SCOTS
CMSW

The Alchemist magazine, Vol. 1.1

Author(s): Various

Text

The
Alchemist
Vol. 1. No. 1. NOVEMBER, 1925
To Get the Best Service
for
PHOTOGRAPHY
WIRELESS
GRAMOPHONES
Or
SIGHT TESTING
Expert Assistants in each Department.
Go to BLACKADDER
107 Union Street,
GLASGOW, C.1.
Phone : 5970 Central
Telegrams: "Snapshots," Glasgow
OPEN SATURDAY till 6.30 p.m.
The Alchemist.
The Official Organ of the Glasgow University Alchemists' Club.
Editor C. BUCHANAN, B.Sc., Ph.D.
Sub-Editors JOHN McLINTOCK, B.Sc.
WM. McNAB, M.A., B.Sc.
Business Manager JAMES FRASER.
VOL. I. No. i. Issued Monthly. NOVEMBER, 1925.
Editorial.
In introducing this, the first number of "The Alchemist," a
few words of explanation are doubtless desirable. Its appearance
is due to the remarkable growth, during the past few years, of the
Glasgow University Alchemists' Club, particularly in the quality
of its syllabus. The addresses delivered before it unquestionably
merit a more permanent record than that carried away from a
meeting by the average member, who hears and enjoys a lecture,
forgets it, then wishes he had taken notes. But the taking of
notes is an abomination; the lecturer is perceived as a voice only
— a voice that awakens only annoyance, as it leaves the scribe well
in the rear, developing writers' cramp, missing any real appreciation
of the speaker's personality, and not even understanding the
subject dealt with. A solution of this difficulty, by the publication
of Transactions, was suggested at the last Annual General Meeting
of the Club. The Council have decided that such a scheme is
possible; hence this volume. Each issue will contain reports of
the meetings of the club, and, when it is thought desirable, practically
verbatim reports will be given.
While the main feature of "The Alchemist" will always be
the reports of club meetings, it is intended to make it a Club Magazine,
in which will appear articles submitted by members on anything
that will interest or amuse. The success of such a venture
depends on the co-operation of all, and, as everything that the club
has so far attempted has prospered, we do not anticipate failure.
How then can the members help? Of course they can obviously
do so by becoming regular subscribers, but, what is more important,
they can help by sending in contributions for our succeeding
issues. You can do something! If you have never written anything
before you don't know whether you can write or not; try
now in prose or verse. At the very least send a short par. about
anything amusing you notice at meetings or in the laboratories,
or send criticisms or suggestions. We will be glad also to hear
news of general interest, regarding former-student members.
Contributions should be handed to any of the Committee, or sent
to the Editor at the Organic Chemistry Department.
It is intended to publish five monthly issues during the
winter session, about the 16th of each month. Our next issue will
contain the Address by Dr. F. W. Aston on "Isotopes."
Charles Macintosh.
By Prof. G. G. Henderson.
Address delivered 28th October, 1925 (Abridged)
Some few months ago I was asked by the Director of the
Rubber Research Association if I could give him any information
with respect to a Glasgow chemist who was very prominent some
hundred years ago, and whose name is literally a household word,
Charles Macintosh, who invented the process of waterproofing
fabrics. On looking into a memoir written by his son, I was much
surprised to find that, quite apart from his discovery of the waterproofing
process, Charles Macintosh had been extremely prominent
in starting and developing quite a number of those chemical
industries which have largely contributed to make Glasgow what
it is, and it occurred to me that it might be perhaps of interest if
I endeavoured to give a very brief outline of some of his principal
achievements, chiefly as an industrial chemist.
Charles Macintosh was born in Glasgow in the year 1766, and
died in the year 1843, in his 77th year. Like most people, I confess
myself to be a believer in heredity, and for that reason it is interesting
to note that Macintosh's father, George Macintosh, was the
fourth son of a farmer in Ross-shire, and naturally had to make
his own way in the world. As a very young man. he obtained a
position as a clerk with a firm known as the "Glasgow Tan Work
Co."; in the year 1773 he started a similar business on his own
account. and soon had 500 people occupied. A few years afterwards,
he started another industry, the manufacture of a dye-stuff
known in these days as "cudbear," and, in the year 1785, this
enterprising man entered into partnership with David Dale, and
