Orientation of Anisotropic Liquids on Crystals.

(F. Grandjean. L’orientation des liquides anisotropes sur les cristaux. Bulletin de la Société française de Minéralogie 39 No. 7—8, p. 164—1916; and F. Grandjean. Deuxième Note sur l’orientation des liquides anisotropes au contact des cristaux. Bulletin de la Société française de Minéralogie 40 No. 4, 5, 6, p. 69—1917).

Grandjean studies, by the methods he has described, the orientation of anisotropic liquids in contact with crystals and finds that it is almost always possible to obtain definite orientations if a drop of liquid is placed on a cleavage of crystals. These orientations are for the most part very simply connected with the symmetry of the crystal. In the second article Grandjean finds that this phenomenon of orientation is a very general phenomenon and that its causes lie in the molecular actions between the liquid and the solid body. As to the nature of the forces orienting the molecules of the liquid, Grandjean says only that they must be different from electrical and magnetic forces, but he does not express any considerations of a positive character.

P. Lazarev.