The solutions of colouring matters under examination were diluted to 1 part in 10,000. In order to facilitate the repetition and control of the experiments as regards shades of colour, I have given, where it appeared needful, the position which the colour in question occupies in the first of Chevreul's circles (couleurs franches). The width of the slit of the apparatus was arranged so that the darkening of the spectrum was just distinct, which, with a little practice, is easily measured. It may be remarked that when coloured solutions are introduced that part of the spectrum appears dark-in most cases black-which shows the complementary colour of the dye under examination. Which this is may be ascertained in the well-known manner from the first circle of Chevreul's system. The three colouring matters first examined were magenta, eosin, and safranin :

Action of Zinc Ethyl upon Acetaldehyd.-G. Wagner. Not adapted for abstraction.

Moniteur Scientifique, du Dr. Quesneville,

June, 1876.

No. 6, June 8, 1876.

NEWS

The Industrial Society of Mulhouse has celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. Delegates were present from the Academy of Sciences, from the Conservatory of Arts and Manufactures at Paris, the Industrial Societies of Rouen, Reims, Amiens, &c.

MEETINGS FOR THE WEEK.

Tempered Glass.-MM. Perry-Nursey, de Luynes, Tell, &c.-A long account of the various processes used for toughening glass. M. de la Bastie has proved that contrary to the opinion generally received tempering gives to glass a solidity far superior to that of annealed glass. Ferments and Fermentations.-M. Ch. Blondeau. SATURDAY, 24th.-Physical, 3. The following Apparatus from the (Continuation.)-This treatise does not admit of useful

abstraction.

Essence of Roses.-An account of the production of this perfume at Kezanlik in the Balkan chain. 16 kilos. or about 130,000 roses are required to produce 30 grms. of the essential oil. The yearly yield of the district is estimated at 2000 kilos. of oil, worth on an average 1000 francs. per kilo.

History of the Turkey Red Manufacture.-M. T. Chateau. Unfit for abstraction.

Preparation of Pure Nickel from the Nickel of Commerce.-M. A. Terreil.-The author dissolves in 7 parts of aqua regia, evaporates almost to dryness, re-dissolves in water, separating the insoluble matter by filtration, precipitates the copper with metallic iron, per

Loan Collection will be exhibited and explainedElectric and Magnetic Apparatus by Prof. Petrochovsky, Mach's Apparatus for Lenses, Kerr's Apparatus for showing Effect of Tension on Polarised Light, &c.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

E. Sonstadt.-A letter is waiting for you at our office.

C. W. Whittaker and Co.-You had better advertise for names of Prussian blue and ultramarine manufacturers.

G. S. Mackenzie.—Apply to a foreign bookseller.

PROF. ODLING'S CHEMISTRY FOR MEDICAL STUDENTS.
On Friday next, a New Edition, illustrated with many Woodcuts of
Microscopical Preparations and Chemical Apparatus, price 6s.

oxidises the iron, transforms the metals into sulphates, A COURSE of PRACTICAL CHEMISTRY,

and lastly, precipitates the iron with carbonate of baryta and crystallises the sulphate of nickel.

Citric and Tartaric Acids.-Taken from the Journal of the Society of Arts.

Industrial Exhibition of Mulhouse.-An account of the opening ceremonials, festivities, speeches, &c.

Les Mondes, Revue Hebdomadaire des Sciences,
No. 1, May 4, 1876.

arranged for the use of Medical Students, with express reference to the Three Months' Summer Practice." By WILLIAM ODLING, M.A., F.R.S., Professor of Chemistry in the University of Oxford. London: LONGMANS and CO.

TEXT-BOOKS OF SCIENCE.

On Saturday, July 8, will be published, in small 8vo.,
with 5 Woodcuts, price 3s. 6d.

INTRODUCTION to the STUDY of CHE

MICAL PHILOSOPHY; the Principles of Theoretical and Systematic Chemistry. By WILLIAM A. TILDEN, D.Sc. Lond., F.C.S., Lecturer on Chemistry in Clifton College.

