Page:Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Vol 45.djvu/17



In pursuance of the Statutes, notice of the ensuing Anniversary Meeting was given from the Chair.

Mr. John Ball, Sir James Cockle, Dr. Huggins, Dr. Rae, and Mr. Symons were by ballot elected Auditors of the Treasurer's accounts on the part of the Society.

The Presents received were laid on the table, and thanks ordied for them The following Papers were read:-

"Combustion in drisd Oxygen." By H. BRERETON BAKER, M.A., Dulwich College, late Scholar of Balliol College, Oxford Communicated by Professor H. B. DrxoN, F.R.S Received July 4, 1888 I.

In 1884 some preliminary experiments, published in the Journal of the Chemical Society,' con vinced me that moisture exerted an important influence on the combustion of carbon. Since that time experiments have been made, not only with that element but with several others, and the same influence seems to be exerted on the combustion of some, while no such inflnence could be detected in the case of other elements. It was discovered very early in the investiga- tion that hydrogen, both free and comhined, aided the union of carbon with dried oxygen, and therefore for the new experiments on this and other elements, special attention was devoted to their puritication from hydrogen. It was found that two of these elements, amorphous phosphorus and boron, had, like carbon, a very great power of ocelnd- ing hydrogen. To eliminate it some of the elements were heated in a current of pure chlorine, while others were heated in sealed tubes with the chlorides of the elements, special precautions being taken to