DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE NEWTON'S CORPUSCULAR THEORY OF LIGHT TO THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: For more than half a century various text-books on physics and other publications dealing with the phenomena of light, contain assertions to the effect that Newton's corpuscular theory of light received a knock-out blow when it was demontrated that light required a longer time to pass through water than through air. Quoting, for example, from the last (11th) edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica, Vol. XVI., page 618, we read: In the earlier part of the 19th century, the corpuscular theory broke down under the weight of experimental evidence, and it received the final blow when J. B. L. Foucault proved by direct experiment that the velocity of light in water is not greater than that in air, as it should be according to formula (1), but less than it, as is required by the wave theory. The object of this note is to show that the observed data are just as favorable for Newton's theory as they are for the wave theory of light. Compared with Newton's corpuscle, the hydrogen unit of chemistry must evidently be regarded as a very large mass. In passing between the molecular masses (H2O) of which the water is composed, the path of the corpuscle would be much longer than the path in air between the widely separated N2, O2, H2O and other masses. Consequently, if the ratio of the actual length of the path in water to the actual length of the path in air is greater than the ratio of the velocity in water to the velocity in air, the time required for the corpuscle to pass through the water with the greater velocity, will be longer than that required to pass through the air. ANN ARBOR, May 31, 1921 J. M. SCHAEBERLE GERMAN SURTAXES ON SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS TO THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: I read with interest the letter of M. W. Senstius in SCIENCE for April 8, 1921, in which he stated that a publisher in Leipzig had informed him that he had "abolished all foreign surtaxes on journals published by his firm," and that the publisher stated further that it was a "matter of regret to him that he is not (yet?) at liberty, owing to the binding regulations of the Börsenverein, to do the same with his own books." I at once wrote to the publisher, Wilhelm Englemann, stating that I had read Mr. Senstius's letter in SCIENCE, and inquired whether the journal-Botanische Jahrbücher—was inIcluded in his list of exempt publications, and what the subscription rate of the periodical would be to us. I give below a close English translation of Mr. Engelmann's reply under date of May 2, 1921: In answer to your very valued letter of April 12, 1921, may I reply that Mr. Senstius in his article in SCIENCE of April 8 emphasizes that all the journals which appeared from my press after January 1, 1921, would be supplied without the exchange tax (Valuta Aufschlag) ! On all journals and sets (Sammelwerke) appearing before the end of 1920 there is a publisher's additional charge (surtax, Verlegerteuerungszuschlag) of 200 per cent. plus, at the time only, 100 per cent. exchange tax exempt! In accordance with the enclosed circular this publisher's surtax was increased from May 1, 1921, to 300 per cent. of which you will please take note! With reference to Series I., Botan. Jahrbücher, this 300 per cent. is charged, plus the Valuta additional! On the back of Engelmann's letter were two notices rubber-stamped, the first stating that his firm would supply all periodicals issued after January 1, 1921, without the Valuta charged, but the second rubber-stamped notice stated that on account of the unusually stringent conditions, there would be added a 300 per cent. publishers' excess charge on all of his publications which appeared previous to the close of 1920, as stated in the letter just quoted. The enclosed circular, to which his OUR Paris correspondent has told of the celebration, beginning Dec. 20, 1920, of the most important anniversary connected with French medicine-the centenary of the Academy of Medicine, which has the same preeminence in medicine that the general French Academy bears in relation to the more liberal arts. Its roster bears only the names of those who have by years of achievement won recognition in the profession, and there are few below middle life who have been accorded the honor of election. Trousseau, who received the academy prize in 1837 for his classical treatise on laryngeal phthisis, was considered unusually fortunate in that he gained admission in his thirty-sixth year. The academy was founded in 1820 by royal edict of Louis XVIII., although its name appeared as early as 1804 as an entirely ephemeral institution, the chief interest attaching to it being that Dr. Guillotin was one of its presidents. The French Revolution, with its ruthless submergence of all that pertained to the old order of things, dissolved all medical associations, and among these the Academy of Surgery and the Royal Society of Medicine, which after nearly a century of existence disappeared, to come to life again in the founding of the present Academy of