November 23, 191 1] 



NATURE 



00 



wards athletics and physical culture, particularly durinj^ 

 .•: earlier ages, prevailing to-day, and, further, directed 

 attention to the fact that, from the statistics he put forward, 

 :! appeared that the later the onset of infectious diseases 

 can be postponed beyond the earliest years of childhood, the 

 better it would appear to be for the future growth and 

 vigour of the child. 



Paris. 



Academy of Sciences, November 13. — M. Armand Gautisr 

 in the chair. — J. Violle : A reversion of the double rose to 

 the single form. A de Dijon rose, which for the last 

 twelve years had borne large numbers of the usual double 

 flower, possibly as a consequence of the dry and hot 

 summer suddenly in September developed on all its 

 branches single roses. These were followed eight days 

 later by a crop of the usual double rose. — A. Laveran and 

 D. Roudsky : Concerning the action of oxazine (triamino- 

 phenaxoxonium), chloride, and acridine (diphenylmethane) 

 on trypanosomes. .'\n account of experiments on the cause 

 of the disappearance of the centrosomes from the trypano- 

 some under the action of oxazine. — Pierre Termier : The 

 tectonic in French Basque country. — J. Ph. Lag^rula and 

 H. Chretien: The Brooks comet (ignc) ; its photographic 

 appearance and its spectrum. The photograph showed a 

 clearly defined globular nucleus with a tail formed of 

 numerous filaments, nine of which were sufficiently well 

 marked to measure their angles of position. The spectrum 

 was photographed on a pinacyanol plate, recording from 

 the ultra-violet to the red. It proved to be very similar 

 to the spectrum of the Daniel comet taken with the same 

 apparatus. The spectrum was continuous, with the 

 cyanogen and carbon bands superposed. — A. Demoulin : 

 The fl surfaces. — L. Schlesing^er : .'\ differential system 

 with fixed critical points. — G. Kowale^ski : A property of 

 the transformations of Volterra. — M. Joug:uet : The 

 acceleration of waves of shock in wires. — Jean Becquerel : 

 The propagation of light in fluorescent bodies. Neither in 

 the ruby nor the emerald does the state of fluorescence 

 sensibly modify the velocity of propagation of the radia- 

 tions of the same period as those emitted. Within the 

 limits of accuracy of these experiments a fluorescence 

 absorption does not appear to exist.— Kr. Birkeland : 

 Celestial phenomena and experimental analogies. Photo- 

 graphs of further experiments made with a magnetic globe 

 as kathode in a large Leyden jar. The examples given in 

 the reproductions of the photographs include the imitations 

 of Saturn's ring, of some nebulae, and of the sun-spots. — 

 Pierre Weiss and O. Bloch : The magnetisation of nickel, 

 cobalt, and of alloys of nickel and cobalt. For those alloys 

 for which magnetic saturation was possible, the Curie 

 constant was found to be a linear function of the percentage 

 composition of the alloys. — Chaspoul and Jaubert 

 do Beaujeu : Researches on the radio-activity of the 

 waters of Vals-les-Bains. No general relation appears to 

 exist between the radio-activity of water and the mineral 

 ' onstituents. In the bicarbonate waters of Vals, however, 

 111'' free carbonic acid varies in the same sense as the radio- 

 activity. — Pierre Girard and Victor Henri : Concerning 

 some new hypotheses on the molecular state of bodies in 

 solution. The van 't Iloff-Arrhenius theory of solution has 

 recently been criticised adversely by Colson and Fouard, 

 the former on the basis of cryoscopic measurements, the 

 latter from the results of osmometric experiments. The 

 author shows reasons for .supposing that in the experiments 

 of Fouard the equilibrium observed was not that due to 

 the true osmotic pressure, but was the result of osmotic 

 currents of electrostatic origin. It is concluded that the 

 facts brought forward by -M.M. Colson and Fouard cannot 

 be regarded as controverting the theory of van 't Iloff and 

 Arrhenius. — Fi. Boismenu : The hypoiodous amides. 

 Details are given of th(; mode of preparation and properties 

 of the iodine derivatives of acetamide, propionamidr, ;m.l 

 formamide. These all contain the group — Nl, .11 r A, 

 composed by water, decolorise indigo, and liberate from .1 

 solution of potassium iodide twice the amount of iodine 

 contained in the molecule. They are very unstable, and 

 stability decreases as the molecular weight is lower. 



