March 17, 1S98] 



NA TURE 



479 



Geological Society, February 23.— W. Whitaker, F.R.S., 

 President, in the chair. — On some submerged rock- valleys in 

 South Wales, Devon, and Cornwall, by T. Codrington. The 

 author described various valleys in which the solid rock was 

 reached at a considerable depth below sea-level, on the sides of 

 Milford Haven and in the Haven itself ; beneath the Tivy, 

 Tawe, and Neath, the Wye, the Severn, the Bristol Avon, the 

 Dart, the Laira, the Tavy, the Tamar, and other rivers. In the 

 case of the Dart the rock-bottom had been found at one place 

 at a depth of no feet below low-water level, and in the case of 

 other rivers at varying depths less than this. The deposits 

 showed that some of the infilling took place after the period of 

 submerged forests, and much before this, for frequent cases of 

 glacial deposits filling the bottoms of these submerged valleys 

 were recorded. The fact that in the Solent and Thames the 

 glacial deposits bordered the sides of the valleys, and did not 

 occur at the bottom as in the case of the valleys described in the 

 paper, indicated that the latter were older than the former, 

 though they presented feaures similar to those of some of the 

 valleys of the North-east and North-west of England. — Some 

 new carboniferous plants, and how they contributed to the 

 formation of coal-seams, by W. S. Gresley. The author, in a 

 paper published in abstract in the Society's Quarterly Journal 

 for May 1897 (vol. liii. p. 245), argued that certain brilliant 

 black laminae in coal, and similar materials found among some 

 mechanical sediments of the coal measures, pointed to the 

 former existence of an aquatic plant. In the present com- 

 munication he described structures in the pitch-coal laminae of 

 bituminous coal and in the glossy black layers of anthracite 

 which he believed to be indications of two other kinds of plants, 

 and stated that he had examined structures which might be due 

 to some other kinds of vegetation. 



. Zoological Society, March i.— Dr. W. T. Blanford, 

 F.R.S., in the chair. — Mr. G. A. Boulenger, F.R.S., 

 exhibited, and made remarks upon, a living hybrid newt, the 

 result of a cross between specimens of a hybrid Molge cristata 



X .]/. fiiarmorala and the lormer species, which had been reared 

 at Argenton-sur Creux by M. R. Rollinat.— Mr. F. E. Beddard, 

 F.R.S , read a paper on certain points in the anatomy of the 

 cunning Bassarisc (Bassariscus aslutns), as observed while dis- 

 secting a specimen which had died in the Society's menagerie, 

 and called special attention to certain points in the viscera and 

 in the form of the brain in which Bassariscus agreed with the 

 arctoid carnivora. — Mr. G. A. Boulenger, F.R.S. , read a 

 paper entitled " a revision of the African and Syrian fishes of the 

 family Cichlidie, part I." The author had come to the con- 

 clusion that the African and Syrian fishes of this family were, so 

 far as was kntjwn, represented by nine genera. — A communica- 

 tion was reaxl from Prof. B. C. A. Windle and Mr. F. G. 

 Parsons containing the second part of a memoir on the myology 

 of the terrestrial carnivora. The present portion dealt with the 

 muscles of the hind limb and the trunk in various species, which, 

 in many cases, seemed to give good indications of their affinities. 

 —A communication from Dr. A. G. Butler on the Lepidoptera 

 collected by Mr. G. A. K. Marshall in Natal and Mashonaland 

 in 1895 ^"^ 1897 was rfead. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, March 7.— M. Wolf in the chair. — 

 Chemical actions exerted by the silent discharge. Aldehydes 

 and nitrogen, by M. Berthelot. Mixtures of nitrogen with 

 various substances of aldehyde function, including acetaldehyde, 

 propionic aldehyde, acetone, methylal, aldol, paraldehyde, 

 trioxymethylene, formaldehyde, camphor, benzaldehyde, sali- 

 cylic aldehyde, and furfurol were submitted to the action of 

 the silent discharge for periods varying from eight to twenty- 

 four hours. The nitrogen absorbed was measured, and the 

 gases produced analysed. The solid and liquid products were 

 not obtained in quantities sufficient for analysis. — Chemical 

 action of the silent discharge. Organic acids and nitrogen, by 

 M. Berthelot. The acids studied were formic, acetic, propionic, 

 crotonic, benzoic, succinic, maleic, fumaric, phthalic, cam- 

 phoric, glycollic, lactic, malic, tartaric, oxybenzoic, pyruvic, 

 levulic, and dehydracetic acids. — Observations relating to the 

 chemical action of the silent discharge on dielectric liquids, 

 by M. Berthelot. The liquids examined were alcohol, olive 

 oil, and essence of turpentine. Alcohol gave a mixture of 

 hydrogen and ethane. — Action of calcium sulphate upon some 

 haloid salts of the alkalies, by M. A. Ditte. A study of the 

 equilibrium produced in aqueous solutions containing calcium 



NO. 1481, VOL. 57] 



