From the table it is evident that the half sum may be used if the arms, or weights, differ by one-fourth of a per cent with an error of only eight one hundred thousandths of one per cent. If they vary by one per cent the error is 1,800 of a per cent, while a difference in the arms of five per cent involves an error of 1/3 of a per cent. If the half sum is used when the error is well below the limitations of the balance, it will be found that much time is saved with no loss in accuracy. THE TEACHER'S VOW I will see the good in all pupils and lead them on to higher attainments. I will be patient and forebearing, confident in the belief that kindness and generosity will ultimately triumph. I will scorn error, deceit, and all forms of falsehood, persistently foregoing sarcasm and injustice. I will claim all nature as my heritage and spend a portion of each day quietly in God's open air. I will hold daily communion with my own soul. I will accept my remuneration, however small, without envy, complaint or discouragement, never forgetting that a teacher is a leader into the higher life, and not merely a wage earner. I will work each day in unshaken assurance that peace and power come in full measure to all who are ready for the truth. LYMAN C. Newell Local Activities and Opportunities St John's College. The Department of Chemistry of St. John's College has been completely reorganized and new laboratories have been installed. The staff consists of Colin M. Mackall, Professor; Gilbert B. L. Smith, Asst. Professor; and George W. Cassell, Instructor. Colin M. Mackall, (Ph.D. Johns Hopkins) formerly Professor of Chemistry at the University of the South, Chemist, Edgewood Arsenal, and for two years American Field Service Fellow at the College de France. Gilbert B. L. Smith (Ph.D. Cornell), formerly Asst. in Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin and Heckscher Research Fellow in Inorganic Chemistry at Cornell University. George W. Cassell (B.S. Chem. Virginia) formerly Assistant in Chemistry at the University of Virginia. University of Wisconsin. Chemistry is the handmaid of the other sciences. This fact has been demonstrated at the University of Wisconsin where, out of 1386 registrations in 1923 in the four basic courses in Chemistry-General, Analytical, Organic and Physical-in the Department of Chemistry, 89 per cent were students who were specializing in Agriculture, Commerce, Medicine, Physical Education, Home Economics and Pharmacy. Engineering, New Appointments for 1924-25 10.40 Address of Welcome. Dr. Frank W. Durkee, Tufts College. Business Meeting. Election of New Members. Reports of Standing Committees, Cen tral Division. a. New Apparatus Committee, Grover C. Greenwood, Chairman. b. Industrial Trips Committee, Mary B. Ford, Chairman. c. New Books Committee, Charles H. Stone, Chairman. d. Current Events Committee, Eva B. Ammidown, Chairman. Address: "How the American Chemical Society can cooperate with the N. E. A. C. T." Dr. Neil E. Gordon, University of Maryland. Discussion by Dr. Lyman C. Newell and Mr. Wilhelm Segerblom. Address: "Some Local Contributions Toward the Development of Organic Chemistry as a Science." Dr. David Worrall, Prof. of Organic Chemistry, Tufts College. Annual Reports; Election of Officers. a. Report of the Secretary. b. Report of the Assistant Secretary. c. Report of the Treasurer. d. Report of the Nominating Committee and Election of Officers for 19241925. 12.15 Inspection of the New Tufts Chemical Laboratory. 1.15 The work of this department of the College was outlined by members of the instruction and research staff. Lunch at the College Cafeteria. Ohio Chemistry Teachers Association. The Chemistry teachers of Northeastern Ohio met in Cleveland, October 24th at a luncheon held at Central Y. M. C. A. At this meeting C. W. Business Meeting: Reports of Committees. Fretz, Head of the Chemistry Department at Address: On December 13th the Chemistry teachers of Northeastern Ohio, will meet at Central Y. M. C. A. at 10 A. M. to outline a plan for research on various lines of chemical educational work. The committee on arrangements for this meeting will consist of K. M. Persing of Glenville High School, Cleveland, C. E. Fleming, Sandusky High, Sandusky, Ohio, and M. V. McGill, Lorain High School, Lorain, Ohio. Maryland Association of Chemistry Teachers. On Friday, November 28th, the Maryland Association of Chemistry Teachers will meet at the Forest Park High School, Baltimore, Md., where the following program will be given: Discussion of revision of the Constitution of the Section. Meetings of the Council and of newly appointed committees to discuss plans for the next year. Carnegie Institute. The Langley Association of Science Teachers of Western Pennsylvania held its fall meeting in connection with the Western Pennsylvania Education Association in Pittsburgh, Oct. 24, 1924. At 6.30 P. M. dinner was served in the dining room of the Carnegie Institute to about one hundred members of the Langley Association. Immediately after the dinner a social and business meeting was held. At this meeting Dr. W. M. Davidson, Superintendent of the Schools of Pittsburgh spoke on the value of science instruction in the public schools. Prof. Alexander Silverman of the University of Pittsburgh presented the offer of the American Chemical Society of $4.50 for membership in the Pittsburgh Section of the A. C. S. and in the Division of Chemical Education, and for one year's subscription to the Journal of Chemical Education. This offer was very warmly received and the probability is that many of the members will take advantage of it. At 8.30 the association adjourned to the lecture hall of the Carnegie Institute where a most interesting public meeting was held. A humorous film by Buster Keaton, "The Electrical House," was shown. After this Prof. John Mills of the Western Electric Co. of New York showed the new film put out by that company entitled "The Electrical Transmission of Speech." The chief event of the evening was a most scholarly and interesting lecture by Professor Mills on "Within the Atom." Officers of the Langley Association of Science Teachers are: President-C. C. Dunning, Peabody H. S., Pittsburgh, Pa. Vice-President-E. O. Morrison, Coraopolis, Pa., H. S. Treasurer-C. E. Baer, Butler, Pa., H. S. Secretary-F. G. Masters, Fifth