478 



NATURE 



[March 17, 1898 



Chemical Society, March 3. — Prof. Dewar, President, in 

 the chair.— The following papers were read : — Preparation of 

 anhydrous hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide, by J. Wade 

 and L. C. Panting. On dropping a mixture of equal volumes 

 of sulphuric acid and water on to 98 per cent, potassium 

 cyanide, hydrogen cyanide is evolved in nearly theoretical 

 amount ; with concentrated sulphuric acid, nearly pure carbon 

 monoxide is evolved in almost theoretical quantity. — ^Prepar- 

 ation of some nitro- and amido-oxylutidines, by J. N. Collie 

 and T. Tickle. The authors have prepared mononitro- and 

 monamidoderivatives of pseudolutidostyril and ethylic pseudo- 

 lutidostyrilcarboxylate by the ordinary methods. — Production 

 of some nitro- and amido-oxylulidines. Part ii., by Miss L. 

 Hall and J. N. Collie. Nitrolutidone is obtained by nitrating 

 lutidone with a mixture of nitric and sulphuric acids ; the 

 platinichloride of amidolutidone, when warmed with hydro- 

 chloric acid, seems to yield a salt of propine diamine, 

 CMelNH^) : CHlNHa).— On benzene hexabromide, by F. E. 

 Matthews The author was unable to prepare the second 

 benzene hexabromide described by Orndorff and Howells, and 

 could not prepare either the hexachloride or hexabromide of 

 bromobenzene. — Note on the action of bromine on benzene, 

 by J. N. Collie and C. C. Frye. The authors have succeeded 

 in proving the presence of ortho-compounds in the product of 

 the action of bromine on benzene in presence of sunlight. — 

 Note on manganic salts, by C. E. Rice. The author shows 

 that the decomposition of manganic chloride in solution into 

 manganous chloride and chlorine is reversible. — Some chemical 

 properties of concentrated solutions of certain salts. Part i. 

 Potassium carbonate, by W. C. Reynolds. By crystallising a 

 concentrated solution of potassium carbonate containing the 

 chloride, nitrate, or acetate of various metals, the author has 

 obtained crystalline double salts of the following compositions : 

 CuKo(C03).„CuK„( 003)2, H.p, CuK„(C03)„,4H„0, MnK2(C03)2. 

 4H26, FeKjiCO,),, 4H„0, CaK2(C03)2," Bi26K4(C03)4,H„0, 

 CoK5(C03)„,4H26, NiK2(C03)s,4H20, MgK2(C03)2,4H20. and 

 AgKCOj. — The colouring matters of the Indian dye-stuff 

 Delphinium zalil, by A. G. Perkin and J. A. Pilgrim. The 

 dried flowers and stems of Delphiniu7ii zalil are used in India 

 under the name of ' ' asbarg " for producing a yellow colour on 

 alum-mordanted fabrics. Three colouring matters exist as 

 glucosides in the plant, namely isorhamnetin, quercetin, and a 

 third which was not obtained pure. — Some metallic salts of 

 natural yellow colouring matters, by A. G. Perkin and P. J. 

 Wood. Quercetin, morin, fisetin and myricetin decompose 

 potassium acetate in alcoholic solution with formation of 

 sparingly soluble metallic derivatives ; luteolin, apigenin, 

 chrysin and gentisin do not do so. — The interaction of mag- 

 nesium and solution of copper sulphate, by E. Divers. 



Royal Microscopical Society, February 16. — Mr. A.D. 

 Michael, Vice-President, in the chair. — Mr. J. E. Barnard said 

 that when he gave his demonstration at the November meeting, 

 on the application of the electric arc to photomicography, Mr. 

 Nelson suggested that it would be of interest if he would show 

 some lantern slides taken in that way ; he had accordingly 

 brought a few examples for exhibition on the screen. These 

 included a series showing ringworm fungi, which he thought 

 would have some interest apart from the method by which the 

 photographs had been produced. A number of slides were 

 then shown, illustrating the appearance of the fungi in various 

 stages and under conditions in which the external portions, or 

 internal structure of the hair of man and animals had been 

 attacked, and their appearance when cultivated artificially. The 

 photographs were from microscopical preparations lent by Dr. 

 T. Colcott Fox. Other slides were shown of the bacilli of 

 anthrax, tuberculosis, typhoid fever, bubonic plague, &c. Dr. 

 Hebb concluded some remarks by saying that he did not know 

 that he had ever seen these subjects so beautifully illustrated as 

 he had that evening. Mr. T. Charters White said he could 

 endorse all that fell from Dr. Hebb. For high amplification 

 he did not know that he had seen anything so sharply defined, 

 especially in the case of the Podura scale magnified 6000 

 diameters. The Chairman said no one could fail to be struck by 

 the clear manner in which these minute objects had been shown. 

 [Two of the pictures, with a short account of the light used in 

 their production, have already appeared in these columns (p. 448). 