London: LONGMANS and CO.

Now ready, demy Evo., price 38. 6d.

Temperature of the Interior of the Earth.-From observations made on the Well of Sperenburg, near Berlin, M. Mohr concludes that at the depth of 5170 feet the increment of heat must be nil. A similar decrease TABLES forming an APPENDIX to PROF.

of the increment of heat has heen observed in the Artesian Well of Grenelle. Hence M. Mohr draws conclusions unfavourable to the Plutonian theory.

Nos. 2, 3, and 4, May 11, 18, and 25,′1876. These issues contain no chemical matter.

No. 5, June 1, 1876.

probably by reason of the consumption of oxygen which BERNERS COLLEGE of CHEMISTRY.—

they effect that these animalculæ are so dangerous to man. Nitrates are useful as manure, not merely in virtue of the nitrogen which they contain, but also by their oxygen, by means of which the bacteria destroy the cellulose.

The Radiometer of Mr. Crookes is already employed in photography to judge of the time necessary for the exposure of an object.

The manufacture of sea-weed charcoal is carried on on a large scale at Noirmoutiers, where more than 200 furnaces are constantly at work. The value of the charcoal is from 80 centimes to 1 franc per hectolitre. 100,000 kilos. of fresh weed give 20,000 kilos. of dry material, or 5000 kilos. of charcoal, which, when incinerated, yield from 3500 to 4000 kilos. of saline matter. Weeds which abound in potash, such as the Laminaria, contain more iodine than bromine. In Fucus nodosus, vesiculosus, fructicosus, &c., soda predominates, and bromine is much more abundant than iodine.

STREET, offers Jewellers, Mineralogists, Lapidaries, and especially Collectors of Rare Cut Gems (which he possesses in all existing kinds), large Collections of Fine Hyacinths in all Colours, Clear Spanish Topazes, Blue and Yellow Amethysts, Jargon, Olivine, Fossils, Fine Collections of Shells, Thousands of Indian Pebbles. Polished Agates, &c., Starstones and Catseyes, Garnets, Cape Rubies, Fine Slabs of Lapis Lazuli, Fine Emeralds in the Matrix, Fine Crystallised Rubies and Brazilian Topazes, and Thousands of Rare Opals. Specimens and for Cuttings. Orders effected to all parts of the world.

66

THE CHEMICAL NEWS. by rights an association of eminent scientific men; and

VOL. XXXIII. No. 866.

THE CHEMICAL SOCIETY.

HISTORY is said to repeat itself. The correspondence which has been going on for the last few weeks in our columns shows that a somewhat widespread dissatisfaction exists in regard to the election of Fellows of the Chemical Society, the malcontents using the ballot-box to force

matters to a crisis.

'Many Fellows appear to regard the Society as being they accordingly look upon the Fellowship of the Society as a distinction which should be conferred only upon those who have given evidence of marked chemical proficiency, as, for example, by the production of some original memoir; so that the election of anyone as a Fellow of the Society should stamp him at once as being a well-trained chemist and competent investigator.

"In favour of this view it is urged that the initials F.C.S., appended to the name of any gentleman, seem to imply that his attainments have won for him a public recognition somewhat in the character of a degree; and that these initials ought to signify, in reality, that which they seem to imply, and which is indeed their proper signification.

"It is further urged that the Fellowship of the Chemical It will be remembered by many of our readers that nine Society is essentially an honorary distinction, although years ago we had to draw attention to a parallel state of from the ease with which it can be obtained, practically affairs in the Chemical Society. Then, as now, certain by any who choose, it is a distinction but little valued by members felt that the Fellowship of the Society was some- the better sort. It is, however, eagerly sought after and what too easily acquired; then, as now, these dissentients obtained by men who are not perhaps altogether desirable thought it desirable that something should be done to re--who certainly have no claim to the title of scientific store to the initials F.C.S. the honourable prestige which chemists--and who, in some cases, do not even join the they feared was departing from them, and then, as now, Society from any interest they take in chemical science, an anonymous minority of the Fellows adopted the expe- but solely with the view of parading a distinction to which dient of indiscriminate blackballing in order to coerce the their merits do not really entitle them. Council of the Society to follow a particular line of action. Considering how exactly parallel the two cases are, it has been thought advisable to reprint the following report which was circulated among the Fellows of the Society in November, 1867 and it is hoped that the fair and impartial summing-up of the various arguments for and against may tend to allay the anxiety which some of the younger Fellows of the Society appear to feel that their interests and scientific status are less thought of now than they were a few years ago.

