THE INSTITUTE OF CHEMISTRY OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. FOUNDED 1877. INCORPORATED BY ROYAL CHARTER,1885. Patron -H.M. THE KING. JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS. PART 11: 1936. Issued under the supervision of the Publications Committee. RICHARD B. PILCHER, Registrar and Secretary. 30, RUSSELLSQUARE,LONDON,W.C.1, April, 1936. Publications Commit tee, 1936-37. LEWIS EYNON (Chairman), JAMES BELL, HAROLD BURTON, G. R. CLEMO, ALBERT COULTHARD, W. M. GUMMING, B. S. EVANS, A. E. EVEREST, ALEXANDER FINDLAY, A. E. FINDLEY, H. H. HODGSON, WILLIAM HONNEYMAN, D. JORDAN-LLOYD, PATRICK H. KIRKALDY (Hon. Treasurer) C. AINSWORTH MITCHELL, J. R. NICHOLLS, T. F. E. RHEAD, ADAM TAIT, E. A. TYLER, ERNEST VANSTONE. Officers and Members of Council, 1936-37.PRESIDENT : ROBERT HOWSON PICKARD, D.Sc., F.R.S. VICE-PRESIDENTS : HAROLD DOUGLAS ELKINGTON, M.Sc. ARTHUR ERNEST EVEREST, D.Sc., PH.D. JOHN JACOB FOX, O.B.E., D.SC. HERBERT HENRY HODGSON, M.A., B.Sc., PH.D. ROBERT ROBINSON, M.A., D.Sc., LL.D., F.R.S. JOCELYN FIELD THORPE, C.B.E., D.Sc., F.R.S. HON. TREASURER : PATRICK HENRY KIRKALDY. MEMBERS OF COUNCIL: FREDERIC SUTCLIFFE AUMONIER, B.Sc. : LONDON. JAMES BELL, M.A., M.D., Sc.D.: IRISHFREESTATE. SIDNEY ALBERT BRAZIER, M.Sc. : MANCHESTER. HENRY VINCENT AIRD BRISCOE, D.Sc., A.R.C.S., D.I.C. :LONDON. HAROLD BURTON, D.Sc., PH.D. : YORKSHIRE. WILLIAM ALEXANDER SKEEN CALDER :BIRMINGHAMAND THOMAS CALLAN, PH.D. :MANCHESTER. [MIDLANDS.FREDERICK DANIEL CHATTAWAY, M.A., DSc., F.R.S.:OXFORD. GEORGE ROGER CLEMO, D.Sc., D.PEIL.: NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE. ALBERT COULTHARD, PH.D. :MANCHESTER. HERBERT WILLIAM CREMER, M.Sc., M.I.CHEM.E. : LONDON. CECIL JOHN TURRELL CRONSHAW, B.Sc. :MANCHESTERAND WILLIAM MURDOCH CUMMING, D.Sc. : GLASGOW. [DISTRICT.BERNARD SCOTT EVANS, M.B.E., M.C., D.Sc., PH.D.: LONDON. JOHN EVANS, M.Sc.: SEEFFIELD. LEWIS EYNON, B.Sc. : LONDON. ALEXANDER FINDLAY, D.Sc. :ABERDEENAND NORTHOF SCOTLAND. ALBERT EDWARD FINDLEY, B.Sc., M.EN~. AND: LIVERPOOL [NORTH-WESTCOAST. ISIDOR MORRIS HEILBRON, D.S.O., D.Sc., F.R.S. : MANCHESTER. THOMAS PERCY HILDITCH, D.Sc. : LIVERPOOL. WILLIAM HONNEYMAN, B.Sc., PH.D. :NORTHERNIRELAND. BERNARD FARMBOROUGH HOWARD: LONDON.DOROTHY JORDAN-LLOYD, M.A., D.Sc. : LONDON. LESLIE HERBERT LAMPITT, D.Sc. :LONDON. HERBERT LEVINSTEIN, M.Sc., PH.D. : LONDON. PERCY LEWIS-DALE, B.Sc., PH.D.: LONDON. GERALD ROCHE LYNCH, O.B.E., M.B., B.S.: LONDON. JAMES MACLEOD: GLAS~OW. JAMES IRVINE ORME MASSON, M.B.E., D.Sc. :THE OVERSEAS DOMINIONS AND ELSEWHEREABROAD. CHARLES AINSWORTH MITCHELL, M.A., D.Sc. : LONDON. JOHN RALPH NICHOLLS, B.Sc. : LONDONAND SOUTH-EASTERN HAROLD JAMES PAGE, M.B.E., B.Sc.: LONDON. [COUNTIES.THOMAS FRED ERIC RHEAD, M.Sc. : BIRMINGHAM. PERCY LEUCOCK ROBINSON, D.Sc. :NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNEAND NORTH-EASTCOAST. SAMUEL SMILES, O.B.E., D.Sc., F.R.S.: LONDON. ADAM TAIT: EDINBURGH AND EASTOF SCOTLAND. ERNEST VANSTONE, D.Sc. :BRISTOL COUNTIES.AND SOUTH-WESTERN ERNEST ALBERT TYLER, M.A.: WALES AND THE COUNTYOF JOHN WEIR, B.Sc., PH.D. :ARDROSSAN.[MONMOUTH.JOHN CHRISTISON WHITE, O.B.E., M.C., A.M.I.CHEM.E.: LONDON. FORSYTH JAMES WILSON, PH.D., D.Sc. :Gusaow AND WESTOF SCOTLAND. 108 DATES OF COUNCIL MEETINGS: 1936: APRIL 24~~. 1936: NOVEMBER 20~~. MAY 22~~. DECEMBER 18~~. JUNE 19~~. 1937: JANUARY 22ND AND 29~~. JULY 24~~. FEBRUARY 19~~. OCTOBER 16~~. CENSORS :1936-1937. THE PRESIDENT, EX-OFFICIO. SIR GEORGE CHRISTOPHER CLAYTON, C.B.E., PH.D. GILBERT THOMAS MORGAN, O.B.E., D.Sc., F.R.S. ROBERT ROBINSON, M.A., D.Sc., F.R.S. JOCELYN FIELD THORPE, C.B.E., D.Sc., F.R.S. Committees for 1936-37. Chairman* FINANCE AND HOUSE COMMITTEE : THE PRESIDENT, WITH F.S. AUMONIER, W. A. S. CALDER, H. W. CREMER, A. E. EVEREST, LEWIS EYNON, T. P. HILDITCH, H. H. HODGSON, BERNARD F. HOWARD, PATRICK H. KIR- KALDY,* HERBERT LEVINSTEIN, AND J. C. WHITE. LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE : THE PRESIDENT, WITH H. V. A. BRISCOE, W. A. S. CALDER, C. J. T. CRONSHAW, H. D. ELKINGTON, BERNARD F. HOWARD,*PATRICK H. KIRKALDY, L. H. LAMPITT, HERBERT LEVIN- STEIN, P. LEWIS-DALE, G. ROCHE LYNCH, C. A. MITCHELL, J. R. NICHOLLS, AND R. ROBINSON. NOMINATIONS, EXAMINATIONS AND INSTITUTIONS COMMITTEE : THE PRESIDENT* AND COUNCIL IN COMMITTEE. (VICE-CHAIRMAN:PATRICK H. KIRKALDY.) PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE : THE PRESIDENT, WITH JAMES BELL, HAROLD BURTON, G. R. CLEMO, ALBERT COULTHARD, W. M. CUMMING, B. S. EVANS,A. E.EVEREST, LEWIS EYNON,* ALEXANDER FINDLAY, A. E. FINDLEY, H. H. HODGSON, W. HONNEYMAN,D. JORDAN- LLOYD, PATRICK H. KIRKALDY, C. A. MITCHELL, J. R. MCHOLLS, T. F. E. RHEAD, ADAM TAIT, E. A. TYLER, AND ERNEST VANSTONE. 109 SPECIAL COMMITTEES. BENEVOLENT FUND COMMITTEE : THE PRESIDENT, PATRICK H. KIRKALDY (HoN. TREASURER),*THE FINANCE AND HOUSE COMMITTEE, WITH T. COCKBURN (GLASGOW),H. G. COLMAN, A. COULTHARD (MANCHESTER),E. M. HAWKINS, W. HONNEYMAN (N. IRELAND),HAROLD BURTON (LEEDS), C. PROCTOR, F. SOUTHERDEN (BRISTOL), AND G. RUDD THOMPSON (SOUTHWALES). APPOINTMENTS COMMITTEE : THE PRESIDENT,* WITH F. A. AUMONIER, S. A. BRAZIER, G. R. CLEMO, H. W. CREMER, C. J.T. CRONSHAW, W. M. CUMMING, B. S.EVANS, JOHN EVANS, H. DOUGLAS ELKINGTON, A.E. EVEREST, H. H. HODGSON, D. JORDAN-LLOYD, P. LEWIS-DALE, G. ROCHE LYNCH, C. AINSWORTH MITCHELL, J. R. NICHOLLS, AND E. VANSTONE. PEDLER FUND COMMITTEE : THE PRESIDENT*, PATRICK H. KIRKALDY (VICE-CHAKECMAN), WITH 0. L. BRADY, H. V. A. BRISCOE, H. W. CREMER, W. M. CUMMING, J. J. FOX, I. M. HEILBRON, T. P. HILDITCH, L. H. LAMPITT, HERBERT LEVINSTEIN, D. JORDAN-LLOYD, J. I. 0. MASSON, E. K. RIDEAL, R. ROBINSON, SAMUEL SMILES, JOCELYN F. THORPE, AND WILLIAM WARDLAW. NATIONAL CERTIFICATES IN CHEMISTRY. JOINT COMMITTEE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE INSTITUTE AND OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION (Appointment postponed. ) JOINT COMMITTEE WITH SCOTTISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT : THE PRESIDENT, WITH R. BRUCE, W. M. CUMMING, P. F. GORDON, G.G. HENDERSON*, PATRICK H. KIRKALDY, J. MACLEOD, N. PICTON, T. SLATER PRICE, J. WEIR, AND F. J. WILSON. JOINT COMMITTEE WITH MINISTRY OF EDUCATION FOR NORTHERN IRELAND: THE PRESIDENT, WITH J. C. A. BRIERLEY, W. H. GIBSON, J. HAWTHORNE, W. HONNEYMAN, G. T. MORGAN, AND T. SLATER PRICE. REPRESENTATIVES ON THE CHEMICAL COUNCIL: F. G. EDMED, PATRICK H. KIRKALDY, AND JOCELYN THORPE. REPRESENTATIVES ON THE LIBRARY COMMITTEE OF THE CHEMICAL SOCIETY: H. V. A. BRISCOE, H. W. CREMER, J. J. FOX, AND H. J. PAGE. 110 BOARD OF EXAMINERS FOR THE ASSOCIATESHIP AND FELLOWSHIP, 1936-1937. Chairman : THE PRESIDENT. Reprtxentutivea of the Nominations, Examiwtiom and Institution Committee. Examiners for the Associateahip : OSCAR LISLE BRADY, B.A.(CAPE), D.Sc. (LoND.). WILLIAM WARDLAW, D.Sc. (DUNELM). Examiners for the Fellowship : Branch A.-INORGANIC CHEMISTRY:WILLIAM HENRY MERRETT, A.R.S.M. Branch B.-PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY: ERIC KEIGHTLEY RIDEAL, M.B.E., D.Sc. (LoND.), F.R.S. Branch C.-ORGANIC CHEMISTRY: OSCAR LISLE BRADY, B.A. (CAPE), D.Sc. (LoND.) Branch D.-BIOCHEMISTRY : HAROLD RAISTRICK, B.A., Sc.D. (CANTAB.),D.Sc. (LEEDS), F.R.S. Branch E.-CHEMISTRY (including Microscopy) of Food and Drugs, and of Water: SAMUEL ERNEST MELLING. THERAPEUTICS, ANDPHARMACOLOGY, MICROSCOPY: CHARLES HERBERT HAMPSHIRE, M.B., B.S., B.Sc. (LoND.), M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P. Branch F.-AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY: NORMAN MEDERSON COMBER, D.Sc. (LoND.), A.R.C.S. Branch G.-~NDUSTRIAL CHEMISTRY(General Chemical Technology) : ALBERT ERNEST DUNSTAN, D.Sc. (LoND.).Examiners in the special sections of Branch G will be appointed as re-quired. HON. AUDITORS, 1936-37 : WALTER CHARLES HANCOCK, B.A. (CANTAB.)AND JOSEPH HENRY LANE. AUDITOR, 1936-37 : DAVID HENDERSON, Chartered Accountant. SOLICITORS : MESSRS. MARKBY, STEWART & WADESONS, 5, Bishopsgate, London, E.C.2. BANKERS : THE WESTMINSTER BANK, LTD., Bloomsbury Branch, 214, High Holborn, London, W.C. 1. REGISTRAR AND SECRETARY : RICHARD BERTRAM PILCHER, O.B.E., Chartered Secretary. ASSISTANT SECRETARY : RONALD LESLIE COLLETT, M.A. (CANTAB.),F.I.C. 111 H.M. King Edward VIII. The following gracious Message was received in reply to the Address forwarded to His Majesty King Edward VIII, through His Majesty’s Secretary of State for Home Affairs, on the occasion of the death of His late Majesty King George the Fifth :-HOMEOFFICE, WHITEHALL.17th March, 1936. SIR, I have had the honour to lay before The King the Loyal and Dutiful Address of the Institute of Chemistry of Great Britain and Ireland on the occasion of the lamented death of His late Majesty King George the Fifth and have received The King’s Commands to convey to you His Majesty’s grateful Thanks for the assurances of sympathy and devotion to which it gives expression. I am, The President, Sir, Institute of Chemistry of Your obedient Servant, Great Britain and Ireland. JOHN SIMON. Fellows and Associates will recall that His late Majesty King George V was graciously pleased to accord his Patronage to the Institute to celebrate its completion of fifty years under Royal Charter.The President and Council are much gratified to inform the Fellows and Associates that His Majesty King Edward VIII has been graciously pleased to accord his Patronage to the Institute. 112 The following letter has been received from the Right Hon. Lord Wigram, P.C., G.C.B., G.C.V.O., C.S.I., Keeper of the Privy Purse:- PRIVYPURSEOFFICE, BUCKINGHAMPALACE,S.W. 30th March, 1936. DEARSIR, I am commanded by The King to inform you that His Majesty has been graciously pleased to grant his Patronage to the Institute of Chemistry of Great Britain and Ireland. Yours truly, WIGRAM, Keeper of the Privy Purse.The President, The Institute of Chemistry of Great Britain and Ireland, 30, Russell Square, W.C.I. 113 Editorial. AT the Annual General Meeting, the retiring President, Professor Jocelyn Thorpe, uttered a warning to the country that, in some industries, too much reliance was being placed upon the purchase of processes from abroad, rather than on encouraging research within our own industries, research institutions and the universities at home. He recalled the position of the country at the outbreak of war as the result of relying upon foreign supplies of essential materials, and urged that industries should support their own research laboratories and continue to provide careers for chemists trained in British research schools.In 1934, when the Conference of Honorary Secretaries suggested that the JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGSshould contain an article on some controversial subject, it was anticipated that there would be little difficulty in finding questions for discussion which might come within the category indicated, but, so far, the articles which have appeared seem to have fallen short of the provocative element, except perhaps that on Science and War,-published in Part V, 1935. Its purpose is clearly indicated at the head of the “Comments” published in this Part, wherein the somewhat unusual views of a member are discussed as the Publications Committee feel they should be discussed by an Institute incorporated by Royal Charter, whose aim is not only to help the members of the profession itself, but, to serve the country to the best of its ability in all cir-cumstances.COMMENTS on the Editorial on “Science and War,” in JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS,Part V, 1935. The Editorial remarks are in italics. The purpose of the Editorial was .to protest against the prevailing association of science with war: not “to preach to the converted,” but to provide a theme for reflection against amfair criticism. A member wrote in December, when Part VI had already been made up. His views may be summarised as follows. He agreed that the duty of the man of science was to increase the store of ascertained knowledge, without necessarily con- sidering the uses to which his discoveries might ultimately be put, but contended that a chemist should not knowingly assist 114 with his discoveries any one who intended to make an evil use of them.As a chemical works could only be operated by chemists, the responsibility, in part at least, for destruction wrought in war, was upon chemists. Had chemists-all chemists-refused to work in 1914,war could not, would not, have been the ugly thing it was. If British chemists were to set such an example, the danger would be “more apparent than real.” If his con- tention were not true “countries boasting little military or naval power would have been swallowed long ere this.” Why should we do under a national urge that which we should regard as utterly unthinkable in any other circumstances ? War is incompatible with elementary Christian ethics.Whyshould we hesitate to discuss the matter upon that ground, which requires a man to act rightly irrespective of the actions of others? Men have failed to observe this principle on account of unjustifiable fear; but if chemists hesitate, each waiting for others to do the right thing, war-makers may once more create a turmoil in which all that is best in civilisation will be hopelessly lost. The risks involved are of small magnitude compared with the very probable gain. The process of ‘‘swallowing a country boasting little military power” appears to be on trial at the present time, and it is precisely because of the national urge that everyone is called upon to assist in defending his country.It was suggested to the correspondent that his underlying ideas applied to every good citizen in every country; for everybody is involved when any question of war arises. He was asked what should the chzsmist-or any other citizen-do, if asked to assist an international police force in maintaining peace against a common enemy employing all the resources of modern warfare? Should they not unite in repressing and punishing him? The correspondent replied that it was impossible to give a complete and closely reasoned statement on the subject by correspondence. If a suitable opportunity were provided for putting the matter to members of the Institute in greater detail, he would be happy to contribute.While yet there was the, men of science could exert a powerful influence over human destiny; they should declare that they would have no part in war or the things of war, and adhere to their decision if war were declared while peace reigns. The Institute should lead the way, rather than pursue a policy of laissez faire “unmoved as to whether it be for good or ill.” Among men of science, 116 chemists had a unique opportunity, since the production of the whole paraphenalia of modern war depended on them. “If British chemists decided that there should be no more war for Britain, there would be no more war for Britain.” Such a decision would constitute a real advance at the price of a risk which (in his opinion) would be very small and would be worth taking in view of the sublime prize.It would have a very definite influence on statecraft, in that a government would of necessity pursue a pacific policy? It would be preferable not to “defend ” the country by war, seeing that modern war is mutually destructive. This attitude was desirable, because war is both wrong and futile. A determination on the part of the Institute, collectively and unconditionally, to outlaw war, would be an exemplary inspiration to others. Nevertheless, and although offending Christian ethics, it would be rational, from the point of view of expediency, to take counter-measures against a criminal nation for repression and, if need be, punishment for wrong- doing, by the application of sanctions.Far better would British chemists serve their country by declaring to have no part in war and by cultivating personal as well as scientific ties with foreign chemists. All who had not done so, should give the matter serious thought in the cause of civilisation. The consideration of the matter in its ethical and political aspects, goes far beyond the normal scope of a professional journal, and should be reviewed in periodicals which reach men and women in all vocations, and of all creeds and nationalities. The main question is war, or no war. The inclination or the ComPzGlsion to go to war-whether arising from justice or passion or for defence-must be determined by circumstances as they arise. A brave nation, unprepared and ill-armed, may $ght and sufer for its principles.Such courage withod strength is futile, and equally hopeless is the individual who will sufer his country to be conquered, its people to be enslaved or worse, and himself to submit to an aggressor, without an effort to repel him. None but British subjects are eligible for membership of the Institute, and at the present day we need not contemplate the likelihood of the British nation entering upon a war of aggression. Consequently members of the Institute have no need to decide what their action or inaction would be in so remote a contingency. Just as among individuals, however, there is a certain proportion of bullies, so among nations there are some who will seek by force- that is to say, by war-to take from another nation its cherished possessions and to deprive it of its freedom.Very few persons 116 who have the strength or means to repel the highwayman, burglar or bully will feel that it is their sacred duty to stand aside and allow him to rob them and molest their womenfolk. Similarly taking people collectively, very few nations will be content not to use such means as they can command, to resist the attacks of a nation which by warfare sets out to wrest from them, jointly and individually, all that they hold dear. Is the chemist in such circumstances to detach himself from his fellow-cozcntrymen and stand idly by, while, for lack of his aid, they are victimised by, or perish at the hands of, an aggressor who has no scruples as to the means by which he shall accomplish his purpose? If the British chemists who con-stitute the Institute were to adopt this attitude, they would be playing false, not only to their own countrymen, but to all people to whom might is not necessarily right.Men of science are of many creeds and religions. The Churches and their leaders are divided on the question of the justice of the present conflict and of the rightness of war in general. All, however, are directly concerned in the cause of peace, while science itself is unjustly blamed for war. That was the theme of the Editorial. Yet science, which has taught people to seek truth, to think rationally and efectively, which has conquered so much of confusion, super- stition and credulity, must take its part in the solution of a Problem which is not of its making, but is of universal concern.Science has also taught the futility of experiments based on erroneous premises. To suggest that any country can aford, in our time, to take the risk proposed, and rely solely on arbitration or peaceful persuasion for the settlement of diferences, is to dispense with those forces which maintain peace, law and order, to allow the bully to run wild and to return to primitive barbarism. The correspondent’s proposals imply dejiance of the opinion of those who are entrusted with government, who now realise the futility of pursuing a PaciJic policy to danger point. His proposals involve the hindrance of means to assist the country to uphold its principles, its position in the world, and its influence for peace; for, so long as the country is unprepared and weak, its influence will be discounted among the nations.Comments on the Editorial on “Bacteriology,” in JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS,Part VI, 1935. From an Associate- It is refreshing to note that the Institute is now considering the broader relations of chemistry and bacteriology. Hitherto, 117 the chemist has been supposed to have little to do with biology, except in certain rather restricted fields of problems of water- supply and sewage disposal. That subdivision of chemistry known as biochemistry by no means embraces all the aspects of biological work to which chemists can aspire: a large amount of biological activity impinges upon chemical work.In particular, the sciences of bacteriology and mycology can usefully be allied to chemistry, and the potentialities of these alliances are much greater than is generally supposed. In some spheres of work, the classical chemist is being seriously challenged by the biologist. Old substances are being produced in new, biological ways, and new substances are being evolved by biological means. At one time the chemist superseded the plant; let him now beware lest some of his work is taken from him by the micro-organisms! Examples of the new trend are: the production of solvents and of perfumery materials, the bacterial winning of oils from seeds, and the challenge which the soil biologist, with his nitrogen-fixing bacteria, sends to the manufacturer of nitrogenous fertilisers.In other ways the chemist will do well to be equipped with knowledge of the technique of dealing with micro-organisms. Whether interested as user or as primary producer, the works chemist should be aware of methods of controlling bacterial and mould-growth in such products as sugar, gelatin, cocoa, flour, confectionery, and preserves-in addition to the list given in the Editorial. This bare enumeration is sufficient to suggest the extent of the prospect. There seems to be no evidence that would indicate that chemists, as such, are incapable of dealing with biological problems ; history shows that many chemists have possessed in high degree the mentality appropriate for biological work.Aptitude, however, is of little use without training, and here a real difficulty is met, namely, the insufficiency of the facilities for training in non-pathogenic microbiology. The appearance of the Editorial shows that the Institute realises the importance, to chemists, of the microbiological sciences, and it may be hoped that the general questions of training and qualifications will receive earnest consideration. The attitude of the medical profession towards training in non-medical microbiology cannot be called helpful, and it would appear that the chemical profession must rely upon its own resources. Since biology is becoming of increasing importance, it would greatly strengthen the position of chemists if they were prepared to do necessary microbiological work.118 Fif @-Eighth Annual General Meeting. MONDAY, 2nd MARCH, 1036. The Fifty-eighth Annual General Meeting of the Institute was held at 30, Russell Square, London, on Monday, 2nd March, 1936, at 8 p.m.,-the President (Professor Jocelyn F. Thorpe, C.B.E., F.R.S.) in the chair. The Minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting, which had been published in The JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS,were taken as read, and confirmed. PRESENTATIONOF MELDOLA MEDAL. The PRESIDENTsaid: “My first duty is to present the Meldola Medal for 1g35-the gift of the Society of Maccabaeans-to Harry Work Melville, D.Sc., A.I.C. “Dr. Melville graduated at the University of Edinburgh and was then awarded a Carnegie Studentship.In 1933 he was elected, by the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, to a Senior Studentship which he held for two years, and in 1935 he was elected into a Research Fellowship at Trinity College, Cambridge. He has been working in the Department of Colloid Science, presided over by Professor E. K. Rideal, since 1933. Dr. Melville’s principal contributions to chemistry have been in the field of chain reactions. His work on the kinetics of the decomposition of phosphine and ammonia over various ranges of temperature and pressure and, particularly, in the presence of inert gases, has revealed or confirmed a number of important points of which the significance had previously been missed. His later work on photochemical reactions photo-sensitised by mercury vapour has also greatly advanced and clarified this difficult problem.“It is with great pleasure, Dr. Melville, that I hand you this Medal in memory of a great man and a great chemist. I hope that during your later life you will bear him in memory and strive to follow the example he set.” 119 Dr. H. W. MELVILLE said: “I should like to thank the Insti- tute and the Society of Maccabaeans for the award of this Medal. The award really places a young chemist under a very great responsibility, because the list of previous Medallists show how eminent previous recipients have become. I hope that, in years to come, I may be able to add a little to the chemical knowledge which has to do with those elementary reactions of chemistry which play a fundamental part in the mechanism of gaseous reactions, combustion, and so on.” (Applause.) PRESENTATION FRANKLANDOF SIREDWARD MEDAL AND PRIZE.The PRESIDENT: “My next duty is to present the Sir Edward Frankland Medal and Prize to Charles Laurence Arcus, B.Sc., A.I.C., for his essay on ‘The value of compulsory research as part of the pre-graduate curriculum.’ I am glad to say that since the award was decided, Mr. Arcus, who obtained a first-class in his degree, has been elected to the Associateship, and I have just had the pleasure of handing him his certificate. “Mr. Arcus, I have great pleasure in handing you this medal in memory of the first President of this Institute, with whose renown you are no doubt well acquainted.” Mr.ARCUS received the Medal amid applause. THE ANNUAL ACCOUNTS. The HON. TREASURER (Mr. Patrick H. Kirkaldy), in sub- mitting the Annual Accounts, said: “The Statement of Accounts for 1935 shows that at the beginning of the year there was a liability of k615 gs., made up of L440 2s. overdraft at the bank, and k175 7s. in respect of fees received on applications in abeyance. On the suggestion of the auditors, a suspense account will be kept in future, and fees in abeyance will not be brought into the general account until the applications in respect of which they have been paid have been finally decided. The overdraft of k440 2s. was more than accounted for by an over-investment in 1934 to the extent of E541 17s.IId. “The sum of f;1,031 13s. received for entrance fees and life compositions, and the proceeds of the repayment of E3,203 IS. gd.5 per cent. New Zealand Stock are still due for investment at the earliest favourable opportunity. These two sums, amounting to &,233 14s. gd., are subject to reduction by E652 6s. 3d., including the over-investment of &41 17s. IId. and the redemption premium of EIIO 8s. 4d. The net amount due for investment, 120 therefore, is L3,581 7s. 6d. Against this the accounts show a balance at 31st December of 163,445 8s. 3d., and L379 18s. 3d. in Australian and New Zealand currency-the equivalent of about L280-in all ;63,7z5 8s. 3d. “The Institute has for many years refrained from the practice of holding an annual dinner, but the Council felt that the com- pletion of its fiftieth year under Royal Charter was a special occasion for a celebration and afforded an exceptional oppor- tunity of offering hospitality to our friends.The normal expendi- ture for the year was L1,238 14s. zd. less than the receipts, and this fact, coupled with the circumstance that neither the ‘Register’ nor the ‘List of Official Chemical Appointments’ was due for publication in 1935, made it possible for the Council to defray the full cost of the celebration without realising investments for that purpose. “This year we have accepted other responsibilities to which reference is made in the Report, but I trust that, with a steadily growing membership, and with care, the Council will be able so to manage your affairs that we may again be able to submit a satisfactory statement at the next Annual General Meeting.“Now, if I may refer to the Benevolent Fund for a few minutes, I would like to assure all contributors that the Executive Committee is grateful for their help, but I must remind all Fellows and Associates that still more help is required. (Mr. Kirkaldy referred to examples of cases receiving help.) “I am sure that you will all do what you can to assist us in helping cases of this kind. We do not ask for large contributions, although they are very welcome, but we hope that many more will subscribe this year, and thus relieve our anxiety and enable us to deal with every case adequately.“I now move: “That the Statement of Accounts be received and adopted, and that the best thanks of the Fellows and Associates be accorded to the Honorary Auditors, Messrs. J. C. White and J. H. Lane, and to Mr. David Henderson, Chartered Accountant for their services.” Dr. BERNARDDYER: “I second the motion. Notwith-standing the activity of the Institute and the heavy expenditure which necessarily accompanies it we still have surplus assets over and above our liabilities amounting to more than j630,ooo. That is a great source of satisfaction. The only thing that we 121 should perhaps like to see developed more is our Benevolent Fund. Everyone would like to see the Benevolent Fund growing at a greater rate than it does. (Hear, hear.) In passing these accounts I am sure we shall all feel a strong sense of gratitude to our excellent Treasurer for his indefatigable work. (Applause.) I do not know how many years he has been working hard like this for us, but we hope there will be many more of them if he is still willing to go on sacrificing his leisure.It is very onerous work.’’ The Resolution was carried unanimously. THE ANNUALREPORTOF THE COUNCIL. The PRESIDENTthen, in submitting the Report of the Council, delivered his address (see p. 126). In conclusion, the President said: “Before closing my address, I should like to add just a few words about the general scheme of co-operation which, as Fellows and Associates know, has resulted in the formation of a Chemical Council composed of three members of each of the three constituent Charter bodies and three repre- sentatives of industry.That Council has met a number of times, has formulated Standing Orders and has already taken up the question of the cost of the publications of the constituent bodies. One of the chief objects of the Chemical Council is to raise funds for those publications and for the library of the Chemical Society, and to put these matters on a secure and certain footing. I have to acknowledge on behalf of the Chemical Council-my successor Dr. Pickard will allow me to make this announcement-the generous help of Sir Robert Nond in transferring kg,ooo from his promised contribution to the Association of Scientific and Technical Institutions to the Chemical Council.He has already given us kr,ooo for current expenses and has promised to give us a further L8,ooo when we require it. (Applause.) The Chemical Council decided in the first instance, as a gesture to the manufacturers, who it is hoped will contribute largely to this Fund, to ask prominent members of our profession to give as they can afford towards the general fund. It has been my duty as Hon. Treasurer of the new Council to write to various gentle- men, and I am more than pleased to say that although only a comparatively small number have so far answered I have already collected j52,ooo. (Applause.) That has, of course, been given from a source which cannot easily afford to give; it is undoubtedly indicative of the spirit which pervades our profession, and I am proud of it.What we want in this list of contributions is a large number of names rather than large sums. We want to show that everyone is prepared to give, and it was to secure as large a number of contributors as possible and not to ask for large sums from each, that the Chemical Council asked me to issue this personal appeal. It is naturally hoped that substantial sums will be forthcoming from industrialists, and that they will seize with enthusiasm the opportunity of repaying in some measure the debt they owe to chemical science. “I now move: “That the Report of the Council (JOURNAL AND PROCEED-INGS, Part I, 1936) be received and adopted.” Mr.E. R. BOLTON:“I have very much pleasure in seconding the adoption of the Report. I cannot help being touched, as many older members must be, by the number of deaths recorded, including my friend, Professor Adeney, who remembered me, probably, in a sailor suit, and Leonard Archbutt, a friend of over thirty years’ standing, and a great many others. It is very sad to see their names in the obituary list.” The Resolution was put to the meeting and carried unanimously. VOTE OF THANKSTO PRESIDENT. Mr. BOLTON,continuing, said: “My other duty is a pleasant one, namely, to thank you, Sir, on behalf of the members for the admirable address which you have given us to-night. You have asked us to look back. I am not one of the oldest men, but it is something like forty years since I earned my first fee as a chemist, and I have managed to make a livelihood in the profession ever since.I do feel glad to have lived at this particular time because it is very interesting to look back, as you have made us do in your address to-night. I remember quite well in the early days at college when I made organic preparations and did uninteresting determinations that I was commercially minded and hard up and said to myself, ‘How shall I be able to earn a living out of it?’ If I had heard a lecture such as yours it would have helped me greatly. The professors of those days, fine men though they were, had no opportunity of getting in touch with industry as professors do nowadays. Through the Institute of Chemistry the professors are now so much in touch with industry that we get much better light thrown on these practical concerns. A certain number of us do interesting research, but for most of us our job is to help industry, and our President has shown us very clearly how we can do it.I think of the times when any charlatan could put over a process to the commercial man because he dared to claim more than any chemist would claim. Even now the charlatan, particularly the foreign charlatan, has a great pull over the really scientific man. There is an air of mystery about the foreigner, the fact that he speaks a foreign language seems to some people to give an impressiveness to his claims, and we have suffered from processes which we ourselves have invented and which have been taken up by the foreigner who has claimed for them more than we should ever have dared to do.As I say I am glad to have lived in this time, but I am sorry that in my early days I could not have heard such an address as we have heard to-night. I beg to move a hearty vote of thanks to the President, and to request that he will allow us to publish his very valuable address in our Journal.” The vote of thanks was put to the meeting by Mr. Bolton and carried by acclamation. ELECTIONOF OFFICERS, MEMBERS OF COUNCIL, AND CENSORS. AND SECRETARYThe REGISTRAR read the Report of the Scrutineers on the election of the Officers (President, Vice- Presidents, and Hon. Treasurer), General Members of Council, and Censors, for the year ending 1st March, 1937.The number of valid voting papers received for the election of Officers was 1,100. The following were elected:- President: R. H. Pickard (1,097). Vice-presidents: H. Douglas Elkington (1,085), A. E. Everest (1,087),J. J. Fox (1,089), H. H. Hodgson (1,090), Robert Robinson (Oxford) (1,091), J. F. Thorpe (1,091). Hon. Treasurer: Patrick H. Kirkaldy (1,099). The number of votes cast for General Members of Council was 1,101. The following were elected :-T. P. Hilditch (869), I. M. Heilbron (860), L. H. Lampitt (851), G. Roche Lynch (844), C. A. Mitchell (814), H. Levinstein (806), H. V. A. Briscoe (803), F. S. Aumonier (782), S. A. Brazier (734), John Evans (733), Samuel Smiles (732), F.D. Chattaway (731), W. M. Cumming (7x9,T. Callan (716), D. Jordan Lloyd (716), G. R. Clemo (712), T. F. H. Rhead (704), H. W. Cremer (688), Lewis Eynon (681), John Weir (677), B. S. Evans (638), B. F. Howard (633), P. Lewis Dale (630), J. Macleod (614), J. C. White (581), A. Coulthard (566), H. J. Page (553). The number of valid voting papers received for the election of Censors was 1,016. The following were elected:- J. F. Thorpe (909),G. T. Morgan (815), Sir G. C. Clayton (806), Robert Robinson (734). 124 The PRESIDENTdeclared those elected to the respective offices in accordance with the report of the Scrutineers, and on his proposition, sincere thanks were accorded to the Scrutineers, Messrs. Charles A.Adams and C. Abell Bassett, for their services. ELECTION AUDITORS.OF The PRESIDENT:“I understand that Mr. J. C. White, on his election to the Council, retires from the office of Hon. Auditor, in which he has served for five years. I move the re-appointment of Mr. J. H. Lane, and I will ask the general body of members to nominate someone in place of Mr. White.” On the motion of Dr. H. E. Cox, seconded by Mr. C. E. BARRS, Mr. Walter C. Hancock was also appointed as Hon. Auditor. MY. Lane and MY. Hancock were declared duly appointed Hon. Auditors. The TREASURER:‘( I beg to move that Mr. David Henderson (in association with Messrs. J. Y. Finlay & Co.) be re-elected professional Auditor at the same fee as last year,-forty guineas.” This was agreed to unanimously.VOTEOF THANKS PRESIDENT,TO THE RETIRING OFFICERSAND MEMBERS OF COUNCIL. Dr. A. E. EVEREST:“Ladies and gentlemen,-It gives me much pleasure to rise this evening to move a vote of thanks to the President and Officers, and to the retiring Members of Council for their work during the past year. As one who has had the pleasure of working with them, I realise, as perhaps many members of the Institute who are not and have never been members of Council do not realise, the amount of time and thought which is put into the work by those who hold these positions. Nothing can be more appropriate at a meeting like this than that we should give them a most hearty and sincere vote of thanks. Led by the President, we have gone through during this last twelve months a period which is perhaps unique in the history of the Institute.It has, I think, called from the President, Officers, and Members of Council an unprecedented amount of time and energy. I have had the pleasure of representing a District, and as a result I have met our President in his wanderings not far from the borders of Scotland. I believe he has visited almost all the Sections in his desire to show that the President is not merely someone who presides in London. He had done an immense amount of work in bringing together the Sections. With him we associate the 125 Officers and the retiring Members of Council. They have co- operated in a way that is an example to any institution.This evening we have had brought to our attention some of the many great things that chemists have to consider. As an industrialist myself I thank the President, particularly for putting before us as one on the academic side, his thoughts on industry and com- merce. It is not the wish of the meeting that I should bore it with a long speech, but I simply ask you to show in no uncertain manner your thanks to the President, Officers, and retiring Members of Council for the work they have done during the past year.” The Resolution was put to the meeting by Dr. Everest and carried by acclamation. Professor THORPE: “I thank Dr. Everest on behalf of myself and my colleagues for what he has said.” INDUCTIONNEW PRESIDENT.OF Professor THORPE said: “It now falls to my lot to introduce the new President, Dr.Pickard, a very old friend of mine. could not leave the Institute in better hands. He is well known to all of you and has already done excellent work for the Institute both as Councillor and as Vice-president. As President he is going to do something very much more, and I have not the slightest hesitation in leaving the well-being of the Institute in his hands, although I feel a certain amount of diffidence on my own part in relinquishing it to anyone ! ’’ Dr. R. H. Pickard, F.R.S., then took the chair amid applause. Dr. PICKARD: “Professor Thorpe and fellow members of the Institute. You do me great honour and you give me a very great task. As a young man I looked with awe at the long list of Presidents of the Institute, men of very great scientific acumen, and in many cases of wide administrative experience.Now that I get here they seem to be even greater giants than they did when I was a young man. It is going to be a very difficult job to attain the standard which they have set. I can only do my best and leave it at that. This evening, sitting in that corner, I have felt as if I had a large label on my back with the letter ‘L’ on it. (Laughter.) I hope that the Registrar will in due course remove the label. I understand that my first duty is quite an easy one, and I do it very briefly:-I close the meeting.” 126 The Address of the Retiring President: PROFESSORJOCELYN THORPE, c.B.E., F.R.S.ITis now my duty to submit for your consideration the Report of the Council for the year 1935-1936. I need hardly remind you that we celebrated our Charter Jubilee in July last, when the Institute received congratulations from His late Majesty King George V and from many Societies and Institutions, and had the pleasure of entertaining many distinguished guests. The present report records, I think, a year of marked progress, but I must first refer, in accordance with the usual custom, to our losses by death. We have lost nearly 50 Fellows and Associates, who will be missed by their colleagues in various branches of work. Among teachers and educationalists,-Professor Walter Ernest Adeney, of Dublin; Dr. Arthur Bramley, of Loughborough; Pro- fessor Kendall Colin Browning, of the Military College of Science, Woolwich; Mr.Hugh Charles Herbert Candy, of London Hospital Medical School ; Professor William Richard Eaton Hodgkinson, an Original Fellow, formerly of the Ordnance College, Woolwich ; Professor John Kenneth Harold Inglis, of Otago University, New Zealand; Dr. James Patrick Longstaff, for many years of Edinburgh University, and a past General Secretary of the Society of Chemical Industry; and Sir James Walker, also of the University of Edinburgh. Of those who were in Government service,-Mr. James Connah attained the position of Deputy Government Chemist, and Mr. Egbert Grant Hooper held the same position before him; and General George Colleymore Sturrock was Deputy Master- General of Ordnance, India.In industry,-Mr. Leonard Archbutt, of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway; Mr. Harry Baker, of Castner Kellner Alkali Co.; Mr. Walter Henry Coleman, of the National Benzole Company; Mr. Charles Thomas Kingzett, an Original Fellow of the Institute, Director of the Sanitas Co. ; and Mr. Joseph Sayers, 127 of Nobel’s Explosives Co. ,now incorporated in Imperial Chemical Industries. In private practice,-Mr. Frank Harris Alcock, of Birming- ham; Mr. Samuel Francis Burford, of Leicester; Mr. Charles Frederick Cross , whose researches with his partner, Edward Bevan, in cellulose, form so important a chapter in our science and in industry; Mr. Percy Arthur William Self, partner of the late Colonel Edward Frank Harrison; and Mr.William Charles Young, another original Fellow of the Institute, who was for many years in practice as a public analyst in the City of London. I cannot very well name them all, but I have indicated the extent and nature of these losses to our profession. The work of the year is so fully recorded in the report that I will only briefly review its various sections. Our thanks are due to those who have represented the Institute at public functions and on other occasions, and this part of the report illustrates how manifold and far-reaching are the matters in which chemistry may be concerned. With financial matters and the Benevolent Fund, the Honorary Treasurer has already dealt. Our thanks are due to him and to his colleagues for their devotion to their part of the work.Acknowledgments are also due to Mr. Kirkaldy for his Chairmanship of the Nominations, Examinations and Institutions Committee. Although I have been nominally Chairman of that Committee, Mr. Kirkaldy, as Vice-chairman, has borne the greater burden of duty. We are grateful also to Sir Christopher Clayton, Chairman of the Legal and Parliamentary Committee, and to Professor W. H. Roberts, Chairman of the Public Appointments Committee; to Mr. W. J. A. Butterfield, Chairman of the Publications Com- mittee; to Mr. F. G. Edrned, Chairman of the Appointments Register Committee; and to Professor G. G. Henderson, Chairman of the Joint Committee of the Institute and the Scottish Educa- tion Department , for the Examinations for National Certificates in Scotland.All have greatly assisted our work in its various departments, and it is much to be regretted that four very valuable Vice-presidents, who have also been Chairmen of Committees, retire from office at the same time at this Annual General Meeting. The work of the Nominations, Examinations and Institutions Committee has been especially heavy; the number of candidates for examination has increased, and you may be interested to 128 know that there are go candidates for the examinations to be held in April. The Publications Committee, under the guidance of Mr. Butterfield, has improved the JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS, and some excellent lectures have been published during the year as separate monographs.During my term of office, I have visited nearly all the Local Sections in Great Britain, and have much enjoyed meeting them, and the opportunity thus afforded of renewing many friendships in different parts of the country. I would like to congratulate the Sections on their remarkable activity, and to thank their Officers and Committees for the services which they render to their respective Sections and to the profession. The thanks of the Institute are also due to all who have contributed to the programmes of the Sections. Our Pedler Scholar, Mrs. Matthews, was obliged for a while to suspend her work, but she has now resumed her investigations, in which she is making good progress. My predecessors in the Chair, when relinquishing office, have each given an account of their stewardship. Without claiming any personal credit for the present position of the Institute compared with what it was three years ago, I propose to give you a few figures which I think you will find of interest.The roll of membership has made good progress, as is shown by the following figures from the Annual Reports: Fellows. Associates. Total. Jan. 1933 . . .. 1986 4068 6054 1, I934 *. .. I993 4149 6142 ,9 I935 *' .. 2006 4279 6285 ,, I936 *. .. 2051 4462 6513 -an increase of 459 members, compared with an increase of 340 in the previous triennial period. The gross increase of members in the same period was 880, and the gross losses 421, including 14from death and 277 from resignation and other causes.The number of entries for our examinations has also increased. 407 candidates have been examined, of whom 212were successful, compared with 338, of whom 199 passed, in the previous triennial period. The above figures, however, do not include a large number of oral examinations, conducted regularly by interviewing committees at headquarters and at other centres. 129 Financially, as you have heard from the Treasurer, we are holding our own. The statement of Assets and Liabilities at the end of the year 1935 shows an excess of assets of 530,782 16s. 5d. compared with &4,565 IS. 4d. at the end of 1g33-an accretion of E6,217 15s. Id., which includes L600 received in legacies.Next, in accordance with the notice given in the agenda, I would like to make a few remarks on a subject which has been much in my mind lately, and which I feel deserves special consideration at the present time. I have entitled this part of my address- ‘(Is Commercialism a Menace to Industry? ” Let me say at once that I have not the temerity, neither have I the desire, to decry one of the basic principles upon which the greatness of this country of ours has been founded. Com-mercialism, which, as I understand it, means the capacity for buying in the cheapest and selling in the dearest market, is so innately associated with the genius of our race that no words of mine could possibly affect its all-pervading influence.Mainly., perhaps, because our continental competitors were busy adjusting their internal differences, it has stood us in such good stead during the past 150 years that it has enabled us to regard the markets of the world as to some extent our own. When buying markets became difficult we proceeded in accordance with the well-known principle expressed by Canning thus : “In matters of commerce the fault of the Dutch Is giving too little and asking too much. With a moderate profit the French are content, So we’ll clap on Dutch bottoms a 20 per cent.” It might be regarded, therefore, as effrontery on my part to venture to suggest that all was not well in this application of a principle which has become part of our national life, yet, in this short address I propose to do so, and I shall hope to convince my listeners that whereas commercialism as a basic principle is a most desirable and, indeed, necessary method of progress towards national prosperity, yet if applied without due thought or discretion it is apt to be a direct menace to Industrial Research, and therefore to industry as a whole.When commercialism and industrialism clash, industrialism retires defeated, but when they are not antagonistic they are mutually helpful and dependent. 