Medicine. The initial concept of the academy was the formation of a body which, by its scientific labors and achievements, should be an asset to the state in matters of public health. The decree which constituted it lays down certain functions which it was to carry on. Among them were improvements in the method of vaccination against smallpox, the measures for the control of epidemic diseases, regulations as to and concerning legal jurisprudence, and the examina tion of and passing on new remedies, together with the limitation of the sale of nostrums, both those of French and those of foreign origin. While the present academy still holds the latter function, its work, to a large degree, is hampered by the administration of French law, as was pointed out in a former editorial. The Bulletin of the Academy for Dec. 2022, 1920, is devoted to a review of the history and labors of the society since its foundation. It records a century's achievement by men whose names are known the world over: Pinel, Laënnec and Broussais in the early days; Trousseau in the thirties; Villemin and Pasteur, and on down through the list of those who have added to the sum of certain knowledge which has lifted medicine from scientific guesswork to the dignity of a precise science.Journal of the American Medical Association. SPECIAL ARTICLES RESISTANCE TO STEM RUST IN KANRED WHEAT A CYTOLOGICAL study of Puccinia graminis tritici on Kanred wheat, conducted by the Office of Cereal Investigations in cooperation with the California Agricultural Experiment Station, has yielded several facts of interest. The strain of stem rust under observation and herein reported was obtained from the Berkeley breeding plats. Seedlings of susceptible varieties of wheat grown in the greenhouse produced abundant pustules but, in repeated trials with Kanred, the fungus failed even to produce flecks. It was found that the urediniospores germinate readily on Kanred leaves and that the germ tubes make their way directly to the stomata. On reaching a stoma, the tip of the germ tube swells to form an appressorium and practically all of the protoplasm flows into it, leaving the germ tube empty. Under favorable conditions for germination these appressoria develop promptly and in great numbers. Often one may observe two, three, and even four spores, with their appressoria, crowded together at a single stoma. In spite of this, relatively few appressoria enter the stomatal slit in Kanred to form my Under the conditions of this experiment, only about ten per cent. of the young rust fungi enter. The other ninety per cent. remain outside the stomata until they dry and fall off. By the twelfth day, under greenhouse conditions, practically all the appressoria are withered and collapsed. Tangential sections of Kanred and Mindum leaves were examined. In these the stomatal slit was measured in length, in width at center and at its widest point, which is near the end, and averages taken. The same was done with Mindum, a durum variety somewhat resistant to this strain of rust. The stomatal aperture in Kanred is extremely long and narrow, while that of Mindum, a less resistant variety, is short, and very variable in width, the average width being about twice that of Kanred. In Mindum, the rust sporeling enters freely, while in Kanred nine tenths of them are excluded. It is possible that the naturally small stomatal opening of Kanred is still further narrowed by the action of the guard cells when an appressorium comes in contact with the stoma. A more comprehensive and fully illustrated account, including similar observations on other varieties of wheat, and reporting resistance phenomena which follow actual infection, is now in preparation. RUTH F. ALLEN THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY ROCHESTER MEETING DIVISION OF PHYSICAL AND INORGANIC CHEMISTRY H. N. Holmes, chairman S. E. Sheppard, secretary Symposium on Contact Catalysis Esteri Platinum black and carbon monoxide. fication by silica gel: C. H. MILLIGAN and E. EMMET REID. A mixture of equivalent amounts of acetic acid and ethyl alcohol has been passed over silica gel at 150°, 250°, 350° C. It has been found that silica gel is a very active catalyst, more than twice as active as titania, the best catalyst previously known for this reaction. When the mixture is passed rather slowly at 150° the percentage of esterification is 75 to 80, which is much beyond 67 per cent., the accepted limit for this reaction. Adsorption by oxide catalysts and the mechanism of oxidation processes: A. F. BENTON. Dissociation of some mixed oxides: J. C. FRAZER. The adsorption of gases by metallic catalysts: H. S. TAYLOR and R. M. BURNS. The adsorptions of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and ethylene by finely divided nickel, cobalt, iron, copper, palladium and platinum has been found to be of a specific character quite different in nature from adsorption by porous inert adsorbents of the charcoal type. The extent of adsorption was shown to be a function of the mode of preparation and to be especially less pronounced the higher the temperature at which the metal was prepared. The analogy of this fact with the corresponding facts of catalytic behavior