~Colorimetric Assays.~--These are assays in which the colour imparted to a solution by some compound of the metal to be determined is taken advantage of; the depth of colour depending on the quantity of metal present. They are generally used for the determination of such small quantities as are too minute to be weighed. The method of working is as follows:--A measured portion of the assay solution (generally 2/3, 1/2, 1/3, or 1/4 of the whole), coloured by the substance to be estimated, is placed in a white glass cylinder standing on a sheet of white paper or glazed porcelain. Into an exactly similar cylinder is placed the same amount of re-agents, &c., as the portion of the assay solution contains, and then water is added until the solutions are of nearly equal bulk. Next, a standard solution of the metal being estimated is run in from a burette, the mixture being stirred after each addition until the colour approaches that of the assay. The bulk of the two solutions is equalised by adding water. Then more standard solution is added until the tints are very nearly alike. Next, the amount added is read off from the burette, still more is poured in until the colour is slightly darker than that of the assay, and the burette read off again. The mean of the readings is taken, and gives the quantity of metal added. It equals the quantity of metal in the portion of the assay. If this portion was one-half of the whole, multiply by two; if one-third, multiply by three, and so on. When the quantity of metal in very dilute solutions is to be determined, it is sometimes necessary to concentrate the solutions by boiling them down before applying the re-agent which produces the coloured compound. Such concentration does not affect the calculations. ~Gasometric Assays.~--Gasometric methods are not much used by assayers, and, therefore, those students who wish to study them more fully than the limits of this work will permit, are recommended to consult Winkler and Lunge's text-book on the subject. The methods are without doubt capable of a more extended application. In measuring liquids, ordinary variations of temperature have but little effect, and variations of atmospheric pressure have none at all, whereas with gases it is different. Thus, 100 c.c. of an ordinary aqueous solution would, if heated from 10° C. to 20° C., expand to about 100.15 c.c. 100 c.c. of a gas similarly warmed would expand to about 103.5 c.c., and a fall of one inch in the barometer would have a very similar effect. And in measuring gases we have not only to take into account variations in volume due to changes in temperature and atmospheric pressure, but also that which is observed when a gas is measured wet and dry. Water gives off vapour at all temperatures, but the amount of vapour is larger as the temperature increases.