264 



NA TURE 



[January 13, 1898 



tions of the mercury are small, the tension can be kept constant 

 within very narrow limits. (/') On behalf of Prof. W. Kapteyn 

 a paper on certain definite integrals. According to Cauchy the 

 sum of the residues of a function which is meromorphic within a 

 certain space, may be represented by an integral along the 

 circumference of the space as well as by the sum of the co- 

 efficients of the first negative powers of the coefficients of this 

 function in the proximity of the poles. The author applies this 



principle to a function consisting of the product of l\ 



m' 



with a function, which is meromorphic within the circumference 

 of a circle described out of the origin with the unit for radius. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



THURSDA Y. January 13. 

 Mathematical Society, at 8. — Note on a Property of PfafiSans : H. F. 

 Baker. — On the Stationary Motion of a Sj'stem of Kqual Elastic Spheres 

 of Finite Diameter (continuation) : S. H. Burbury, F.R.S. — On Discon- 

 tinuous Fluid Motion : B. Hopkinson.^On the Intersections of Two 

 Conies of a given Type, and on the Intersections of Two Cubics : H M. 

 Taylor. — On the Continuous Group defined by any given Group of Finite 

 Order: Prof. W. Burnside, F.R.S. 

 Institution of Electrical Engineers, at 8. — Presentation of 

 Premiums. — Inaugural Address of the President, Josenh W. Swan, 

 F.R.S. 



FRIDA y, January 14. 

 Royal Astronomical Society, at 8. — The Ternary System Lac. 7215 

 = /z 4935 : R. T. A. Innes.— The Double Star ^ Bootis = 2 1865 : S. W. 

 Burnham. — The Orbit of 02 400 : S. W. Burnham. — Note on the Result 

 concerning Diffraction Phenomena recently criticised by Mr. Newall : 

 F. L. O. Wadsworth. 

 Institution of Civil Engineers, at 8. — Mechanical Draught : R. 



Gordon Mackay. 

 Malacological Society, at 8 —Note on the Reno-pericardial Pore of 

 Am/iuUaria itrcens : R. H. Burne. — On some Points in the Anatomy of 

 Sepia officinalis : R. H. Burne. — On an Example of Acanthoieuthis 

 Ferussacii from the Lithographic Stone of Solenhofen, Bavaria, exhibiting 

 the Buccal Membrane : G. C Crick.— -Descriptions of Four New Species 

 of Land Shells from New Guinea, North Borneo, and Aldabra Island : E. 

 A. Smith. — On the New Land Shells of ihe Island of Lombock : E. A. 

 Smith. - Description of Two New Species of Clausilia from Che-kiang 

 Province, China : Mrs. Kenyon. 



MONDA y, January 17. 

 Society of Arts, at 4.30. — My Recent Journey from the Nile to 



Souakim : Frederic Villiers. 

 Royal Geographical Society, at 8.30. — Journeys in the East Coast Pro- 

 vinces of Siam : H. Warington Smyth. 

 Victoria Institute, at 4.30, — The Glacial Epoch : Prof. E. Hull, 

 F R S 



TUESDA y. January 18. 

 Royal Institution, at 3. — The Simplest Living Things: Prof. E. Ray 



Lankester, F.R.S 

 Institution of Civil Engineers, at 8. — Paper to be further discussed : 



The Machinery used in the Manufacture of Cordite : E. W. Anderson. 

 Zoological Society, at 8.30. — On the Vascular System of the Chiroptera : 

 Dr. N. H. Alcock. — On the General Anatomy of the Holocephali : L. 

 W. Byrne. — On the Development of the Hyobranchial Skeleton of the 

 Midwife-Toad (A lytes obstetricans): Dr. W. G. Ridewood. 

 Royal Statistical Society, at 5.30 



Royal Victoria Hall, at 8.30.— Through the New Gold Fivlds of 

 Alaska to Bering Strait. 



WEDNESDAY, January 19. 



Society of Arts at 8. — The: Projection of Luminous Objects in Space : 

 Eric Stuart Bruce. 



