576 



NATURE 



[June 22, 191 1 



integration by the ordinary agents of denudation, that they 

 cannot have endured such attack for long. Consequently 

 these valleys themselves are geologically recent. — Ordinary 

 meeting, Mr. W. W. Froggatt in the chair. — Papers 

 read : D. McAlpin* : Description of a new smut in a new 

 genus of grass. — T. Harvey Johnston : (i) The entozoa 

 of Monotremata and Australian Marsupialia, No. ii. ; 

 (2) new species of avian cestodes. 



April 26. — Mr. W. W. Froggatt, president, in the chair. 

 — Dr. J. M. Potrio : The rdle of nitrogen in plant meta- 

 bolism, parts iii.-v. (iii.) The distribution of nitrogen in 

 the seeds of Acacia pycnantha. The seeds contain 4-51 per 

 cent of N in various forms. The changes in the solu- 

 bility of the protein are examined in various stages of 

 partial neutralisation. A study of the action of various 

 protein precipitants is made. Quantitative precipitation by 

 alcohol of increasing strength brings out a differentiation 

 of the N values, and shows the presence of at least two 

 different proteins. The protein-free solution contains (i) 

 substances which easily set free ammonia when distilled ; 

 (2) compounds which liberate ammonia only when hydro- 

 lysed with dilute acids ; (3) compounds which are only 

 decomposed by boiling with strong acids for prolonged 

 periods ; (4) basic compounds, (iv.) The nitrogen of ripen- 

 ing seeds. Experiments on the wild tare, Vicia sativa. 

 The seeds, as ripening progresses, gain in protein and also 

 in non-protein N compounds, the mature seeds containing 

 the largest amount of each. The view that the proteins 

 are formed at the expense of non-protein N compounds is 

 not supported. All ripe seeds examined contain non- 

 protein N, which remains unaltered throughout the 

 dormant state. A series of experiments on, V. faba showed 

 that when the seeds are left enclosed in the isolated pods, 

 a transference of material takes place from the pods to 

 the seeds. This results in an increase in total N and 

 protein N, and a small increase in non-protein N. The 

 seed-protein could only have been augmented by the addi- 

 tion of protein or protein derivatives, and the only possible 

 source is the pods, (v.) The occurrence of potassium 

 nitrate in plants. The occurrence of an unusually large 

 amount of potassium nitrate in the leaves of Solandra 

 grandiflora, 2-01 per cent, of the plant dried at 100° C, is 

 recorded. — R. J. Tillyard : Studies in the life-histories of 

 Australian Odonata. No. 4. Further notes on the life- 

 history of Petalura gigantea, Leach. The account of the 

 life-history of P. gigantea is completed. The living 

 nymph, hitherto undiscovered, was found in a swamp at 

 Medlow, Blue Mountains. These larvae appear to be at 

 least two years in reaching maturity. — E. W. Fergruson : 

 The Amycteridae of the Voyage de I' Astrolabe, 1835. The 

 author has had the opportunity of examining Boisduval's 

 types of ten species, from Coll. Dejean, out of a total of 

 nineteen described, the descriptions of the remaining nine 

 being sufficiently full for satisfactory recognition. — W. W. 

 ^''osrK'att : Description of a new lac-coccid (genus 

 Tachardia) from New South Wales. 

 Victoria. 



Royal Societv, April 13. — Mr. Walcott in the chair.— 

 J. Shephard : A list of Victorian rotifers, with descrip- 

 tion of two new species and the males of two species. 

 H. H. Anderson and the author published a Victorian list 

 in 1892. Brachionus lyratus, n.sp., and B. dichototnus, 

 n.sp., and males of Lacinularia reticulata and L. elliptica 

 are described. — A. J. Ewart : Fruiting of " Blackfellow's 

 Bread " (Polyporus Mylittae, Cooke). Sporophores do not 

 form without the stimulus of light. 



May II. — Prof. Skeats in the chair. — W. Baldwin 

 Spencer and R. H. Walcott : The origin of cuts on 

 bones of Australian extinct marsupials. Bones from 

 localities in Victoria, New South Wales, and South 

 Australia have cuts and marks on them into which the 

 teeth of Thylacoleo will fit, thus confirming its carnivorous 

 habit. — ^Jean White : Bitter-pit in apples. Results of one 

 season's work are given. Several diseases are confounded 

 under the name ; the one investigated is caused by spray- 

 ing with lead arsenate. 