130 It must be evident that material bought in a foreign market diminishes the amount of material produced at home, and in this way limits the output of our home industries, but that is a political question with which I have no concern and which does not form any part of my discussion.My main object is rather to deal with the questions which arise when the influx of material from outside sources has, despite tariffs, killed the home produc- tion, and commercialism has become triumphant in the sense that the way is open to the trafficker, and there is no more home competition whatever. Our parlous condition as regards the production of essential materials, at the beginning of the war when we stood ashamed before our enemies who, as a matter of fact were our chief suppliers, has been described at length. The nation was clearly self-conscious of its shortcomings, and post-war direction and legislation all tended to alter matters so that we should never again pass through a period of national peril so acute and dangerous as that experienced during the war years and im- mediately thereafter. The vast improvement in our industrial conditions which followed the war placed commercialism in its proper place, namely, in one of subservience rather than of dominance.The internal manufacture of essential materials was provided for and the necessary research work required to keep the economic balance and ensure the personnel necessary for progress in new discovery and in the new applications of old discoveries was present in an ever-flowing stream from the research schools of our universities to the research laboratories of the factories. It was beginning to be understood that no man could be more than a foreman unless he had acquired a funda-mental training in the basic principles of the science underlying the industry with which he dealt.The heads of industry as a matter of course found employment for the properly trained man until the condition became so common that the demand exceeded the supply in spite of the fact that our research schools were filled to overflowing, and in many cases were accommodating more students than the circumstances of building and equipment could properly allow. The man who had received an “ad hoc” training in the technical minutiae of a particular sphere of industry-a product so common in the bad old days-was delegated to his proper position as foreman, and the true scientific worker-the man capable and trained not only to make new discoveries but to assess their value, took his proper place as 131 leader and director; for industry learnt to realise that there was no essential difference between the trained research worker and the supervisor in charge of works processes, and that a sound training in fundamental science was essential to both types.There was, moreover, another menace with which com-mercialism threatened industry, and that was the purchase abroad not only of finished materials but also of processes. This kind of menace was in operation before the war, and it was one of the causes of our troubles that many firms had purchased- mainly from Germany-a man with a process who was installed in this country and given every facility to carry out his work.This form of menace is of a peculiarly subtle type, because it does not, at first sight, seem reasonable to suggest that the purchasing and operating in this country of new methods discovered abroad is bad for industry. Neither is it, provided the inevitable repercussion on our research organisations is mitigated and controlled by the complete transference of the method to this country so that it can be operated by our own people and improved by investigations carried out in our industrial research laboratories. But the greatest care must be taken to see that this method is applied only in the most special cases, otherwise the effect on our research organisations will ultimately lead to their extinction, and once extinguished they can never be revived.Sometimes, in the pre-war days, when a new process was introduced, when customers were accumulating and good business doing, the chemist who had been imported to control affairs would return to his own country, with full know-ledge of the concern which he had been serving, and would operate for the benefit of a firm abroad, and cut out the business which he had helped to build up here. It is only when the commercial instinct takes charge and the desire to purchase from abroad becomes predominant that the true nature of the menace becomes apparent. The purchase of both materials and processes from outside means that so much less chance is afforded our research schools to foster national industry and so much less chance is given them of placing their men in suitable employment. Unless industry supports its own research laboratories and through them the research training schools the latter can no longer exist.The threatened menace will have become effective, commercialism triumphant, and this country will pass back into the condition in which it floundered prior to the war. It is useless for industry to provide funds for 132 the provision of research schools unless it can provide employment for those who pass through the research schools. My old friend, Dr. A. D. Little, whose death last August deprived chemistry of one of its ablest advocates, used to say that if he had done nothing else in life he had preached the gospel of industrial research in season and out of season.He was a fluent and concise writer, and on numerous occasions gave addresses before distinguished audiences on subjects related to chemistry and chemical industry. One of his best articles, and one that produced, in no uncertain manner, the effect desired, was called “The Handwriting on the Wall.” In eloquent language he described Belshazzar’s feast, and how, suddenly, against the wall appeared the fingers of a hand which wrote upon the wall above the great candlestick the momentous legend in which Daniel read Belshazzar’s doom after soothsayers and astrologers had failed to make interpretation. Little proceeded to point out that even now, 2500 years after Belshazzar’s death, there was a strange periodicity in the occurrence of this handwriting and a still more curious inability to perceive it on the part of those who sit down to feasts, especially in those places where chambers of commerce and trade associations meet.Little interpreted the handwriting thus- “The price of progress is research, which alone assures the security of dividends,” and completed the translation-“ The industrialist who rejects the aid of science is about to be weighed in the balance. He will there be found wanting, and his business soon will pass to other hands.” Fantastic you may say! and perhaps this is so, nevertheless it contains the germ of truth. America was probably hit almost as seriously as we were by the withholding of essential supplies, which she could not provide for herself, during the war, but the tremendous internal resources of that great country prevented the same crisis arising, or, at any rate, rendered it less acute than here.There is no doubt that Little’s strong advocacy of industrial research and the influence of his personality had a marked effect on the intro- duction of research methods and the employment of research chemists in a large number of American industries which had previously not dreamt of adopting such aids to progress. However, whatever the cause may have been, the progress made in the application of research to the industries of both this country and the States has been nothing short of marvellous. The old empirical methods which lost us the dyestuffs industry- 133 for the Perkin discovery was left to commercial men to develop- are no longer possible.The conditions which are mainly the cause of the depression in the cotton industry-namely, the reliance for too long on olddiscoveries-are not now likely to recur. The American method of scrapping out-of-date machinery and replacing it by new and improved appliances is rapidly finding favour in this country where, for too long, the bogey of amortisation has held sway. If progress is to continue, the same must be true of knowledge, for we must scrap the old ideas and give the new ones a chance; seeing to it that the genius of our own people is given full scope for development, and that it is not smothered by the blanket of commercial indifference.Those of us who are getting on in years can look back over a period of change and development such as no human being in any other generation can have surveyed. “This here Progress,” said Mr. Tom Smallways, “it keeps on.” “You’d hardly think it codd keep on” said Mr. Tom Smallways. Whether those who come after us will regard it as progress in the same sense as Mr. Tom Smallways is perhaps doubtful, because it seems as if the world were about to pass through a condition of severe unrest, due, in the main, to its inability to digest “progress” quite as fast as “progress” is thrust upon it, and also to a lack of understanding of the proper uses to which this “progress” should be put. It is, nevertheless, movement, and is movement in which everyone must partake unless he is to be left behind in the struggle for existence, a statement which applies with equal cogency to nations as to individuals, for nothing can stand still and remain stable.When many of us were young our rooms, if in London, were lit by the fish-tail gas burner; if in the country, by the kerosene lamp, so great a change has fifty years produced. The motor-car, the telephone, wireless, and a host of other things were unknown then. We did not miss them because you do not miss the things you have never had, but we cannot now do without them, The presence of, for example, a telephone in the house is as essential to some of us as our daily bread. What the next fifty years is likely to bring forth is a matter of surmise.It is difficult to imagine that progress will be as rapid or as novel as during the past half-century, although it is certain that we are on the eve of great advances in connexion with various branches of science,- organic chemistry in its relations to biology and medicine being one of the many in which far-reaching discoveries are likely ts 134 be made. But, whatever the nature of these discoveries, what- ever their value to human nature may be, it is certain that the nation that makes them and can utilise them industrially will be the one which will become predominant intellectually, mentally and financially. Let us therefore see to it that we possess a strong and ever reinforced army of research workers, and that we equip ourselves to occupy the place proper to our race and people.If ever there were a country in need of industrial research and the provision of new knowledge and methods, surely it is ours. The coal age which gave such a tremendous impetus to our industries is passing, and already the oil age has taken strong hold. Too late we are devising all manner of schemes for utilising of our coal supplies for purposes applicable to modem conditions. Processes, many of them unsound economically, unless State-aided, are being introduced, and methods of treat-ment, often the work of the engineer rather than the chemist, are being put into operation sadly, it must be confessed, to the detriment of the investing public.New methods of utilisation have to meet the competition of oil;, and start severely handi- capped in the race for economic existence. Nevertheless there has been a great and steadily-expanding advance in the attitude of industrialism towards industrial chemical research,-an advance due to the far-sighted policy of Imperial Chemical Industries. This organisation has succeeded in bringing into line the main chemical research organisations to such a degree that it can no longer be said that the major portion of the potential power for investigation in this country is wasted. Those great sources of new knowledge and new methods, namely, our university laboratories, are being more and more utilised in the service of industry, and already there has been no small measure of reward.The clear vision which has produced this advance has seen beyond the immediate needs of industry, and has realised that a system of industry based on rule-of-thumb is but a house built on sand, and that no industry can maintain its position, or progress, unless those who direct its operations are fully acquainted with the fundamental principles of which it is merely a small manifestation. Nevertheless the co-operation between Industry and the Universities must be carefully con- trolled and safe-guarded if it is to be of value to both of the organisations concerned. Direction from the industries to the universities must be mainly in connection with fundamental 135 questions and must not be concerned-except in special cases- with the everyday problems of an ad hoc character arising during works practice.The universities must be untrammelled in the matter of free publications, a sufficient period being permitted to provide for adequate patent protection if such be desired. Complete direction of research within the universities by industry is unthinkable, for the effect of such a procedure would be to strike at the roots of that freedom of thought and action, upon which the advance of knowledge depends. Little, in his “Handwriting on the Wall,” states: “There are scientific problems without number in the petroleum industry, but does the industry spend one-tenth of a cent. a barrel on fundamental scientific research to bring out the enormous potential value in its failing resources? It does not.Its chemists, with a few notable exceptions, merely measure physical constants or spend their effort on the solution of miscellaneous routine problems.’’ This statement is as true to-day as it was then (in 1928) and the oil industry may learn too late that there is need of research here also. The industry is perhaps in rather a curious position, which lends itself to the dominance of commercialism, and therefore to the elimination of industrial research. Oil is now available in such enormous quantities and so easily obtainable that restriction, in the interests of com-mercialism, has to be placed on its production. Moreover, the combine of interests eliminates to a marked degree the occurrence of competition.In general the engineering problems associated with production are of the simplest kind, and the methods of fractionation adopted leave little to the skill of the chemist. The processes in many cases are wasteful and uneconomic to a degree, but since the provision of the final product is all that is required no one seems to mind the wastage so long as dividends are maintained. As a matter of fact, petroleum can be made the source of a vast number of chemical products of service to man, and the fact that such products are lost is not due to bad business, but to lack of enterprise. How long the nations will allow their natural resources to be frittered away is determined only by the time it takes those in authority to realise what is happening.Otherwise, the oil industry will last until there ceases to be commercial profit in the undertaking, and by that time the oil position will be far worse than that of coal at the present time. 136 This case is a true example of the menace with which commercialism threatens industry, and is a standard example which calls for immediate adjustment. Little was right when he said that, with a few outstanding exceptions, the chemists in this industry, are mainly employed in the solution of routine problems. This operation is known to the commercial mind as “develop- ment,” and is regarded by it as “research.” The two things are the poles apart. It is really an amazing fact that so few scientific people are on the board of directors of companies dealing with industries based on scientific methods. Only the other day, someone speaking after dinner to an audience of chemists, said that no scientist should be on a board of directors because he would wreck the business within a week, the speaker’s contention being that a scientific director would always be striving after something new, and would consequently scrap the older methods.His argument was evidently the old one, namely, that the best is the enemy of the good. But what a specious argument this is, and is it not amazing that anyone should be found in the twentieth century to give expression to it? It is obviously absurd to scrap the good unless you have something better to replace it, but it is still more absurd to regard your “good” as the best and to carry on the ostrich-like policy until some competitor convinces you to the contrary.A director of a scientific industry once replied to a suggestion of mine that it might be desirable to have one or two scientific people on a certain board, by saying that he did not think it wise to have people on the board who knew more than the other directors did. It is mainly this reason which leads to some concerns buying processes abroad instead of taking any steps to initiate them within their own works. Mention has already been made of this disastrous tendency, but it cannot be too strongly em-phasised. Firms who commit this act of national treason may manage to keep abreast of competitors using the same processes, but they have little chance of getting ahead of them.maintain, therefore, that it is a suicidal policy to neglect research in any progressive industry, and that even the oil industry would be wise to place its house in order. I have thought it desirable to utter these words of warning, not because I wish to imply that industry has not made great and wonderful progress since the war by the establishment of new processes and new methods, the outcome of intensive 137 industrial research, but because there are definite indications that we are slipping back into the old bad way and that com- mercialism is gradually exerting its baneful influence on the research organisations.It is so easy for a commercial nation to lull itself into a false sense of security because the commercial method is so much simpler and more reliable-for a time-as an aid to financial profit than the path of the industrialist; yet it is a truism to say that unless one supports the other both must perish. We require a better understanding of research by the commercial people and a knowledge of its importance both to them and to the nation as a whole. If this can be acquired all will be well. The most one can say at the present time is that as a nation we have seen the light, but that now we seem to be reverting to type, a common enough process among plants and one which inevitably leads to destruction at the hand of the Grower. It would perhaps be unwise to pursue the analogy further.The war awakened us in no uncertain manner, and we were able to accomplish more during its duration of four years than at any other period before or since. The impetus of war must always be great, far greater than that which the “piping times of peace” can ever provide, but it is too drastic a method to be brought into service whenever a nation is beginning to experience the effect of the dead hand of prosperity. Is it necessary that lessons should have to be learnt and relearnt ? It would appear to be so, for despite our utmost efforts we cannot pass on our experience, each individual having to acquire it for himself. Of the two great factors in the equation, knowledge + experience = wisdom the first can be passed on from one generation to another, but the second can only be acquired personally.Yet the two are essen- tial to wisdom. 138 Proceedings of the Council. Council Meeting, 21st February.-At the meeting of Council on the 21st February further consideration was given to the decision of the Civil Service Commissioners to omit “Every- day Science ” from the list of compulsory subjects in the entrance examination for the administrative class, and the Council also discussed a letter from the Council of Management of the British Science Guild on the same matter (see pages ).On receipt of a letter from Professor W. M. Cumming, regard- ing the continued employment of aliens in the higher positions in the Beet Sugar Industry, the Council instructed the Officers to bring the question to the notice of the Parliamentary Science Committee.The Beet Sugar Bill has passed the second reading and is now before a Committee of the House. Reports were received from the Finance and House, Benevo- lent, Publications, and the Nominations, Examinations and Ins tit utions Commit tees. The Coventry Technical College was added to the list of institutions recognised by the Council for the training of candi- dates for the examinations of the Institute. The Annual Appointments of Officers and Examiners were confirmed. At the conclusion of the meeting, the President expressed his thanks to the retiring Officers and Members of Council for their services.Mr. W. J. A. Butterfield, Vice-president, replied. The names of the Officers and the Members of Council, and Censors, who were elected at the Annual General Meeting, held on and March, are given on pages 107-108. Council Meeting, 13th March.-At the first meeting of the new Council held on 13th March, Dr. R. H. Pickard, F.R.S., who was elected President of the Institute in succession to Professor Jocelyn Thorpe, C.B.E. , F.R.S., received a hearty welcome, and in turn, welcomed the following members who 139 were in attendance for the first time:-Dr. James Bell, Dr. Harold Burton, Dr. B. S. Evans, Mr. A. E. Findley, Mr. J. R. Nicholls, Mr. H. J. Page, Mr. E. A. Tyler, and Mr. J. C. White, and also the following who had served on the Council before and had been re-elected:-Dr.A. Coulthard and Dr. P. Lewis Dale. Regarding the question of making provision for the election of a new District Member of Council for the East Midlands, it was felt that some definite principles should be laid down in order to avoid creating new Members of Council for every new Section that is established and so overloading an already large executive body. The matter was, therefore, referred to the Finance and House Committee for consideration and report. In compliance with a request from the Chemical Council, made with the concurrence of the Council of the Chemical Society, it was deci4ed that Professor H. V. A. Briscoe, Mr. H. W. Cremer, Dr. J. J. Fox and Mr. H. J. Page be appointed representa- tives of the Library Committee of the Chemical Society.In the unavoidable absence of Mr. W. Rintoul, who represented the Institute on the Executive Committee of the Sixth Inter- national Congress for Scientific Management held in London in 1935,the Council requested Mr. W. A. S. Calder to represent the Institute at a Conference to be held on 27th March to con- sider, and if thought opportune, to initiate a British Management Council in order to insure the representation of Great Britain at future International Congresses of the same character. The Council proceeded to appoint the Standing and Special Committees and their Chairmen for the ensuing year. (See pages 108-109.)An Appointments Committee was constituted as a Standing Committee of the Council to combine the duties hitherto entrusted to the Public Appointments Committee and the Appointments Register Committee.The Council of the Chemical Society has kindly extended a cordial invitation to the Fellows and Associates of the Institute to attend a meeting to be held on Thursday, 14th May, at 8 p.m., at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Storeys Gate, St. James Park, Westminster, S.W.1, when Dr. Clarence Smith will give a lecture on-“ Modern Chemical Nomenclature.” 11 Everyday Science.’’