January 20, 1898] 



NA TURE 



while, from a commercial point of view, to try to overcome 

 them. 



The first part of a new volume of the Metnorie della Societa 

 Geografica Italiana, recently issued, contains, besides other shorter 

 papers, the results of an exhaustive research into the records of 

 earthquakes in Italy during the period 1800 to 1872, by Signor 

 M. Baratta. The author does not pretend to completeness, but 

 his list is, as he says, a great advance on anything hitherto avail- 

 able. The arrangement is chronological, and under each date 

 are given the places where the disturbance was recorded, the 

 hour, the nature, direction, and intensity of the shock when 

 possible, and finally the source of information. 



The Mittheilungen dti k.k. Geogi-aphischeii GeseUschaft of 

 \ ienna contain a note announcing satisfactory progress in the 

 work of organising a meteorological service in the parts of the 

 Balkan peninsula under Austrian rule. Discussion of the 

 observations already made throws considerable light on the 

 obscure transitional phases of climate occurring between the 

 Mediterranean and continental regions. 



We have received the third volume — that for 1894 — of the 

 Ribliotheca Geographica, edited by Dr. Otto Baschin. The 

 work has been carried out with the same completeness and 

 accuracy as formerly. The only new feature is an extension of 

 the number of Slavonic languages included. The experiment of 

 giving titles of papers in Russian and Czech, with German 

 translations appended, was tried for the first time last year, and 

 has been so far successful that Polish and Croatian literature is 

 now added. 



The Director of the Botanic Gaidens at Buitenzorg, Java, 

 has issued in English a Hand-guide to the Gardens, in a neat 

 square size, accompanied by a plan. 



We have received from the Gebriider Borntraeger of Berlin a 

 daintily produced catalogue of their natural history publications, 

 especially in botany and geology. The firm has now been in 

 existence over a century. 



In the Transactions of the Academy of Science of St. Louis, 

 Prof W. Trelease describes a remarkable instance of "phyto- 

 bezoar," two balls from 3 to 4 inches in diameter, taken from 

 the stomach of a bull, and composed entirely of the barbed hairs 

 with which the cushions of species of Platopuntia are covered. 



We learn from the Botanical Gazette that the Secretary of 

 Agriculture for the United States has included in his estimate 

 of the expenditure for the coming year an item of 20,000 dols., 

 to be set aside from the seed fund, for the introduction into the 

 States of valuable economic plants. If sanctioned by Congress, 

 -Mr. D. G. Fairchild will be put in charge of the work. His 

 extensive travels and his reputation as a botanist peculiarly fit 

 him for the work. 



The Botanical Gazette states that the Biological Survey of 

 the State of Alabama is being pushed and extended as rapidly 

 as limited means will permit. Over 20,000 specimens have been 

 added to the herbarium collection during the present year, in- 

 cluding fine series of lichens, mosses, and liver-worts. Much 

 of the success of the work is due to the activity and devotion 

 of Prof. F. S. Earle and Mr. Carl F. Baker, of the Alabama 

 Polytechnic Institute, and of other botanists of the Survey. 



The pitcher-plants of the genus Nepenthes are just now 

 engaging the attention of systematic botanists. In the Journal 

 of the Royal Horticultural Society for December 1897 is an 

 elaborate article on their growth and culture by Mr. H. J. 

 Veitch, with numerous excellent illustrations, to which are 

 appended some remarks by Mr. F. W. Burbidge. Mr. F. M. 



NO. 1473. VOL. 57] 



Bailey describes the four Australian species in the Queensland 

 Agricultural Journai, vol. i. part 5, giving figures of two of 

 them. 



The first number of the new volume (vol. ix. ) oiiht Journal 

 of Conchology contains articles and notes of interest to con- 

 chologists. The size of the page has been enlarged, and an 

 index is given of the volume just completed. Among the 

 contents is the presidential address delivered by Prof. S. J. 

 Hickson, F.R.S., on "Torsion in Mollusca." Mr. Lionel E. 

 .•\.dams records observations which distinctly show that the slug 

 Lin/ax inaxinius has a sense of smell. 



The eighth part of Mr. Osvvin A. T. Lee's attractive work, 

 "Among British Birds in their Nesting Haunts," has just been 

 published by Mr. David Douglas, Edinburgh. The nests 

 illustrated upon the ten fine plates are those of the song thrush, 

 great crested grebe, great skua, tawny owl, bearded tit, common 

 curlew, and siskin. This part appears to conclude the second 

 volume of Mr. Lee's work. 



A GOOD general view of physical and chemical science, de- 

 signed mainly for medical students, is given in the " Physik- 

 alisch-chemische Propaedeutik " of Prof. Dr. H. Griesbach. 

 (Leipzig: Engelmann.) The book is being pul)lished in parts, 

 and the second part of the second half has just appeared. A 

 knowledge of the principles of physics and chemistry is essential 

 to the student of modern medicine, and Dr. Griesbach has set 

 himself to show how physical methods bear upon medical 

 science. Another part of the work remains to be published, 

 and when it appears, we shall review the book in its completed 

 form. 



The simplest member of the group of the ketoses, of which 

 ordinary Itevulose or fruit sugar is the best known repre- 

 sentative, is dihydroxyacetone, CPIo(OH).CO.CH.^(OH), which 

 has long eluded the attempts of chemists to isolate it in the 

 pure state, although mixtures in which it is undoubtedly present 

 have been obtained by several investigators by the oxidation of 

 glycerine. Oscar Piloty has now succeeded in preparing this 

 interesting compound in the pure condition, and describes its pro- 

 perties in the current number of the Berichte. The starting point 

 for its preparation is the oxime, CHo(OH).C : NOH.CH2(OH), 

 which can easily be obtained from the product of the action of 

 formaldehyde on nitromethane, both substances of very simple 

 constitution. When this oxime is treated with bromine, nitrous 

 oxide is evolved and dihydroxyacetone produced. It crystallises 

 well, and has a sweet and cooling taste. In other respects it 

 also shows the well-known characteristics of the sugars, reducing 

 Fehling's solution almost as powerfully as grape sugar, and 

 yielding an osazone with phenylhydrazine. On reduction it is 

 converted into glycerine, a new synthesis of this important 

 compound being thus effected. The production of dihydroxy- 

 acetone from formaldehyde is of great interest in view of the 

 important function which the latter is supposed by many to 

 perform in the natural production of sugars in the vegetable 

 organism. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Macaque Monkey {Macacus cynomolgus) 

 from India, presented by Mr. R. S. Gleave ; two Aard Wolves 

 (Proteles cristatus, young) from South Africa, presented by 

 Captain Baker ; a Greater Sulphur-crested Cockatoo {Cacatua 

 galerita) from Australia, presented by Lady Pilkington ; a 

 Black-backed Piping Crow {Gyiitnorhina tibicien) from Aus- 

 tralia, presented by Mr. T. G. F. Winser ; two Herring Gulls 

 {Larus argentatus), British, presented by the Rev. F. Hopkins ; 

 a Japanese Ape (Macacus speciosus) from Japan, two Ganga 

 Cockatoos {Callocephalon §aleatum) from Australia, a Red- 

 tailed Buzzard {Buteo horealis) from Jamaica, deposited. 