established a Turkey-red dyework at Dalmarnock, which is said to
be the first established in Britain. Macintosh also had an interest
in the herring industry, and was the principal owner of two East
Indiamen. He further was greatly interested in recruiting matters,
and did a great deal in enlisting recruits for Highland regiments.
He was Chairman of the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce.
Charles Macintosh's mother was the aunt of General Sir John
Moore, and it is rather an interesting fact to notice from the
correspondence that Sir John Moore was a very intimate friend of
his cousin, Charles Macintosh.
Charles Macintosh was sent to the Grammar School in Glasgow
and there he became quite proficient in Latin. He was next sent to
a boarding-school in Yorkshire, and after his school education had
been completed, came back to Glasgow to the office of a friend, to
learn business methods. He must, however, have, even at this
comparatively early age, shown a very distinct taste for chemistry,
because there is no doubt he studied chemistry for some time, under
Joseph Black at Edinburgh, and, it appears also, under Irvine,
Black's successor, in Glasgow.
After a short period of clerical work, Macintosh, before he was
20, started as a chemical manufacturer. He embarked on the
manufacture of sal ammoniac in partnership with his father, and
with William Couper, a very eminent surgeon in Glasgow; but, in
1792, this business was given up.
In 1786 he visited Holland, Belgium and France, and had the
opportunity of seeing a factory in which sugar of lead was manufactured.
He was struck with the fact that the starting products
were imported from Britain, and further, when the sugar of lead
was brought back to Britain, duty of 3d. per lb. had to be paid, so
that, on his return home, he decided that he would start the manufacture
of sugar of lead. This industry proved very successful.
Here it is rather interesting to note that Macintosh recognised that
there was more than one acetate of lead, but he had not, of course,
reached the stage of recognising the existence of basic salts. He
also started at this time another industry, the manufacture of "red
liquor" — a solution of aluminium acetate — which also proved very
successful.
We now come to a very interesting point in his career. At
that time the bleaching properties of chlorine in presence of water
were known, and Berthollet had suggested that chlorine water
might very profitably be used for bleaching purposes. The smell
of the gas, if nothing else, was a great objection to using chlorine
as a bleaching agent, and various attempts were made to improve
the process. A very great advance was made when the procedure
of mixing water with quicklime and passing in a current of chlorine
was adopted. This preparation of a solution of bleaching powder
was devised by Charles Tennant, and it is generally believed that
Tennant first made bleaching powder ; but, if the statements made
by Macintosh himself and never contradicted, are correct, it was
Charles Macintosh who, in 1799, being at that time a partner of
Charles Tennant, prepared, for the first time, chloride of lime or
bleaching powder, in the dry state.
Just about this time, Macintosh was chiefly instrumental in
opening a work, the first of its kind in Scotland, for the manufacture
of alum, at Hurlet, near Paisley ; and, while managing similar
works at Campsie, Macintosh invented a surface evaporating
reverberatory furnace for the concentration of the liquors. At the
alum work at Campsie, Macintosh first established in Scotland the
manufacture of prussian blue and of the yellow prussiate of
potassium, and also showed the dyers how they could use the
latter in printing fabrics.
Here is another interesting attempt at manufacturing by
Macintosh which was not successful, for rather a curious reason.
In the year 1809 he established a factory for the production of pure
yeast in London, at the invitation of the master bakers there.
Operations were carried out on a very considerable scale, and the
brewers found that much of the yeast they produced, and for which
they got a considerable price, was left on their hands, and if the
Encyclopaedia Brittanica can be trusted, the following is an official
statement. "Accordingly, they, the brewers, invited journeymen
bakers to their cellars, gave them their full of ale, and promised to
regale them in like manner every day, provided they would force
their masters to take all their yeast from them. The journeymen
declared in a body that they would work no more unless the masters
gave up taking any more yeast from the new factory, and so the
factory was closed."