"CHEMICAL SOCIETY, BURLINGTON HOUSE, "PICCADILLY, W.

"SIR,

"November 11, 1867.

"At a meeting of the Council, held on May 16th, 1867, it was resolved,That a Committee of five be appointed to consider the by-laws relating to the election of Fellows, Honorary Members, and Associates, and to report to the Council. It was further resolved, That the Committee consist of Mr. Crookes, Dr. Miller, Dr. Odling, Mr. Wanklyn, and Dr. Williamson.'

"Upon the presentation of the Committee's report at a meeting of the Council, held on November 7th, it was resolved, That this report be approved, and that a copy of it be sent to each Fellow of the Society.'

"We beg to append the report in question, and have the honour to remain,

"Your obedient Servants,

"W. ODLING,

"A. VERNON HARCOURT.
"Hon. Secretaries.

As bearing upon the standard of qualification for admission to the Fellowship of the Chemical Society, your Committee, from replies they have received to a circular which they addressed to all the Fellows, and from conversations they have held with different Fellows whom they chanced to encounter, have ascertained the existence among the Fellows of the Society of two very distinct views as to its nature and purposes.

* Vide CHEMICAL NEWS, vol. xv., pp. 229, 243.

"Moreover, from the circumstance that chemistry is pursued, not only as a science but also as a profession and trade, the right to append the initials F.C.S. possesses a sort of trade value, exceeding its cost, to mere trading or professional chemists; as suggesting that those who have the privilege of using these initials are better qualified men than their brethren who are not thus distinguished.

"From these causes, it is said, the Fellowship of the Chemical Society has gradually sunk in public estimation; and accordingly it is very desirable that something should now be done to restore, if possible, its original prestige.

"On the other hand, many Fellows are of opinion that the Society is merely an association of individuals, having joint but various interests in the progress of both pure and applied chemistry; that the object for which the Society exists is not to confer honour upon any individual whatever, but to promote the general advancement, distribution, and application of chemical knowledge; and that, as a general rule, men engaged in pursuits more or or connected with chemistry, and less dependent on taking a sufficient interest in chemistry to wish to join the Society should, unless personally objectionable, have every facility afforded them for joining it.

now

"In favour of this view, the preamble to the charter is adduced, and especially the following paragraph; whereas certain of our subjects did establish and are members of a society known by the name of the Chemical Society, for the general advancement of chemical science, as intimately connected with the prosperity of the manufactures of the United Kingdom . . . . . and for a more extended and economical application of the industrial resources and sanatory condition of the community,' &c.

"It is further maintained that the Society, from its origin until the present time, has always been of a mixed rather than of an exclusively scientific character-that the present Fellows form quite as distinguished a body as have ever constituted the Society-and that many, at any rate, of the most distinguished individual Fellows do not feel themselves at all discredited by being associated as joint Fellows of the Society with men who are engaged or interested in chemical pursuits, but whose scientific or social position is inferior to their own.

