584 



NA TURE 



{Oct 26, 1876 



connect the most numerous species of a genus with species which 

 liave exceptionally retained in a permanent way the original 

 arrangement (flax).- They are more remarkable the greater the 

 differentiation of the adult with reference to neighbouring groups 

 (pines) ; and the order of appearance of fossil fonns in strata is 

 the same as the succession of forms in the same individual. — In 

 a paper on absorption of bicarbonates by plants, M. Barthelemy 

 finds that in natural waters, plants absorb more water than bicar- 

 bonate except when rapidly dried or in the flowering season. 

 The quantity of bicarbonate absorbed, for the same absorption 

 of water, varies with the nature of the plant. At night and in 

 water saturated to the same degree, plants excrete a part of the 

 bicarbonates absorbed during the day. The roots of plants give 

 back carbonic acid, which maintains the bicarbonates saturated. 

 — There are also papers on the development of insects, and on 

 development of the embryo of Nehimbrium speciostim, and M. 

 Bechamp, in a lengthy. paper, attacks the doctrine of evolution. 



From the NaiurforscJier {k.yxg\x.%\., 1876) we note the following 

 papers : — On th"e physical condition of Saturn, by L. Trouvelot. 

 — On the spreading of drops of liquids into thin layers, by F. 

 Cintolesi. — On a new fundamental law in electro-dynamics, by 

 Prof. Clausius. — On the natural means of protection of flowers 

 against their animal destroyers, by Herr A. Kemer. — On the 

 action of light upon the electric behaviour of metals in water, 

 by W. Hankel. — On the influer.ce of shape upon the magnetism 

 of soft iron cylinders, by Dr. Christoph Ruths. — On the pheno- 

 mena of motion and electricity in the leaf of Dioncca miiscipula, 

 by Herr Hermann Munlc— On the magnetisjn of cobalt and 

 nickel, by W. Hankel. — Phenomena of interference of light 

 passing through two dimmed planes, by K. Exner. — On allo- 

 tropic states of gold, by Julius Thomsen — New inorganic cells, 

 by Ferd. Cohn. — On the influence of gravitation upon the de- 

 velopment of adventive roots and shoots, by L. Kny.-r-On the' 

 theory of the optical power of crystals of turning the plane of 

 polarisation of light, by Herr Sohncke. —On the physical nature 

 of the sun, by Herr O. Lohse. — On the diffusion of gases by 

 absorbing substances, by S. von Wroblewski. — On electric ligh^ 

 by Herr E. Goldstein. — Further researches on the peptone- 

 forming ferments in the vegetable kingdom, by E. von Gorup- 

 Besanez and H. Will. — Arrangements for the protection of 

 chlorophyll in living plants, by Julius Wiesner. 

 ■' Mittheilungen der naiurjorschtnden Gesellschaft in Bern, 1875, 

 Nos. 878-905. From these parts we note the following papers : 

 On the changes of generation in the animal kingdom, by J. 

 Fankhauser. — On some observations of the sources and wells in 

 the district of Bern, during the years 1872-4, by R. Lauterburg. — 

 Topographical sanitary notes on the same district, by Dr. A. 

 Ziegler. — On a multiple telegraphing apparatus, by Herr Rothen. 

 — The greatest part of the publication is t£^ken iip by a very 

 elaborate list of the plants growing in the Bepier Oberland, by 

 Prof. L. Fischer. ^ 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES-', \^ " \ 

 Paris - 



Academy of Sciences, October 16, — ^Vice- Admiral Paris in 

 the chair. — The President referred to the sad loss sustained by 

 the Academy in the death of M. Sainte-Claire Deville, and M. 

 Dumas spoke on his life-work. The following papers were 

 read : — Intra-Mercurial planets (continued), by M. Le Verrier. — 

 Exploration of the whole of the coast which forms the gulf of 

 the two Syrtes, by M. Mouchez. The extent of coast surveyed 

 is 200 leagues. The work was difficult, owing to the nature of 

 the land (banks and dunes of sand) and the hostility of the 

 natives. This work fills the gap left by English hydrographers, 

 who had stopped at Sfax, the last town of Tunis, and resumed 

 at Berghazi, on the Egyptian frontier. — Itinerary of the double 

 voyage of M. Nordenskjoid between Norway and Siberia, in 1876, 

 in the Eymer, by M. Daubree. The rapidity of this voyage is 

 striking, twenty-four days from Norway to the mouth of the Jenisei 

 and eighteen days home. — On the relation of the two specific heats 

 of a gas, by M. Simon. Pe)-fect gases are those which follow the 

 laws of Mariotte and Gay Lussac. Simple and tetratoviic gases 

 are those whose molecules are formed of four smaller molecules, 

 all alike, which may be treated as atoms (such appear to be 

 hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, &c.). In such a gas he imagines 

 the four atoms to occupy the summit of a regular tetrahedron, 

 the side of which is greater than the diameter of any of them, 

 and the interior of this tetrahedron filled with free or condensed 

 ether. Taking account qf the. rotation of each elementary tetra- 

 hedron about Its centre -of gavjtyand regarding the vibrations of 



the atoms as nil or insensible, he has found the rat'o of the two 

 specific heats exactly |-, or i "40 ; while experiment gives values 

 between i -39 and i -42. Hence may be inferred that the interior 

 vibrations are really negligible, and in simple gases the physical 

 molecules seem to remain sensibly invariable, so long as no 

 electrical or chemical phenomena are produced. — Note on the 

 presence and origin of Phylloxera in Orleans, by M. Mouillefert. 

