membered by the average chemist who has not a very definite interest in the historical side of chemistry. Have the works of these savants become unintelligible to the modern students? Possibly not so meaningless as they are difficult of being correctly interpreted. It is difficult to project oneself backwards in time to that period (especially in the light of our modern views on these same subjects) and realize how these phiiosophers were really in earnest concerning what we would now term absurd ideas. The student must become thoroughly imbued with the spirit of the age if he is to gain an insight into the philosophical development of the phlogiston theory and its subsequent elimination as a working hypothesis. K i a n ' s "Elements of Mineralogy" (1784) and his "Geological Essays" (1799) are not of direct interest to the chemist. The latter work began a long and bitter polemical controversy with Playfair who was championing the Huttonian theory of the universe. Some of the bickerings are interestingly acrimonious. K i a n and De Luc were known as Neptunists as opposed to the Vulcanists, regarding the origin and the development of the earth into its present shape and condition. In his later years Kirwan turned to philosophical contemplation. In 1802 he published his "Logik," and in 1811 "Metaphysical Essays," neither of which were very successful. The Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy after 1800 contain many papers on such philosophical subjects as "Essay on Human Liberty" in which he takes issue with some of Priestley's contributions to the science of metaphysics and human behavior. Other interesting titles are: "Of Duration, Time and Eternity," "On the Primeval Language of Mankind," "An Essay on Happiness," "On the Origin of Polytheism, Idolatry and Grecian Mythology."
Says Reclaimed Rubber Stabilizes Tire Trade. "Old rubber!" Once merely a part of the ragman's chant, these words have now become a powerful economic charm, operating in high-price years to soften the impact on the tire-buyer's pocketbook and in low-price years to save the tire-making industry from disaster. The importane which reclaimed rubber has assumed in the industry, thanks to new chemical processes which have greatly improved its quality, w a s discussed by William C. Geer, of New Rochelle, N. Y., before the meeting of the American Chemical Societv. I n one vex. Mr. Gew stated. the use of reclaimed rubber saved the consumer $55,297,000. Another recent imorovemeut which has been made in rubber is the addition of chemicals to dow down the rate of oxidation, which does to rubber what rust does to steel. Rubber articles have had their lives thus lengthened by from two to ten years, the speaker declared. Mr. Geer doubts both the need and the commercial possibility of artificial rubber. American-grown rubber is in sight, and this, with further improvements in reclaimed rubber, will take care of our needs for a long time to come, he said.-Science Service