Cape Town. 



Roval Society of South Africa, May 17. — Mr. S. S. 

 Hough, F.R.S., president, in the chair. — Miss D. F. 

 Bleek : Note on the language of Bushman tribes north of 

 NO. 2173, VOL. 86] 



the Orange River, illustrated by gramophone records. — L. 

 Pdrinaruey : Note on the result of investigations of a 

 Strand Looper Hottentot rock-shelter, with exhibition of 

 the objects found. — R. Marloth : Some new South .African 

 succulents and other plants, part iv. — J. Burtt-Davy : 

 Segregation of two pairs of characters in a cross-bred 

 maize ear. — T. Muir : Sylvester's axisymmetric unisignant. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



MONDAY. June 36. i 



Victoria Institute, at 4.30.— The True Temper of Empire: SirChar1e«* 

 Bruce, G.C.M.G. 



TUESDAY, JuME a;. 

 ZooLooiCAL Society, .it 8.30. 



WEDNESDAY, June a8. 

 Royal Microscopical .Society, at 8.— (i) On the Structure of Scale* 

 from Thermobia domestic a; (2) A DeM:ription of a Model produciM 

 Optical Eflects similar to the Cuneate M.irkings in Incect Scales: J. 

 Strachan. — Rotifera of New Zealand and S. Africa : J. Murray. 

 FRIDAY, Junk 30. 

 Physical Society, at 5.— On the Effect of a Narrow Saw^nit in the Edn 

 of n Conducting Strip on the Stream Lines in the Strip and on the '' 

 Resistance of the Strip: Prof. C. H. Lees, F.R.S.— The Capacity Co- 

 efficients of Spherical Electrodei: Dr. A. Russell.— Exhibition of the 

 BenkO Primarj- Battery : W. R. Cooper. 



MONDAY, July 3. 

 Aristotelian Society, at 8.— Emotional Experiences of some Higher 



Mystics; Rev. A. Caldecott. 

 Royal Geographical Society, at 8.30. —Explorations in Dutch New 

 Guinea: Capt. C. G. Rawling, CLE. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Problems of Potable Water. By Denison B. Byles 543 

 German and French Books on Crystallography. 

 A. E. H. T 



By 



S. S. B. 



Modern Explosives. By J. 



A State Medical Service 



Geology for Students. By Prof. Grenville A. J. 



Cole 



Biological Chemistry. By Dr. A. Harden, F.R.S. . 

 West Greenland Eskimo. By Dr. A. C. Haddon, 



F.R.S 



A Veteran Anthropoloeist 



Physical Chemistry, By A. S 



Britain's Birds 



Our Book Shelf . . 



Letters to the Editor: — 



The Solar Eclipse of April 28.— Charles W. Raffety 



Dinofiagellates and Diatoms on the Beach. — Prof. 

 W. A. Herdman, F.R.S 



A New Method of Chemical Analysis. — Sir Oliver 

 Lodge, F.R.S. ; Prof. Bohuslav Brauner . . 



The Formation of Stable Columns of Liquids. {Illus- 

 trated.)— ChAS. R. Darling . 



The Coronation. By A. E. Crawley 



Aerial Navigation and Mechanics 



The Sea Dyaks of Borneo. (Illustrated.) By C. G. S. 



The Biological Stations of Europe 



Notes 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



The Eclipse of the Sun, April 17, 1912 



The Changes on Jupiter, 1881-1909 



Barnard's Comet, 1892 V 



The Motion of the Pole 



The Proper Motions of the Stars 



Stellar Parallaxes . . . . 



Positions of Stars in the Huyghenian Region of the 



Orion Nebula 



The British Solar Eclipse Expedition. {Illus- 

 trated.) By Dr. W. J. S. Lockyer 



A New Rod of Aaron. By D. W. T 



Agricultural Research in Ceylon 



Absorption Spectra of Metallic Salts. By C. P. B. 



The Royal Society Conversazione 



Shellfish and their Relation to Disease. By 



R. T. H 



The Chemistry of Mummification 



An Imperial Bureau of Anthropology 



Technical Education and Industries. By Barker 



North 



University and Educational Intelligence 



Societies and Academies 



Diary of Societies 



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