Now, the most notable achievement of Macintosh was the
invention of the waterproofing of fabrics, and, curiously enough,
that arose from a development of the manufacture of coal gas.
After the introduction of coal gas into Britain, the manufacturers
found that the tar and other liquid products resulting from the
process accumulated on their hands "in the shape of a most
disagreeable and inconvenient nuisance." In London, these products
were thrown into the Thames, in Edinburgh, into the Forth,
and in Glasgow they were buried in quarries and coal pits. It
seems to us now rather a dreadful thing that they threw away the
ammoniacal liquor and the tar. But have we any right to criticise?
We know the value of ammonia and coal tar and the products we
get from coal tar, and we commit the criminal folly of throwing
away enormous quantities of these products because we persist in
burning coal in open fires and furnaces which enshroud our villages
and cities in a pall of smoke, and prevent a large percentage of the
sun's rays, which are not very abundant in this country, from
penetrating. It soon became evident that the manufacture of gas
would be checked unless some more economical way of disposing of
the tar was devised, and here again our enterprising manufacturer,
Charles Macintosh, plays a part. In 1819 he contracted with the
proprietors of the Glasgow works to receive for a term of years
their output of tar and ammoniacal liquor. The ammonia recovered
from the liquor he used for the manufacture of cudbear. The tar
was distilled because the demand for the pitch was great, and it
occurred to Macintosh that he might use the naphtha if it would
prove to be a solvent of rubber. On examination, he found that he
could dissolve his rubber with this naphtha and by evaporation of
this solution he could obtain flexible waterproof varnish. He wanted
to obtain a solvent for rubber which could be evaporated, leaving
rubber as a flexible cement between two layers of vapour, thus
rendering the fabric waterproof — and airproof also. In the year
1822 he obtained a patent for his process, and established a factory
for waterproof articles in Glasgow, and later in Manchester.
Before very long his patent was infringed, but his claim was fully
established in the courts.
Among Macintosh's other achievements are his inventions of
a method of burning coal tar as a fuel in furnaces, and of an
improvement in the old method of making steel. He was also very
much interested in the development of the Hot Blast process,
which revolutionised the manufacture of iron in this country.
James Beaumont Neilson had taken out a 'patent for this process,
and Charles Macintosh, along with others, became co-patentee
with Neilson, and appears to have had a great deal to do with
perfecting and introducing the invention.
Although Charles Macintosh's energies were directed almost
exclusively to technical work, he must have been a very able
chemist, and evidently was recognised as such by his contemporaries.
We find from his correspondence that he was on intimate
terms with such men as Smithson Tennant, the Professor at Cambridge,
and with Wollaston, the President of the Royal Society.
He was a correspondent of Dalton, Berzelius, and Sir Humphrey
Davy. When he made a visit to Paris in 1815, he was received
with the utmost cordiality by the scientific men there at that time,
among others, Gay Lussac, Vauquelin, and Thénard. He must
have had a very considerable reputation as a scientific man, quite
apart from his record as a manufacturer, because, in the year 1823
he was admitted to the Fellowship of the Royal. Society.
I think, from the very brief and imperfect sketch which I have
put before you, you will admit that Charles Macintosh, a Glasgow
man born, was a chemist of whom his native city may justly feel
proud.
I gather from the J. C. S.
That Ingold's views are in a mess.
(I hope you're not offended when
I criticise distinguished men).
Of recent years his Imine Rings
Have been the very latest things
To make us wonder what he means.
Now Lapworth comes with plus and minus
Diagrams — to undermine us —
And slyly hints at amidines.
Which, as he shews, are quite distinct
From compounds which have both ends linked.
D. T.
Our Department Guyed.
(Being a few notes, geographical, historical and anthropological, concerning
the Chemistry Department of Glasgow University, by one who knows it too well.)
The study of chemistry in the University was inaugurated in
the year 1741, when Bishop Turnbull removed his famous Papal
Bull to more commodious and comfortable buildings, and
bequeathed its former byre for the purpose of setting up (as the
