Correspondence PARACELSUS AND THE DISCOVERY OF HYDROGEN DEARDR. GORDON: Since reading Dr. Leonard Dobbin's letter in the Correspondence SecEDUCATION (pp. 11224), tion of the June, 1932, JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL in which he criticizes my quotation from Paracelsus,' I have examined the Latin edition of Paracelsus' "Opera Omnia" which was edited by Bitiskius and published ih Geneva in 1658. Although the statement that Paracelsus treated iron with sulfuric acid and noticed that "air rises and breaks forth like a wind" appears repeatedly in the later literature of chemistry, this Geneva folio contains no mention of iron or of sulfuric acid in this connecti~n.~Waite's English translation is based on this Geneva edition. I am sorry to have repeated this error, and wish to thank Dr. Dobbin for correcting it. Yours sincerely, MARYE L V ~WEEKS A THEUNTYERSITY OP KANSAS LAWRBNCS, KANSAS
MICROSCOPY OF THE COTTON CELLULOSE FIBER. CORRECTION DEAREDITOR: Dr. Robert H. Pickard, of the Briti* Cotton Industry Research Association, has called attention to an error in our paper entitled "Microscopy of the Cotton Cellulose Fiber" [J. CHEM.EDUC.,9, 114-21 (Jan., 1932)]. . In this paper we state, "In this connection the British Cotton Spinners Association established a research group. To them, particularly W. L. Balls and H. J. Denham and their co-workers, etc. . . ." (paragraph 2, p. 114). Dr. W. L. Balls for many years directed the research department of the Fine Cotton Spinners and Doublers Association. Dr. H. J. Denham and the other workers whose papers from J. Textile Inst. are quoted (pp. 12&1) made their investigations in the laboratories of the British Cotton Industry Research Association. Yours very truly, H. LEB. GRAY KODAK CO. EASTMAN N. Y. ROCHESTER, J. CmM. Eonc., 9,215 (Feb.,1932). PARACELSUS, "Opera Omnia," Vol. 2, Geneva, 1658, p. 7. (Ziber secundus ArchiW ~ r r e ,"The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus," Vol. 2, James Elliott and Co., London, 1894, p. 13. 1296
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