48o 



NA TURE 



[March 17, 1898 



Blaise. — On the synthetical isoborneols, their identity with 

 fenoilic alcohols, by MM. G. Bouchardat and J. Lafont. —On 

 the partial decomposition of chloroform in the organism, by MM. 

 A. Desgrez and M. Nicloux. A reply to the criticism of M. de 

 Saint -Martin. Normal blood gives on analysis a small proportion 

 of carbon monoxide. This amount is notably increased in the 

 blood of animals under chloroform. — A true mucin produced by 

 a fluorescent pathogenic bacillus, by M. Ch. Lepierre. — Action 

 of the bacterium of sorbose upon polyhydric alcohols, by M. 

 Oabriel Bertrand. Alcohols show very different behaviour when 

 treated with the sorbose bacillus ; some, such as glycol, xylite 

 and dulcite, resisting the oxidising action completely ; others, 

 glycerine, sorbite, mannite, being readily oxidised to ketones. — 

 Influence of the medium upon variations in the Protozoa, by M. 

 J. Kunstler — The larva of the sponges and homologation of the 

 leaflets, by M. Yves Delage. — On a new type of Copepod, by 

 M. Jules Bonnier. The new type, to which the name Piono- 

 desmotes phorniosomcE is given, was found by the Prince of 

 Monaco in one of the scientific voyages of the Princess Alice. — 

 On a cereal of the Soudan, by M. Dybowski. — A prehistoric 

 station at Mount Huberville, near Valognes, by M. Le 

 Nordez. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



THURSDAY, March 17. 



Royal Society, at 4.30. — The Croonian Lecture will be delivered by 

 Prof. Wilhelm Pfeffer, For. Mem. R.S. On the Nature and Significance 

 of Functional Metabolism (Betriebs-stoffwechsels) in the Plant. 



KoYAL Institution, at 3.— Magnetism and Diamagnetism : Prof. J. A. 

 Fleming, F.R.S. 



LiNNEAN Society, at 8. — Natural Selection the Cause of Mimetic Re- 

 semblance and Common Warning Colours : Prof. E. B. Poulton, F R.S. 

 —On the Brain of the Edentata, including Chlamydophorus : Dr. Elliott 

 Smith.— On Limnocarpus, a New Genus of Fossil Plants from the Tertiary 

 Deposits of Hampshire : Clement Reid. 



Chemical Society, at 8.— The "Reduction of Bromic Acid and the Law 

 of Mass Action : Winifred Judson and Dr. J. Wallace Walker.— The 

 Action of Ferric Chloride on the Ethereal Salts of Ketone Acids :— Dr. 

 R. S. Morell and Dr. J. M. Crofts.— Note on the Volatility of Sulphur : 

 T. C. Porter. — Action of Ammonia and Substituted Ammonias on Acetyl- 

 urethane : Dr. George Young and Ernest Clark. — Cannabinol : T. B. 

 Wood, W. T. N. Spivey, and Dr T. H. Easterfield.— Formation of 

 Oxytriazoles from Semicarbazides : Dr. G. Young, and B. M. Stockwell. 



Institution OF Civil Engineers, at 8. — Sixth "James Forrest" Lec- 

 ture, Geology in Relation to Engineering : Prof. W. Boyd Dawkins, 

 F.R.S. 



Camera Club, at 8.15. — Some Recent Animal Photographs : Gambier 

 Bolton. 



FRIDAY, March 18. 



Royal Institution, at 9.— The Bringing of Water to Birmingham from 

 the Welsh Mountains : J. Mansergh. 



MONDAY, March 21. 



Society of Arts, at 8.— The Thermo-Chemistry of the Bessemer Process. 



Prof. W. N. Hartley, F.R.S. 

 Victoria Institute. — A New Babylonian Story of the Flood : Theo. G. 



Pinches. 

 Camera Club, at 5.30.— Annual General Meeting At 8.30.— Travels in 



Kashmir and Little Tibet : Dr. Arthur Neve. 



TUESDAY, March 22. 



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



Lankester, F.R.S. 

 Institution of Civil Engineers, at 8. — Calcium Carbide and Acetylene : 



Henry Fowler. — Extraordinary Floods in Southern India : their Causes, 



and Destructive Effects on Railway Works : E. W. Stoney. 

 Royal Horticultural Society. — Horticultural Soils. 

 Royal Photographic Society, at 8.— The Gum Bichromate Proce.ss : 



Robert Demachy. 



WEDNESDAY, March 23. 



Society of Arts, at 8.— The Preparation of Meat Extracts : C. R. 

 Valentine. 



