Abstract
THIS congress was held in Paris during the last week of July, M. Moissan being president and M. Berthelot honorary president. The work was divided into ten sections: analytical chemistry, chemical industry of inorganic products, metallurgy, mines and explosives, chemical industry of organic products, the sugar industry, chemical industry of fermentation, agricultural chemistry, hygiene, food analysis, medical and pharmaceutical chemistry, photography, and electrochemistry. More than two hundred papers were read and discussed, and numerous resolutions were passed, of which the following were the most important. In view of the great inconvenience caused commercially by uncertainty in the atomic weights used by analytical chemists, the congress, hoping that the adoption of the atomic weight of oxygen as a base (0=16) would lead to a greater certainty and to a simplification in the calculation of atomic weights, agreed to work in unison with the International Commission on atomic weights. It further suggested the necessity for an International Commission for fixing methods and coefficients of analysis in commercial work. Committees were also appointed to deal with questions of indicators in volumetric work, analysis of manures, potash estimation, and the use of sulphurous acid in wine. In the second section the chief questions dealt with were the determination of high temperatures, construction of glass and porcelain furnaces, the manufacture of sulphuric acid, and of barium and hydrogen peroxides. In the section of metallurgy, mines and explosives, papers were read dealing with the sampling of minerals, the constitution of iron and steel, the use of the microscope in the study of metals, utilisation of waste heat, and the estimation of sulphur, manganese and phosphorus in metals. In the section dealing with the industry of organic substances the most important discussion was on the use of alcohol for other than drinking purposes, and a series of resolutions was passed stating that in the opinion of the congress no duty should be charged upon alcohol used in the preparation of pharmaceutical and chemical products. In the case of alcohol intended for use as fuel, the substances added should be of a character appropriate to its use, not too costly, and not containing any non-volatile substance. Any attempt to recover pure alcohol from methylated spirit should be liable to severe penalties, and all makers of stills should be compelled to give particulars to the excise authorities of stills sold or repaired. In the other sections discussions were held on the relation of the sugar industry to the State, the methods o analysis of wines and spirits, the carbide industry, manufacture of percarbonates, and numerous other papers of interest.
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The International Congress of Applied Chemistry . Nature 62, 519 (1900). https://doi.org/10.1038/062519a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/062519a0