 There are facts to show that in advancing towards the northern 

 limit of cultivation of the vine, the phylloxera is less rapid in its 

 action ; still the vine is none the less doomed to certain death ; 

 it is only a question of time. — Kemarks on a recent note of M. 

 Lichtensteiu, on the reproduction of phylloxeras, by M. Balbiani. 

 — Study of comparative analyses of several varieties of American 

 stocks, resistant and non-resistant, by M. Boutin. He has found 

 in all American stocks a re.sinoid principle ; it exists also in 

 French stocks, but in quantity a half less than in the resistant 

 American stocks, and a third less than in the non-resistant. He 

 accounts for the resistance by presence of this 'principle in a pro- 

 portion not under 8 per cent, in the entire root; and 14 to 15 per 

 cent, in the bark alone: The pricl^. made by the insect, while 

 causing nodosities on the root, is cicatrised by exudation of the 

 resinous product ; and this prevents loss of the niitritious juices 

 of the plant. No such cicatrisation occurs in the non-resistant 

 stocks, the resinous matter not being abundant enough. 

 Perhaps the malic acid in the roots of American vines also 

 contributes to their resistp.nce.— Note on the velocity of pro- 

 pagation of waves, by M. Laroche. — On the chiselling 

 action of acids on various metals, by MM. Treve and 

 Durassier. The figures produced are in relation, not with 

 the interior structure, but with the exterior action of bubbles of 

 gas liberated during the reaction of the acids. — Combination of 

 chloral and acetic chloride, by M M. Curie and Millet. Heated 

 to 100° they unite (about half of the two bodies after twelve 

 hours' heating) ; there is one molecule of each, and the bodies 

 are simply juxtaposed. Subjected to nascent hydrogen, the body 

 loses two atbitfs of chlorine and gives a new compound, which 

 may be considered acetic chloride united with monociilorised 

 aldehyde. — On a sulpho-antimoniuret of lead found at Arnsberg 

 (Westphalia), by M. Pisani. — Observations on the origin of 

 eruptive, vitreous, and crystalline rocks, by M. Levy. His ex- 

 periments are against Meunier's view that crystalline rocks are 

 derived from vitreous rocks by way of devitrification. Most 

 natural crystalline rocks owe their internal texture to promorphic 

 phenomena, that is, phenomena anterior to their consolidation ; 

 secondary actions are also important, but they rarely quite mask 

 the original texture of a rock. — On the comparative influence of 

 leafy woods and of resinous woods on the temperature and 

 ozonometric state of the air ; consequences as regards climate, 

 by M. Fautrat. Woods of both kinds have a refrigerant power, 

 more marked in the resinous. The phenomena of assimilation 

 and transpiration in leaves are accompanied by a fall of tem- 

 perature. Above pines the maximum temperatures are always 

 higher, and the minimum always lower, than outside ; the 

 phenomena lowering temperature on leafy trees are masked in 

 pines, by others producing heat. Under woods, especially the 

 resinous, there is less ozone than on open ground. 



CONTENTS Page 



Weathbr Charts and Storm Warnings. By John Allan Broun, 



F.R.S 56s 



Geikie's Geological Map of Scotland 567 



Our Book Shelf : — 



Schomburgk's " Botanical Reminiscences in British Guiana " . . 568 

 Letters to the Ebitok : — 



On the word " Force "—W. P. 568 



Mr. Wallace and his Reviewer. — Prof. Theo. Gill 569 



The Self- Fertilisation of Plants.— Dr. Hermann MtJi.LER . . . 570 

 The Proposed Zoological Stations at Kiel and Heligoland. — F. M. 



Balfour 57° 



The Flame of Chloride of Sodium in a Common Coal Fire. — 



C. MicHiE Smith 570 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



The Intra-Mercurial Planet Question 570 



The Variable Stars S Cancri and U Geminorum 571 



Biological Notes : — 



Cephalisation S71 



Rhinoceroses 57* 



Passerine Birds 572 ' 



Barometric Variations. By John Allan Broun, F.R.S. . . . 57" 

 pkiNCii'LKS OF Time -Measuring Apparatus, III. By H.Dent 



Gardner (With I Ihisirntions) 573 



Charles Sainte-Claire Deville 575 j 



Recent Cavern Researches IN New Zealand S76J 



The German Expedition to Siberia 579 j 



Notes 5|o 



Scientific Serials 583] 



Societies AND Academies 5841 