has been noted. Adsorption isotherms at 25° C. of hydrogen with nickel, and of carbon monoxide with copper have shown that adsorption increases rapidly with increasing partial pressures below 300 mm. and becomes practically independent of pressure above this pres sure. The action of nickel on diethyl ether: A study in contact catalysis. Preliminary report: FRANCIS L. SIMONS. A report is given of preliminary work in the study of the catalytic decomposition of ether by nickel. The study was undertaken in the hope of throwing light on the mechanism of the action of nickel on alcohol and the simpler esters. The apparatus used is described in detail and the general procedure given. From the results so far, it appears that ether is decomposed into H, CH and CH,CHO, as Bancroft suggests. The compo sition of the gas evolved during the reaction is satisfactorily explained on this basis. The work is being continued. R. p. m. as catalyst: C. H. MILLIGAN and E. EMMET REID. It has long been known that ethylene can be used in place of ethyl chloride in the preparation of ethyl benzene by the Friedel and Crafts reaction but the absorption rate is so slow under usual conditions that the method has not been attractive for preparing ethyl benzene. We find that the reaction can be made to go so rapidly by using a high speed stirrer that this becomes an efficient preparation method. A mixture of 250 g. benzene and 50 g. aluminum chloride absorbs as much as 1,800 c.c. of ethylene per minute when stirrer is run at 1,300 r. p. m. Catalysis in the interaction of carbon with steam and carbon dioxide: H. A. NEVILLE and H. S. TAYLOR. The catalytic activity of alkali carbonates, alkaline earths and various salts in promoting reaction between steam and carbon has been shown to be paralleled by similar effects in the acceleration of interaction of carbon and carbon dioxide. In each case potassium carbonate has been found to be the most active salt catalyst. Reduced nickel promotes interaction of carbon and carbon dioxide markedly. In explanation of the mechanism of the two reaction processes it has been shown that adsorption of carbon dioxide by carbon at 445° C. is markedly increased by addition to the carbon of such accelerating agents, although these latter themselves show no adsorptive capacity for the gas. Catalysis in the reduction of oxides and the catalytic combination of hydrogen and oxygen: R. N. PEASE and H. S. TAYLOR. Oxygen and water vapor, present in hydrogen used for reduction of copper oxide, markedly inhibit the action; addition of reduced copper to the oxide appears to accelerate the reaction. The induction period in the reaction is attributed (a) to initial drying of the oxide, (b) to slow initial formation of copper which then acts as a catalyst. It is doubtful whether the catalytic combustion of hydrogen and oxygen in presence of copper can be represented as an alternate oxidation and reduction process as it has been found that when hydrogen containing oxygen is passed over copper oxide at 150° C., no appreciable water is formed and, at lower temperatures, the activity is reduced as the catalyst becomes progressively oxidized. The formation of water in presence of copper may take place through interaction of hydrogen on an oxygen molecule which is in process of combining to form oxide, that is, at the instant of collision with the copper surface. A case of autooxidation: MnO2 →HMnO.: J. C. FRASER. Oxidation and reduction by organic compounds: C. H. MILLIGAN and E. EMMET REID. The action of alumina, titania, and thoria on ethyl and isopropyl acetate: HOMER ADKINS and A. C. KRAUSE. The catalytic electrolytic oxidation of SO2: COLIN G. FINK. The electrolytic oxidation of SO, with various anodes was investigated. It was found that graphite anodes will catalyze the oxidation providing ferrous-ferric ions are present in solution. In the absence of iron, no catalytic effect due to the graphite could be observed. On the other hand, an inert anode such as ferrosilicon, in the presence of ferrous-ferric ions will not catalyze the SO, oxidation. The combined effect of the graphite anode and the iron is essential to accelerate the reaction. The decomposition of ethyl acetate induced by catalytic nickel: HOMER ADKINS and P. W. SIM MONDS. The catalytic influence of foreign oxides on the decomposition of silver oxide, mercuric oxide and barium peroxide: JAMES KENDALL and FRANCIS J. FUCHE. The effect of foreign oxides on the temperature and rate of decomposition of silver oxide, mercuric oxide and barium peroxide under an oxygen pressure of one atmosphere has been experimentally investigated. In almost all of the systems examined, the added oxide induces a considerable change in the decomposition temperature. Most commonly there is a marked lowering in this point; thus (to cite an extreme case) an equimolecular mixture of Ba®, and CuO has an oxygen equilibrium pressure of one atmosphere at 355°, approximately 500° below the decomposition temperature of pure BaO2. In a few systems a comparatively small rise in the decomposition temperature is indicated. In all instances, however, the rate of oxygen evolution is significantly increased. A new clock reaction: G. S. FORBES, H. W. ESTILL, and O. J. WALKER. The induction period, t, preceding precipitation of As2S, from H ̧AsO2 or H,ASO, in the presence of H2SO, is extraordinarily sharp and reproducible. In the case of H,ASO, 1/t=KC Na2SO,, but is independent of C HASO,, and also of C H provided HC2H2O2 or very dilute HC is used. The period increases greatly with C HCl. The rate of precipitation, also highly reproducible, is very great at first, di minishes very rapidly, but may not become zero before 3,000 hours at room temperature. With HC,H,O, the initial rate = kC H, but with moderate values of C HC this proportion becomes inverse. Many other regularities, likewise affording clues to the reaction mechanism, have been noted. The volumetric oxidation of sulfide to sulfate: H. H. WILLARD and W. E. CAKE. The alkaline sulfide solution obtained by absorbing HS in NaOH is oxidized quantitatively to sulfate if excess of standard hypobromite or hypochlorite is added, and sufficient hydroxide is present. The excess is then determined by adding KI, acidifying, then titrating the iodine with thiosulfate. The method may be applied also to freshly precipitated sulfides, such as ZnS. Since four times as much oxygen is required in this reaction as in the usual iodine titration, the method is especially suitable for small amounts of sulfur. A Making scientists: Recovering the normal curiosity in college students: EDWARD ELLERY. normal boy and the investigating scientist have this in common-they are both living interrogation points. The investigator minus a "why" is an anomaly, and a boy without it is abnormal, if not defective. If college training knocks the natural "why" out of a boy, a reform can not too soon be instituted. Here is the way Union College is working to effect such a reform. At every opportunity work is required that takes the boy away from his textbook and laboratory manual and into the library for consultation of larger treatises and current periodicals. In the summer months, at the end of the junior year, a few of the best students receive appointments to the research laboratory of the General Electric Company, where they handle a piece of research work under the direct supervision of the leading members of the staff of that organization. In their last year in college, their time in the chemical laboratory is given to a continuation of this research work, or to a new problem. It is only the unconquerably dull boy that fails to react to this effort to awaken his natural "why." The apparent irreversibility of the calomel electrode: A. W. LAUBENGAYER. When mercury is made anode in a chloride solution a high-resistance, black film forms over the surface of the mercury. This is composed of drops of mercury and particles of mercurous chloride. It is not known why mercurous chloride should be adsorbed so closely and mercurous sulphate not. The theory of hydrogen overvoltage: D. A. MACINNES and W. R. HAINSWORTH. Experiments on the effect of pressure on hydrogen overvoltage show that the variation produced is in the direction predicted by the theory advanced by MacInnes and Alden; i.e., the overvoltage increases when the pressure is decreased. On the other hand, computation of the overvoltage from the size of evolved bubbles fails for layer potentials, since the phenomena at metal surfaces get farther and farther away from equilibrium conditions as higher overvoltages are reached. However, the fundamental assumption that overvoltage is an extreme case of concentration polarization, retains its usefulness in explaining the experimental results, at least for the lower potentials. The hydrogen electrode under high pressures: W. R. HAINSWORTH. The variation of the E. M. F. of the cell, H21HCl (C.1nHCl), HgCl/Hg, with pressure has been measured from one to 400 atmospheres. It was found that thermodynamic calculations involving (1) the deviation of hydrogen from a perfect gas, (2) the partial molal volume of HCl in 0.1 NHC, (3) the molal volumes of mercury and calomel, and (4) the change of HC concentration with the compressibility of the solution, served to reproduce the observed potential of the cell within 0.2 mv. throughout the pressure range studied. This leads to the conclusions, (a) that the "thermodynamic environment" is not appreciably changed by the molecular hydrogen in solution, or by compression, and (b) that the fugacity (or effective pressure) of hydrogen can be calculated up to 400 atmospheres from the equation of state developed by Keyes. Potassium ammonoaluminate and ammonomanganite: FRANCIS W. BERGSTROM. The author has added an ammonoaluminate and an ammonomanganite of potassium to Franklin's list of salts formed by the action of potassium amide, in liquid ammonia solution, on the amides, imides or nitrides of other metals. The aluminate has been prepared by the action of a solution of potassium amide on amalgamated metallic aluminium. Its composition is represented by the formula Al(NHK) (NH2)2. Potassium ammonomanganite has been obtained in the form of rose colored crystals by the action of an excess of potassium amide on manganese thiocyanate in accordance with the reaction represented by the equation Mn (SCN), + 4KNH, =Mn (NHK),. 2NH, + 2KSON. |