ancient document puts it) 'ane or twa studia chemica.' Round
this original building other sheds have sprung up, mushroom-like,
during the last hundred years, until at the present moment we have
the most glorious example extant of the Neo-Zeppelin-Hanger-Salvation-Army-Hut-type
of architecture known in this country. (A
prize is offered this month for the nearest guess to which laboratory
was the original Papal Bull Byre. — Editor).
In the Organic Chemistry Section the only architectural feature
is the doorway, which has twelve keys, owned by the twelve chosen
ones of the Department. Down the dungeon stairs to your right,
there are, according to the stories of a few foolhardy adventurers,
two laboratories, in which can be seen at several sinks the motionless
forms of men. Some have mistaken these figures for plumbers
at work, although, in reality, they are nothing short of research
students in similar states of physical exaltation. In this place also,
there is on view the most celebrated and magnificent collection of
beakers ever held in the possession of any chemist of the University.
The hours for inspection when the owner can personally
conduct you round his glassware museum are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
(except Sundays).
The notice board at the top of these stairs is worthy of your
attention. On it in time the announcement will be made that 96 is
your handicap in the Golf Tournament, and 23 your score in the
first Class Exam. It also contains notices regarding prizes to be
won by students for original research in chemistry. In this connection
we would point out that the action of half-a-pound of sodium
on a sinkful of water has already been fully investigated.
The store on your left is where all 175 per cent. yields of
organic preparations come from. It also contains a species of
animal of the genus Lab-boy which hibernates there during these
present months, but will come out to feed at Christmas time.
The other Section of the Department — labelled the Inorganic
Side — merits no mention except for one interesting feature. It
contains a fearsome ogre who lives in a cave with more chemical
riches than Mr. Baird, or his trusty crony, Mr. Tatlock, ever
commanded. Occasionally, daring students enter that cave and
demand certain of these possessions of the ogre. But the ogre only
grows wild, and declares, "I ain't got none." Innocent fresher,
if such ever be your experience, never dare confute these words of
the ogre, for tradition has it that a man who once did that was
taken into the cave and distilled in vacuô until nothing was left in
the flask but his false teeth and a hairpin that was doing duty as
trouser button for the day. So beware! we say.
May your condenser never leak! Señor Ville.
CHEMICAL BOOKS
We carry a large Stock of Books in every
Branch of CHEMISTRY and the Allied
Sciences.
CHEMICAL APPARATUS
Approved sets of apparatus
INORGANIC and ORGANIC
at lowest Prices.
JOHN SMITH & SON
(GLASGOW) Ltd.
University Booksellers
10 UNIVERSITY AVENUE AND
26=30 GIBSON STREET, : HILLHEAD
Chemical.
Laboratory
Materials.
GLASSWARE, FILTER
PAPERS, CHEMICALS,
PORCELAIN WARE &
SILICA WARE . .
We Specialise in Students' Requirements
McQUILKIN & CO.
Opticians and Laboratory Furnishers
17 SAUCHIEHALL ST., GLASGOW.
Research.
The ultimate ambition of all young chemists is to become
research workers. This is one of these subtle instincts that defy
analysis, like the early desire of every healthy boy to keep white
mice. One can only accept the fact as it stands, and offer a few
remarks in foretaste of the delectations that await the neophyte.
There are three great essentials to research work of any
kind: — plentiful supplies of patience, tobacco, and acetone.
Patience preserves the worker's sanity in the periods that divide
the instalments of his 'grant' (if any): tobacco gives him some
little interest in life between meal times: and the acetone serves to
clean his pipe. Equipped with these, plus a little sugar, some tea,
a beaker and a Bunsen burner, none need fear the rigours of a life
devoted to science.
It is, in many ways, a hard life. Sometimes there isn't a stool
to be found in the department, and the worker is forced to sleep on
his feet like a horse: sometimes a lab-boy of more than usually
criminal tendencies forgets to buy more biscuits when the old
supply runs out. And even greater dangers abound. Alcohol is
risky stuff at any time: and a flask of ether has positively lethal
properties when used as a receptacle for cigarette ends.
Yet such things are the daily trials of all who set out along
the darksome road that leads to the 'tea-club' and the doctorate.
