duced by silver nitrate, and by another indirect method, it was shown that the gas probably has the composition corresponding to the formula GeH,, corresponding to Winkler's tetraethyl compound Ge(CH),.-Zeitschr. anorg. Chem., xxx, 325. H. L. W.

6

4. Compounds of Beryllium with Organic Acids.-LACOMBE has prepared a series of basic beryllium salts with a number of fatty acids. The acetate has the formula (C,H,O,) Be ̧O, while the formate, propionate, the normal and iosobutyrates and the isovalerate have analogous compositions represented by the formula A,B,O. The remarkable property of these salts is their volatility. The best means of purifying them is by distillation under diminished pressure. The formate is insoluble in all solvents, while the higher members become soluble, and may be recrystallized readily. The author was unable to prepare the normal salts of beryllium with these acids, such as (C,II,O,),Be, while with strong mineral acids no salts of a type corresponding to the organic salts could be made.-Comptes Rendus, cxxxiv,

772.

H. L. W.

5. The Use of Floats in Burettes.—An elaborate study of the use of burette-floats has been made by KREITLING. It was found that Erdmann's floats, as well as the so-called spherical floats, give irregular results in comparison with those obtained without the use of any float, and this was the case with different burettes and with floats of varying calibre. The causes of the variations could not be satisfactorily explained, but the conclusion was reached that it is not advisable to use any float whatever in a burette.-Zeitschr. angew. Chem., xv, 4.

H. L. W.

6. Beiträge zur Chemischen Physiologie und Pathologie, herausgegeben von Fr. Hofmeister. II Band, 4 Heft. Braunschweig, 1902. (Fr. Vieweg und Sohn.)--In an experimental study of the action of salt solutions isotonic with the blood, HAAKE and SPIRO have ascertained that even small quantities of such solutions slowly introduced into the circulation call forth diuresis. Sodium chloride solutions are peculiar in producing less marked effects. E. FULD has contributed a long paper on the reaction of rennin with milk, with particular reference to the relation between clotting-time and the quantity of enzyme present. The theory of rennin action is also discussed. In a second paper Fuld presents analyses of compounds of metaphosphoric acid with various proteids. While some of these synthetic products are quite constant in composition, they differ distinctly from the natural phosphoruscontaining proteids. NEUBERG and HEYMANN report an investigation of the nature of the carbohydrate groups in the so-called pseudo-mucin of ovarial cysts, in which they have demonstrated that chitosamin occurs.

L. B. M.

7. Velocity of Light.-The Decennial Publications of the University of Chicago, 1902, contain a suggestion by Professor MICHELSON of a new method for determining the velocity of light. The author reviews the previous results, contrasts the astronomical methods, the electrical and the optical methods, and proposes

a combination of the Foucault and the Fizeau methods. Instead of a revolving toothed wheel of Fizeau, he suggests the use of a stationary grating, and by a double reflection of light from stationary and revolving mirrors, and proposes to measure the eclipses the light suffers from the gratings. Figures accompany the original article which make the author's plan clear. He estimates that the velocity of light can be measured to a probable error of only 5 kilometers.

J. T.

8. Ultra- Violet of the Mercury Spectrum.-HANS LEHMANN and R. STRAUBEL give a table of wave lengths, extending from wave length 221-31 to 193-04. They used the Berolina-Kupferdruckplatten of Gebhard, and developed with glycin. The apparatus consisted of an Abbe spectrometer, with collimator, prism and camera. Quartz fluor spar lenses were employed. The prism was a Cornu right and left quartz. The source of light was a Geissler tube with mercury electrodes.-Ann. der Physik, No. 4, 1902, pp. 909-911.

J. T.

9. A new Peculiarity in the Structure of the Cyanogen Bands. -ARTHUR SCOTT KING gives a description of a band structure of the carbon arc spectrum, beginning at wave length 3465 and ending at 3274. Another band runs from 3203 84 to 3128.—Ann. der Physik, No. 4, 1902, pp. 791-800.

J. T.

10. Stationary Electric Waves.-The subject of wireless telegraphy lends great interest to investigations upon the reflection of Hertzian waves from mirrors. K. F. LINDMAN has studied the subject under the following heads:

(1) The dimensions of the mirror were great in comparison with the wave lengths.

(2) The indicator was a resonator with a thermo element. (3) The thermo resonator was rectilinear.

(4) The thermo resonator was circular.

(5) The indicator was a resonator with spark gap.