 — Mr. T. Charters White read a paper on microcrystallography, 

 which he illustrated by the exhibition on the screen of a number 

 of slides of the crystals described. He had selected them to 

 show how large a number of beautiful forms might be obtained 



NO. 1 48 I, VOL. 57] 



from the same salt by causing it to crystallise under different 

 conditions. Mr. White further illustrated the subject by ex- 

 hibiting the formation of crystals under the microscope. The 

 Chairman thought it quite possible that when they came to 

 examine these crystals very carefully they would find that the 

 ultimate form did, after all, agree with the typical form, but it 

 was remarkable to see how other forces could modify these 

 forms.— The Chairman said they had another paper on the 

 agenda, on Foraminifera taken chiefly from shallow water in the 

 Malay Archipelago, by Mr. Durrand. 



Royal Meteorological Society, February 16. — Mr. F. 

 Campbell Bayard, President, in the chair. — Mr. E. Mawley 

 gave a report on the phenological observations for 1897, from 

 which it appeared that there had been a marked absence of 

 very exceptional weather during the past phenological year, the 

 most noteworthy features affecting vegetation being the persistent 

 rains in March and the three dry periods of May, July and 

 October. Until about the middle of May wild plants appeared 

 in blossom in advance of their usual time, but throughout the 

 rest of the flowering season they were all somewhat behind their 

 average dates in coming into bloom. The heavy rainfall in the 

 early spring favoured the hay, which proved the only really 

 abundant farm crop of the year, but greatly impeded the sowing 

 of spring corn. The cereals were, however, much benefited 

 later on by the warm, dry and brilliant weather of the summer. 

 Taking the country as a whole, oats proved a good crop, barley 

 an average one, while the yield of wheat was somewhat under 

 average. There were also fair crops of roots and potatoes. It 

 was owing more to the dry spring and summer and the sunless 

 autumn of the previous year, than to the moderate frosts and 

 cold winds of the spring of 1897, that the fruit crop was such a 

 very light one. Apples, pears and plums, and especially the 

 latter, yielded badly, while the small fruits were in most districts 

 only average crops. — Mr. Hopkinson read a paper on monthly 

 and annual rainfall in the British Empire 1877-96. In this the 

 author gave particulars of the mean monthly and 'annual rainfall, 

 and the number of rainy days, at the following twelve stations 

 in the British Empire, viz. London, England ; Port Louis, 

 Mauritius, Calcutta and Bombay, India ; Colombo, Ceylon ; 

 Adelaide and Melbourne, Australia ; Wellington, New Zealand ; 

 Toronto and Winnipeg, Canada ; Kingston, Jamaica ; andMalta. 

 Linnean Society, February 17. — Dr. A. C. L. Gunther, 

 F. R.S., President, in the chair. — Dr. Kakichi Mitsukuri, Pro- 

 fessor of Zoology, Imperial University, Tokyo, was admitted a 

 Foreign Member. — Prof. G. B. Howes, F. R.S. , exhibited speci- 

 mens of Dog-fishes : (i) Scyllitim canicula from the egg-case, 

 and (2) Scyllium catulns prematurely hatched, which he had 

 received from Mr. C. W. L. Holt, of the Marine Biological 

 Laboratory at Plymouth. The specimens showed the dorso- 

 lateral and caudal placoids which led Filippi to propose the 

 species Scyllium acanthonotum, shown by Dr. Gunther to be 

 based upon a developmental character, and had in recent years 

 been the subject of some interesting speculations by Paul Meyer. 

 For comparison he exhibited also an embryo from the purse of 

 Callorhynchus antarcticus, showing a similar set of organs, and 

 gave reasons for surmising that they are not merely transitory 

 vestiges, but of service to the animal while encapsulated within 

 its egg-case. Some additional remarks were made by the Presi- 

 dent. — Mr. J. E. Harting exhibited a nearly white variety of 

 Mus rattus recently obtained in Carnarvonshire, and made 

 some remarks on the difference of haunts and habits in the two 

 species M. rattus and M. dectimanus, and on their usual an- 

 tagonism. In reply to Mr. H. J. Elwes on the question of 

 occasional hybridism, he stated that no well-established case of 

 the kind had been recorded, although some years ago Mr. 

 Barrett Hamilton had described (Z^^/., 1888, p. 141) a suspected 

 hybrid which was partly brown in colour, partly black, and ex- 

 hibited some other intermediate characters. He referred to the 

 so-called Irish rat, Afus hibernicus of Thompson, which was 

 now regarded as a permanent black variety of Mus decumamis 

 not confined to Ireland. ^Mr. F. N. Williams read a paper on 

 Arenaria, one of the larger genera of Caryophyllacese, which 

 now includes a considerable number of species. Alsine and 

 others, usually included as sections of the genus, he thought 

 should be regarded as distinct genera ; Alsine and Arenaria 

 being distinguished by the same cardinal character which 

 separates Lychnis from Silene. — Mr. G. S. West read a paper 

 on the histology of the salivary, buccal, and Harderian glands 

 of the Colubrida, with notes on their tooth-succession and the 

 relationship of the poison-duct. 



