54 



NATURE 



[March 9, 191 1 



motion that exists must, therefore, be prarlically irrota- 

 tional. 



The Journal of the Franklin Institute for February con- 

 tains a report on recent progress in the chemistry of the 

 terpenes and camphors, by J. S. Hepburn. Similar re- 

 ports dealing with the sugars and the proteins have 

 appeared in the two preceding years. The present report 

 is based upon VVallach's recently published volume on the 

 *' Terpenes and Camphor," and in the space of twenty-five 

 pages gives an excellent summary, which is likely to be 

 of service to those who are unable to make use of the 

 German original. 



Mr. a. K. Porter finds that a number of ferments, 

 including pepsin, trypsin, and rennet, are rendered inactive 

 by being kept in contact with artificial membranes, especi- 

 ally with collodion ones. Most ferments which have thus 

 been inactivated have at the same time acquired inhibitive 

 properties. The inactivation of ferments by membranes is 

 not due to simple absorption, for there is no evidence of 

 saturation of the membrane ; on the contrary, its in- 

 activating power appears to improve with, repeated use. 

 Although the inhibitive power of the inactivated ferments 

 may be due in part to substances preformed in the solu- 

 tion, inhibition is still present after removal of these sub- 

 stances, suggesting that the ferment itself is changed by 

 ■contact with a membrane into a substance having an 

 inhibiting power on itself {Quart. Journ. Experiment. 

 Physiol., iii.. No. 4, December, 1910, p. 375). 



The important discoveries of MM. Paul Sabatier and 

 Senderens on the catalytic action of finely divided metals, 

 notably nickel and copper, have recently been extended to 

 a study of the catalytic action of various metallic oxides. 

 In the current number of the Comptes rendus MM. Paul 

 Sabatier and A. Mailhe give an account of a new synthetic 

 method, based on the catalytic effect of titanium oxide, 

 which would appear to possess many practical applications. 

 They show that if a column of titanium dioxide is main- 

 tained at a temperature of 28o°-30o° C, and a mixture of 

 the vapours of a primary alcohol and a fatty acid (other 

 than formic acid) is led over it, the corresponding ester 

 is formed. The same limit is here reached instantaneously 

 as was found by Berthelot after prolonged contact. An 

 excess of either constituent favours the limit of combina- 

 tion of the other. Following this method, the methyl, 

 ethyl, propyl, butyl, isobutyl, and isoamyl esters of acetic, 

 propionic, butyric, isobutyric, isovaleric, and caproic 

 acids have been prepared. Esters of benzyl alcohol have 

 also been readily obtained by this method. The inverse 

 action — the direct hydrolysis of esters by water — is also 

 •easily effected, and the use of titanium dioxide reduces any 

 secondary reactions to a negligible amount. 



An article on ferro-concrete beams with single reinforce- 

 ment appears in Engineering for March 3, from the pen 

 of Dr. W. C. Unwin. The object of the article is to put 

 the equations of the ordinary theory into the most con- 

 venient form for calculation. The ordinary theory is known 

 to be only roughly approximate, but the assumptions made 

 are believed to be generally on the side of safety. The 

 formulae, however, are still in some cases very complicated, 

 as given in books, due to the attempt to obtain formal 

 exactness from a mathematical point of view. But the data 

 used in solving problems are themselves only approximate ; 

 for instance, the selected value of the coefficient of elasticity 

 of concrete, which itself varies with the stress, and the 

 neglect of the tensile stress in the concrete. Hence it would 

 appear that, for practical purposes, a sacrifice of mathe- 

 matical exactness in the form of the equations is justifi- 

 NO. 2158, VOL. 86] 



able, if the errors are small within a practical range. In 

 fact, some of the equations are only used in designing by 

 making assumptions and proceeding by trial and error, or 

 by the use of tables and curves based more or less on 

 experience. Both rectangular and T sections are dealt 

 with in the article, and examples are giv*n of thr- use in 

 practice of the simplified formulae deduced. 



A coi'V has been received of the first number of thi- 

 Irish Review, a monthly magazine of Irish literature, art. 

 and science. Science is represented only by an article on 

 economics by Mr. George W. Moore, in which he deaU 

 with the problem of rural life. The magazine is publish(<l 

 in Dublin, and may be obtained in London from Messrs. 

 Simpkin, .Marshall, Hainilion, K> iit and Co. The price is 

 bd. net. 



The annual report for 1910 of the Philosophical institut>> 

 of Canterbury, New Zealand, shows that the condition of 

 the institute continues to be satisfactory both as regards 

 the number of members and the active interest displayed 

 in those branches of science which constitute its object. 

 The special lines of research outlined in last year's report 

 have been developed, and some have already given good 

 results. These lines of inquiry are : — observations on the 

 Arthur's Pass tunnel ; a survey of the Canterbury lakes : 

 and an examination of the Christchurch artesian system. 

 This is quite apart from the original work which has been 

 carried on by individual members of the institute. A sub- 

 committee has also been considering the question of th'- 

 more adequate protection of the native fauna. Ten meet- 

 ings of the institute were held during the year, at which 

 the average attendance was sixty-four. At these meetings 

 twenty-seven papers embodying the results of original re- 

 search were read. These are classified as follows : — 

 botany, four ; zoology, seven ; geology, five ; chemistry, 

 six ; physics, two ; mathematics, one ; miscellaneous, two. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



The Brilliant Meteor of Febru.ary 19. — Mr. W. F. 



Denning writes : — " A very good observation of this object 

 comes from Mr. Felix de Roy, of Antwerp, who describes 

 the apparent path as from 27°-)- 34° to ii°-|-6o°, and 

 onwards to the north-east. He gives the duration as 

 twelve seconds, but this only relates to a portion of the 

 flight. To him the meteor disappeared in a cloud. 



" At Putney the object was seen by Mr. F. E. Baxandall, 

 wRb gives the duration as fifteen seconds, but 1 do not 

 know whether the newspaper account of his observaffbns 

 includes the course of the meteor. The radiant point 

 appears to have been at 46°— 15° in Eridanus, and the 

 heights 70 to 49 miles along a path 590 miles long, and 

 probably this does not include the whole extent of the 

 visible luminous trajectory. Its motion seems to have 

 passed from over the English Channel between Brest and 

 Plymouth to Oldenburg, in Hanover. From Stowmarket 

 the meteor was seen to rise from the south-west horizon, 

 and at Antwerp it was low in the north-east when it dis- 

 appeared. The meteor may therefore have sailed along in 

 a nearly horizontal flight much further, but it was rising, 

 not falling, to the earth when last seen. 



'' This meteor, though of such an extended course, is 

 not beyond precedent, for according to the computations 

 of the late Prof. Herschel the fireball of August 18, 1783, 

 had a path of 1000 to 1200 miles ; that of September 5, 

 1868, was watched along 880 miles; while that of July 20, 

 i860, was traced more than 1000 miles. It will be 

 important to secure observations of the metecw of Feb- 

 ruary 19 from Cornwall or the north-west coast of France, 

 and from Holland and Hanover or that region." 



H alley's Comet. — Dr. Ebell publishes a bi-daily 

 ephemeris for Halley's comet, extending to April 30, in 

 No. 4476 of the Astrononiische Nachrichtcn. Although the 

 comet is not likely to be observed with ordinary instiu- 