"Moreover, of scientific as distinguished from purely professional societies, the Royal Society, it is urged, is the only one of which the Fellowship is conferred in recognition of eminent scientific merit-the special science societies being practically open to all students of and workers at their respective subjects, who may wish to be elected to their respective Fellowships. To limit the

Chemical Society then to eminent scientific chemists would be tantamount to making it the chemical section of the Royal Society, instead of allowing it to have a distinct function and character of its own.

the trick of depositing cinders, tank-waste, refuse from mines, &c., not exactly in a river but close to its margin, so that the next fresh may carry it in. The language employed is that :-" Every person who puts or causes to "It is further urged that the circumstance of chemistry be put or to fall, or knowingly permits to be put or to being to some extent a profession, so far from indicating fall, or to be carried into any stream the solid refuse, the propriety of making the Fellowship of the Chemical &c." How these words will be construed by the Courts Society an honorary distinction, rather contra-indicates it. it would be very rash to predict. But we cannot help For, independently of the difficulty, or rather impossi- | thinking that it would have been wiser to enact that no bility, of withholding or conferring the honour without refuse of the kinds referred to should be laid down within doing much injustice to individuals, the Society, by pro- twenty yards of the margin of any river. fessing to choose out the most worthy, would naturally be held responsible for its choice, and identified more or less with the acts of each and all of its Fellows.

"Your Committee having given these different views their best consideration, are not prepared to recommend any alteration in the bye-law relating to the election of Fellows, which would have the effect of confining the Fellowship of the Society to strictly scientific men.

"But they think it may be advisable, although they have failed to elicit evidence of the admission of any significant proportion of unsuitable persons into the Society, to make some modification in the present byelaw, with a view to increase the security against the accidental election of undesirable candidates.

"They accordingly suggest that in future, or after a certain interval of time, the form of recommendation of a candidate, referred to in the first paragraph of the byelaw in question, shall be required to be signed by five instead of by only three Fellows of the Society, of whom three at least instead of only one shall be required to sign from personal knowledge; and further, that in the second line of the printed form of recommendation, the words 'Qualification or Occupation' shall be substituted for the words Position, Profession, or Occupation.'

·

"At present your Committee are not disposed to advise any alteration in the second paragraph of the bye-law, which requires three-fourths of the votes given to be in favour of the candidate, in order to effect his election. If, however, contrary to the anticipations of the Committee, any section of the Fellows should be found to make an improper use of this requirement, your Committee would then recommend that one or other of two courses should be proposed by the Council and adopted by the Society; that is to say, that the bye-law should be so altered as to render valid the election by a mere majority, or else that the bye-law should be temporarily abrogated, and during its abrogation the election of Fellows be delegated by the Society at large to a Committee appointed for the purpose.

THE NEW BILL FOR THE PREVENTION

OF THE POLLUTION OF RIVERS.

THE Ministry has at last fulfilled its promise, and this eagerly awaited measure has been actually introduced. In what shape it will become law, if at all, lies beyond the scope even of an editor's prescience. But we may safely say that it deserves to pass; not that it fulfils all the reasonable expectations of the friends of sanitary reform, but it attempts quite as much as in face of the powerful interests to be encountered there is any probability of being accomplished. We accept it, therefore, in the spirit of the homely old adage which tells us that "half a loaf is better than no bread."

The first part of the Bill is directed against the very common practice of using the streams as carriers not merely for liquid but for solid refuse. This is an evil about which there can be no dispute, since the rubbish in question, even if it has no tendency to pollute the waters, interferes with their due flow, and renders floods both more frequent and more destructive. It may, perhaps, be doubted in how far the wording of Section 3 will apply to

The provisions relating to the discharge of sewage into streams are free from all unnecessary complications. The sanitary authorities are very fairly required to use "the best practical and available means to render harmless the sewage matter so falling or flowing." What such means may be is not specified, but it is left to the local boards, town councils, &c., to select from amongst the known processes whatever is best adapted to their individual case. We are also glad to find that there is no hard and fast standard laid down as to what may and what may not be discharged into any river. We have so often insisted on the futility of any arbitrary standard as applied to the polluting influents, that we must be pardoned for rejoicing over Mr. Sclater-Booth's measure as a triumph of common sense over official pedantry.