There are, of course, attendant compensations. For instance,
research men never need to bother about their yields: such low
delights are reserved for first-year students. Big yields in research
are as much out of place as red noses in the clergy, or geniality in
storekeepers, and only create needless embarrassment in those who
come across them. Again, when a solution does not crystallise —
and research solutions seldom do — the worker does not worry. He
labels it, dates it, and stands it aside among his dirty apparatus,
then leaves the rest to the cleaners. If, by any chance, the latter
overlook it, he may, after some months, re-discover it behind the
radiator or in a fume-cupboard ; and many of his most interesting
results accrue from such masterly inactivity. He sets aside a
chloro-body in acetic acid solution — and it may in time produce
any old thing from rubber-tubing to inanimate 'blue-bottles.'
Should a crystalline substance be obtained, it is carefully transferred
to porous plate, and thrown out of the window — lest any
spiteful person should inquire as to its constitution. Research is
above results.
But the greatest of all rewards to him who sticks so nobly to
his bench is the feeling that his life is devoted to the common
service of his fellows and the forward progress of humanity. Many
a research man, after a long day's toil in an atmosphere of carbon
di-sulphide and benzoyl chloride, has seen strange twitchings in the
faces of those around him in his tram-car or his home, and watched
unbidden tears come to their eyes who regard him as one far above
and beyond them — as one who could not be far enough away.
I. O. Dean.
Lochnagar — A Rectorial Ballad.
Oh, Young Lochnagar is come out of the West,
There was fish on his trousers and egg on his vest;
And save a black eye and a very bad smell,
He came out unhurt from that filthy pell-mell.
For he'd used with effect some H two SO four,
Oh, a very fine chemist was young Lochnagar.
Oh, boldly he entered a Chemistry Lab.
And he looked around for fresh acid to "nab,"
But up spake a Prof. in a very loud voice
"You must stay here and work, or be failed — take your choice.
For if you don't do melting points by the score
I shall plough you next June, O Young Lochnagar."
Then Young Lochnagar he covered his face
With his two grimy hands, and he thought for a space,
Then he drew from a sticky hip-pocket an egg,
And he washed it with benzine and thus humbly did beg: —
"Of eggs, dear Professor, I have quite a store,
Take this as a present from Young Lochnagar."
The Prof.'s heart was softened ('twas just like his head),
So he thanked Lochnagar for the compliment paid;
And he took the egg home and he brewed a mess,
But was o'ercome by the fumes of impure H2S.
Oh, he fumed, and he raved, and he cursed, and he swore,
And he vowed he'd have vengeance on Young Lochnagar.
There and then in the Lab. a great bustle was seen,
The Prof. brewed ten gallons of car-bylamine;
And he filled thirty sacks with potash cyanide,
And he saddled his horse and away he did ride.
But he scoured the countryside many times o'er
Without e'en a scent of Young Lochnagar.
Meta.
"Lux in Tenebris."
By Wm. McNab, M.A., B.Sc.
Presidential Address delivered 4th November, 1925 (Abridged).
In 1606 Newton skewed the composite nature of white light.
The first question which arose following this was as to the exact
nature of light. The emission theory of Newton was soon
challenged by Young in his theory of propagation by wave motion.
The wave theory ultimately displaced the emission theory, but was
modified somewhat. The first wave theory premised an ether, but
the objections to this were many, and finally we were given the
electromagnetic theory of Maxwell. Sir William Herschel,
experimenting with the spectrum, was not content with the actual
colours, but placed a thermometer in front of each band. He
found a definite increase in temperature due to the light, and this
rise varied progressively along the spectrum. Ritter and Wollaston
(1801) showed that beyond the violet were rays which acted upon
silver chloride chemically. Young was the first to put a numerical
value on the wave-length of the visible spectrum. Newton had
fancied there was an analogy between the spectrum and an octave
of music. Hence, the name octave was given to the range of the
visible spectrum. It will be seen that the visible octave only
occupies a very small part of the "Keyboard of the Electric Wave
Organ." The ultra-violet accounts for about two octaves. X-rays
and Gamma rays occupy octaves higher than the ultra-violet. The
octaves below the infra-red are taken up by Heat Waves, and the
long Hertzian and Wireless waves.