Avenue, H. S., Pittsburgh, Pa. Recent Books Chemical Synthesis. By HARRY HEPWORTH. D. Van Nostrand Company, New York, 1924. XX. 243 pages. $6.50. Dr. Hepworth's book presents an admirable discussion of the achievements of the organic chemist in the synthesis of naturally occurring compounds. It is a book which can be read with profit by anyone familiar with, and interested in, organic chemistry. "Chemical Synthesis" might well be used as a hand book in a graduate course in special topics in organic chemistry. Those who believe that the reactions of organic chemistry can best be presented to advanced students by means of examples of their application will find this book a veritable gold mine of valuable information. The physica! make-up of the book, with the exception of a few details, is excellent. There are a few typographical errors in some of the structural formulae, which might lead the inexperienced into difficulty. Unfortunately, the book is not bound as strongly as might be desired. It is to be hoped that publishers will more generally be brought to a realization of the desirability of strong binding, so that our technical books may withstand ordinary usage. JOHN H. GARDNER Elementary Qualitative Analysis. By J. H. REEDY. McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1924. xiv + 137 pp. Price $1.59. "This book is an attempt to put in printed form the system of laboratory and quiz room instruction that has been developed during recent years in the elementary courses in Qualitative Analysis at the University of Illinois. It presumes that the student has had the equivalent of not less than five semester hours of college chemistry. . . . The fundamental purpose in the compilation of this manual has been to enable the student to know at all times exactly what he is doing.... The endeavor has been made to put nothing in the book that the elementary student might not be expected to understand" (preface). The procedures for the detection of cations are, for the most part, the customary ones. Am monium polysulfide is used in separating the copper and tin subgroups, and sodium peroxide for the separation of the aluminium and iron subgroups. As an alternative procedure, an innovation in qualitative analysis is found in the use of oxalic acid and hydrogen peroxide in separating tin from arsenic and antimony. A new procedure is inserted in the iron-group analysis for the purpose of destroying oxalates. Alternative procedures are given for the separation of calcium and strontium, the first depending upon the separation of strontium as sulfate, and the second upon the precipitation of calcium as ferrocyanide. "The general scheme for the detection of the anions is, with certain changes, the one worked out by this writer and published in the seventh edition of W. A. Noyes 'Qualitative Analysis'." The plan of instruction provides, first, for adequate preliminary tests on the members of a group, with notes as required, followed by a set of exercises for use in quizroom work. The analysis of the group follows, with additional notes on the procedures. The student works through the book without skipping until the complete analysis is taken up. This is a pedagogical advantage. The procedures are clearly given and the notes make mention of numerous pitfalls which every teacher knows but few texts recognize. Throughout the book there are improvements in the small points of technique, and a fine emphasis upon details. There is no attempt, however, to distinguish quantities of the constituents, other than traces. The reviewer noted about fifteen typographical errors. The statements that cobaltic hydroxide may remain in the iron group as a residue insoluble in nitric acid (like manganese, p. 49), and that fusion with potassium pyrosulfate converts chromic oxide into the chromate (p. 114) are contrary to the reviewer's experience. On the whole, the book appears to be the best of its kind, for use with first-year students. Personally, the reviewer believes that more can be accomplished if qualitative analysis is postponed until a later stage in the student's career, when a more precise type of procedure may be employed. G. H. CARTLEDGE Entered as Second-class Matter, January 31, 1924, at the Post Office at Easton, Pa., under the Act of March 3, 1879. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized January 31, 1924. Vol. I December, 1924 EDITORS' OUTLOOK No. 10 With this issue we bid farewell to the first year of the JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION, and hail the approaching year with high anticipation. The great response received during 1924 from CHEMICAL EDUCATION inspires us to put forth our best efforts for 1925. THIS JOURNAL has seemed to meet a need in both this country and abroad. Some may be interested to read a sample of the foreign letters sent in response to the International editorial written in the September issue. Prof. Neil E. Gordon, Editor of The Journal of Chemical Education, Dear Sir: Zierikzee, Holland, October 9, 1924. Some few days ago I received the September issue of the Journal of Chemical Education and I must say that I like it very much. It is just the sort of thing I am seeking as chairman of the section of teachers in the Dutch Chemical Society. You will oblige me very much by sending me the numbers which have appeared up to this time and noting me as a subscriber. My bookseller who sends you this letter will be our medium in this respect. We are interested in the manner in which American teachers try to improve their methods and the ideals concerning chemical education in your country. It will be considered as an honor when you will publish an account of the principles and accomplishments of chemical education in Holland. When you want to publish something about that please be so kind as to let me know and I'll send you from time to time noteworthy news from your fellow-workers in this country. After having received your answer I'll direct the attention of the members of the Society to the new periodical. If you wish to publish anything in this letter I give you free leave. Respectfully yours, IR. H. A. PIETERS, Chairman of the Section of Teachers, Members of the Dutch Chemical Society. |