sulphate, and varying proportions of alkaline chlorides, bromides, 

 and iodides. — On the number and symmetry of the fibro- 

 vascular bundles of the petiole as a measure of the perfection of 

 vegetable species, by M. A. Chatin. — On the results given by a 

 seismograph installed at Grenoble, by M. M. Levy. The slight 

 earthquake shock noticed in the valley of the Po on March 4, was 

 clearly shown on the seismographs (Kilian and Paulin, Angot) at 

 Grenoble. — On the absorptive power of lampblack for radiant 

 heat, by MM. Crova and Compan. It is usually assumed that 

 for a given flux of radiant energy the absorptive power of a 

 layer of lampblack is equal to unity. This, however, is not 

 necessarily the case, the coefficient of absorption varying between 

 narrow limits according to the nature of the deposit and its mode 

 of application. A layer of black, applied in the ordinary way, 

 may have an absorptive power as low as 0*9. The application of 

 several layers, each washed with alcohol and then dried, gives a 

 more complete absorption, the coefficient after some six deposits, 

 rising to 98. Fewer deposits of platinum black are required to 

 reach the same limit. — Report on a memoir of M. Gonnessiat, 

 entitled " Researches on the law of variations of latitude," by M. 

 Radau. — On the " Histoire celeste du 17* siecle" of Pingre, by 

 M. G. Bigourdan.— Note on the ellipsoid of Jacobi, by M. P. 

 Krliger. — On the determination of the group of rationality of 

 linear differential equations of the fourth order, by M. F. 

 Marotte. — On conjugated congruences of pencils C, by M. C. 

 Guichard.— On the invariants of linear partial differential 

 equations of two independent variables, by M. J. Le 

 Roux. — On a problem of Riemann, by M. Ludwig Schles- 

 inger. — On certain first integrals of some dynamical equations 

 in two variables ; application to a particular case of the problem 

 of three bodies, by MM. J. Perchot and W. Ebert.— Researches 

 of precision on the infra-red dispersion of quartz, by M. E. Car- 

 vallo. The dispersion was measured by means of a bolometer ; the 

 results differ appreciably from those of Mouton, but show a re- 

 markably close agreement with figures calculated by means of ar>i 

 extrapolation formula of Mace de Lepinay, derived from observ- 

 ations in the visible spectrum and ultra-violet. — Influence of soft 

 iron on the mean square of the difference of potential at the ex- 

 tremities of a bobbin traversed by a high-frequency current, by 

 M. H. Pellat. — On the temperature of incandescent lamps, by- 

 M. P. Janet. The variation of the resistance of the lamp as a 

 function of the difference of potential at the ends of the filament 

 is measured, and also the variation in the resistance of a cooled 

 lamp as a function of the time. From these, with the weight 

 of the filament, the temperature can be deduced, assuming that 

 the filament is composed of pure carbon. Four lamps gave 

 concordant figures, namely 1610°, 1630°, 1620°, and 1720' C. — 

 Some properties of kathodes placed in a powerful magnetic 

 field, by M. Andre Broca. The experiments lead to the. con- 

 clusion that there are two kinds of kathode rays, one of which 

 rotates round the line of force of the magnetic field, and the 

 other which follows this line of force. — Researches on nickel- 

 steel. Variations of volume of irreversible alloys, by M. C. E. 

 Guillaame. — Researches on the magnetic properties of nickel- 

 steel, by M. Eugene Dumont. A determination, in absolute 

 values, of the magnetic permeability of twelve samples of 

 nickel steel containing from 26 to 44 per cent, of nickel, 

 in fields varying from 14 to 50 C.G.S. units, and at 

 temperatures between - 78° and 250° C. The results are 

 expressed graphically in three sets of curves. — Preparation 

 of beryllium by electrolysis, by M. P. Lebeau. The pure metal 

 is most conveniently obtained by the electrolysis of the fused 

 double fluoride of sodium and beryllium by a current of six 

 amperes, and potential difference of 35 to 40 volts. — Chemical 

 estimation of carbon monoxide in the air, even in the smallest 

 traces, by M. Maurice Nicloux. The method is based upon- 

 the fact that carbon monoxide is oxidised by iodic anhydride 

 at 150°, giving carbonic acid and iodine, the latter, representing 

 the carbonic oxide present, being measured by a colorimetric 

 method. — On the dissociation of the carbides of barium and 

 manganese, by MM. Gin and Leleux. These two carbides, at 

 the highest temperatures of the electric furnace, behave similarly 

 to calcium carbide ; not being volatile, but dissociated into the 

 metal and carbon. — Researches on the explosion of mixtures con- 

 taining marsh gas by electric currents, by MM. H. Couriot and 

 J. Meunier. There is no danger of explosion of mixtures of air 

 and methane, by wires raised to incandescence by an electric 

 current. It is only when the wire melts, and a spark passes, 

 that an explosion is determined. — On the preparation and etheri- 

 fication of asymmetrical dimethylsuccinic acid, by M. E. E. 