if

For the liquid refuse of manufacturing establishments the provisions are similar. The perplexing distinctions drawn in the Bill, as introduced last year between nuisance of old and of comparatively recent standing, no longer find a place. No poisonous ingredient likely to occur among manufacturing or mining refuse, such as arsenic, chrome, lead, &c., is made the subject of any especial prohibition, which may be regarded as great, not too great, leniency. But the local authorities if receiving dangerous or poisonous materials into their sewers are to be empowered to require compensation for the additional outlay required in their purification. We cannot see any other possible solution of the difficulty. The law cannot fairly require every dyer, fuller, tanner, &c., to purify his own waste waters since many manufacturing establishments are built in the heart of towns, where there is no room for precipitation tanks, filter-beds, or any of the various appliances required. We trust, therefore, that manufacturers will not oppose this clause, and that they will gradually see the way to render their liquid refuse both less plentiful and less offensive than at present. We dare not expect that in every case their success will be as signal as that of the alkali manufac turers in the condensation of their hydrochloric acid gas, and we cannot forget that even this boasted condensation, when carried to the perfection now deemed requisite, is found not a source of profit but a decided burden. It is stipulated that the local authorities shall not be bound to receive into the sewers any matter which might render the sewage or its deposit unfit for application to the land.

The two "saving clauses "-so-called, perhaps, in irony are most objectionable. The one declares that "the powers given by this Act shall be deemed to be in addition to and not in derogation of any other powers conferred by Act of Parliament, law, or custom." This is most unfortunate. It is not fair that a quarrelsome or fanciful neighbour shall have in his reach a whole armoury of offensive weapons to use against either manufacturers or local authorities. Every one should know exactly his position with respect to the pollution of rivers. For this purpose there should be but one way of proceeding against offenders. So long as the multiplicity of remedies exists no one can tell when he is safe. The second "saving clause" is, if possible, still more amiss. By it the doings of the Metropolitan Board of Works are formally excluded from the operations of the Act. It is a common saying the greater the offender the more lenient is his treatment, and here we find it fully exemplified. Perhaps, however, had the said Board of Works been placed upon the same footing as the Town Councils of Leeds, Birmingham, or

NEWS

Manchester, the representatives of the Metropolitan | glass, in order to more precisely exhibit the paths of the boroughs would have combined in opposition.

These defects apart we consider the measure useful and practicable and wish it a safe passage through the Houses.

NOTE

ON

PICROTOXIN.

By RICHARD APJOHN, F.C.S.,
Prælector of Chemistry Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.

SOME time since I prepared a large quantity of picrotoxin from the seeds of the Cocculus indicus with a view of studying more closely the properties of this remarkable substance. After making a number of experiments on this body I have no hesitation in saying that the determination of its melting-point furnishes an easy and certain criterion of its identity.

The method I have employed for determining its melting-point claims no novelty. About half a milligrm. of the substance was introduced into a capillary tube sealed at one end. The tube was then attached to a thermometer by means of a few turns of fine platinum wire, and the whole was gradually heated in a beaker of oil of vitriol. In four experiments the pricrotoxin was observed to melt at 192° C. A specimen of picrotoxin which I obtained from Messrs. Hopkin and Williams exhibited exactly the same melting-point.

rays.