(6) The dimensions of the mirror were of the order of the wave lengths. An important conclusion is, that the parabolic reflector of the oscillator should not be shorter than the wave length, in case the focal length of the mirror is a quarter wave length. Ann, der Physik, No. 4, 1902, pp. 824-850.

J. T.

11. Oscillatory Discharges.-H. ANDRIESSEN calls attention to the importance of oscillatory discharges in the use of condensers. Such discharges often occasion greater ones than the calculation of tension, capacity, and periodicity would indicate, and therefore break down insulation which would resist non-oscillatory discharges. Ann. der Physik, No. 4, 1902, pp. 909-918.

J. T.

12. Meteorologische Optik, von J. M. PERNTER, Professor an der Universität in Wien und Director der Centralanstalt für Meteorologie und Erdmagnetismus. I. Abschnitt: pp. 1-54. Wien und Leipzig, 1902 (Wilhelm Braumüller).-The aim of this work is to present all that is known concerning the optics of the atmosphere, and, as no author has attempted the same task hitherto, it promises to be of great value. Part I treats in a clear and inter

esting way of the apparent form of the sky, its causes and its consequences. It is to be shortly followed by three others, treating, respectively, of the phenomena due to the aeriform components of the atmosphere, of those due to the exceptional presence of foreign bodies (halos, coronas, etc.), and of those attributable to the constant presence of small particles.

C. S. H.

13. Instruments et Méthodes de Mesures Electrique Industrielles; par H. ARMAGNAT. Deuxième Edition, revue et complétée, 599 pp. Paris, 1902 (C. Naud).-The first part of this useful book, constituting a half of the whole volume, contains a general description of the familiar laboratory instruments for electrical measurements and of their modes of use. Excellent features of the discussions are the statements concerning the limiting accuracy of the various methods. The second part, occupying about one hundred pages, is devoted to industrial appliances for electrical measurements. The remainder of the volume, constituting the third part, is given to a description of the methods employed in electric and magnetic measurements, both refined and industrial. It is in this part that the ordinary reader will find most that will appear novel to him. The volume as a whole is clearly written, clearly printed, and adequately, if not admirably, illustrated.

C. S. H.

14. Note on the Size of Nuclei; by C. BARUS. (Communicated.) -If in case of nuclei produced by shaking solutions, we regard the nucleus as so constituted, that a central electron forms a closed field with the charge due to friction uniformly distributed* over the surface; if, moreover, the excess of vapor pressure at a surface of radius R is eventually equal to the electrical surface pressure, we may write 2Tp/R = '2′′е2 / (16π3 R'K); whence R3 = e2 / ( 16π TpK), where e is an electron (7×10-10 electrostatic units), 7 the surface tension of water (81), p its vapor density (17X10-), K its specific inductive capacity (80). From this follows for the radius of the nucleus R 45 X 10', which (in the light of other data to be adduced at length elsewhere) seems to be a reasonable value. A nucleus smaller or larger than this will either grow or evaporate, respectively, to the critical radius here implied.

II. GEOLOGY.

1. Geological Survey of Canada, Summary Report of the Geological Survey department for the Calendar year, 1901; by ROBERT BELL, Acting Deputy Head and Director. 269 pp.Since the death of the late director of the Canadian Geological Survey, Dr. G. M. Dawson, March 2, 1901, the administration has been in charge of Mr. Robert Bell. The appropriation for the year was $115,900. There were 31 parties in the field during the summer season, and 12 publications were completed and issued. Among the important investigations were those of As, for instance, by rotation.

*

McConnell in the copper regions of White Horse district; Leach and McEvoy on the coal basin of Fernice in the Crow's Nest Pass coal field; Dowling on the western side of Hudson, where rocks formerly represented as Laurentian were shown to be of Lower Cambrian age; Barlow on the Sudbury nickel and copper district; Adams on the Haliburton district; Chalmers on the superficial deposits of the interlake peninsula of Ontario exploiting for gas, petroleum and water; Laflamme made investigation of the Middle Silurian of Anticosti, bringing in numerous fossils; Bailey and Poole on the Carboniferous deposits of New Brunswick. These and many other lines of research are the steady progress of previous years.

II. S. W.

The

2. Field Operations of the Division of Soils; report for 1900 by MILTON WHITNEY, Chief of Division U. S. Dept. Agriculture. 473 pp.; 51 pls. ; 47 figs. ; also 24 colored soil maps.-The work of the Division of Soils for 1900 covered a wide area. eastern division, in charge of C. W. Dorsey, made surveys in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio and North Carolina; the western division, in charge of Thomas H. Means, was at work in Utah, Arizona and California. 4,465 square miles were mapped on a scale of one inch to the mile. The laboratory work for the division included investigation on the physical and chemical properties of soils.

