144 



NATURE 



{Jtme 8, 1876 



that deficient insulation might lead to such a conclusion. He 

 then proceeded to show that just as the charge given to a gold- 

 leaf electroscope is at times positive and at times negative with- 

 out any apparent reason for the change, so if the core of the 

 arrangement employed be connected with a Thomson's galva- 

 nometer, the needle will be found to wander irregularly about 

 the scale on both sides of the zero. In order to show that these 

 experiments are identical with those conducted as originally 

 described by the discoverer, the terminals of the induction coil 

 were connected with the coil of an electro-magnet, the same 

 means of including a layer of air in the circuit being introduced. 

 The effect in this case was found to be precisely similar to that 

 obtained with the special arrangement previously used ; with a 

 brush discharge a Geissler's tube could be illuminated, and, when 

 the layer of air was infinitesimal, the spark produced was also 

 infinitesimal. It was then shown that, if the spark at the point of 

 contact in the key when a direct battery current traverses the 

 coil be done away with by shunting the extra current which gives 

 rise to it, no spark can be obtained from the core. It thus ap- 

 pears that no spark is obtained when there is no necessity for an 

 inducing current to accumulate until it has sufficient tension to 

 leap over a resisting medium, and that, as the thickness of this 

 resisting medium increases, the spark obtained becomes greater. 

 Evidently on these occasions the current has time to attract un- 

 like and repel like electricity in the core, and if a conductor in 

 connection with the earth be presented to this core, the like 

 electricity will escape ; hence a spark will result As soon, 

 however, as the tension has become sufficient to leap over the 

 layer of air, it will be necessary to restore equilibrium in the 

 core. Hence there will be a return spark in the opposite direc- 

 tion. From these experiments it will be seen that the pheno- 

 mena observed may be explained by the ordinary laws of 

 induction. 



Institution of Civil Engineers, May 23. — Mr. Aber- 

 nethy, vice-president, in the chair. — The paper read was on the 

 permanent way of railways, by Mr, R. Price Williams. 



Cambridge 

 Philosophical Society, May 8. — Mr, W, M. Hicks drew 

 attention to some experiments of Messrs. Stewart and Tait on 

 the heating of discs by rapid rotation in vacuo, and which they 

 referred to the friction of the ether. It was shown that it was 

 not necessary to have recourse to this explanation ; that nearly 

 all the effects could be accounted for if it is supposed that the 

 disc, through the rapid rotation, has expanded and consequently 

 been lowered in temperature ; that whilst rotating it is raised to 

 the temperature of the surrounding region ; and therefore when 

 the rotation is stopped, and the disc has shrunk to its former 

 size, it will give out the heat it had taken in whilst rotating. 

 In the case of silver it was shown that the disc ought to show 

 a rise of '4° C. if the rotation had been continued for some time, 

 and this was compared with the rise of '47° C. which Messrs 

 Stewart and Tait had observed in an aluminium disc, thus 

 showing that the effect was of the same order of magnitude in 

 the two cases. It was also shown that if the whole heating 

 were due to ethereal friction, that this friction would be '0006 lbs. 

 per square foot, and that if we suppose this amount to act on 

 the surface of the earth, the day would be lengthened in the 

 course of a century by something like '006". — Prof. Maxwell 

 afterwards made a communication on the equilibrium of hetero- 

 geneous substances, 



Stockholm 



Royal Academy of Sciences, Feb, 9. — Herr Gylden com» 

 municated a transformation of the formula — 



n 



{ I + a/i Cos PaaOT ?5 + ^1 -h /^s j » 



which plays an important rS/ein the method of deducing a general 

 formula of perturbation for periodic comets worked out by him. 

 This transformation is mainly grounded on the relation — 



»/ — 1 am —- 



-v/ — J .r 



7) ( - ^ ) 



The final result is specially applicable when a comet comes to 

 that part of its path which lies nearest the perturbing planets ; 

 in this case / becomes inconsiderably less than i, and a "^^y ^^ 

 taken to fall within exceedingly narrow limits in the neighbour- 

 hood of o. The following papers were given in : — Myriopoda 

 from Siberia and Waigat's Island, collected during Ndrdensk- 

 jold's expedition, 1875, by Anton Stuxberg. Eighteen species 

 are described, of which only one was previously known to exist 

 in Siberia, and fifteen are new to science, viz. — Lithobius 10, 

 lulus I, Polydesmus 2, and Craspedosoma 2. Of the twenty- 

 seven Siberian species now known only two are European. — 

 Determinations of geographical position during the Swedish 

 expedition to Novaya Zemlyaand the Kara Sea, 1875, calculated 

 by E. Jiiderin. — On monoecism in fishes, by A. W. Malm. — 

 Prof. Borenius communicated magnetic observations made at 

 Helsingfors simultaneously with ttiose made by the Swedish 

 expedition at Spitzbergen during the winter 1872-3. 



