isocyanides just as readily as with hydroyen cyanide. Completely acetylated glucose has been shown experimentally to
react with phenyl isocyanide to form a
product which on alkaline hydrolysis
yields a-gluco. heptonic lactone, the same
product that ordinary glucose gives on
treatment with hydrogen cyanide followed
by hydrolysis. It m a y be concluded from
this that cyanohydrin formation from
aldoses m a y be a reaction involving
hydrogen isocyanide.
That the reactive form of the aldose
need not be the bivalent carbon form of
Nef is shown by the fact that ketones
also react with isonitriles, as w a s shown
ten years ago by Passerini. The explanation of the whole problem that best fits
all the facts k n o w n at present is that of
W a d e , w h o assumed that the open carbonyl form of the aldehyde absorbs the
isonitrile.
Chemical Education Group
"The Chemistry Teacher's Contribution
to Modern Culture" was discussed by
Otto Reinmuth, Editor of the Journal of
Chemical Education.
The speaker did not attemipt to define
education or culture save by implication.
H e merely offered some reflections which
represent an attempt to meet the challenge presented by the difficulty of translating certain classical and pedagogical
generalizations into terms of everyday
classroom practice.
It was pointed out that culture m a y be
regarded as having both qualitative and
quantitative aspects. Quantitatively, the
teacher can hope to impart but little to
his students in the time available to him;
qualitatively, he m a y do m u c h if his
time is well spent. The logical implication is that, insofar as science instruction
aspires to contribute to cultural development, it must emphasize the attitude and
method, rather than the factual products,
of science.
This should not be interpreted as justifying a disrespect for fact. Fact is the
raw material of principle. Memorized
scientific principles m a y have considera-
ble utilitarian value for the student in
after life, but unless he knows the facts
on which they were based, and unless he
understands clearly the logic of their
derivation, they can scarcely be said to
have contributed to his intellectual or
cultural development.
For this reason the historical method
of approach is to be recotmmended whenever it can be employed without doing
violence to logical organization of subject
matter and without unduly retarding the
tempo of the course. Fortunately, there
is a wealth of .historical and biographical
material available to the teacher w h o will
take the trouble to collect it and to m a k e
judicious selections from it. In m a n y
cases the original writings of chemical
discoveries are completely understandable
even to the high-school student, or, at
most, require little explanatory comment
from the instructor. The Willard Gibbs
Medal address of Arrhenius should constitute an excellent introduction to the
study of ionization.
Insofar as the exigencies of the syllabus permit, the attempt should be m a d e
to present an individual science in its
true proportions in relation to other sciences and other fields of h u m a n activity.
In this respect it would seem that the
high-school teacher w h o must teach several subjects can m a k e a virtue of
necessity. While he m a y lack the opportunity for intensive specialization in one
subject, his breadth of interests and outlook should be a compensating advantage.
The possibility of a cultural residue
from science instruction in the form of
hobby interests which have a scientific
basis should not be neglected.
Physico Chemical Group
Erik R. Nielsen, Research Chemist,
Miner Laboratories, addressed the group
upon the topic, "Beverage Coffee and Its
Acidity."
It was briefly pointed out that coffee,
as merchandised, deteriorates quickly,
and that even vacuum-packed coffee does
not keep indefinitely. In the deterioration of coffee at least two changes take