Geological Society, at 8. — On some Gravels of the Bagshot District : 

 H. W. Monckton. — On the Occurrence of Chloritoid in Kincardineshire : 

 George Barrow. 



Royal Meteorological Society, at 7.30. — Ordinary Meeting. At 



7.45. — Annual General Meeting. — Address by the President (E. Mawley) 

 on Weather Influences on Farm and Garden Crops. 



Royal Microscopical Society, at S. — President will read his Annual 

 Address. 



Entomological Society, at 8. — .Annual Meeting. — Address by the 

 President, R. Trimen, F.R.S. 



In.stitution of Mining and Metallurgy, at 8. — Notes on the Action of 



Cyanogen on Gold : James Park. — Mexican Methods of Mining : S. B. 



Newall. — On the Successful Treatment of Tailings by the Direct Filling 



Process on the Witwaterstrand : F. Calrdell Pengilly. 



THURSDA Y, January 20. 



Royal Society, at 4.30. — The Relations between Marine Animal and 

 Vegetable Life : H. M. Vernon.-— (i) The Homogeneity of Helium; (2) 

 Fergusonite, an Endothermic Mineral: Prof. W. Ramsay, F.R.S., and 

 Morris W. Travers. — On the Modifications of the Spectra of Iron and 

 other Substances radiating in a Strong Magnetic Field : T. Preston. 



Royal Institution, at 3. — The Halogen Group of Elements : Prof. 

 Dewar, F.R.S. 



Society of Arts, at 4.30.— Recreations of an Indian Ofiicial : Right 

 Hon. Sir Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant Duff. G.C.S.L, CLE., F.R.S, 



LiNNEAN Society, at 8.— On the Larval Hyobranchial Skeleton of the 

 Anurous Batrachians, with special reference to the Axial Parts : Dr. W. 

 G. Ridewood.— On the "Abdominal Pore" in the Myxinidas : R. H. 

 Burne. 



Chemical Society at 8. — Ballot for the Election of Foreign Members. — 

 The Action of Caustic Alkalies on Amides : Dr. Julius B. Cohen and 

 Edward Brittain.— The Formation of Monomethylaniline from Dimethyl- 

 aniline : Dr. Julius B. Cohen and H. T. Calvert. — Note on the 

 Aluminium- Mercury Couple : Dr. Julius B. Cohen and H. T. Calvert. — 



Action of Chloroform and Alkaline Hydroxides on the Nitro-benzoic 

 Acids : W. J. Elliott.— Researches on the Terpenes. II. On the Oxida- 

 tion of Fenchene : J. Addyman Gardner and G. B. Cockburn. — The Pre- 

 paration of Pure Iodine : Dr. Bevan Lean and W. H. Whatmough. 



FRIDA K, January 21. 

 Royal Institution, at 9. — Buds and Stipules : Sir John Lubbock, Bart., 



MP. 

 Physical Society, at 5. — On Electric Signalling without Conducting 



Wires: Prof. O. Lodge. F.R.S.— A Tesla Oscillator will beexhibited by 



Prof. S. P. Thompson, F.R.S. 



BOOKS AND SERIALS RECEIVED. 



Books. — Practical Ethics: Prof. H. Sidgwick (Sonnen.schein). — Ordinary 

 Difterential Equations : Dr. J. M. Page (M.acmillan). — Euclid's Elements 

 of Geometry, Books i and 2 : C. Smith and Dr. S. Bryant (Macmillan) — 

 Practical Toxicology for Physicians and Students : Dr. P. Kobert, trans- 

 lated and edited by Dr. L. H. Friedburg (New York, Jenkins). — Psalms of 

 the West, 3rd edition (Longmans). — The Tears of the Heliades, or Amberas 

 a Gem : W. A. Buffum, 3rd edition (Low). — A Trip to Venus: J. Mun>o 

 (Jarrold).— Tabellarische Ubersicht der Mineralien : P. Groth, Vierte Voll- 

 standig neu Bearbeitete Aufiage (Braunschweig, Vieweg). — Third Annual 

 General Report upon the Mineral Industry of the United Kingdom, 1896 : 