Berlin 



German Chemical Society, May 8. — A. W. Hof- 

 mann, president, in the chair. — E. Schunck and H, Romer 

 by fusing Anthraflavinic and isoanthraflavinic acids with potash, 

 have obtained two isomeric purpurines Ci^HgOj, Anthr*pur- 

 jjurine is identical with a substance formerly obtained by Mr, 

 l^erkins ; ilavopurpurine obtained from the second of the two 

 substances is the fourtla isomeric purpurine. — A. Boettinger in 

 studying anew the decomposition of tartaric acid by heat, believes 

 that the formation of pyruvic acid is preceded by that of glyceric 

 acid. — Dr, T, Stenhouse and C, E. Groves in treating pure naph- 

 thaline with sulphuric acid, obtained not only j3-napbthaline-sul- 

 phurous acid, but also two napthaline-sulphones C20H14S02, easily 

 separated by sulphuret of carbon. They yield by oxidation two 

 isomeric naphthaline-sulphuric acids, — T. Annaheim described 

 dibromonitrooxysulphobenzid (CgH2BrN020H)2S02 and the 

 corresponding iodo-compound. The same chemist escribed a 

 red colouring substance obtained by the action of fuming sul- 

 phuric acid on cresol. — W, Rimarenko described jS-chloronaph- 

 thaline obtained from j8-naphthol and from )8 naphthaline-sul- 

 phuric acid with PCI5, — the method formerly described by M, 

 Clare, — E. v, Gorup Besancy and H.Will have investigated the 

 liquid secretion of insectivorous plants (Nepenthes phyllaniphera). 

 Albumine, fibrine, &c,, are transformed into peptone. This 

 digestion takes place in a very short time, when tiie secreting 

 organ of nepenthes has been excited by contact, — the liquid 

 having under these circumstances an acid reaction. The secretion 

 of non-excited glands is rendered equally active by the addition 

 of any acid, particularly of malic and citric acids. — H. Vogel 

 published researches on tiie influence of different rays of light on 

 bromide' of silver, — F, Tiemann and N, Matsnold have pre- 

 pared nitro-protocatechic acid and some of its derivatives, also 

 nitro-vanillinic acid and acetyl-nitro-vanillinic acid. — F. Tiemann 

 and C, Reimer have obtained paraoxybenzoic aldehyde by 

 treating phenate of potassium with chloroform. — E. Hoffmann 

 described derivatives of hesperidine, particularly an acid 

 C10H10O4, which with potash yield protocatechic acid. 



where 



and upon certain algebraic relations between different Tj-functionS. 



CONTENTS Page 



On ths Organisation of the Profession of Chemistry . . , 125 

 The Endow.ment of Research By Prof. E. Ray Lankester 



F.R.S 126 



Quain's Anatomy 129 



Our Book Shelf : — 



Day's " Exercises in Electrical and Magnetic Measurement " . ' 129 



McCoy's " Prodromus of the Palseontology of Victoria " . . 130 

 Letters to the Editor : — 



Scientific Poisoning. — Chbmist 130 



Pyrology — Quantitative Analysis by the Blowpipe. — Major W. A. 



Ross 130 



Page's Introductory Text-book of Physical Geography. — The 



Reviewer 131 



Our Astronomical Column :— 



The Secondary Light of Venus 131 



The Minor Planets 132 



A Free Spanish University 132 



Science in Germany 153 



Siemens' Electric Light Apparatus (/^iVA ////^j/ra/w«j) . . . 133 

 The Ethnology of the Papuans of Maclay Coast, New 



Guinea. By John C. Galton 1-5 



Notes ... 138 



Loan Collection of Scientific Apparatus — 



Section— Mechanics. — Prime Movers . • 14.0 



Scientific Serials 141 



SociKTiKS and Acadbmtrs 142 