-The place of science-particularly chemistry-in pre-university education was discussed by the Council of the Institute in 1934, and a resum6 of the discussion 140 was published in the JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS,Part V, pp.315-319 in the same year. Interest in the subject has been reawakened in another form by the action of the Civil Service Commissioners in eliminating “Everyday Science” from the compulsory subjects of the open competitive examinations for the junior grade of the Administrative Class. In the House of Commons, Sir Arnold Wilson, Chairman of the Parliamentary Science Committee, put a question to the Secretary of the Treasury inquiring whether the Commissioners, before taking their decision, had consulted any society or body representing educational and scientific interests, and received an answer “in the affirmative.” This was supplemented by a letter from Mr. E. S. Morrison, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, who stated that the Commissioners had obtained the concurrence of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge.Mr. Morrison said that experience had shown that candidates had made the subject one for special cramming, that they acquired only a very super- ficial knowledge of the subject, and it constituted a formidable addition to the severe strain of the examination. Questions on science would be included in the obligatory subject-“ Present Day”-and scientific subjects would, of course, continue to be included in the subjects of Section B of the examinations, from which candidates were able to make a selection. Mr. Morrison added that he gathered that the question had been raised on the ground that candidates might enter the admini- strative class without any scientific knowledge at all.He doubted whether even a satisfactory showing in the examination in “Everyday Science” was of any real value to an administrator. The matter was discussed in a leader in Nature-zIst Decem-ber, 1g35-and Professor Clemo brought it to the notice of the Council of the Institute in January. A discussion ensued, but further consideration was postponed, in order that the Council might be further informed regarding the Regulations of the Civil Service Commissioners. Early in February, the matter was before the Council of Management of the British Science Guild, from whose Chairman, Sir Richard Gregory, the Council of the Institute received a letter expressing the view that the decision of the Commissioners would adversely affect the development of science teaching in secondary schools.The Council of Manage- ment of the British Science Guild, therefore, hoped that the Council of the Institute would either take direct action, by communicating with the Civil Service Commissioners, or would 141 sign a memorial recording its regret that “Everyday Science” had been omitted from the examinations referred to, and urging that the opinion of representative scientific and technical societies upon the value of the subject should be invited before the decision was actually ratified. At the meeting of Council of the Institute held on zIst February, which was attended by members who had examined for the Civil Service Commissioners, the Council of the Institute had also before it the Regulations respecting examinations for the administrative class.The Council realised that candidates who had devoted considerable attention to science were at liberty to offer science subjects, and could obtain good marks in them. The matter was further discussed, and the Council directed that Sir Richard Gregory be informed that the Institute would support any practicable steps that could be taken to ensure that all holding administrative positions in the Civil Service should have such a fundamental training in science as would give them what may be described as a scientific outlook, but the Council felt that the inclusion of “Everyday Science’’ as a compulsory subject in the examination in question did not achieve this object.The Council, therefore, found difficulty in subscribing to the proposed memorial. 142 Local Sections. [The Institztte is not responsible for the views expressed in papers read, our in speeches delivered duuring discussion.] Belfast and District.-A meeting of the Section held in the Agricultural Chemistry Department of Queen’s University, Belfast, on 12th February, was devoted to practical demonstra- tions. Mr. Tait showed a valve-operated thermo-regulator and a hydrogen electrode apparatus for measurement of PH of emulsions. Dr. R. H. Common demonstrated routine bio-chemical estimations : blood sugar, Folin Wu method ;non-protein nitrogen of blood by micro-combustion and direct nesslerization. Professor R.G. Baskett showed haemoglobin estimation by the Burker haemoglobinometer. Bristol and South-Western Counties.-At a meeting .of the Section, held jointly with the Local Section of the Society of Chemical Industry and the Bristol University Chemical Society, at Bristol University on 17th February, Dr. F.L. Pyman, F.R.S., Director of Research, Messrs. Boots Pure Drug Co., Ltd., Nottingham, gave a lecture on ‘‘Medicinal Chemicals.” Dr. Pyman showed how successive British Pharmacopoeias included an increasing number of medicinal chemicals in the place of crude drugs and galenical preparations. In the field of vegetable drugs, the isolated active principles,-in many cases, alkaloids,-now completely replace the crude drug. Modern developments of biochemistry have led to the introduction into medicine of the active principles of various animal organs and, in this connexion, insulin and the liver principle, valuable in the treatment of pernicious anzmia, are of particular impor- tance.Chemicals have also been introduced into medicine 143 through investigations of the relation between chemical con- stitution and physiological action. In particular, studies in the field of chemotherapy, as instanced more especially by the work of Ehrlich, have led to the discovery of new medicinal chemicals, which have found their way into modern Pharma- copoeias. The meeting was presided over by Dr. E. B. Maxted. An interesting discussion ensued in which the following took part,- Mr.Osman Jones, Dr. Maxted, The Ven. G. N. Bacon, Mr. H. F. Barke and Mr. D. R. Wood. A vote of thanks was accorded the lecturer on the proposition of Prof. F. E. Francis. A well-attended meeting of the Section was held in the Chemical Department of Bristol University on 2nd March, when a lecture was given by Dr. F. H. Garner on “Newer Methods in Petroleum Refining ” of which the following is a pr6cis. In the course of the last five years the most important advances in petroleum refining have been hydrogenation, solvent-refining processes, the application of propane in the de-waxing of petro- leum and the polymerisation of cracked gases to gasoline of high octane number. The hydrogenation process, for which two large-scale com- mercial plants were first put into operation in Bayway and Baton Rouge, U.S.A., in 1931,has been used for the production of lubricating oil of high-grade quality, kerosenes of superior burning quality, and Diesel fuels of good ignition quality.All these applications depend primarily on an increase in the hydrogen-carbon ratio and the elimination of impurities, such as sulphur and saturated products present. One application of hydrogenation is the manufacture of solvents of high solvent power, which have found extensive use in the manufacture of lacquers and varnishes. Hydrogenation for this purpose is somewhat different from the other processes described in that the hydrogenation is carried out at high tem- perature and low hydrogen partial pressure, conditions which favour the production of aromatic or ring-type molecules.Solvent-refining processes have been used for the refining of kerosene by sulphur dioxide for the last twenty-five years, but the use of phenol in solvent refining for the production of high- grade lubricating and aviation oils was probably the first applica- tion of the process on a commercial scale. This process was 144 developed by Imperial Oil Ltd. of Canada, and the first plant erected in 1934 at Sarnia, Ont., and has been followed by further plants at Port Jerome (France), and in California, Louisiana and New Jersey. A modification of the Edeleanu process for the refining of lubricating oils is the use of sulphur dioxide-benzole mixtures instead of sulphur dioxide alone.The other processes which have been developed on a com-mercial scale are the nitrobenzene process of the Atlantic Refining Company, the Chlorex or dichloro-ethyl-ether, furfural, and the Duosol process employing cresol and propane together. All these processes operate with counter-current treatment, and in general the solvents are removed by atmospheric distillation followed by vacuum distillation, assisted in some cases by steam stripping. The use of propane in de-waxing presents developments of the older form of cold settling for the production of Bright Stocks, in that instead of liquid petroleum fractions, propane is used. With propane more complete separation is obtained, and the propane itself, by rapid evaporation, provides the refrigeration necessary in order to crystallise the wax.The wax is separated from the propane-oil mixture by a process of filtration. The development in polymerisation of cracked gases in the last few years has provided a source of high anti-knock gasoline. In the cracking of petroleum, either by liquid-phase or vapour- phase process, large quantities of gas are produced, and the olefines present can be polymerised, either by pressure and temperature alone, or in the presence of a catalyst, to give liquid products. By suitably choosing the time, temperature and pressure, the distillation range of the products can be varied to a very considerable extent. It will be noted that all the above processes have primarily been developed owing to the necessity of meeting the requirements of the modern car, either as regards anti-knock value in the case of the fuel, or low carbon-forming and easy-starting require- ments for the lubricating oil.The meeting was presided over by Prof. W. E. Garner. An interesting discussion ensued in which Prof. M. Travers, F.R.S., Mr. E. Thornton and Dr. E. B. Maxted participated. A vote of thanks was accorded the lecturer on the proposition of Dr. A. C. Monkhouse. 145 Professor W. E. Garner presided at a meeting of the Section held at Bristol University on 16th March, when Dr. G. Roche Lynch, O.B.E., Member of Council, gave a lecture on (‘Toxicology.” In the course of his address, Dr. Roche Lynch dealt generally with the problems which confronted the toxicologist and em- phasised the fact that to approach the investigation purely from an analytical point of view was far too narrow an outlook.He stressed the importance of an adequate post-mortem exam- ination and a full microscopic examination; he pointed out that in the case of certain poisons, e.g. yellow phosphorus, it was only possible to come to any conclusion after microscopical examina- tion of the tissues. Even in cases such as arsenical poisoning, much valuable ancillary evidence could be obtained from this line of investigation. In dealing with special poisons he discussed amidopyrine, and expressed the opinion that it was strange that, although this drug had been taken for years, it was only comparatively recently that it had been discovered that it induced a very serious condition, namely, agranulocytosis.In his view the case was proved against amidopyrine. He suggested that perhaps the reason was that amidopyrine had only recently been found to be present in medicaments, such as Yeast Vite, and that it was the regular taking of small doses, over a long period, which had caused this condition to become recognised. The pathology of agranulocytosis was briefly described. The mother cells of the bone marrow, from which’ were derived both the red blood corpuscles and the granular leucocytes, were not affected, and the manufacture of red cells was also unaffected, but at a stage in the manufacture of the white granulocytes this drug appeared to destroy those cells which were ultimately to form the granu- locytes.Thus the patient’s red blood cells were normal in quality and quantity, but he had no granulocytes in his blood, so that when he acquired a simple infection such as a sore throat, he had no defence mechanism to resist it. Several other poisons, including the straight chain and cyclic ureides were mentioned, and their relative toxicities discussed. The lecture concluded with brief mention of certain poisoning cases in which arsenic, strychnine and other poisons had been used. In conclusion, a brief mention was made to the work of the Poisons Board. In particular, Dr. Roche Lynch stressed what 146 he considered one of the most important actions that the Board had taken, namely, the prohibition of the sale of strychnine, except in medicines and to laboratories.Anyone who knew the terrible agony which both men and animals had to undergo before death from this poison, would welcome any attempt to prevent the public having access to this substance. A vote of thanks was accorded to Dr. Roche Lynch on the proposition of Sir Ernest Cook, seconded by Mr. Edward Russell. At the Annual General Meeting of the Section, Messrs. F. P. Hornby, F. E. Needs, F. Southerden, A. Marsden, W. B. Walker and R. H. Ellis were elected Members of the Committee for the ensuing year, with Dr. Vanstone, ex oficio, as District Member of Council. Mr. F. E. Needs was elected Chairman. Mr. Edgar Lewis, Honorary Secretary, having completed three years valuable service, retired from that office, and Mr.F. P. Hornby was elected in his place. Dr. H. F. Dean was elected Honorary Auditor. Cardiff and District.-At the University College, Cardiff , on 27th January,-Dr. H. B. Watson presiding,-Mr. C. N. Hinshelwood, F.R.S., gave a lecture on “Recent Studies on the Mechanism of Chemical Reactions.” Mr. Hinshelwood discussed in detail the various terms in the equation k = PZe-E’RT,giving the relation between the velocity of a reaction and the temperature. Examination of a large number of different reactions showed that P might have values ranging from I (when k = Ze-E/RT,Z being the collision number) to 10-’4. Interesting suggestions regarding the causes of the variation of the factor P were made.A discussion followed, and the meeting concluded with a vote of thanks to the lecturer, proposed by Dr. M. Jowett and seconded by Dr. D. P. Evans. East Midlands.-A meeting of the Section was held in the lecture theatre of Loughborough College on 20th February,- Dr. G. Malcolm Dyson in the Chair,-when Dr. L. H. Lampitt, Member of Council, gave a lecture on bb Recent Developments in the Chemistry of Milk.” 147 Dr. Lampitt, whose lecture was illustrated by lantern slides, stressed the complexity of milk and referred to the difficulty of obtaining an accurate idea of its constituents, instancing casein, the most complex protein. He showed that the constitution of casein varied with the method of its preparation from milk and also with its after treatment.Seven different bodies had been isolated from casein which, although reacting as casein, had different sulphur contents. Any attempt at purification altered the sulphur and phosphorus content. It was not known if this was due to the purification process or to bacterial action. Turning to the carbohydrates present, Dr. Lampitt said that there were others present besides lactose, as many as six having been claimed by some investigators. Dr. Lampitt next dealt with the salts present and emphasised the importance of the traces of these compounds found in milk. He concluded his lecture with a brief reference to the minor constituents. A discussion followed, and the meeting closed with a vote of thanks, proposed by Mr.W. F. Elridge and seconded by Dr. Harry Barnes. The Annual General Meeting of the Section will be held in the Chemistry Theatre of University College, Nottingham, on 2nd April at 7 p.m., and will be followed by a symposium on “The Institute of Chemistry and Professional Training,” to which Dr. L. Hunter, Mr. B. A. Bull, and Mr. R. L. Collett, Assistant Secretary of the Institute, have promised to contribute. Edinburgh and East of Scotland.-A meeting of the Section was held, jointly with the Local Section of the Society of Chemical Industry and local Fellows of the Chemical Society, in the North British Station Hotel, Edinburgh, on 23rd January, Dr. A. Lauder, local representative of the Chemical Society, presiding.Professor E. K. Rideal, F.R.S., of Cambridge, gave a lecture entitled bb The Interaction of Gases and Solids.” Professor Rideal instanced the technical importance of his subject by referring to the contact process for the production of sulphur trioxide, the hydrogenation of unsaturated fatty acids and the manufacture of hydrocarbons from coal. 148 He discussed the classification of different types of adsorption as due (a) to Van der Waal’s forces, (b) chemi-adsorption with little or no heat of activation, (c) chemi-adsorption with consider- able heat of activation. A resum6 of modern work on the kinetics of adsorption led to a comprehensive account of the methods used in Cambridge by Professor Rideal and his collabo- rators in their study of these adsorptions and kindred phenomena, such as polymerisation.Among recent methods of investigating the nature of surfaces the lecturer outlined the photo-electric-t hreshold met hod, the accommodation-coefficient and, for crystals, the change in light absorption. He then advanced some of the most recent theories in con- nexion with the way in which adsorbed molecules travel along surfaces and the mechanics of the passage of gas molecules through metals. In this connexion he indicated how deuterium was now being used to discover the mechanism of the hydrogena- tion of the hydrocarbons. In conclusion, he emphasised the importance of these studies to industrialists, particularly in the field of the heterogeneous catalysis of gas reactions, and expressed the opinion that further progress must come, not from a study of the quantities adsorbed, but by the application of new physical methods to determine the state of the adsorbed substances and the adsorbing surfaces.The meeting concluded with a vote of thanks to the lecturer, proposed by Dr. J. A. V. Butler. A meeting of the Section was held jointly with the Local Section of the Society of Chemical Industry, in the North British Station Hotel, Edinburgh, on 17th March,-Dr. Birkett Wylam presiding. Mr. A. R. Jamieson, Assistant Analyst to the City of Glasgow and Hon. Secretary of the Glasgow and West of Scotland Section of the Institute, read a paper on ‘‘ Unusual Analyses.” Mr.Jamieson remarked that the title itself was a little unusual, but it was intended to cover a description of some of the less common analyses conducted in a Public Analyst’s laboratory. He dealt first with a few of the analyses carried out on food products. The increasing practice of hydrogenating vegetable and fish oils and substituting these for natural fats has made it 149 imperative that reliable methods for their detection should be available. In dealing with these, he compared the method of Bolton and Williamsf with that of Cocks, Christian and Harding2 for the estimation of iso-oleic acid in hydrogenated fats. In the latter process he thought that one obtained a more accurate estimate of the solid fatty acids than in the former process.At the same time, in the Cocks, Christian and Harding method, the blank, i.e., the iodine value of the solid fatty acids in a fat which had no iso-oleic acid, was usually higher than in the Bolton and Williams method. Bearing in mind the fact that modern hydrogenation could be adjusted to give varying amounts of iso-oleic acid, although its quantitative estimation was important, it gave no reliable index of the amount of hydrogenated fat present. When, therefore, it was a case of deciding whether or not a fat had been hydrogenated, he preferred the method of Bolton and Williams. Discussing the possibilities of detecting the nature of the original fat, i.e., to find whether a vegetable or animal fat had been used for hydrogenation, he mentioned the use of pyridine sulphate bromide for determining the iodine value of the unsaponifiable matter. Using this method, it was not possible to identify the original oil owing to the varying effects of hydrogenation upon the unsaponifiable matter.Another unusual analysis was that of gases from “blown” tins of foodstuffs, with a view to finding the cause of deterioration. The lecturer showed a table of analyses giving the composition of such gases collected from canned foods imported into the Port of Glasgow during the past few years. He then dealt with the micro-analysis of the prohibited dyes in foodstuffs. Lantern slides, showing photo micrographs of the characteristic crystalline precipitates obtained from dyes with the various reagents, were exhibited.The dyes were present in solution to the extent of one part in 10,000,and the reagents used were:-For picric acid, 25 per cent. berberine sulphate; for Manchester Yellow, 25 per cent. berberine sulphate or gold chloride or silver nitrate; for Aurantia, 10per cent. silico-tungstic acid or 10per cent. phospho-tungstic acid. Leaving foodstuffs, the lecturer dealt with some unusual analyses relating to the examination of inflammable gases from underground sources. While it is well known that such gases may occur in coal mines, it is not generally realised that they may appear at or near the surface of the ground. He instanced two (1) Analyst, 1924, p. 40. (2) Analyst, 1931, p.368. 150 cases of gases issuing above ground and outlined the methods of collection and analysis. In each case the inflammable portion of the gas was found to be principally methane. The lecturer concluded with a brief reference to some chemico- legal cases, and particularly to certain aspects of the analysis of cyanide in connexion with the fumigation of ships with hydrogen cyanide. After an interesting discussion, the meeting concluded with votes of thanks to the lecturer and to the chairman respectively, proposed by Mr. James Sandilands, seconded by Mr. W. M. Ames. Glasgow and West of Scotland.-A joint meeting of the Section with the Chemical Society and the Society of Chemical Industry was held in the Royal Technical College, Glasgow, on 7th February, when a Lecture was given by Professor E.K. Rideal, M.B.E., F.R.S., on Recent Developments in Surface Action.” Professor G. G. Henderson, F.R.S., occupied the Chair. Professor Rideal said that the subject chosen could be divided into two sections, one dealing with liquid surfaces, the other with reactions taking place at solid surfaces. This latter class was the more important industrially, but investi- gations connected therewith were complicated. The former class would be dealt with in some detail. Two matters were of importance in this investigation. (I) Energetics-consideration of the speeds of reactions. (2) A study of the orientation of molecules at liquid surfaces- the connexion between velocity and orientation being of particular interest to those engaged in plastics and in the dyeing industry./Molecules were orientated in films with respect to polar groups only (e.g. carboxyl group). If chemical reactions were going on in these films, could we prove it and judge in some way the rate of the reaction taking place? The measurement of surface tension alone was not enough, for it was modified by the chains of the compounds, and we had seen that chemical changes take place in the polar group. Debye, and earlier Sir J. J. Thomson, showed that if changes were taking place in the polar grouping, then the electrical properties of the film altered, and this change could be measured. 151 Interesting examples were then quoted, and those of myristic acid and ethyl myristate showed how this phenomenon could be studied.The lecturer continued by considering the oxidation of a double bond-oleic acid film on water-by means of a very dilute solution of potassium pennanganate, and how the rate of the primary oxidation of this dihydroxy-acid could be measured. Chain mechanisms and polyrnerisation were then considered, the rate of photochemical changes dealt with briefly, and the conclusion dealing with quantum efficiency and irradiation of ergosterol were most interesting. In the discussion, Dr. I. V. Hopper and Dr. J. C. Eaton, among others, took part. The subject was further extended, and indications that the industrial applications were likely to be extensive were given.Dr. J. A. Cranston, in moving the vote of thanks, commented on the lucidity of the lecturer and on the great difficulty, so easily overcome by Professor Rideal, of making a subject dealing with a narrow field of investigation of such interest to an audience of differing interests and outlook. These remarks were heartily endorsed by the meeting. Huddersfie1d.