The effect of light on chemical reaction was not studied to any
degree until the last 10 or 20 years. In our everyday life also, we
are apt to neglect light in biological studies. Let me start on the
biological side. In the past, Pagan tribes worshipped the sun as a
god, and in 400 B.C. we find the Greeks being treated for various
ills in the Temple of Aesculapius, son of Phoebus Apollo, god of
the sun. The 18th century saw a revival of sun treatment which
was continued into the next century and up to the present time.
The first name of importance is that of Niels Finsen, who invented
a source of artificial sunlight. In 1903 there was opened at Leysin
the first clinic for treating by sunlight, tuberculosis. Rollier in
1920 opened his "Ecole au Soleil," in which children predisposed
to tuberculosis were taught, rather than in cities, where the power
of sunlight was lost. Rollier is now the recognised authority on
heliotherapy. The maximum success of sun treatment has been
attained in cases of rickets, lupus, and tuberculosis, but much
remains to be done on the chemical side of the process. As regards
the scientific basis of heliotherapy: — It was known in 1700 that
light had a bactericidal action. Is this effect brought about by
light or accompanying heat? Downes and Blunt carried out experiments
(Proc. Roy. Soc., Dec. 1877) and two points were settled.
(1) that light was the active agent, and (2) the light acted directly
on the germs. The next question was whether the action of light
was a selective effect, and, if so, which part of the spectrum was
the most effective. Agreement was reached with regard to the
bactericidal effect of the ultra-violet rays.
One of the chief properties of ultra-violet rays is that they are
absorbed by ordinary glass. Obviously, therefore, a sedentary life
means a life away from the energy-supplying portions of sunlight.
Moreover, all of the short ultra-violet waves are absorbed before
the sun's rays reach the land surface. It would be thought, then,
that waves of still shorter length could be registered at high levels,
and this was actually found. Thoroughly appreciating the facts,
firstly, that the beneficial effects of sunlight are clue to ultra-violet
rays, and secondly, that these are more abundant at high altitudes,
Rollier commenced treating his patients in the Alps at Leysin.
What results have been obtained in the health-giving Alpine sunlight
rays? Daily, cases of rickets, tuberculosis, etc. are being
cured, and wonderful work is being done in. protection against
tuberculosis. But however admirable the conditions in mountainous
regions are for sanatoria, there is the disadvantage of inaccessi-bility.
It is here that artificial sources of ultra-violet rays come
into play. Many such sources have been found which give spectra
extending far into the ultra-violet. Of these, the best known are
the Tungsten arc, the carbon arc, the mercury vapour arc, and the
Westminster arc. Much harm may be caused by the wanton use of
artificial sunlight, and herein lies a large field of research for the
physical chemist. If such waves of short length are dangerous,
then appropriate filters must be devised such that the filtered rays
will give just the same effect as natural sunlight.
Regarding the physiological effects of sunlight, artificial or
real, we all know the signs of holidays. Well-tanned faces are the
most prominent after-effects. This is due to pigmentation, and in
particular to the development of melanin. Various explanations
have been advanced for this. How far will rays of different length
pentrate the skin? By using different arcs and different absorbents
it is found that no rays shorter than 2320 A.U. or longer than 3300
A. U. will produce erythema. The following, then, is a possible
explanation of pigmentation. Certain rays of ultra-violet penetrate
into the epidermis and activate melanophores containing melanogen,
which last produces melanin by photodynamic action. With
continued irradiation, therefore involving a continuous elaboration
of melanin, a time will come when a layer of skin is mapped out
through which ultra violet is no longer able to penetrate, since
melanin absorbs ultra violet rays. What is meant by photodynamic
action? If a series of waves synchronises with the natural period
of a planetary electron, then that electron may be ejected altogether
from the field of the nucleus with the result that chemical change
will ensue. It is far from this idea to the formation of melanin
from melanogen, but it is a novel basis on which to work out the
action of light. The idea also helps us to understand the
mechanism of the selenium cell. Now, true ionisation, i.e., loss of