3. The Mineral Wealth of the Black Hills; by CLEOPHAS C. O'HARRA. South Dakota Geol. Survey, Bull. No. 3. Pp. 82; pl. 22.-Dr. O'Harra of the South Dakota School of Mines has described the economic mineral deposits of the Black Hills and includes in his treatise a general summary of the history, conditions, and apparent possibilities of their development.

n

22

n

4. Corundum Twins; by WM. E. HIDDEN. (Communicated.)Crystals of corundum, gray and ruby-red in color, twinned parallel to the base c (0001), have been found sparingly in the "In situ" mine (of ruby, pink and gray corundum), Coler Fork of Cowee Creek, Macon County, North Carolina. They were first observed by the writer in 1898, upon crystals from a feldspar vein. The two best examples measure six millimeters in diameter and length. They are characterized by reëntrant angles (n, 2243) on the prismatic faces (a, 1120) and some slight natural corrosion. (See figure, drawn by Mr. John C. Blake of the Yale Mineralogical Laboratory.)

n

5. Genesis of Ore Deposits; published by the American Institute of Mining Engineers.-During the past few years several important papers on ore deposits have been published by the Institute of Mining Engineers. These have now been collected into a single volume. The first paper, from which the book takes its title, is the celebrated treatise by Franz Posephny which was

given by him to the Institute in 1893. The other papers of the volume are entitled: Some Principles Controlling the Deposition of Ores, by C. R. Van Hise; The Secondary Enrichment of Ore Deposits, by S. F. Emmons; The Enrichment of Gold and Silver Veins, by W. Lindgren; Problems in the Geology of Ore Deposits, by J. H. L. Vogt; the Role of Igneous Rocks in the Formation of Veins, by J. F. Kemp; The Caliche of Southern Arizona, by W. P. Blake; The Character and Genesis of Certain Contact Deposits, by W. Lindgren; The Formation of Bonanzas in the Upper Portion of Gold Veins, by T. A. Rickard. Many of these papers have grown out of the discussion of Prof. Van Hise's original and valuable contribution. The different writers, with one exception, agree with him in his main conclusions. Prof. Van Hise has contributed a concluding chapter in which the chief points of the discussion are reviewed and summarized. A valuable appendix to the volume gives an index of all the papers on ore deposits which the Institute has published.

W. E. F.

6. Coal in Michigan, its mode of occurrence and quality; by ALFRED C. LANE, State Geologist, constituting vol. viii, pt. ii, Geol. Survey of Michigan. Pp. 232, 9 plates and 9 figures. 1902. -The author discusses the origin, occurrence, analyses and tests, erosion and disturbance and development of Michigan coal. As to the geological horizon of the coal seams he makes the following statement, based upon paleontological analyses made by Messrs. Girty and David White of the U. S. Geological Survey, viz: "All the indications are that all our series are low down in the Coal Measures (Mesocarboniferous), in fact in that section of it known as the Pottsville formation, seral conglomerate' or millstone grit a part of the series which was once supposed to be below any important coal seams, though it is now known that some of the best coals of the United States, the Lykens Valley of Penn., the Pocahontas and New River of West Va., the Sharon Marsillon and Mercer Coals of Ohio, belong to this series (p. 41).

H. S. W.

7. Adephagous and Clavicorn Coleoptera from the Tertiary Deposits at Florissant, Colorado; by SAMUEL H. SCUDDER. U. S. G. S. Monograph XL, 148 pp., 11 pl., 1900.-This is a second instalment toward the history of fossil coleoptera, the first of which was published in 1893 as Monograph XXI, and contains an account of the non-rhynchophorous coleoptera of North America, 210 species of which are now known belonging to 26 families and 125 genera. The beautiful plates illustrate the new species; and in their proper places all the species of each genus are recorded, thus giving a summary of present knowledge of the extinct forms of the groups considered.

H. S. W.

8. Acrothyra and Hyolithes-a Comparison; Hyolithes gracilis and related forms from the Lower Cambrian of the St. John Group; A backward step in Palaeobotany, by G. F. MATTHEW. Trans. Roy. Soc. Can., vol. vi, section iv, pp. 93-122. -Dr. Matthew believes that the Pteropoda and the Brachiopoda