NEWS from 4d. to 6d. (by post 7d.). Applications are invited for the HEADSHIP The new subscription rates are as OF THE CHEMICAL DEPARTMENT, now vacant by the appointment of Dr. T. S. PRICE as Director of Research to the British Photographic Research Association. Full particulars of the appointment can be obtained from the SECRETARY, Municipal Technical School, Suffolk Street, Birming ham. ASSISTANT CHEMISTS wanted at once for the Admiralty Inspection Laboratories at Holton Heath. 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WHITBY, 8, Victoria Avenue, Hall, Yorkshire, before August 10, A JUNIOR of either sex with some know ledge of Chemistry, and commercial experience in chen ical analysis, is required for a junior position in the Laboratory of a large Chemical Works. Kindly state salary required to Box 803, c/o SCOTT & SON, 63, Ludgate Hill, London, E.C.4. TWO JUNIOR ASSISTANT CHEMISTS wanted for laboratory in Newcastle-on-Tyne. Those having experience in analysis of non-ferrous metals and alloys referred. Reply stating age, experience, and salary required to Bux 804, c/o Scott & Son, 63, Ludgate Hill, London, E.C. 4. 1 21 For use with No. 42-"ASHLESS." Double Acid washed and extremely close of texture. THE ASH OF A 12.5 cm. CIRCLE WEIGHS 00015 grm. SOLE MANUFACTURERS: W. & R. BALSTON, LTD., MEDWAY MILL, MAIDSTONE, KENT. FIND OUT ALL ABOUT OUR COMPLETE RANGE FROM OUR REVISED BOOKLET AND FRICE LIST. In case of difficulty in obtaining Free Samples, write the Sole Mill Representatives H. REEVE ANGEL & CO., 9, BRIDEWELL PLACE, LONDON, E.C. 4. 1. THE water here described is from a well in the town of Sangerfield, Oneida County, New York, about a mile-and-a-half south of the village of Waterville. It is on the flat land in the bottom of the Sangerfield valley, near the head waters of the Chenango River. The well is forty-three feet in depth and was sunk in the early '80's. The top soil of the land in the locality is a clay loam, and in boring the well the first twenty-seven feet encountered was hard clay, underneath which was a dark coarse sand, entirely different from any other formation in the neighbourhood. It is an artesian well and flows continuously. The summer and winter temperature of the water is practically constant. figures express the amounts of the different sub stances in a million parts of the water. The The water is pure and likewise unusually soft for the particular locality. Dr. A. P. Brigham, Professor of Geology in Colgate University, in a private communication says: "The bedrocks in Sangerfield at any moderate depth would be sandstone or possibly shaly sandstone of the Hamilton group; but the fact is that most of the well waters and pond waters of the region are very hard owing to the amount of limestone flour which has been incorporated in the local materials of the glacial drift by moving from limestone formations that lie to the northward. However, water of a softer character is sometimes obtained from the valley bottoms under thick beds of clay." This water affords another good illustration of how the character of the soil determines the quality of the water in the region. Our thanks are due to Dr. Nelson O. Brooks, Physician of the Board of Health of the City of Oneida, New York, for his interest in sending us the sample of water for the analysis. 2. This is a shallow well, only twelve feet deep, also in Oneida County, New York, near Fish Creek, on the premises of James L. Bentley. It is located possibly eighteen or twenty miles from the well described in 1. The analysis is as follows: Total solids in platinum dish SiO2 ... CaCO, CaSO, MgCO, NaCl and KCI Albuminoid ammonia The water is also pure and soft, as would be expected from the locality in which the well is located. It is in the pure white sand about a half mile distant from Oneida Lake. The water doubtless comes from the lake and so has a half mile of pure sand filter. This would easily account for its freedom from organic contamination and the absence of much material in solution. We desire to express our thanks to J. L. Bentley for sending us this sample of water. Cornell College, Mount Vernon, Iowa, June 12, 1920. |