M. Lespieau : Some properties of monobromacrolein. 



Monobromacrolein gives pyrazol when treated with 



hydrazine hjdrate ; tfie aldehyde does not react with pure 



hydrocyanic acid, but a violent reaction is induced bv the 



NO. 2195, VOL. 88] 



presence of a trace of potassium cyanide, the product being 

 a nittile alcohol giving the acid CH, : CBr.CH(0H).C02H. 

 — E. Chablay : Researches on the metallic alcoholates. 

 — P. L. Vig^uier : .\ttempts at the direct preparation of 

 tetrolic aldehyde. .An account of unsuccessful attempts by 

 three methods to prepare tetrolic aldehyde. — Marin 

 IMoliiard : The action of various polyureides and of 

 hippuric acid on the development and tuber formation of 

 the radish. Tuber formation was found to be favoured 

 by the presence of sodium urate. — C. Picado : The 

 epiphyte Bromeliaceae as a biological medium. — P. k. 

 Dane^eard : The sulphur bacteria. — M. Radais and A. 

 Sartory : The toxic properties of the Mapou [Agauria 

 pyrifolia). The leaves, flowers, fruit, and seeds of this 

 plant contain a very toxic substance or substances soluble 

 I in water or weak alcohol. Boiling the solution does not 

 I destroy the toxicity. There are some indications that the 

 1 toxic substance is a glucoside. — Paul Godin : Some con- 

 j elusions from my researches on growth in man relating to 

 j puberty. — A. Magnan : A human acephalous monster. — 

 ' Jacques Pelieg^rin : The aquatic vertebrates of the Sahara. 

 — Louis Semichon : The heterogonic cycle of Pterocallis 

 tiliae and the presence of chlorophyll. — D. Keilin : Certain 

 constant sensitive organs in the larva of Diptera and their 

 probable significance. — Henri Agruihon : The mechanism of 

 I the destruction of the diastases by light. E.xperiments with 

 succase, laccase, and tyrosinase showed that these three 

 diastases are not attacked by ordinary light in a vacuum. 

 The ultra-violet rays from a quartz mercury vapour lamp 

 partially destroys them, although not to so great an extent 

 as when o.xygen is present. The hypothesis that the actual 

 agent destroying the diastases is hydrogen peroxide, formed 

 by the action of the light, accords well with the experi- 

 mental facts. — H. Gaehlinser and A. Tilmant : The 

 caseifying action of certain lipoids. — Maurice Lugeon : 

 Some consequences of the hypothesis of a dualism of the 

 Palaeozoic foldings in the western Alps. — G. Le Cadet : 

 The origin of the electrical manifestations of storms, on 

 the occasion of the observation of cyclones in China seas. 

 In the vertical terrestrial electric field a vortex with hori- 

 zontal axis can develop influence charges and sufficient 

 differences of potential to cause disruptive discharges.— 

 J. Vallot : The protection of ob.servatories at high alti- 

 tudes against lightning. In the two observatories on Mt. 

 Blanc, one is surrounded by metal directly connected with 

 the rock on which it stands by numerous metallic con- 

 nections, and this has never been struck by lightning. The 

 other, the Janssen Observatory, stands on snow, and con- 

 nection has to be made with the earth by means of a cable 

 100 metres long. In spite of numerous alterations and 

 additions to the protecting apparatus, this observatory has 

 been repeatedly struck, and electrical phenomena have been 

 observed inside the building, in some cases lasting for 

 more than two hours, and resulting in personal injury to 

 the occupants and fusion of various metal instruments and 

 utensils. It is concluded that for buildings established on 

 snow at a considerable distance from rock there is no 

 means known of protecting against lightninj;:. M. de 

 Montessus de Bailore : Tine distribution of -. i-ini>- in- 

 stability in Bolivia. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



Heroic Lives of the Nineteenth Century. By C. Scuda- 

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The Boy Fancier. By F. T. Barton. Pp. xx-f-435. 

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The King to his People : being the Speeches and 

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111.- Importance of the Jews for the I'l - r , \ uion and 

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 M. 1. Schleiden. Translated by M. Kleimenhagen. 

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The Queen of the Castle. By A. Wilson. Pp. 144. 

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The World's Minerals. By L. J. Spencer. Pp. \\ + 

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