an electron, on a metal by illumination by ultra-violet light is
nullified by the interposition, between the source of light and the
metal, of ordinary glass. Ionisation therefore, is an effect of ultraviolet
waves. It may be of interest now to mention one of the
suggested methods by which living cells are destroyed by ultraviolet
rays.
Fats, proteins, etc., are present in the form of colloids.
Imagine the effect of ultra-violet on the charged colloid particles.
The excess charges will be split off, and therefore granulation will
appear in the cellular substance, due to precipitation of the colloid
matter in the molecular state. This actually happens.
Hess and Weinstock discovered that irradiated cotton-seed oil,
when fed to rats which were on a rickets-producing diet, prevented
the development of rickets. Control rats receiving no oil and
others receiving non-irradiated oil developed rickets. They also
found that antirachitic properties could be conferred on wheat
subjected to irradiation for a period every day. Likewise, they
shewed that the efficacy of plants for preventing rickets was not
dependent on the chlorophyll content. Attempts were made to
isolate the potent ingredient of irradiated substances. Eventually,
it was found that phytosterol, when irradiated and fed to rats on a
rickets-producing diet, prevented the appearance of rickets. The
non-irradiated compound had no such effect. Similar results were
obtained with cholesterol. The explanation offered is to the effect
that the ultra-violet activates the cholesterol present in the skin, to
produce antirachitic effects. Further work has been done on the
chemistry of the reaction.
Baly and Heildron have performed interesting experiments on
the photosynthesis of sugars. By bubbling carbon dioxide through
water in a quartz cell (which permits of the passage of ultra-violet
light) these workers found very definite proof of the formation of
formaldehyde. When glass replaced the quartz, i.e., when ultraviolet
was cut off, no formaldehyde was formed. They have also
proved that light will polymerise formaldehyde in aqueous solution
to reducing sugars. The two steps of the synthesis of sugar in the
same vessel at the same time was next accomplished by liberating
the carbon dioxide in presence of the water, e.g., by irradiating a
solution of oxalic acid. These results seem perfectly convincing,
but a difficulty arose. Why were plants able to grow in hot-houses
when the rays necessary for the first stage of the synthesis could
not penetrate the glass? A theory was put forward which postulated
some substance in the plant which was capable of absorbing
light of lower frequency and radiating that energy in infra-red
frequency characteristic of carbon dioxide and water. Actual
experimental proof of this view has been obtained.
HOLMES for BOOKS
Publications of Interest
Isotopes
By F. W. Aston 10/6
Chemistry in Service of Man
By A. Findlay 6/-
Light and Colour
By R. A. Houston 7/6
Chemists Year Book
By F. W. Atack 21/-
Mail Orders receive prompt
attention
W. R. HOLMES
New and Second-Hand Booksellers
3-11 Dunlop Street Branch
& Second-Hand Branch at
87 Queen Street, Glasgow
Browse
around and
see what
we have
Great
Selection
of 1/6 & 2/-
Fiction
Ideal House
for all
Social Functions
Tea Rooms
Lunch Rooms
Grill Room
Quick Service Rooms
(Ladies and Gentlemen)
Banqueting Hall
Ball Rooms
Telephone - 6314 Central. (4 Lines)

Close

Cite this Document

APA Style:

The Alchemist magazine, Vol. 1.1. 2024. In The Corpus of Modern Scottish Writing. Glasgow: University of Glasgow. Retrieved 2 December 2024, from http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/cmsw/document/?documentid=652.

MLA Style:

"The Alchemist magazine, Vol. 1.1." The Corpus of Modern Scottish Writing. Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 2024. Web. 2 December 2024. http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/cmsw/document/?documentid=652.

Chicago Style

The Corpus of Modern Scottish Writing, s.v., "The Alchemist magazine, Vol. 1.1," accessed 2 December 2024, http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/cmsw/document/?documentid=652.

If your style guide prefers a single bibliography entry for this resource, we recommend:

The Corpus of Modern Scottish Writing. 2024. Glasgow: University of Glasgow. http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/cmsw/.

Close

The Alchemist magazine, Vol. 1.1

Document Information

Document ID 652
Title The Alchemist magazine, Vol. 1.1
Year group 1900-1950
Genre Journalism
Year of publication 1925
Wordcount 5369

Author information: Various

Author ID 434
Surname Various