January 6, 1898] 



NATURE 



239 



been discovered in the cavern itself," showing clearly that the 

 deposits in the cavern had been carried in by water before the 

 northern and western ice had reached this area. The work 

 has been carried on almost continuously throughout the year, 

 and most of the material has been removed for a distance of over 

 60 feet from the entrance. The height of the cavern above sea- 

 level is 420 feet, or about 20 feet above the floor of the Cae 

 Gwyn Cave. The following points appear to the author to be 

 now fully established : (i) The material in the Ty Newydd 

 Cave, as in the lower parts of those of Ffynnon Beuno and Cae 

 Ciwyn, is of purely local origin. Of this he can speak with 

 confidence, as the question was before him from the beginning 

 and the gravels were examined with minute care for erratics. 



(2) This local deposit is of earlier date than the boulder clay 

 with western and northern drift. This was proved by the 

 finding of granite- and felsite-boulders abundantly at higher 

 levels and over the cave, and in one case filling the upper pare 

 of one of the fissures communicating from above with the cavern. 



(3) The occurrence of the tooth of a large mammal {Rhinoceros) 

 in the lower part of the cave shows that the animal was con- 

 temporary with, or of earlier date than the infilling of the 

 cavern by the local drift. 



Chemical Society, December 15, 1897. — Prof. Dewar, 

 President, in the chair. — Prof. F. R. Japp delivered the Kekule 

 Memorial Lecture (see p. 180) — December 16, 1897. — Prof. 

 Dewar, President, in the chair. — The loUowing papers were 

 read : — Stereochemistry of unsaturated compounds. Part i. 

 Esterification of substituted acrylic acids, by J. J. Sudborough 

 and L. L. Lloyd. The authors have made experiments on the 

 esterification of many cinnamic acids and other derivatives of 

 acrylic acid ; the acids were boiled under fixed conditions with 

 methylic alcohol solutions of hydrogen chloride, and the quantity 

 of methylic salt formed was subsequently determined. Several 

 rules governing the speed and course of esterification are for- 

 mulated. — Formation and hydrolysis of esters, by J. J. Sud- 

 borough and ]\L E. Feilmann. The authors conclude that in 

 the conversion of an acid into its ester by the action of an 

 alcohol, either with or without hydrogen chloride, the rate of 

 esterification is determined by two factors, namely (i) the 

 configuration of the acid or the close proximity of substituting 

 groups to the carboxyl group, and (2) the strength of the acid 

 as determined by its affinity constant. The same two factors 

 operate in determining the rate of hydrolysis of the ester. — 

 A new method of determining freezing points in very dilute 

 solution, by ^L Wildermann. — A possible basis of generalisa- 

 tion of isomeric changes in organic compounds, by A. Lap- 

 worth. The author points out that many isomeric changes, 

 hitherto regarded as of dissimilar types, may be formulated as 

 special cases of a general form, expressible by the reversible 

 equation R„M . R^s : Ry ^ Ra : R^ • RyM ; a labile group M 

 moves from an a to a 7 position, the necessary rearrangement 

 of single and double bindings taking place between the three 

 atoms, Ra, R^ anil R^. By the aid of this general formula 

 and Its extended forms the author is able to explain a large 

 number of cases of desmotropy, tautomerism and isomeric 

 change. 



Dublin. 



Royal Dublin Society, December 22, 1897. — Prof. G. F. 

 Fitzgerald, F.R. S., in the chair. — Prof. Thomas Preston read 

 a paper on the radiation of light in a magnetic field. The 

 author described how he had been led to apply photography to 

 the study of the effect (recently discovered by Prof. Zeeman) 

 produced by a strong magnetic field on the radiation from a 

 source of light placed in it. The photographs were projected 

 on a screen, and they rendered all the effects described by Prof. 

 Zeeman clearly visible to a large audience (see p. 173). — Prof. 

 J. Joly, F.R.S., then read a note on a theory of sun-spots. If 

 at some level in the photosphere the temperature falls below the 

 critical temperature of the elements present, and the pressure is 

 sufficient, a precipitation of liquid will result ; and it is sug- 

 gested such a precipitated flood of liquid matter, supported on 

 gaseous matter of higher density, would give rise to the appear- 

 ances presented by a sun-spot. If the liquid is opaque, it will 

 look darker than the surrounding photosphere. The reflection 

 of the photosphere at the edge and the inrush of gaseous matter 

 over the cooler area will, it is believed, explain the appearance 

 of the penumbra. The re- evaporation of the liquid constitutes 

 the disappearance of the spot. On this view the sun-spot con- 

 stitutes the first beginning of a change of state in the sun visible 

 to us. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, December 20, 1897.— M. A. Chatin 

 in the chair. — The Secretary informed the Academy of the loss 

 it had sustained through the recent death of M. Brioschi, of 

 Milan. — Observations relative to the coffins of Voltaire and 

 of Rousseau, opened December 18, 1897, by M. Berthelot. — 

 Determination of the absolute coordinates of the stars, and 

 also of the latitude, by means of meridian instruments. General 

 method for the solution of these problems, by M. Loewy. — On 

 the periods of double integrals of algebraic functions, by M. 