-A meeting of the Section was held in Field’s Cafe, Huddersfield, on 17th February,-Mr. W. D. Scouller in the Chair. Professor W. N. Haworth gave a lecture entitled (‘Carbohydrates and their Structure.” A report of the lecture is given in Chemistry G Industry, 27th September, 1935: “Presidential address to the Chemistry Section of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.” On the motion of Dr. A.E. Everest, seconded by Mr. F. Robinson, a vote of thanks was accorded to the lecturer. The 16th annual general meeting of the Section was held on 18th March, at Field’s Cafe, Huddersfield,-Mr. W. D. Scouller in the Chair. The reports of the Hon. Treasurer and Hon. Secretarywere approved. The Hon. Secretary showed that the attendances 152 at meetings throughout the session had been good and that the works visits had been specially appreciated. The following members were elected to the Committee:- Mr. G. B. Jones, Dr. H. H. Goldthorpe. A vote of thanks was accorded to the retiring members,-Mr. F. Robinson and Dr. A. R. Lowe, and also to the Hon. Auditor, Mr. N. Hall, who was re-elected for a further year.Dr. A. E. Everest, the retiring District Member of Council, paid a tribute to the way in which the Section had kept him informed of its activities, and had supported him throughout his period of office. He asked the Section to continue that support to the new district member, Dr. H. Burton. Dr. Everest also referred to the work of the Institute during the past year, and to the newly-formed Chemical Council. Dr. H. H. Hodgson reported on the arrangements of the Yorkshire Council for Further Education, for the holding of post-graduate courses in chemistry in the West Riding during the session 1936-37. On the conclusion of the formal business, films were exhibited: (a) illustrating the making of a cinematograph film (Messrs.Kodak, Ltd.), (b) the Romance of Champagne (Percy Fox & Co., Ltd.), and (c) Refrigeration and its application. These were much appreciated. Irish Free State.-A meeting of the Section was held in Trinity College, Dublin, on 26th February,-Professor Alfons 0’Farrelly presiding. Dr. P. S. Arup read a paper on 6‘ The Unsaturated Fatty Acids,” of which he has kindly provided the following summary:- Considering the importance of these bodies and their glyceride combinations, both physiologically and industrially, it is perhaps surprising that several fundamental points regarding their chemical structure should only have been elucidated within the last decade or so, while the solution of other equally important problems in this connexion is still outstanding.This branch of research has, however, its own peculiar diffi- culties, some of which may be apparent from the account which follows. To begin with, it may be mentioned that not the least of these difficulties lies in obtaining reasonably pure starting materials, 153 a fact which may possibly have had some deterrent effect on activities of the academic investigator in this field. Oleic acid.-It has, of cours?, long been recognised that ordinary oleic acid is A g : 10 octadecenoic acid, and that it and elaidic acid are stereoisomers of the maleic-fumaric type. In the current editions of most of the standard works of reference, oleic acid is still assumed to be the trans- and elaidic acid the cis-isomer.It was left to E. F. Armstrong and Allan to point out, in 1924, that “It is customary to regard oleic acid as the trans form for reasons of which we must plead ignorance, though it is usual in cases of geometrical isomerism in absence of any definite evidence, to regard the more stable, higher-melting form as the trans-isomeride, which would lead us to give this formula to elaidic acid, The absence of elaidic acid in nature is consistent with this view, as chemical enzyme changes do not as a rule lead to compounds of maximum stability.’’ Regarding the last-mentioned point, it might be mentioned that elaidic acid has been found in Irish bog butter several hundred years old, but this really only serves to illustrate the argument, as the material in question has obviously been under the influence of a category of forces different from those which hold sway in the living organism. Although it will appear, from what follows, that definite and conclusive evidence for the cis-structure of oleic acid may still be said to be lacking, yet practically all the physical evidence available supports this view. After the evidence obtained by Muller and Shearer by X-ray analysis, perhaps the most interest- ing is that of the parachor values obtained by Sumeria and Ribotti-Lisoni in 1931.The parachors or “comparative molecu- lar volumes ’’ are values calculated from the surface tensions, densities, vapour densities and molecular weights of non-associa- ted liquids, and, owing to the pioneer work of McLeod, Sugden and others, have been found useful in confirming or deducing the chemical structures of many organic compounds; this field of investigation must, however, be regarded as being still very largely in the experimental stage.The above evidence also applies to erucic and brassidic acids which appear to be the cis-and trans-isomers respectively of A 13 : 14 docosenoic acid. It is well known that the positions of the centres of unsatura- tion in these and similar acids are determined by oxidation methods, among which may be mentioned the formation and 164 hydrolysis of ozonides. Mention should also be made of the improved oxidation technique introduced by Armstrong and Hilditch, which consists in employing powdered potassium permanganate in hot acetone or glacial acetic acid in oxidising the methyl or ethyl esters: in this way a cleaner oxidation is obtained than was possible by other methods, and what is also an important matter the risk of isomeric changes owing to alteration in position of the centres of unsaturation is minimised.Some interest has been centred in the two dihydroxystearic acids obtained by the oxidation of oleic and elaidic acids; thus reagents producing the acid of m.p. 95" C. from oleic acid, produce the acid of m.p. 132' C. from elaidic acid, and conversely. It is therefore obvious that under one set of conditions, structural inversion takes place. If, thus, it became possible to deduce the stereochemical relations of these two acids, the information would still be useless in determining the configurations of oleic and elaidic acids.Prof. Hilditch is of the opinion that the acid of m.p. 95" C. corresponds to oleic acid structurally, and that of m.p. 132' C. to elaidic acid; he argues that the conditions under which these results are obtained are those under which geometri- cal inversion is least likely to occur, and that the evidence of the yields obtained in the various oxidation reactions also confirms this view. There is, however, still some disagreement on the matter. In a standard work of reference it is definitely stated that the higher melting dihydroxy-acid has been resolved into two optically active isomerides by means of its strychnine salt : Prof.Hilditch who has very kindly given me his latest views on the subject, is not satisfied that complete resolution has been effected and emphasises the fact that the geometric relations between the two unsaturated acids and the two dihydroxy acids have not yet been settled. G. M. and R. Robinson have found that oleic acid is produced from stearolic acid on reduction by zinc and hydrochloric acid in presence of titanous chloride, and regard this as evidence for the cis-configuration of oleic acid. The oleic-elaidic transformation is brought about by the agency of nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide or sulphur. It has been shown by Hilditch and Griffiths that the equilibrium mix- tures obtained from oleic, petroselinic and erucic acids and their methyl or glyceryl esters contain a preponderance of the elaidic 155 form, which may be regarded as additional evidence of this being the more stable form. Iso-oleic acid.-The "iso-oleic acid " obtained (as glycerides) on the partial hydrogenation of oils has been the subject of much investigation.There are three main causes operative in the formation of the mixture of acids to which this collective name is given. (I) Partial hydrogenation of glycerides with more than one centre of unsaturation. Thus linolein will always be almost entirely converted to olein (or rather an acid radicle with one such centre, depending on whether the g :10 or the IZ : 13 centre is the first to be hydrogenated) before any olein which may also be present is converted to stearin.With linolein the possibility of the formation of mono-unsaturated isomers is presumably increased. This matter will be considered further under the discussion of the thiocyanogen value. (2) Migration of the centre of unsaturation under the in- fluence of the nickel catalyst. A great deal of work has been done to investigate this point. Hilditch and Vidyarthi (1929) have clarified the matter considerably; in the hydrogenation of methyl oleate, methyl palmitoleate and methyl erucate they found that mixture of acids was formed in which the double bonds were adjacent to the original positions, and also (3) that all these acids (including the original acid) were almost certainly present in cis-and trans-forms.The iso-oleic acid of hydrogenation is thus a very complex mixture, illustrative of some of the difficulties of research in the unsaturated fatty acid group. As regards the physiological properties of iso-oleic acid it is interesting to note that Barbour found that a diet of partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil led to the appearance of iso-oleic acid in the body fat, and that this disappeared on fasting as rapidly as any other fatty acid. Linoleic and Linolenic Acids.-By a study of the acetone- permanganate oxidation of partially hydrogenated products from the esters of these acids, Hilditch and Vidyarthi came to the following conclusions :-It can be deduced with certainty that the unsaturation in linoleic and linolenic acid is in the g : 10 and the 12 : 13 position and the third centre of unsaturation in linolenic acid can only be said to lie behind the 14th carbon atom in the chain.These acids, which enter into the composition of the essential constituents of most of the drying and semi-drying 166 oils, are thus found to have non-conjugated, i.e. isolated systems of unsaturation. Elaeostearic A &!.-This acid is characteristic of tung or Chinese wood oil, constituting about go per cent. of the total acids. Curiously enough, Maquenne as early as 1902, assigned to it the correct empirical formula C1,H,02, although a number of subsequent investigators came to regard it as having only two double linkages on the ground that it could not be made to yield an ether-insoluble (i.e.a hexa) bromide. It is still to be found represented as an isomer not of linolenic but of linoleic acid. A di- and a tetra-bromide were known, but there was a difficulty in getting agreement in the results of iodine value determinations between different observers. In 1926 H. P. Kaufmann obtained results which indicated bromide addition at three double bonds, by treating /3-elaeostearic acid dissolved in carbon tetrachloride with bromine dissolved in methyl alcohol saturated with sodium bromide, under the influence of ultra- violet light. Further, in 1931 van Loon actually prepared a hexabromide in carbon tetrachloride solution under the influence of ultra-violet light, evaporating part of the solvent and cooling to zoo c.Boeseken in 1929 caused a-elaeostearic acid to adsorb three molecules of hydrogen, separating the two intermediate products Cl,H,,O, and C,,H,02; by ozonisation he proved the former to be Ale, A12 linoleic acid and the latter “oleic” -vaccenic acid.’ He thus demonstrated a conjugated system CH, (CH,), (CH : CH), (CH,), COOH which is reduced according to Thiele’s theory. A study of the molecular refraction confirmed this view. Further, Majuna found the decomposition products of the ozonides to be valeric and azelaic acids. This view of the constitution of a-elaeostearic acid explains the peculiar behaviour of tung oil in iodine value determinations. Boeseken points out that an isolated system of double bonds as in poppyseed and linseed oils behaves quite normally, but a conjugated system of two linkings absorbs one molecule of halogen very rapidly and the second slowly, i.e.incompletely in the usual method of iodine value determination, a large excess of halogen and a long time for action being necessary. Tung oil gives the following results in iodine value determinations :-the first stage is complete in a few minutes, the second in half an hour, and the third in six days. Tung oil is the only oil in which the 157 precipitation of iodine is observed in the Wijs process. Very probably the final product is a chloro compound. There is hardly any doubt that the peculiarities noted with regard to the addition of halogens to tung oil are due to steric hindrance.Tariric Acid.-This acid obtained from the oil of the Guate- malan Tariri seed, is said to be the only representative in nature of an oil containing an acetylene linkage. It only absorbs four atoms of bromine by addition, two atoms of iodine, or one molecule of iodine monochloride. Very possibly it would not absorb thiocyanogen, as stearolic acid fails to do so. This may be regarded as a further example of steric hindrance in halogen addition to unsaturated acids. It will be noted that the greater the size of the atoms to be added, the more pronounced is this effect. Iodine and ThiocyanogenValues.-Toms in 1928 introduced a new micro-method for determining bromine absorption values, which consists in weighing out a very thin film of the oil on a microscope slide, exposing it to bromine vapour, removing the excess of bromine by an air current and weighing again.In this way Toms easily obtained for tung oil values of about 220 in terms of iodine, these being in agreement with Kaufmann’s results which have just been referred to, and theoretical values for the absorption of six atoms of halogen. Toms’s method thus gives theoretical results whether the oil contains a conjugated system or not. Incidentally, it affords an illustration by com- parison, of the effect of the solvent in halogen additions. In 1925,H. P. Kaufmann showed that thiocyanogen was only absorbed at one of the points of unsaturation in linoleic acid or its glycerides, and developed a method for determining thio- cyanogen values.The difference between the iodine and the thiocyanogen value, calculated in terms of iodine thus affords a measure of the linoleic acid in mixtures of this with oleic acid or the glycerides. Among the results given by Kaufmann are the following, to the nearest unit:- Oleic glyceride. Linoleic glyceride. Solid glycerides. Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. Olive oil . . 84 5 11 Arachis oil . . 57 23 20 Almond oil . . 82 15 2 Sesame oil .. 48 37 13 Kaufmann subsequently found that two of the three centres of unsaturation in linolenic acid are satisfied by thiocyanogen. 158 The composition of a sample of linseed oil was calculated as: Oleic acid, 11.9per cent., linoleic acid 32-6per cent., linolenic acid 40.2 per cent., glycerol 4.5 per cent.By the application of the method to partially hydrogenated oils, it was possible to confirm the well-known observation that the linoleic acid glyceride dis- appears during hydrogenation, the iodine and the thiocyanogen values becoming the same in the course of the process. The absorption of thiocyanogen at only one double linkage in linoleic acid and at two of the three double linkages in linolenic acid provides a further example of the kind of steric hindrance just mentioned in connexion with elaeostearic acid. It may be surmised that the thiocyanogen effect is due to the comparatively large size of the thiocyanogen complex as compared with the halogen atoms. In the case of linolenic acid it may be surmised that the addition of thiocyanogen takes place at the two centres of unsaturation remote from one another, i.e.at the g : 10position and at that which lies behind the 14th carbon atom. The Unsaturated Ghcerides of Bztter Fat.-Until recently the unsaturation in butter fat was usually assumed to be due to olein, though the possibility of the presence of linolein was sometimes recognised. Hilditch and Jones made a very exhaustive in- vestigation of three samples of New Zealand butter, from which they concluded that the percentages of olein were 34.3, 36.4 and 33-1, and those of linolein 4-4, 3-7 and 5-4, respectively. These figures were deduced from the iodine values of the liquid fatty acids. The writer made a number of thiocyanogen value deter- minations of butter fats from various sources by a modification of Kaufmann’s method, suitable for dealing with solid fats, and found 3.3 to 4-6per cent.of linoleic glyceride. The total number of samples was 28 and included Irish, Danish, Argentine, Austra- lian, New Zealand and Siberian butters. The olein content varied from 27.5 to 39.0 per cent. The meeting concluded with a hearty vote of thanks to Dr. Arup for his interesting lecture. Leeds Area.-A meeting of the Section was held on 17th February, at the University, Leeds,-Mr. R. Gawler in the Chair. Professor C. K. Ingold, F.R.S., addressed the meeting on- ‘‘The Chemistry of Heavy Hydrogen.” The following prkcis has been kindly supplied by the lecturer :- 159 After a brief review of the isolation of deuterium, Professor Ingold dealt with the following three applications :-(I) Detection of Hydrogen Exchanges.-A large number of these reactions, which were previously unobservable, have been detected by the use of deuterium as isotopic indicator.Both intra-and inter-molecular changes can be followed by this method. Amongst examples of the latter type were cited hydrogen exchanges between sulphuric acid and aromatic olefinic, and even aliphatic, hydrocarbons. (Largely unpublished obser- vations by C. L. Wilson and C. G. Raisin.) (2) Thermo-dynamics and Spectroscopy.-The nature of the theory of the sum of state by which thermo-dynamic quantities can, in principle, be calculated from purely spectroscopic data was indicated.In the case of equilibria involving interchanges with only light atoms, the expression for the change of the free energy simplifies itself to a difference of zero point energies which can be calculated from the frequencies of spectral lines. If the atoms which exchange, besides being light, are also isotopes, then the frequencies for the compounds of one isotope can, in the absence of direct observation, be calculated from the observed frequencies of similar compounds of the other. Thus the spectro- scopic calculation of the equilibrium constants is particularly simple in this case. Some applications and comparisons with experiments were considered. (Unpublished observations by C. L. Wilson and L. H.P. Weldon.) (3) A Problem of Quantitative Stereochemistry : the Structure of Benzene.-The method of long-wave spectroscopy is to attempt to decide the forms of molecules from the nature of their vibra- tions, but, except in the very simplest cases, it is usually very difficult to decide which observed frequencies correspond to which forms of vibration. Since the exchange of an element for its isotope involves a change of mass but no change in the binding force, it is possible to calculate relationships between the vibration frequencies for two isotopic molecules with respect to any given form of vibration. Conversely, the observed spectral shifts may be used to identify the frequencies with the vibration forms to which they belong. The possibility of thus correctly identifying the vibration forms depends on the molecular model assumed, and consequently, if the spectral shifts calculated from an assumed model should turn out to be correct, that model can be considered as established.The application of this method to benzene proves the Kekul6 formula to be incorrect, and the 160 hexagonally symmetrical model to be very probably correct, although a very slight trigonal puckering is not excluded by the results obtained up to the present. (Unpublished observations.) A vote of thanks was accorded to Professor Ingold on the motion of Professor R. Whytlaw-Gray, seconded by Dr. J. W. Baker. A joint meeting of the Section with the Leeds University Chemical Society was held on 3rd March, in the Chemistry Department of the University,-Professor F.Challenger in the Chair. After the exhibition of a film entitled “The Building of the I.C.I. Offices, Millbank,” kindly loaned by Messrs. Dorman Long and Co., Ltd., Dr. A. E. Dunstan lectured on *‘The Refining of Petroleum.” The lecturer drew attention to the start of drilling operations in England, and then outlined the progress made by geophysicists and geologists in their surveys of land of a suitable character. The British oil industry was really founded by James Young. (A film was shown illustrating the geography of the Iranian oil-fields, the drilling for oil, and the subsequent refining process.) Dr. Dunstan then discussed the major problem confronting the petroleum technologist of to-day, namely, the utilisation of the immense quantities of gases obtained with, and separated from, the crude oil.Successful methods of utilisation of these gases are (i) pyrolysis to yield aromatic hydrocarbons; (ii) con- version of isobutene into diisobutene and thence into isooctane, and (iii) the burning of methane to carbon black. (Another film was shown illustrating the transport of petroleum from the Iraq oil-fields to the sea-coast, particular reference being made to the feat of laying the immense length of pipe-line.) A vote of thanks was accorded to Dr. Dunstan on the motion of the Chairman, seconded by Mr. R. Gawler. Liverpool and North-Western.-Mr. B. D. W. Luff presided at a meeting of the Section, held at the Constitutional Club, Liverpool, on 13th February, when Mr.Richard B. Pilcher, Registrar of the Institute, gave a lecture entitled “From Boyle to Priestley,” being a continuation of his “Alchemists and Chemists in Art and Literature .’’ 161 Mr. Pilcher introduced by lantern slides, prepared mainly from his collection of prints, the chief characters in the history of chemistry who were born between 1627 and 1733. Dealing thus with a period of absorbing interest, he recalled, with many anecdotes, such men as Kunckel and Lemery, the great chemists on the Continent contemporary with Boyle; Becher and Stahl, of the phlogiston theory; Mayow and Stephen Hales, remarkable for their experiments on gases; Boerhaave, the great teacher at Leyden ;Geoff roi and Reaumur of the French Academy ;Duhamel du Monceau, pioneer in agricultural chemistry ; Rouelle, the whimsical demonstrator at the Jardin des Plantes, who discovered sulphuretted hydrogen, and many others, up to the times of the famous British chemists-Black, Cavendish and Priestley. Professor W.H. Roberts, in proposing a vote of thanks to Mr. Pilcher for his interesting and instructive lecture, referred to his long association with the Institute. He regretted that many new members did not, as in former years, come into personal contact with the Registrar on their admission to the Institute; whereas, in the past, when nearly all candidates for the Associateship were examined at headquarters, the Registrar had the opportunity of meeting them.He advised the younger members who were worried over any matters to consult Mr. Pilcher in their difficulties, and suggested that the Council of the Institute might very well consider the advisability of giving him further assistance, so that he might spend some part of every year in visiting the various Sections and becoming acquainted with new members, thus fostering the spirit of brotherhood which bad done so much to advance the prestige of the Institute. Professor C. 0. Bannister, in seconding the vote of thanks, endorsed the remarks of Professor Roberts, adding that the Registrar had done good service by showing the importance of metallurgical chemistry during the period of development with which he had dealt.A meeting of the Section was held at the Constitutional Club, Liverpool, on 12th March,-Mr. B. D. W. Luff in the Chair,-when Mr. H. E. Monk, Public Analyst for the City of Salford, spoke on Food Legislation.” Mr. Monk said that the purchase of food formed a very large proportion of the charge on a family budget in the case of 162 people in poor circumstances. He had examined statistics, and it would be fairly safe to say that where the family income was less than lzweekly half of it would be spent on food. Dealing with the title of his lecture, he said that the year 1875 saw the first comprehensive attempt to legislate for food- stuffs-the Sale of Food and Drugs Act, 1875. There were two sections of this Act which, put in ordinary language, provided, firstly, that no one should sell or make for sale any food which would endanger the life or health of the person eating it; secondly, that anyone buying food should be supplied with that for which he asked and nothing else.The provisions of this 1875 Act were now embodied in the Food and Drugs (Adulteration) Act, 1928. Mr. Monk drew attention to the difficulty of dealing satis- factorily with the matter of ensuring that the purchaser received an article of the “nature, substance and quality ” demanded, because there was a lack of standards for so many articles of food. He considered that it would be in the interest of the consumer to have standards for the following articles:- Baking powder, cheese, cream (including tinned cream), coffee and chicory and extracts and essences of coffee and chicory, diabetic foods, infants’ foods, flour, ice cream, jam, lemon cheese, meat extracts and like products, potted meat, sausage, shredded suet, and vinegar.Additional legislative treatment was also desirable in the case of custard powder, invalid foods, fruit juices, extracts and cordials, margarine and chocolate. Food standards might be of different kinds:- The prohibition, or limitation in quantity, of matters injurious to health and, what was more commonly meant by a standard, the quantitative definition of composition of articles sold under a given name such as jam, cheese or cream. With complicated substances like foodstuffs, standards of the latter kind varied greatly in their nature, extent and objects.Mr. Monk pointed out that the present Food and Drugs Act protected, at any rate in theory, the purchaser of an article of food which was wrongly labelled. When however it was realised how seldom the label on an article of food was read, as compared with the advertisement concerning it, it was thought that some- thing ought to be done about the advertiser who held out promises that his wares could not fulfil. 