 Dr. C. le Neve Foster (Eyre), — A Treatise on Chemistry ; Roscoe and 

 Shorlemmer. Vol. 2. The Metals, new edition (Macmillan). — Geometry for 

 Beginners : Prof. Minchin, Oxford, Clarendon Press. — From Tonkin to 

 India ; Prince Henri d'OrUans, translated (Methuen). — Seventeenth Annual 

 Report of the U.S. Geological Survey, Parts i and 2 (Washington).— 

 University College, Sheffield, Calendar for the Session 1897-98 (Sheffield) 

 — The Cyclist's Pocket-Book (Constable). — General Report on the Opera- 

 tions of the Survey of India Department, 1895-96 (Calcutta). 



Serials.— Scribner's Magazine, January (Low). — Among British Birds 

 in their Nesting Haunts : O. A. J. Lee, Part 8 (Edinburgh, Douglas). — Geo- 

 graphical Journal, January (Stanford). — Observ.atory, January (Taylor). — 

 Records of the .Australian Museum, Vol. iii. No. 3 (Sydney). — The Atoll of 

 Funafuti, Part 5 (Sydney). — Brain, Part 79 (Macmillan) — An Illustrated 

 Manual of British Birds, new edition, January (Gurney). — Bulletin from the 

 Laboratory of Natural History of the State University of Iowa, December 

 (Iowa). — Mind, January (Williams). — Bulletin of the American Mathematical 

 Society, December (New Y/i^k, Macmillan). — Revue de I'Universite' de 

 Bruxelles, January-February (Bruxelles). — Knowledge, January (High 

 Holborn). — Records of the Geological Survey of India, Vol. xxx. Part 4 (Cal- 

 cutta). — Atlantic Monthly, January (Gay). — History of Mankind : F. Ratzel, 

 translated, Part 23 (Macmillan). — Notes from the Leyden Museum, July 

 and October (Leiden, Brill). — Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 

 Vol. Ixvi. Part 2, Nos. 2 and 3 (Calcutta). — Strand Magazine, January 

 (Newnes). — Pearson's Magazine, January (Pearson). — Zeitschrift fiir 

 Physikalische Chemie, xxiv. Band, 4 Heft (Leipzig). — American Journal of 

 Science, January (New Haven). — American Naturalist, December (Phila- 

 delphia). 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



A System of Medicine. By W. F. T 241 



Electro-Chemistry .... • 243 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Cooke : " The Foundations of Scientific Agriculture." 



— R. W 243 



" The Zoological Record " 244 



" Annuaire pour I'An 1898, public par le Bureau des 



Longitudes " 244 



" Annuaire de I'Observatoire municipal de Montsouris 



pour I'Annee, 1898" 244 



" Memoires de la Societe de Physique et d'Histoire 



naturelle de Geneve " 244 



Thornton: " Elementary Practical Physiography " . 244 

 Coghlan : " The Wealth and Progress of New South 



Wales, 1895-96" 245 



Letters to the Editor:— 



The Glacial Period and the Irish Fauna. — G. W. 



Lamplugh 245 



The Variability of Mira Ceti.— David Flanery . . 245 

 Recent Seismology. I. {Illustrated.) By Prof. J. 



Milne, F.R.S 246 



The Arequipa Observatory. {Illustrated.) 249 



Ernest Hart 251 



Notes 252 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Companions to Vega 256 



Harvard College Report 256 



Arthur Kammermann 256 



Minor Planets in 1897 256 



Early Man in Scotland. II. By Sir William Turner, 



F.R.S 257 



Progress of Technical Education 259 



University and Educational Intelligence . . . . 260 



Scientific Serials . 261 



Societies and Academies. ( With Diagram) 261 



Diary of Societies . 264 



Books and Serials Received . . . . • 264 



NO. 1472. VOL. 57] 