 Emile Picard. — Comparison of the thermogenetic or dynamo- 

 genetic povver of simple food-stuffs with their nutritive value, by 

 M. A. Chauveau. A considerable difference exists between the 

 isoenergetic and isotrophic weights of sugar and fat in the case 

 of a working subject. The isoglycogenetic and isotrophic 

 powers are practically identical. — On those cases of the prob- 

 lem of three bodies (and of 11 bodies) in which two of them 

 collide at the end of a finite time, by M. Painleve. — On a special 

 method of circumzenithal observations, by M. Ch. Rouget. A 

 further study of the method described in a previous note. — On a 

 particular conjugate net of certain surfaces derived from surfaces 

 of the second order, by M. S. Mangeot. — On Taylor's series, 

 by M. Eug. Fabry. — On the isothermal and adiabatic transfor- 

 mations of true gases ; determination of the ratio of the two 

 specific heats, by M. A. Leduc. — On an apparatus permitting 

 of the separation of simple radiations in close proximity, by M. 

 Maurice Hamy. The method is based upon the principle of 

 interference.— -Ebullioscopy of some salts in ethereal solution, 

 by M. R. Lespieau. Results are given for uranyl nitrate and 

 the chlorides of mercury, iron, zinc, and antimony. — On cerium, 

 by iVL Boudouard. A reply to criticisms on a former paper by 

 the author. — On the duration of the phosphorescent power of 

 sulphide of strontium, by M. Jose Rodriguez Mourelo. Experi- 

 ments on sulphide of strontium prepared by different methods 

 show that those specimens which exhibit the greatest intensity of 

 phosphorescence are also those in which the property is most 

 quickly developed and is preserved for the longest time. — 

 Volumetric estimation of antimony, by M. H. Causse. The 

 new method proposed is an iodometric one, depending upon the 

 liberation of iodine from iodic acid by antimonious oxide. — 

 Difference between nitroso-substitution derivatives according as 

 the NO group is directly connected with carbon or with 

 nitrogen, by MAL Camille Matignon and Deligny. A thermo- 

 chemical paper. — A colour reaction of ordinary aldehyde, by M. 

 Louis Simon. A blue colour is produced on the addition of 

 solutions of trimethylamine and of nitro-prussiate of sodium. 

 The reaction is not given by other aldehydes. — Action of 

 piperidine upon carbonic ethers of phenols ; formation of 

 aromatic urethanes, by MM. Cazeneuve and Moreau. — On two 

 Lepidoptera destructive to the sugar-cane in the Mascarene Isles, 

 by M. Edmond Bordage. The author endeavours to clear up 

 the confusion which has arisen as to the history and nomenclature 

 of two species, the larvae of which are known as "borers." — On 

 the nuclear value of the central body of bacteria, by MM. J. 

 Kunstler and P. Busquet. — On extra-liberian cribriform tissue 

 and extra-ligneous vascular tissue, by M. E. Perrot. — On 

 potato rot, by M. E. Roze. An account of the nature 

 and causes of the various changes to which the tubers 

 are liable after gathering. — The composition of oat, wheat, 

 and rye straw, by M. Balland. The results of analyses show 

 no difference between the three varieties of straw, which 

 contain only trifling quantities of nutritive material. Short and 

 leafy straw is to be preferred for the food of horses, and long 

 straw for their litter.^— On the presence of beds containing 

 Planorbis psetido-ammonius and Bulinius Hopei in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Sabarrat and Mirepoix (Ariege), by M. G. Vasseur. 

 — Influence of sub-nitrate of bismuth upon the "hardening" of 

 cider, by MM. Leon Dufour and Daniel. The presence of the 

 salt greatly retards the development of acidity. Its addition is 

 recommended in the proportion of 10 grams per hectolitre 

 (o'Oi per cent.). — On the estimation of the acidity of urine, by 

 M. H. Joulie. Advantages are claimed for the use of a standard 

 solution of sucoharate of lime. No indicator is required, the 

 end-point being shown by the production of a precipitate of 

 phosphate of calcium when the free acid and acid phosphate of 

 sodium have been neutralised. — On the fermentation of cellulose, 

 by M. V. Omelianski. A quantitative study of the action of 

 the ferment described in a previous communication. The 

 products of the decompositions are hydrogen, carbon dioxide, 

 and a large proportion of fatty acids. — Muscular atrophy 



XO. 147 1, VOL. 57] 