163 Referring to the chemist in the food industry, Mr. Monk said that, in some cases, proposals for the treatment of food- stuffs were too daring in character, and that where food was concerned no risks ought to be taken. Any new treatment in respect of its potential danger to health should be considered in the reverse manner to that accorded to a prisoner in English law-it should be “guilty till proved innocent.” Another phase of modern development was the enormous increase in prepacked articles of food.The retail seller of these was not responsible for the labelling, and was probably entirely ignorant of the nature of the contents. Yet, if the public analyst took exception to the ingredients, the retailer was liable to prosecution and his sole protection would be a warranty which might be found inadequate. It would thus be a good thing for each local authority to take a special interest in the food- stuffs manufactured in its own district. In conclusion, Mr. Monk said that it would be beneficial, particularly to the food manufacturer, if all the various Acts and Regulations governing foodstuffs could be embodied into one Act.It would then be natural to expect one Minister, the Minister of Health, to be responsible for the whole subject. In the discussion which followed, the Chairman, Mr. E. Gabriel Jones, Mr. R. B. Croad, Dr. A. M. Maiden, Professor W. H. Roberts, Mr. C. E. Mold and Mr. H. R. Jensen took part. A vote of thanks was accorded to Mr. Monk. London and South-Eastern Counties.-On xgth February, Mr. F. G. Edmed presided at a meeting of the Section held at the Institute, when Mr. J. Davidson Pratt gave a lecture on (‘Protection against Toxic Gases in Industry ” which will be published, together with the discussion thereon, as a separate monograph.On the motion of the Chairman, a vote of thanks was accorded to Mr. Davidson Pratt for a very useful lecture. A joint meeting of the London and South-Eastern Counties Section with the London Section of the Society of Chemical Industry was held on 9th March, at Burlington House, under the chairmanship of Dr. H. E. Cox, when a paper was read by Dr. T. A. Henry on (‘The Chemotherapy of Malaria,” of which the author has supplied the following abstract :- 164 After a brief historical introduction dealing with the intro- duction of cinchona bark into Europe about 1630,the use of this drug in its crude form for two centuries as a specific for malaria, and its eventual replacement by its chief alkaloidal component, quinine, it was pointed out that all the early attempts to produce synthetic anti-malarial drugs were based on current conceptions of the molecular structure of this alkaloid.In this way a number of useful antipyretics were produced, but progress in the desired direction was hampered by the fact that there was no simple test by which the anti-malarial value, if any, of a synthetic product could be assessed. This difficulty was finally solved as a result of the investigation of the special kinds of malaria which affect birds. This work, begun by the brothers Sergent about 1903,and continued by various workers, finally led to the development by Roehl in 1924of a standard method of inducing malaria in canaries by inoculation and the use of such infected birds for the testing of possible anti-malarial drugs.Roehl’s discovery has made co-operative work between chemists and biologists possible, in assessing the value of alleged substitutes for quinine, in estimating the relative anti-malarial efficiencies of the several cinchona alkaloids and the innumerable variants upon them, produced in the course of the last century’s work on the chemistry of these alkaloids, and most important of all, it has proved an invaluable guide in the synthesis of new anti- malarial remedies. One outcome has been the discovery by Schulemann, Schonhofer and Wingler in co-operation with Roehl of plasmoquine (8-diethylaminoisopentylamino-6-methoxyquino-line), and by Mauss and Mietzsch in association with Kikuth of at ebrin (2-c hloro-./-me t hox y-5-diet h ylaminoisopen t ylaminoacri- dine).The further work of Kikuth has shown that plasmoquine is toxic to the sexual forms of the parasite (gametocidal action) whilst atebrin, like quinine, acts chiefly on the asexual forms (schizonticidal action) and development of Roehl’s test have made it possible to distinguish between these two types. These achievements have aroused widespread interest among chemists in the chemotherapy of malaria, and thanks to the work of teams, led by Fourneau in France, Magidson in Russia, Robinson in this country and others elsewhere, correlated chemical and biological information regarding the interdependence of anti-malarial action and chemical structure is being steadily accumulated.A vote of thanks was accorded the lecturer on the proposal of Mr. F. G. Edmed. 165 Manchester and District.-On 7th February, at a meeting of the Section, held jointly with the Sections of the Society of Chemical Industry, and the Institution of the Rubber Industry, a paper was read by Mr. W. A. Silvester on ‘‘Patents as Industrial Property.” The following resume has been supplied by the 1ecturer:- The principle underlying all developed patent laws is that an inventor is a public benefactor and may accordingly be given a monopoly in exploiting his invention for a limited period of time in return for his teaching the public what his invention is, by means of a document with or without drawings, and at the same time stating clearly what it is that the public is barred from doing for the period of time provided.Thus, an inventor who becomes also a patentee is a potential or actual industrial property owner. If the invention is tech- nically fruitful, the fruits are his for a number of years. However, patents are granted by governments, and hold good only in the territory of the particular government. One cannot obtain by patents a world monopoly, as about one-third of the world’s population of 1,850 millions dwells in areas where there are no patent laws or almost none. These areas are perhaps at present (except China) negligible from a manu-facturing, if not from a sales point of view, and it might be enough for anyone to patent only where manufacturing competi- tion is expected.But a patenting campaign is necessarily planned early in technical development, as in most countries that grant patents (the U.S.A. is an exception), the first applicant, if there is competi- tion in patenting, gets the patent. The patenting campaign, then, is carried forward at a time when sales expectations may be vague, and money short, even in a firm. Considered also from this point of view, it is reasonable to limit the field for patenting to particular countries. When a detailed lay-out is made, it is seen that patent expenses alone vary enormously from country to country. Thus, reckoning in both initial expenses and renewal fees, the cost of patenting per million of population is approximately as follows : U.S.A., k0.15 ; Britain, k3.0; Australia, k10.0; Irish Free State, f137.0; Japan, Lo-7; Germany, fl6.o; Austria, fl30.0, and so on.There are no renewal fees in the U.S.A. and Canada. In other countries, the older the patent, the higher the fee. 166 Tactical considerations in competitive industry become complicated if valueless patents do not die early. Assuming that an inventor makes due consideration of these matters, his or his firm’s procedure in obtaining a patent in four countries, viz. France, Britain, Germany and the U.S.A., is discussed, with emphasis on details in the differences between the laws and practices of these countries. France is one of the countries where patents are given almost for the asking, i.e. there is no novelty search by the Patent Office and no provision for precise claiming.The French patentee then has no guarantee whatever that his patent is valid; he has little more than an official certificate that at a given time he had made what he thought was an invention. Also in France, a new chemical product can be patented as such. Britain goes some steps further, and grants patents after a novelty search of, even now, a limited kind, carried out on the principles of elementary logic without overmuch regard for facts. Chemical patenting in Britain must be of processes. Britain also provides an opposition procedure, but in its opposi- tion a measuring-stick of inventiveness cannot easily be applied.Hence a British patent is not necessarily of any more value than a French patent. In Germany, where chemical patenting is again limited to processes, the official novelty search and the opposition procedure both allow of argument over “technical effect,” i.e. a measuring-stick of inventiveness, easily grasped by the technician, may be applied. The system in the U.S.A. is peculiar and complicated. Chemical products may be claimed as such. There is a strict and wide novelty search as in Germany but on paper only. There is no provision for opposition. Con-flicting applications fall into (‘interference ” ;a peculiar procedure, by which, it may be, the later applicant is shown to be the first inventor; often seemingly ended by agreement to licence or cross-licence (not an affair for the Patent Office).In short, it may be said that, so far as obtaining patents goes, the law and practice most readily to be understood by the technologist are probably those of Germany, despite some failings, and German practice gives patents most of which carry the best presumption of validity. Litigation in the High Court, as over infringement or revoca- tion, being expensive, creating and retaining of property by patents in competitive industry is, as will be seen, a different affair in different countries. It is most likely to be free from preliminary encumbrances in Germany. Britain and the United States are perhaps about on a level, and circumstances are perhaps most difficult in France.There are many other points of difference between the patent laws of the different countries. The anomalies within the British Empire are noteworthy. In competitive industry one may readily find himself “domi-nated,” i.e. an earlier patent still in force covers an earlier stage in a process than that to which his invention relates. Also there is “domination” by chemical generic terms. The cir- cumstances here are such that the would-be manufacturer must make his own arrangements with the earlier patentee; the Patent Offices do not help, but the patent laws may. A meeting of the Section was held jointly with the Fellows of the Chemical Society on 20th February, under the chairman- ship of Mr. F. Scholefield. Dr. J. F. Wilkinson read a paper entitled “Chemistry and Medicine ’’ of which he has kindly supplied the following abstract :-Dr.John F. Wilkinson said that in reviewing the progress in medicine during the last 20-30 years, the two most striking things were the progressive infiltration of medicine with chemical ideas and the co-operation between the chemist and the physician in the study of disease. New treatments had been initiated, new synthetic drugs and the active principles of old medical remedies had been made available. It was this co-operation which had contributed more than anything else to the great advances that had been made in medicine. This had undoubtedly been accelerated by the great stimulation of medical research in many large centres through the foresight of such institutions in this country as the Medical Research Council and in Manchester by the Royal Infirmary and University of Manchester.Dr. Wilkinson referred to the increasing demands made on the chemist for new and improved methods of chemical diagnosis and for the control of medical treatments-the work of the chemical pathologist. He then proceeded to consider the relation- ship between chemistry and medicine, and the development of the research “team ” in the prosecution of medical research. The requirements for the successful working of this and the necessity for adequate facilities and assistance, such as could only be obtained in special institutions or hospitals, were discussed. 168 The value of the research “team” in the investigations of special cases was illustrated by references to some researches now in progress.Certain clinical pigmentations were discussed, and particular reference was made to the chemical aspects of caro- tinaemia, haemochromatosis and Addison’s disease. This led to a discussion of the necessity for the chemist in medical research work. The lecturer urged the need for facilities to train workers, by means of a short course in medical science, where it was impossible for them to obtain medical qualifications; this would enable the chemist to turn his special knowledge to advantage in medical investigations. Recent research work in medicine of interest to the chemist was reviewed. After a consideration of the protamine insulinates, and the association of deficiency of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) in Addison’s disease, scurvy and purpuras, the effect of slight changes in the constitution of closely related substances on physiological processes was considered, e.g.histamine and histidine on the alimentary tract. In polycythaemia, treatment with phenylhydrazine, by its toxic action, produces a reduction in the red cell count. Anti-pyrine, a condensation product of phenylhydrazine and aceto-acetic ester, is the parent substance of amidopyrine, which in certain individuals produces a fatal disease, agranulocytosis, due to the destruction or inhibition of granular white blood cells. The best treatment of this so far is with a mixture of adenine and guanine-pentose nucleotides.The possible danger of new synthetic therapeutic drugs was emphasised. The chemical aspects of the anaemias were then considered. The hypochromic anaemias were due to a metabolic deficiency or defect in iron and other minerals. On the other hand the megalocytic anaemias, such as pernicious anaemia, were con-cerned with a deficiency in the so-called anti-anaemic principle as found in liver. The characteristics and causation of these anaemias and the nature of the anti-anaemic principles of stomach and liver and of the extrinsic factor were then discussed. The possibility of a reaction deficiency was also indicated. Recent work on the purification of the anti-anaemic principle of stomach and liver was then described.Mr. Ellingworth opened the discussion by indicating the enormous difficulties present in investigations of the chemistry of physiological substances. He inquired to what extent the 169 pure organic chemist had been of use in such problems. He considered that there must be a much superior liaison between the chemist and the medical men in Germany than there is in this corn try, since the Germans appeared to make more’ progress than we did in this field. There was a difficulty in translating the chemists’ results into medical applications. In reply, Dr. Wilkinson pointed out that, in the past, the medical profession did not encourage co-operation between chemists and themselves, but that this co-operation was now welcomed, especially in Manchester.Medical research was expensive, since so many persons, working in various fields, were necessary for a complete research team. The expense of preparation of substances, and the need for adequately qualified workers required for research work, very often accounted for the slow progress made in this country. In Germany and America much of the medical work was subsidised by large manufacturing firms, but there was no such scheme in general practice in this country. There was a large scope for the pure organic and inorganic chemist in the field of medical research, but unfortunately the emoluments were not attractive. Dr. Lowe inquired whether Dr. Wilkinson could throw any light on the mechanism of the supply of hydrochloric acid in the stomach.A theory which was not satisfactory was that the salt-content of the blood was responsible for the formation of hydrochloric acid. Dr. Wilkinson replied that there were several theories regarding the formation of hydrochloric acid h the human system. One theory was that the salt was formed as a result of cellular reaction; another that the acid was produced as a result of interaction between buffer salts. It was quite definite that it was produced at a constant percentage in normal persons. Other workers in the field consider that it was produced under the influence of nervous reactions or a pituitary secretion. Mr. Scholefield, the chairman, considered that many chemists would be intensely interested in the type of research work outlined by Dr.Wilkinson, and inquired whether the lecturer suggested that university students, after graduation, should take up this work without any financial reward. He inquired whether there was any financial help available. Dr. Wilkinson replied that there were small temporary grants and scholarships, and that apart from these the main openings 170 were for chemical pathologists whose salaries might be anything from ;6350 to L600 per annum. Dr. Balaban stated that the staff of the National Institute for Medical Research consisted of one permanent chemist and other people who had grants for two or three years. He ws particularly interested in Dr. Wilkinson’s remarks with regard to the reactions involving gastrin.He inquired whether Dr. Wilkinson could inform him of its constitution,-whether it was N-methylhistamine or whether the methyl group was in the glyoxaline ring. He referred to Dakin’s work on thiolhistidine and wondered whether the glyoxaline nucleus occurred in other important hormones and secretions in the human body, and whether the liver principle contained any sulphur. The lecturer replied that there was no evidence in favour of the presence of sulphur in the liver principle. It was considered that the methylhistamine had the methyl group in the side-chain and certainly produced very similar effects to those produced by gastrin. The lecturer considered that the glyoxaline ring was probably quite common in the structure of physiological substances.Dr. Howitt stated that he had been associated with Wilkinson in working up liver extracts; but prior to that had worked with Dodds on insulin. He explained the difficulty in maintaining the activity of hormone extracts. Many treatments decreased this activity. He cited a case which occurred on one occasion when a batch of insulin, valued at E800, after one process, lost activity to the extent of E300, and after two days’ working, the value, based on its activity, had dropped to only E5o. He did not consider that Dr. Wilkinson had sufficiently stressed his own work in the field of pernicious anaemia. His reputation in this subject was world-wide. He discussed the reaction between haemopoietin and the extrinsic factor, and wondered whether the absence of a co-enzyme was responsible for the absence of reaction.Dr. Thomas suggested the use of a colorimeter, such as the Guild colorimeter, in conjunction with dyed or painted patterns which matched the colour of the skin, as a means of following the progress of a disease in which marked pigmentation of the skin occurred. A vote of thanks to the lecturer was proposed by Dr. Fair- brother representing the Chemical Society, seconded by Dr. Goldblatt, who did not consider that the biochemist was very 171 favourably placed, since he was a chemist among physicians, and a physician among chemists. Newcastle upon Tyne and North-East Coast.