Baron WRANGELL exhibited the apparatus employed by Petrochovsky in his magnetic experiments. These experiments had reference to (1) normal magnetisation; (2) the measurement of the distance of the poles of a magnet from its ends; and (3) a thermo-electric apparatus. The determinations were very much simplified by employing a unipolar magnetic needle formed by bending a small bar magnet at right angles at about a quarter of its length from one end. The needle is then suspended by a fibre arm is maintained horizontal by a brass counterpoise attached to the end of the short arm, and the longer weight. It will be evident that as one pole is in the axis of rotation it cannot have any effect on the motion of the needle. By turning up each end in this manner the mothe exact positions of the poles. If a magnetic needle be ment of the magnet may be ascertained without knowing flecting it from the meridian, and the bar be then struck with so placed that a bar magnet parallel to it has no effect in dea brass hammer, the state of equilibrium will be disturbed, as is shown by the motion of the needle. This, however, electric current is passing. The apparatus employed in is not the case with a piece of soft iron round which an the experiments on "normal magnetisation" consisted of iron of varying lengths, so constructed that any number an arrangement for passing a current round rods of soft of the surrounding coils can be removed in the manner of round the bar it is moved until its residual magnetism has an ordinary rheostat. After the current has been passed no effect in deflecting a delicate unipolar needle from the meridian. The current is then passed round it, and the coils are adjusted until the magnetised bar has still no effect on the needle. The effect of the coils themselves is eliminated by means of a subsidiary coil. When the current is thus adjusted, the bar is said to be "normally" magnetised, and M. Petrochovsky has ascertained that this condition is satisfied when the length of the coil is 0.8 times that of the bar, and this is independent of the strength of current. This, then, is the only case in which the position of the poles is the same as when the bar is charged with residual magnetism. For the determination of the positions of the poles of a bar magnet a somewhat complicated apparatus was employed. A large unipolar I may also state that crystals of picrotoxin deposited suspension, was enclosed in a glass box. A fine silver magnet, about 8 inches in length, provided with a bifilar from an aqueous solution contain no water of crystallisa-wire was stretched parallel to the axis of the needle tion, for having heated them to a temperature slightly between two projections on it, and it also carried a fine below their fusing-point I found that they had lost no weight.

"As far as I know, the melting-point of picrotoxin has never been used as a character for its detection, and in "Watts's Dictionary of Chemistry "(vol. iv., page 643), it is asserted that picrotoxin decomposes without fusion when strongly heated. In order to test the truth of this latter statement about a grain of picrotoxin was introduced into a test-tube, and heated in an oil of vitriol bath to a temperature of 192° C., when it melted to an amber liquid. The contents of the tube when cold were dissolved in warm water, and set aside to cool. The well known stellate tufts of prismatic crystals soon appeared, and these crystals, when dried, were found to possess the normal melting-point (192° C.) of picrotoxin. From these experiments it is, I think, sufficiently demonstrated that picrotoxin has a definite melting-point, and that it does not undergo decomposition at the heat at which it melts.

PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.

PHYSICAL SOCIETY.
June 24th, 1876.

Professor G. C. FOSTER, F.R.S., President, in the Chair.

THE following candidates were elected members of the
Society: Prof. James Dewar, M.A., F.R.S.E., and the
Hon. F. A. Rollo Russell.

a

Prof. GUTHRIE showed the action of Prof. Mach's apparatus for exhibiting to an audience the effect of lenses on a beam of light passed through them. It consists of a long rectangular box with glass sides, in which are several movable lenses. A parallel beam of light falls on grating at one end of this box, and is thus split up into a number of small beams, which are rendered visible by filling the box with smoke. After passing through the first lens the rays fall on a movable white rod, which may be placed to indicate the focus. The light then falls on another lens partly covered with red and partly with blue

index at the horizontal end. The wire is focussed in a telescope which can be made to travel along rails parallel to the magnet, and the index at the end can be observed by another telescope. A small magnet at right angles to the large magnet can be moved with the first telescope, and the point at which its effect in deflecting the unipolar is the greatest is ascertained by varying its position parallel to itself along a graduated scale, and then observing the space through which a subsidiary magnet must be moved in order to restore the unipolar to its initial position, as observed in the second telescope. the pole of the large magnet. It was thus found that the When this point is reached it must be exactly opposite poles are at a distance of one-tenth of the length of the magnet from its ends. To determine the position of the poles of a horseshoe magnet a delicate magnetic needle is placed below a fine wire in the meridian, and a horseshoe magnet is brought so that its two ends are immediately below the wire and near the needle. In the case of an electro-magnet the point at which its effect is greatest is found to vary when the coils are moved towards the ends, and is nearest to the ends when the coils project slightly beyond them. The third series of researches referred to was on the influence of an electric current on the thermoelectric action of soft iron. A number of strips of iron are connected by means of copper studs, and when currents are passed round the alternate strips it is found that the system acts as an ordinary thermo-pile. This question is,