-At a meeting held at Sunderland Technical College on 6th February, Dr.W. S. Patterson read a paper entitled 6‘ Studies in Metallic Corrosion.” Dr. Patterson discussed developments in the study of corrosion which have changed the character of research in this subject from the study of practical cases of corrosion to investigations of the fundamental principles underlying all types of corrosion. He indicated the importance of the new theory of electro-chemical corrosion propounded and developed by Evans and others. The principle of differential aeration was explained as the fundamental cause of many types of corrosion. This phenomenon results in the development of anodic and cathodic areas at a metal surface through unequal distribution of oxygen. Parts of a metal surface which are freely aerated become cathodic to adjacent areas which are partially or completely screened from oxygen, and corrosion is thereby initiated.Dr. Patterson showed how an initial or primary corrosion caused by the hetero- geneous character of the metal surface could produce corrosion products which, by screening the metal surface, induced a secondary type of corrosion which in some cases might be much more severe than the primary attack. The principle of differential aeration was illustrated by exhibits using the ferroxyl indicator. Among the important principles which modern corrosion research has established, one of the most valuable has been the conception of controlling factor. This indicates that each type of corrosion is governed by one factor and, provided this is kept constant, other factors may be varied over a wide range without appreciably altering the corrosion.This principle was illustrated by considering metallic corrosion in three typical media: corrosion in acid solution, in neutral oxygenated salt solution, and atmos- pheric corrosion. In acid solution, the purity of the metal is of importance. Not only the amount of impurity present but also the nature of the alloy which it forms with the dominant metal plays an important part in the corrosion process. Electrolytic zinc was shown to be attacked by dilute sulphuric acid in the early stages more rapidly than the same zinc containing I per cent. 172 of either lead or cadmium. These two metals form solid solutions at this concentration with zinc, and the homophase nature of these solid solutions reduces the solution pressure of the metal in the acid.In contrast to this, it was shown that iron and antimony, which produce heterophase alloys with zinc, promote the initial attack in dilute acid by increasing the solution pressure of the metal. The similarity of the initial corrosion of zinc specimens containing these impurities, when exposed outdoors in the winter in Central London, with their corrosion in dilute acid was shown. The explanation lies in the fact that the rainfall in Central London during the winter period is really very dilute sulphuric acid. In oxygenated salt solutions, corrosion is largely controlled by the rate at which oxygen can diffuse to the metal surface and depolarise the cathodic areas of the corrosion cells.Dr. Patterson showed that zinc specimens containing a variety of different impurities corroded at practically the same rate when immersed at the same depth in an oxygenated salt solution. Under these conditions, the surface of the specimens with the smallest amount of any particular impurity would be sufficiently heterogeneous to initiate corrosion capable of consuming the whole of the oxygen diffusing to the surface: therefore, increasing the amount of any impurity present would not modify the rate of corrosion. Later, it was shown that, in the case of mild steel, where high concentrations of oxygen were present in the solution, the corrosion is then independent of the amount of oxygen present, and the controlling factor passes from the oxygen to the purity of the metal.During atmospheric corrosion, Dr. Patterson said that the controlling factor was associated with the character of the corrosion products formed in situ on the metal surface, and the manner in which these were modified by changes in the pollution and humidity of the atmosphere. In support of these views, an account was given of researches with zinc under laboratory conditions, and exposed outdoors in Central London. It was shown how the corrosion increased with increasing atmospheric pollution and humidity and was retarded as the humidity fell below saturation, or as the winter period with high atmospheric pollution changed to the cleaner conditions of summer.The important experiments of Vernon on the influence of dust on the corrosion of iron were discussed. Specimens were 173 exhibited which had been protected behind a muslin screen to prevent the access of dust particles. No corrosion had occurred over a period of six months. Similar specimens exposed without protection in the same unsaturated atmosphere were appreciably rusted. Finally, Dr. Patterson discussed the inhibitive influence of a series of polyhydric alcohols upon the corrosion of iron immersed in oxygenated potassium sulphate solution. It was shown that the action of these inhibitors was controlled by three factors, -first the amount of inhibitor present, second the number of hydroxyl groups per molecule of inhibitor, and third the spatial arrangement of the -OH groups in the molecule. The explanation of the inhibitive action of these substances probably lies in their adsorption upon the secondary corrosion products.Professor G. R. Clemo occupied the Chair in the unavoidable absence of Dr. Robinson. After an interesting discussion, a vote of thanks was accorded to Dr. Patterson for his lecture, and for the hospitality of his department. Members of the Local Section of the Institute were invited to the thirty-third Bedson Lecture entitled bb Modern Crystallography and Organic Chemistry,’’ delivered on the zIst February at Armstrong College, Newcastle upon Tyne, by Mr. J. D. Bernal, assistant director of research in the crystallographic laboratory, Cambridge.Mr. Bernal gave practical details of the methods of X-ray examination of organic substances, which he explained consti- tuted an indirect method of seeing molecular structures. A pencil of X-rays is diffracted by all possible internal planes of regularity of a crystal to a series of points which can be photo- graphed and whose intensities and angles of deviation constitute the observed data which will unequivocally characterise a sub-stance. It is also relatively easy to determine the symmetry of the molecule, which in some cases identifies an isomeride as cis-or trans-and to determine the size of the unit cell of the crystal from which, knowing the density, the molecular weight can be found, and also the shape of the molecule, which has been of value in sterol chemistry.174 The complete interpretation of X-ray diagrams to yield the position of each atom in the unit cell, and the electron density in each part of the molecule, is much more laborious and has only recently been achieved. Besides confirming the classical organic structures, this method gives direct information of the distortion of valency angles in such cases as durene, and of the serni-aromatic nature of the bonds in benzoquinone and dinitro- benzene. A vote of thanks proposed by the Chairman (Professor Clemo), was accorded to Mr. Bernal. South Wales (Swansea).-On 24th January, a joint meeting with the Local Section of the Society of Chemical In- dustry was held at the Hotel Metropole, Swansea, when Dr.V. E. Yarsley gave a lecture on “The Rale of Cellulose Acetate in Modern Plastics.” In his opening remarks, Dr. Yarsley stated that, thanks to the work of Haworth, Hirst, Irvine, Meyer and others, an accurate mental picture of the basic raw material, cellulose, could be formed. He proceeded to show what a delicate structure cellulose possessed and that in chemical processes whereby cellulose is changed into various derivatives, and these again into products such as films, lacquers or plastic masses, the delicate structure should be disturbed as little as possible. After describing the manufacture and properties of cellulose acetate, he referred briefly to solvation and plasticisation of cellulose acetate, and dealt with some industrial applications of cellulose acetate.The lecture was illustrated by lantern slides and exhibits of plastic products. The Oil and Colour Trades’ Journal, December 22, 1933.-V. E. Yarsley, Cellulose Acetate, and some of its Industrial Applications. On 11th February, members of the Section were invited to a joint meeting with the Local Section of the Institute of Metals, which was held at the Y.M.C.A., Swansea, when Mr. J. H. G. Moneypenny read a paper on 6b Some Modern Developments in Stainless Steels.” 175 On 10th March a meeting of the Section was held jointly with the University College Chemical Society, at the University, Swansea,-Dr. R. P. Linstead gave a lecture on (‘Some Recent Discoveries among Natural and Synthetic Colouring Matters,” of which he has kindly supplied the following pr6cis:- The lecturer said that many well-known synthetic dyestuffs were imitations of the colouring matters of the natural world.The most important natural pigments were undoubtedly chloro- phyll and haemoglobin-the colouring matters of green leaves and of blood respectively. Not only were these of outstanding biological importance, but they had peculiarly intricate chemical structures of very similar type. These were now almost com- pletely elucidated, mainly owing to the work of Willstatter and Hans Fischer. He reviewed the main lines of evidence from which the structures of chlorophyll and of haemin had been deduced.The relationship of these substances to a common structural unit, porplzin, was indicated and examples given of Fischer’s work on the synthesis and interconversion of various porphyrins. The main feature of the structural unit postulated in these com- pounds was a large unsaturated ring, of so peculiar a type that independent evidence for its existence was desirable. Such evidence had recently come to light with the investiga- tion of the phthalocyanines. The discovery of iron phthalo- cyanine and the early investigation of its structure were described, and the chemistry of the class as a whole was reviewed. A study of the synthesis and analysis of these pigments had led to a structural formula which bore many resemblances to that of the porphyrins, and in particular contained a large unsaturated ring of similar type.The structure assigned on purely chemical grounds had been confirmed in a striking manner by X-ray investigations by J. M. Robertson. It was pointed out that the phthalocyanines and porphyrins had many similarities in their general chemistry. These new developments had therefore consolidated the evidence for the structure of the natural pigments besides providing a most interesting new class of synthetic colouring matters. The meeting concluded with a vote of thanks to Dr. Linstead. 176 South Yorkshire.-A meeting of the Section was held at the Chesterfield Technical College on the 14th February,-Dr. G. Lawton in the Chair-when short papers were read by Messrs.W. W. Stevenson, W. A. Churchouse, and S. C. Turner, and an exhibition of apparatus and chemicals, arranged by several firms, was on view. Mr. Stevenson read a paper on “A New Iodimetric Method for the Estimation of Inorganic Inclusions in Steel.” This method depends dn the dissolving the iron in a solution of iodine in anhydrous methyl alcohol in a vacuum, the inclusions being unattacked. These are filtered off and then the various substances are estimated either gravimetrically or volumetrically. A discussion followed, and much interest was shown in the apparatus used in the method. Mr. Churchouse dealt with ‘‘Electric Laboratory Furnaces,” describing a combustion furnace which he had made from scrap and oddments in the laboratory. Mr.Turner dealt with “The Use of Sodium Hexametaphosphate.” After a brief description of the substance, he referred especially to its use in water softening, particularly in laundry practice. The papers and the exhibition were much appreciated, and the hope was express that another meeting of a similar character would be held during the next session. Mr. W. Wall, Hon. Secretary of the Section, presided at a meeting held at the County Technical College, Worksop, on 6th March. The members of the Section were welcomed by Principal A. E. Fox. Dr. A. D. Mitchell gave a lecture on (( The Renaissance of Analysis.” After reviewing the advances made in analytical work, Dr. Mitchell deplored the lack of interest in chemical analysis shown in this country, and urged the introduction of newer methods into our teaching. He reviewed the various reagents now available for both quantitative and qualitative inorganic analysis, and demonstrated the uses of internal indicators. A discussion followed, and a vote of thanks was accorded the lecturer, on the motion of Dr.P. C. L. Thorne, seconded by Mr. W. A. Churchouse. 177 Notes. Special Brigade Royal Engineers and Gas Services.-Major-General C. H. Foulkes presided at the 16th annual London Reunion Dinner which took place at the Bedford Head Hotel on 2I.d March. Among the 125 present were many members of the Institute. The next Reunion Dinner will be held at Birmingham on the 17th October.All who served with the Brigade whose names are not on the Register should make their addresses known to G. G. Heathcock, “Camelot,” Chawn Hill, Stourbridge. Mr. W. P. Dreaper (27, Willow Road, London, N.W.3) will be glad to supply Fellows and Associates with particulars of the Central Agricultural and Scientific Bibliography now in operation, by permission of the Board of Education, at the Science Museum Library, South Kensington. The Bibliography is intended to supply all who are interested in original work or research in agriculture and allied industries, with special information concerning work which has been previously published on any special subject. The nominal subscription for individuals is 10s. per annum, and the minimum subscription for institutions, firms, etc., is Es 5s.In due course, a special section will be introduced in Industrial Chemistry and Physics. Members wishing to join the Section of Industrial Chemistry and Physics will be able, for the present, to participate in the scheme by joining the section which deals with agriculture and allied industries. Mr. John Reginald Blockey has been appointed Principal of the Leathersellers’ Technical College, London, S.E.1, in succession to Mr. M. C. Lamb, who will retire at the end of the present session. Mr. Alfred Charles Glyn Egerton, F.R.S., FeZZow, Reader in Thermodynamics in the University of Oxford, has been appointed Professor of Chemical Technology at the Imperial College of Science and Technology, as from 1st October next.178 Dr. John Masson Gulland, F.R.S., Reader in Biochemistry in the University of London, has been appointed to the Sir Jesse Boot Chair of Chemistry at University College, Nottingham, in succession to Professor F. Stanley Kipping, F.R.S., who is re tiring. Mr. Harold Edward Monk, Fellow, Public Analyst for the City of Salford, has been appointed Public Analyst for Worcester County and City, in succession to Mr. Cecil Cooke Duncan, FeZZow, on his retirement. Cotton Industry Research.-On 25th March, Lord Derby opened two new blocks of buildings for the British Cotton Industry Research Association, at the Shirley Institute, Didsbury, Manches t er . Lord Rutherford, as Chairman of the Advisory Council of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, stressed the importance of industrial research organisations devoting funds to fundamental work.He said that if he were asked why the Government did not finance the whole of the work of such an Association and Institute, he would answer that the policy of his Department was to say that an industrial research organisation to be successful must be a service rendered by the industry for the industry. Lord Derby said that if Lancashire was to regain and retain its markets, it must not only keep abreast of its competitors, but get ahead of them, by making the fullest use of scientific exploration. He thought that the Cotton Industry Research Association possessed the largest co-operative research organisa- tion of any industry in any country.Its principal functions were to lessen the cost of production, to keep up the constantly increasing quality and standard of Lancashire textile goods, to see that all new scientific discoveries made at the Institute and elsewhere were immediately applied to the processes of the industry, and to help the members of the Association to produce goods attractive in appearance and satisfactory in performance. All departments of the Institute were open to the visitors. 179 Obituary. ALEXANDERCROW died at 144, Doyle Gardens, London, N.W., on 17th January, in his 46th year. Educated at Mountain Ash County School and Abergavenny Grammar School, he studied for four years at University College, London, where he graduated B.Sc.in 1913. In 1914 he was appointed Analyst at the Government Laboratory. After the war, he became engaged as chemist to the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes. He was elected an Associate of the Institute in 1917. THOMASJENKINSMURRAY died on 5th March in his 56th year. Educated at Hillhead High School, Glasgow, he received his professional training at the Royal Technical College, Glasgow, and at Leipzig University, where he graduated Ph.D. magna cum Eaude. In 1903 he was appointed lecturer and demonstrator in Chemistry at the Royal Technical College, Glasgow. Three years later he became lecturer in Chemistry at Birming- ham University and, in 1912, Head of the Chemical Department at the Municipal Technical School, Wolverhampton.In 1924 he secured the principalship of the Municipal Technical School, Smethwick, which position he held until 1931, when he was appointed Principal of the Constantine Technical College, Middlesbrough. He was elected a Fellow of the Institute in 1919. WILLIAMCHARLESYOUNGwas born at Peckham in 1849, and died at Ealing on 11th October, 1935, aged 86 years. He received his early scientific education from G. B. Buckton, F.R.S., and at the College of Chemistry, where he became lecture-assistant to Hoffman, and assisted Bunsen in his lectures delivered at the College. He then worked under Matthiesen at St. Mary’s Hospital on the zinc ethyl synthesis, and was for three years assistant and demonstrator under Odling at St. Bar- tholomew’s Hospital.On Odling’s appointment to the Waynflete Chair at Oxford, Young went to Attfield at the Pharmaceutical Society as his chief assistant; and, later, he went to Heisch at Middlesex Hospital, in the same capacity for three years. In 1871, being attracted to the new field of work which legislation for the public health had opened for pro-fessional chemists, he abandoned academic chemistry and started practice as an analyst and consultant. His first official appointment, as Gas Examiner at Beckton, jointly for the Corporation of London and the Metropolitan Board of Works, was followed by those of Public Analyst for the Poplar, Whitechapel, St. George-in-the-East, West Ham and other municipal areas. He was Consulting Chemist to the River Lee Conservancy (in which capacity he served for more than fifty years), and Official Gas Examiner for West Ham, Leyton, Woolwich, Northfleet, Hastings, Littlehampton, Bognor and several other local authorities.He was also a consultant and adviser in the gas industry and on sewage and water pollution questions. His research work was chiefly directed to improvement in analytical methods, of which records are to be found in the contemporary journals. He was a Fellow of the Chemical Society (1873) and an OriginalMember of the Society of Chemical Industry. He was elected a Fellow of the Institute in 1878. 180 Books and their Contents. The following books have been kindly presented by the authors or publishers and may be seen in the Library of the Institute.“Inorganic Chemistry, Text-Book of.” Edited by J. Newton Friend. Volume XI. Organometallic Compounds. Part I11: Derivatives of Phosphorus, Antimony and Bismuth. Archibald Edwin Goddard. Pp. xxviii + 318. (London: Charles Griffin & Co., Ltd.) 20s. net. General introduction; preface; list of abbreviations; tables of dates of issue of journals;aliphatic phosphorus compounds ;aromatic phosphines and phosphonium compounds ; miscellaneous phosphorus compounds; aliphatic compounds of antimony; aromatic compounds of antimony ; organometallic derivatives of bismuth; appendix. Name and subject index. Patent index. “Reactions of Organic Compounds.” W. J. Hickinbottom. Pp. x + 449. (London: Longmans, Green & Co.) 16s.net. Preface; hydrocarbons: paraffins, cyclohexane, olefins and acetylenes, aromatic hydrocarbons ; hydroxy-compounds, thiol compounds, ethers, and thioethers ;aldehydes and ketones ;carboxylic acids ;derivatives of the carboxylic acids; amines ; nitro- and nitroso-compounds; azo- and diazo-compounds;halogen compounds ;sulphonic acids, sulphinic acids, sulphones, and sulphoxides ;the identification of organic substances. “Soils, Their Origin, Constitution and Classification.” An Introduction to Pedology- G. W. Robinson. Second Edition. Pp. xviii + 442. (London: T. Murby & Co.) 20s. net. Preface; introductory; general view of the constitution of the soil; the pedogenic processes ; the clay complex ; base exchange and other reactions of the colloidal complex ; soil organic matter; general physical properties of soils ;water relationships of soils;soils of the podsolic group ; tshernosems and their related groups ;ground-water soils, including peats ; saline, alkaline, and soloti soils; soils of the humid tropics and sub- tropics ;soils associated with calcareous parent materials ;the classsca- tion of soils; the geography of soils; soil surveys; soil analysis; soils, plant growth and agriculture; index of places; index of subjects.181 “Washing, The Technology of.” J. T. Holden and John N. Vowler. Preface by F. Courtney Harwood. Pp. viii + 184. (London: The British Launderers’ Research Association.) 6s. net. Preface; the a.ims of good washing; white-work washing processes; bleaching; blueing ; starches and starching; washing materials; the uso of acids in the laundry; woollens; silks; processes for coloured goods; processes for special classifhatiom; the removal of stains; water; instru-ments in the wash-house; appendix; index.The General Medical Council has published “ Collected Reports of Committees” of the British Pharmacopoeia Commission on material prepared for an Addendum to the British Pharmacopoeia, 1932. Pp. 26. Obtainable from the General Medical Council, 47, Hallam Street, London, W.I. 2s. 6d. Pharmacology; biological products ; pharmacy and pharmacognosy ; general chemistry; pharmaceutical chemistry; vitamins. The British Standards Institution has lately published the following specifications, which are recommended for general adoption :- No.434-1935 . Asphaltic Bitumen Road Emulsion. 9, 391-1936. Tung Oil for Paints. (Superseding No. 391, 19294 Kohlrausch Flasks. Castor Oil (Firsts’ Quality). Crude Maize Oil. Crude Palm Kernel Oil. Crude Soya Bean Oil. Perilla Oil. Refined Cotton Seed Oil. Sesame Oil. Distillation Apparatus. High Gauge Copper Tubes. (Obtainable from the Publications Department, British Standards Institution, 28, Victoria Street, London, S.W.1, price 2s. each, 2s. zd. by post.) Also No. 598-1936. Sampling an Examination of Bitu- minous Road Mixtures. (3s. net, 3s. 3d. by post.) The London Shellac Research Bureau has published a separate brochure of Abstracts bearing on Shellac Research Literature for the period 1st July to 3xst December, 1935.Pp. iv + 23. Obtainable from the London Shellac Research Bureau, India House, Aldwych, W.C.2. 182 The Cambridge University Press announces that the Collected Scientific Papers of Sir William Bate Hardy,F.R.S.,edited by Professor E. K. Rideal, F.R.S., are to be published shortly, under the auspices of the Colloid Committee of the Faraday Society. The Thermal Syndicate, Ltd., has published a brochure on Vitreosil, pure fused quartz or silica ware,-an illustrated catalogue of apparatus for laboratory use,-obtainable from Vitreosil Works, Wallsend-on-Tyne, and from Thermal House , 12-14, Old Pye Street, Westminster, S.W.1.The International Tin Research and Development Council has recently issued the following reprints from the Journal of the Institute of MetaZs:-“The Constitution of the Tin-Rich Antimony-Tin Alloys,” by D. Hanson, and W. T. Pell-Walpole. “Influence of Surface Cuprous Oxide Inclusions on the Porosity of Hot-Tinned Coatings on Copper,” by W. D. Jones. “The. Hot-Tinning of Copper : the Attack on the Basis Metal and its Effects,” by E. J. Daniels. 183 The Library, 1935-36. Since the issue of the JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS, Part 11, 1935,the Council has had much pleasure in acknowledging the following gifts :-FREEDOMACADEMIC COMMITTEE: Report of the Conference on Academic Freedom. Oxford, August, 1935. Cambridge, 1935.MESSRS. BRITISH DRUG HOUSES, LTD.: The B.D.H. Book of Reagents for “Spot” Tests and delicate Analysis. London, 1935. BRITISH LAUNDERERS’ ASSOCIATIONRESEARCH : The Technology of Washing. J. T. Holden and J. N. Vowler. London, 1935. CAMBRIDGEUNIVERSITY :PRESS The Optical Basis of the Theory of Valency. R. de L. Kronig.Cambridge, 1935. Vitamim. In Theory and Practice. L. J. Harris. Cambridge, 1935. MESSRS. CHAPMAN & Hm, LTD.: The Chemical Control of Conception. J. R. Baker. London, 1935. CHEMICALRUBBERPUBLISHINGCo. : Handbook of Chemistry and Physics. 20th Edition. Editor-in-Chief, C. H. Hodgmm. Ohio, U.S.A., 1935. R. LESLIE COLLETT, EsQ., M.A., F.I.C. : Annual Reports on the Progress of Chemistry for 1934. London, 1935. A.S. CORBET,EsQ., B.Sc., PH.D., F.I.C.: Biological Processes in Tropical Soil, with special reference to Malaysia. A. S. Corbet. Cambridge, 1935. C. E. C. FERREY, EsQ., O.B.E., F.I.C.: Select Methods of Chemical Analysis (Chiefly Inorganic). William Crookes. (1st Edition.) London, 1871. C. D. V. GEORGI, EsQ., O.B.E., B.Sc., F.I.C.: The Oil Palm in Malaya. B. Bunting, C. D. V. Georgi and J. N. Milsum. Kwlla hmpur, 1934. MESSRS. CHARLESGRIFFIN& Co., LTD.: A Text Book of Inorganic Chemistry. J. N. Friend. Vol. XI. Organometallic Compounds. London, 1936. A Text Book of Physical Chemistry. Vol. 11. J. N. Friend. London, 1935. INSTITUTION TECHNOLOGISTSOF PETROLEUM : Petroleum. Twenty-five Years’ Retrospect. 1910-1935. London, 1935.IT” STATE TOURIST DEPARTMENT : Le Visage de L’Italie. Rome, 1935, 184 JAMESKEWLEY,EsQ., M.A., F.I.C.: The Story of Bitumen. 1935. LIBRAIRIEARMANDCOLIN: Les MatiBres Colorantes Artificielles. G. Martin. Paris, 1935. THE LIMMER LAEE ASPHALT & TRINIDAD Co., LTD.: Trinidad Lake Asphalt. A. W. Attwooll and D. C. Broome. London, 1935. MESSRS. LONGMANSGREEN& Co., LTD.: A Comprehensive Treatise on Inorganic and Theoretical Chemistry. J. W. Mellor. Vol. XIV. London, 1935. A School Chemistry. Revision notes and questions. F. W. Goddard and S. R. Humby. London, 1935. Optical Rotatory Power. T. M. Lowry. London, 1935. Origins and Development of Applied Chemistry. J. R. Partington.London, 1935. Problems in Soil Microbiology. D.W. Cutler and L. M. Crump.London, 1935. Qualitative Chemical Analysis. F. Mollwo Perkin. 5th Edition, revised by J. Grant. London, 1935. Reactions of Organic Compounds. W. J. Hickinbottom. London, 1936. Thorpe’s Dictionary of Applied Chemistry. Vol. 11. J. F. Thorpe and M. A. Whiteley. London, 1935. Thorpe’s Dictionary of Applied Chemistry Supplement. J. F. Thorpeand M. A. Whiteley. London, 1936. A. LUCAS, EsQ., O.B.E., F.I.C.: Forensic Chemistry and ScjentSc Criminal Investigation. A. Lucas. London, 1935. TEE MERSEY & IRWELL COMMITTEE:JOINT Proceedings of the Joint Committee, 1934-35. Preston, 1935. MESSRS. METHUEN & Co., LTD.: The Chemistry of Rubber. H. Freundlich. London, 1935. Flame. 0. C. de C.Ellis and W. A. Kirkby. London, 1936. MESSRS. THOMASMURBY& Co.: Soils. Their Origin, Constitution and Classification. An Introduction to Pedology. 2nd Edition. G. W. Robinson. London, 1936. OFFICE INTERNATIONALDE CHIMIE : RQpertoire International des Centres de Documentation Chimique. Paris, 1935. THE PHARMACEUTICAL:PRESS The Extra Pharmacopoeia. Martindale and Westcott. Vol. 11. 20th Edition. London, 1935. EsQ., D.Sc., F.I.C., AND F. C. LAXTON,E. B. R. PRIDEAUX, EsQ., B.Sc.,A.I.C. : A Laboratory Course in Elementary Chemistry. E. B. R. Prideaux and F. C. Laxton. London, 1935. RESEARCH OF :ASSOCIATION BRITISH RUBBER MANUFACTURERS Rubber. Physical and Chemical Properties. T. R. Dawson and B. D. Porritt. Croydon, 1935.185 THE RIBBLE JOINTCOMMITTEE: Proceedings of the Joint Committee, 1934-35. Preston, 1935. SAFETYIN MINES RESEARCHBOARD: Publications of the Safety in Mines Research Board. Vol. IX, 1934. London, 1995. SIXTHINTERNATIONALFOR SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT CONGRESS : Proceedings and Papers. London, 1935. H. M. SPIERS, EsQ., M.A., F.I.C.: Technical Data on Fuel. 4th Edition. H. M. Spiers. London, 1935. A. W. STEWART,EsQ., D.Sc., A.I.C.: A Manual of Practical Chemistry for Public Health Students. 3rd Edition. A. W. Stewart. London, 1935. F. NAPIER SUTTON, EsQ., F.I.C. : A Systematic Handbook of Volumetric Analysis. F. N. Sutton. 12th Edition. Revised throughout by A. D. Mitchell. London, 1935. THE TECHNICAL LTD.:PRESS, Applied Chemistry.C. K. Tinkler and H. Masters. London, 1935. Industrial and Manufacturing Chemistry. Part 11. Inorganic.G. Martin. London, 1935. J. H. TOTTON, EsQ., B.A., B.Sc., F.I.C., AND JOHN EsQ.,HAWTHORNE, B.A., PE.D., F.I.C.: Lectures on Chemistry. J. Black. Published from his Manuscripts by J. Robison. Edinburgh, 1803. THE WELLCOME LTD.:FOUNDATION, Spanish Influence on the Progress of Medical Science. London, 1935. MESSRS. WIGHTMAN & Co., LTD.: The Natural Logarithm. Sir C. V. Boys. London, 1935. HENRYYomu, EsQ.: A Record of the Scientific Work of John Tyndall. London, 1935. Books Purchased. Alcoholometric Tables. Sir E. Thorpe. London, 1915. Dictionary of Organic Compounds. Vol. I. I. M. Heilbron, Editor-in- Chief.London, 1934. The Mineral Industry during 1934. Edited by G. A. Roush. London, 1935. A Text Book of Inorganic Chemistry. Edited by J. N. Friend. Vol. XI. Organometallic Compounds. A. E. Goddard. London, 1936. The Examination of Waters and Water Supplies. J. C. Thresh, J. F. Beale and E. V. Suckling. 4th Edition, revised and enlarged. London, 1933. 186 The Register. At the meeting of Council held on zist February, 1936, 3 Associates were elected to the Fellowship, 24 Associates were elected, and 42 Students were admitted. The Council regrets to report the deaths of two Fellows, one Associate and one Registered Student. Associates elected to the Fellowship. Hatch, Frank Akerman, 66, Chase Road, Enfield West, London, N.14. Johnson, Rowland Nicholas, M.Sc.(Lond.), 45, Sandhurst Avenue, Withington, Manchester. Shadbolt, Frederick Stanley, 398, Blackburn Road, Darwen. New Associates. Addison, Cyril Clifford, B.Sc. (Dun.), Department of Science, The Uni- versity, Durham. Averill, Frederick John, B.Sc. (Birm.), 87, Gillot Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham. Bell, Alan Brewis, B.Sc. (Manc.), Ash Cottage, Singleton Road, Kersal, Manchester. Bishop, Edward, B.Sc. (Mmc.), 34, Audley Road, Colchester. Brine, John Alfred, B.Sc. (Lond.), Westminster College, 130, HorseferryRoad, London, S.W. 1. Brown, Frederick Charles, B.Sc. (Lond.), 19, Albert Terrace, Middles- brough.Butler, John Manton, M.Sc. (N.Z.), Shell Co. (N.Z.), Ltd., Hutt Road, Wellington, N.3, N.Z. Francis, Gordon Edward Charles, B.Sc.(Lond.), 101, Craigton Road, London, S.E.9. Gess, Alan James, B.Sc. (Lond.), Newstead School, Doune, Perthshire. Gregory, Raeburn Arthur, B.Sc. (Lond.), Cors-y-Gedol, Forest Drive, Keston, Kent. Harrison, Ernest, B.Sc. (Lond.), 35, Kings Road, Old Trafford, Manchester. Hewson, Walter Norman, B.Sc. (Lond.), A.R.C.S., 114, Station Road, London, S.W.13. King, Henry Irvin, B.Sc., Ph.D. (Liv.), 210, Birchfield Road, Widnes. Knewstubb, Norman Watson, B.A. (Cantab.), B.Sc. (Lond.), 49, Studland Road, Hall Green, Birmingham. Lovell, Bevis George Henry, B.Sc. (Liv.), 19, Wellesley Street, Shelton, Stoke-on-Trent. Maskell, Laurence Ormes, B.Sc. (Lond.), 40, Maury Road, London, N.16. Primrose, Thomas, B.Sc. (Glas.), A.R.T.C., Springbank Cottage, Plains by Airdrie, Lanarkshire.Richardson, Henry Martin, B.Sc. (Liv.), 19, Wellesley Street, Shelton, Stoke-on-Trent. 187 Robertson, Miss Kathleen Winifred, B.Sc. (Lond.), 60, Grosvenor Park Road, London, E.17. Rolfe, Horace George, B.Sc. (Lond.), Ph.C., 70, Kingsley Road, Northamp ton. Samuel, Miss Dora Louise, B.Sc. (Lond.), 16, Preston Avenue, London, E.4. Stuart, John Kenneth, B.Sc. (Sheff.), 2, Havelock Square, Sheffield, 10. Waldmeyer, Trevor, B.Sc. (Lond.), Broad Oak Farm, Didsbury, Man- Chester. Wilson, Wilfrid John, B.Sc. (Lond.), 41, Upland Road, Selly Hill, Birmingham. New Students. Allchin, John Pratt, 57, Alexander Road, Acocks Green, Birmingham. Baxter, Albert William, 84, Ravenscroft Road, Beckenham.Bernstein, Miss Rachel, 124, Stoke Newington Road, London, N.16. Clark, William Richard Ernest, 66, Selwyn Crescent, Welling, Kent. Coome, David Ernest, 11, Victoria Road, London, N.22. Coppins, Walter Charles, 140, Maidstone Road, Chatham. Elston, Eric Stanley James, 52, Kilmartin Avenue, London, S.W.16. Fyfe, Robert, 4, Alexandra Terrace, Kilbirnie, Ayrshire. Gardner, Alan Thomas, 178, Norbury Crescent, London, S.W.16. Gordon, James Joseph, 54, Oakfield Road, Newport, Mon. Hoggard, Herbert Rollin, 190, Wedmore Road, Bromley, Kent. Jackson, Harry Edward, Redclyffe House, Enderby, nr. Leicester. Jordan, Henry Lawrence, 25, Station Street West, Coventry. Kassimoff, Abdul Hosein, 24, Elmcroft Avenue, London, N.W. 11. Lockyer, Ivo Joseph, South Stoneham House, Swaythling, Southampton.Lafferty, Miss Gertrude Geraldine, B.Sc. (T.C.D.), Stranraer House, Clifton Gardens, London, W.9. Love, John, 5, Henderson Street, Paisley. Mather, Robert, Pleasant View, Holcombe, nr. Bury, Lancs. May, Alan Barrett, Exeter College, Oxford. Mitchell, Dennis, 59, Ufton Road, Sittingbourne. Oke, Eric Percy Cooper, 50, Danecroft Road, London, S.E.24. Page, James Ernest, 32, Morden Road, Newport, Mon. Parker, William George Sharland, 74, The Drive, Loughton, Essex. Peevers, Robert Walter, 22, Porchester Place, London, W.2. Pratt, Robert Patrick John, 77, Coniston Road, Croydon, Surrey. Price, Stanley Albert, 24, Gloucester Road, N. Harrow, Middx. Ray, Allan Arthur, 12, Ashfmld Road, London, W.3.Redshaw, Cyril, 281, Melbourne Road, Ibstock, Leicester. Reid, William Walter, 38, Broughton Road, London, W.13. Risbey, John Samuel, 90, Mayfield Road, Edinburgh. Stagg, Harold Edgar, 58, Park Avenue, Sittingbourne. Stammers, Douglas William, 11, Station Road, Southminster, Essex. Still, William John, 180, Clifton Street, Swindon. Taylor, Eric Dansey, 30, Daisy Lea Lane, Huddersfield. Taylor, John Martin, 136, Newtown Road, Newbury, Berks. Walker, George Henry Francis, 51, Boaler Street, Liverpool, 6. Wallace, Richard Aubrey, 130, Horseferry Road, London, S.W. 1. West, Joseph Sidney, 16, Hotel Street, Coalville, Leicester. Wilkinson, Norman Thomas, 47, Moss Road South, Winnington, North- wich. Wilkinson, Walter William, 50, Lammack Road, Blackburn.Wilson, Maurice James, Main Road, Biggin Hill, Kent. Woodall, George Henry, 18, Springfield Drive, Blackheath, Birmingham. Wynne, Reginald George, Morianfa, Southfield, Hessle, E. Yorks. 188 DEATHS. Fellows. Thomas Jenkins Murray, M.Sc. (Birm.)?Ph.D. (Leipzig).Thomas Stenhouss. Associate. Alexander Crow, B.Sc. (Lond.). Student. George Henry Rowland. The Register of the Institute, 1936.-A new edition of the Register of Fellows, Associates and Students of the Institute is now in preparation. Fellows and Associates are earnestly requested to return the Register cards sent to them as promptly as possible. Erratum.-The name of Mr. John Baker Cannington Kershaw has been restored to the Register of Fellows. The Institute was misinformed that Mr.Kershaw had died in October last, and a report to that effect was published in the Journal and Proceedings, Part VI, 1935. His name was mentioned also in the Report of Council as one of the Fellows who had died during the year. The Registrar sincerely regrets the mistake and has tendered his apologies to Mr. Kershaw. 189 Coming Events. April 16 CHEMICAL SOCIETY. Annual General Meeting and Dinner, at the University of Bristol. INSTITUTEOF CHEMISTRY (Liverpool and North-Western Section) : Annual General Meeting. “The Determination of Alcohol-A General Survey.” Mr. A. T. PARSONS atand Mr. H. L. BOLTON, Constitutional Club, Liverpool, at 7.30 p.m. 17 OIL AND COLOUR CHEMISTS’ ASSOCIATION (Manchester Section) : Annual Meeting and Smoker, at the Manchester, Ltd., at 7 p.m.OF THE (Manchester Section) :Annual20 INSTITUTIONRUBBERINDUSTRY Meeting and Smoking Concert, at Engineers’ Club, 17, Albert Square, Manchester, at 7 p.m. 21 MANCHESTERLITERARY SOCIETYAND PHILOSOPHICAL :Annual General Meeting, at 36, George Square, at 5.30 p.m. 22 INSTITUTEOF CHEMISTRY(AFydeen and North of Scotland Section): Annual General Meeting. Spectrographic Analysis by the Lunde- g&rdh Method.’’ Dr. R. L. MITCHELL,at the Chemistry Department, Marischal College, at 5.15 p.m. INSTITUTEOF CHEMISTRY(Belfast Section) :Visit to works of Gallagher, Ltd. OFINSTITUTECHEMISTRY (London and South-Eastern Counties Section): Visit to Home Office Industrial Museum.INSTITUTEFUEL(North-Western Section) : “Lubricating Oils.” OF Mr. J. E. SOUTHCOMBE,at 7 p.m. SOCIETY :Annual General Meeting at Sheffield, OF GLASSTECHNOLOGY at 2 p.m. 23 SOCIETY (Birmingham and Midland Section) :OF CHEMICAL INDUSTRY “Impact Tests on Laminated Safety Glass.” Mr. J. WILSON, in University Building, Edmund Street, Birmingham, at 7.30 p.m. OIL AND COLOVRCHEMISTS’ ASSOCIATION: “Fundamental Aspects atof Thixotropy.” Mr. J. PRYCE-JONES, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London, W.C.1, at 7.30 p.m. May 2 INSTITUTEOF CHEMISTRY (South Yorkshire Section) : Visit to Ketton Cement Works, at 2.30 p.m. OF4 INSTITUTECHEMISTRY (Belfast and District Section): Annual General Meeting. AND PHILOSOPHICAL5 MANCHESTERLITERARY SOCIETY: Meeting, at 36, George Street, at 7 p.m.OF PUBLIC6 SOCIETY ANALYSTS:Meeting, at the Rooms of the Chemical Society, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, W.l, at 8 p.m. OF6 INSTITUTECHEMISTRY (London and South-Eastern Counties Section): Visit to J. Dickinson & Co., Paper Works. 6-13 SOCIETY (Food Group): Projected TourOF CHEMICALINDUSTRY in Holland. 190 May 7-8 IRONAND STEEL INSTITUTE: Annual Meeting, at the Institution of Civil Engineers, Great George Street, Westminster, S.W.1, at 10 a.m. each day. PAINT, VARNISHAND LACQUER7 BIRMINGHAM CLUB: Lecture by Dr. WILHELMKRUMBHAAR,at the Grand Hotel, Birmingham, at 6.30 p.m.CHEMICALSOCIETY: Ordinary Scientsc Meeting, at BurlingtonHouse, Piccadilly, London, W.l, at 8 p.m. 8 INSTITUTEOF CHEMISTRY (Newcastle upon Tyne and North-East Coast Section) AND THE BEDSON CLUB: 34th Bedson Lecture: Professor C. H. DESCH, F.R.S. 9 BIOCHEMICALSOCIETY:Meeting, at the Rockefeller Department of Biochemistry, Museum, Oxford. 13 SOCIETYOF CHEMICAL INDUSTRY(Food Group): Annual General Meeting, followed by a lecture on “Recent Developments in Enzyme Chemistry.” Professor E. WALDSCHMIDT-LEITZ, of Prague, at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London, W.C. 1. 14 OILAND COLOTJR Annual General Meeting. CHEMISTS’ ASSOCIATION: “Casein.” Mr. C. E. ROWE, at the Institute of Chemistry, 30, Russell Square, London, W.C.1, at 7.30 p.m.CHEMICALSOCIETY: ‘‘Modern Chemical Nomenclature.” Dr. CLARENCE at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, SMITH, Storey’s Gate, St. James Park, Westminster, London, W.C.l, at 8 p.m. 16 OILAND COLOTJR CHEMISTS’ASSOCIATION:“The Use of Bitumen for the Stabilising of Powders, particularly as regards Soils.” Brigadier C. H. HASWELL,at the Institute of Chemistry, 30, Russell Square, London, W.C.l, at 7.30 p.m. 21 OILAND COLOURCHEMISTS’ ASSOCIATION:Visit to the Paint Research Station. Paper by Dr. R. F. HANSTOCKon “Hiding Powers of Paints and Pigments.” :CHEMICALSOCIETY Ordinary Scientific Meeting, at BurlingtonHouse, Piccadilly, London, W.l, at 8 p.m. 28 CHEMICAL SOCIETY: Fifth Pedler Lecture: “Synthesis in Bio-chemistry.” Professor R.ROBINSON, F.R.S., at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Storey’s Gate, St. James’ Park, Westminster, S.W.1. June 12 and 13 BIOCHEMICALSOCIETY: Meeting at the Rowett Research Institute, Bucksburn, Aberdeenshire. 22-27 CHEMICAL ENGINEERINGCONGRESS OF THE WORLD POWER CONFERENCE,at the Central Hall, Westminster, London, S.W. 1. 27 INSTITUTEOF CHEMISTRY (Manchester and District Section) : Annual Summer Meeting. JdY INTERNATIONAL2-1 1 SECOND CONGRESSON GLASS. At the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Storey’s Gate, Westminster, S.W. 1, and at the University of Sheffield. 191 General Notices. dlChemical Nomenclature. ’‘-Fellows and Associates of the Institute are kindly invited, by the Council of the Chemical Society, to attend a meeting to be held on Thursday, 14th May, at 8 p.m., at the Institution of Mechanical, Engineers, Storey’s Gate, Westminster, when Dr.Clarence Smith will give a lecture on “Modem Chemical Nomenclature.’’ Examinations.-Examinations for the Associateship will be held in London and Glasgow from 14th to 19th September. The list of entries will be closed on Monday, 6th July. (Notebooks can be received up to 7th September.) Examinations for the Fellowship will be held in London from 21st to 26th September. The list of entries will be closed on Monday, 6th July, except for candidates in Branch G, Industrial Chemistry, or for those desiring special examinations, whose applications should be received before 1st June.The Meldola Medal (the gift of the Society of Maccabzeans) is normally awarded annually to the chemist whose published chemical work shows the most promise and is brought to the notice of the administrators during the year ending 31st Decem- ber prior to the award. The recipient must be a British subject not more than 30 years of age at the time of the completion of the work. The Medal may not be awarded more than once to the same person. The next award will be decided in January, 1937. The Council will be glad to have attention directed, before 31st December, 1936, to work of the character indicated. 192 Beilby Memorial Awards.-From the interest derived from the invested capital of the Sir George Beilby Memorial Fund, at intervals to be determined by the administrators representing the Institute of Chemistry, the Society of Chemical Industry, and the Institute of Metals, awards are made to British investigators in science to mark appreciation of records of distinguished original work, preference being given to in- vestigations relating to the special interests of Sir George Beilby, including problems connected with fuel economy, chemical engineering and metallurgy.Awards are made, not on the result of any competition, but in recognition of continuous work of exceptional merit, bearing evidence of distinct advancement in knowledge and practice. The administrators of the Fund are the Presidents, the Honorary Treasurers, and the Secretaries of the three partici- pating Institutions, who will be glad to have their attention directed to outstanding work of the nature indicated.Corres-pondence on this subject should be addressed to the Convener, Sir George Beilby Memorial Fund, Institute of Chemistry, 30, Russell Square, London, W.C.I. The administrators will meet towards the close of the year. Notice to Associates.-The Council desires to encourage all Associates to qualify for the Fellowship. Copies of the regulations and forms of application can be obtained from the Registrar . Appointments Register.-A Register of Fellows and Associates who are available for appointments, or are desirous of extending their opportunities, is kept at the offices of the Institute. For full information, inquiries should be addressed to the Registrar. Fellows and Associates are invited to notify the Institute of suitable vacancies for qualified chemists.Students who have been registered as Students of the Institute for not less than six months and are in the last term of their training for the Associateship, may receive the Appointments Register of the Institute, provided that their applications for this privilege be endorsed by their professors. 193 Lists of vacancies are forwarded twice weekly to those whose names are on the Appointments Register. Fellows and Associates who are already in employment, but seeking to improve their positions, are required to pay 10s. for a period of six months.Members and Students who are without employ- ment, are required to pay 6s. 6d. for the first period of six months, and, if not successful in obtaining an appointment, will thereafter be supplied with the lists gratis for a further period if necessary. The Institute also maintains a List of Laboratory Assistants who have passed approved Preliminary Examinations and in some cases, Intermediate Science Examinations. Fellows and Associates who have vacancies for Registered Students or Laboratory Assistants are invited to communicate with the Registrar. The Library.-The Library of the Institute is open for the use of Fellows, Associates, and Registered Students between the hours of 10a.m. and 6 p.m. on week-days (Saturdays, 10a.m.and I p.m.), except when examinations are being held. The Library is primarily intended for the use of candidates during the Institute’s practical examinations. The comprehensive Library of the Chemical Society is available, by the courtesy of the Council of the Society, for the use of Fellows and Associates of the Institute wishing to consult or borrow books, from 10a.m. to g p.m. on week-days (Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.), except during August and the early part of September, when the hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Registered Students of the Institute are also permitted, at present, to use the Library of the Chemical Society for reference purposes, but not to borrow books. Members and Students of the Institute using the Library of the Society are required to conform to the rules of the Society regarding the use of its books.The Institute has entered into an arrangement with The Science Library, Science Museum, South Kensington, S.W.7, whereby books may be borrowed on production of requisitions signed by the Registrar or the Assistant Secretary of the Institute. In addition to its comprehensive sets of literature on cognate subjects, which are not available in specialised libraries, this Library contains an exceptionally extensive collection of works on chemistry. Nine thousand scientific and technical periodicals 194 are received regularly in the Library. All publications added to the Library are recorded in its Weekly Bibliography of Pure and Applied Science, which has a wide circulation among research workers and institutions.Boots ' Booklovers Library.-Under the arrangements made on behalf of Fellows and Associates of the Institute, current subscriptions expired on 1st March. All who wish to continue the use of the Library, or to subscribe de novo, should obtain application forms from the Registrar of the Institute. Members who do not immediately renew their subscriptions to the Library should return to the most convenient branch Library any volume of the Library which they may have in their possession and also their membership tokens. Lewis 's Lending Library.-Any Fellow or Associate who is not already acquainted with this Library of Scientific and Technical books may obtain a copy of the Prospectus from the Registrar of the Institute.A copy of the Catalogue of the Library (revised to December, 1927,with Supplements 1928-30 and 1931-33) is available in the Library of the Institute. A Bi-monthly list of Additions is also issued. Covers for Journal.-Members who desire covers (IS. zd. each) for binding the Journal in annual volumes, are requested to notify the Registrar of their requirements, indicating the years for which the covers are required. Arrangements may be made with Messrs. A. W. Bain & Co., Ltd., 17-19, Bishop's Road, Cambridge Heath, London, E.2, to bind volumes of the JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGSon the following terms: buckram cover, IS. 2d.; binding, 2s. gd.; postage and packing, gd.; in all, 4s. 8d. Lantern Slides for Lecturers.-A collection of slides is kept at the Institute for the use of members who are giving lectures.Enquiries should be addressed to the Registrar. As the slides are frequently in demand, members are requested to notify their requirements at least 14 days before the date on which the slides are to be used. 195 Changes of Address.-In view of the expense involved through frequent alterations of addressograph plates, etc., Fellows, Associates, and Registered Students who wish to notify changes of address are requested to give, so far as possible, their permanent addresses for registration. A new edition of the Register of Fellows, Associates and Registered Students will be published this year. Its accuracy can only be maintained by the prompt notification of changes which may become necessary.‘*TheProfession of Chemistry’ ’ (Third Edition, 1g35), will be supplied gratis to any Fellow, Associate or Registered Student, on application to the Registrar. LOCAL SECTIONS OF THE INSTITUTE Sectim. Hon. Secretaries. Aberdeen andNorth of R. Craven, B.Sc., A.R.C.S., F.I.C., 2, Scotland: Richmondhill Gardens, Aberdeen. Birmingham and Midlands: Garfield Thomas, M.Sc., A.I.C., 38, Kelmscott Road, Harborne, Birmingham. Bristol and South-Western F. P. Hornby, F.I.C., 4, Queen Square,Counties: Bristol, 1. Cape of Good Hope: Dr. William Pugh, B.Sc., F.I.C., The University, Cape Town. East Midlands : C. W. North, B.Sc., A.I.C., Bourne End, Cherry Tree Hill, Chaddesden, Derby. Edinburgh and East of G. Elliot Dodds, A.H.W.C., A.I.C., 30, Castle Scotland: Avenue, Corstorphine, Edinburgh, 12.Glasgow and West of A. R. Jamieson, B.Sc., F.I.C., 20, Trongate,Scotland: Glasgow, C.l. Huddersfield: Dr. E. H. Goodyear, A.I.C., Holme Royd, Kennedy Avenue, Fixby, Huddersfield. India : G. Watson Douglas, B.Sc., A.I.C., The State Laboratory, Bhopal, Central India. Ireland (Belfast) : C. S. McDowell, B.Sc., A.I.C., 19, Harberton Avenue, Belfast. ,, (Dublin): Dr. A. G. G. Leonard, F.I.C., 18, BelgraveRoad, Dublin. Lee& Area: Dr. H. Burton, M.Sc., F.I.C., The University, Leeds. Liverpool and North- Glynne W. Beaumont, F.I.C., The Harbour- western : master’s Old House, Liverpool. London and South-Eastern R. F. Innes, F.I.C., British Leather Manu- Counties: facturers’ Research Association, 20, St.Thomas Street, London, S.E.I. Malaya : J. F. Clark, MAC., A.R.C.S., F.I.C., Analyst’sDepartment, Municipality, Singapore,Straits Settlements. Manchester and District: Dr. Albert Coulthard, F.I.C., 136, Barlow Moor Road, West Didsbury, Manchester. Newcastle upon Tyne and Dr. W. E. Scott, M.Sc., A.I.C., Rossie House, North-East Coast : Canning Street, Hebburn -on -T yne.New Zealand: Philip White, B.Sc., A.R.C.S., F.I.C.,Dominion Laboratory, Wellington, C.l, New Zealand. South Wales- Cardiff: Dr. W. Cule Davies, A.I.C., University College, Cardiff. Swansea: R. H. Jones, F.I.C., Glen View, Cw BrynAvenue, Sketty Green, Swansea. South Yorkshire : Wm. Wall, B.Sc., A.I.C., Bramcote, Harstoft Avenue, Worksop, Notts. ADVERTISEMENTS.JOURNAL PROCEEDINGS.-The terms for advertisements in theAND Journal and Proceedings of the Institute can be obtained on application to the Registrar. Advertisements are subject to the approval of the Publications Committee. No Commission is allowed to Agents. The circulation is over 7600-chiefly to analytical, consulting and technological chemists, professors and teachers of chemistry, and to University and Institution Libraries. The advertisement pages are offered especially to manufacturers of laboratory glassware, porcelain and silica ware, of filter paper, chemical and physical apparatus, balances, microscopes, and laboratory require- ments generally; also to publishers of scientific books and to booksellers.