Geological Society, at 8. — The Eocene Deposits of Devon : Clement 

 Reid. — On an Outlier of Cenomanian and Turonian near Honiton, with 

 a Note on Holaster alius, Ag. : A. J. Jukes-Browne. — Cone-in-Cone : 

 Additional Facts from various Countries : W. S. Gresley. 



THURSDAY, March 24. 



Royal Society, at 4.30. — The Bakerian Lecture will be delivered by Dr. 

 W. J. Russell, F.R.S. Subject : Further Experiments on the Action 

 exerted by certain Metals and other Bodies on a Photographic Plate. 



Royal Institution, at 3. — Recent Researches in Electricity and Mag- 

 netism : Prof. J. A. Fleming, F.R.S. 



Institution of Electrical Engineers, at 8. — Cost of Generation and 

 Distribution of Electrical Energy : R. Hammond. 



Camera Club, at 8.15. — Photographic Engraving in Intaglio: Colonel 

 Waterhouse. 



FRIDAY, March 25. 



Physical Society, at 5. — On the Circulation of the Residual Gaseous 

 Matter in a Crookes' Tube : A. A. Campbell Swinton.— On some Im- 

 provements in the Roberts-Austen Recording Pyrometer, and Notes on 

 Thermo-electric Pyrometers : A. Stansfield. 



Institution of Civil Engineers, at 8. — Internal Governor Friction 

 H. O. Eurich. 



BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, and SERIALS RECEIVED. 



Books. — Evolution Individuelle et H^re'dit^ : F. Le Dantec (Paris, 

 Alcan).— Ethnological Studies among the North- West Central Queensland 

 Aborigines : W. E. Roth (Brisbane, Gregory). — Exploration of the Air 

 by means of Kites (Cambridge, Mass., Wilson).— Queen's College, Galway, 

 Calend.ar for 1897-98 (Dublin, Ponsonby). — Prospetting for Minerals : S. 

 H. Cox (Griffin). — Lehrbuch der Algebra: Prof. H. Weber, Zweite 

 Auflage, Erster Band (Braunschweig, Vieweg). — The Collected Mathe- 

 matical Papers of Arthur Caylej;. Supplementary Volume containing 

 Titles of Papers and Index (Cambridge University Press). — Araneae Hun- 

 gariae : C. Chyzer and L. Kulczynski, Tome i and 2 (2 parts) (Buda- 

 pestini). — Audubon and his Journals : M. R. Audubon, 2 Vols. (Nimmo). — 

 The Smithsonian Institution, 1846-1896. The History of its First Half- 

 Century : edited by G. Browne Goode (Washington).— Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution. Revision of the Orthopteran Group Melanopli (Acridiidae) : S. H. 

 Scudder (Washington). 



Pamphlets. — Field Columbian Museum. Annual Report of the Director 

 to the Board of Trustees for the Year 1896-97 (Chicago).— Ditto. List of 

 Fishes and Reptiles obtained by Field Columbian Museum East African 

 Expedition to Somali-Land in 1896 : S. E. Meek and D. G. Elliot 

 (Chicago). 



Serials.— Knowledge, March (Holborn).— Botanische Jahrbi'icher, Fiin- 

 fundzwanzigster Band, i and 2 Heft (Leipzig).— Strand Magazine, March 



(Newnes). Engineering Magazine, March (222 Strand).— Rendiconto 



delle Sessioni della R. Accademia delle Scienze dell' Istituto di Bologna, 

 1895-96: Ditto, Nuova Serie, Vol. i, Fasc. i to 4 (Bologna).— Katalog 

 der Bibliothek der K. Leopoldinische-Carolinischen Deutschen Akademie 

 der Naturforscher, Achte Liefg., Band ii. 5 (Halle) —Journal of the 

 Institution of Electrical Engineers, March (Spon).— Science Abstracts, 

 January (Taylor).— Bulletin of the Liverpool Museums, February (Liver- 

 pool). 



NO. 1 48 1, VOL. 57] 



CONTENTS. p.\GE 



The Chemistry of the Metals. By W. A. T. ... 457 



Submarine Cable Testing 459 



British Moths and the Genus Dianthoecia. By W. 



F. Kirby 460 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Moxly : " A Suggested Improvement of the Current 



Theories of the Tides " 461 



Blaisdell : " A Practical Physiology : a Text-Book for 



Higher Schools."— F. A. D 462 



Vogel: " Die Photographische Praxis " 462 



Davies : " The Miner's Arithmetic and Mensuration '" 462 

 Fayrer " Inspector-General Sir James Ranald Martin, 



C.B., F.R.S."— F. W. T 462 



Cousins : " The Chemistry of the Garden : a Primer 



for Amateurs and Young Gardeners." — R. W. . . 463 



"The Naturalist's Directory, 1898" 463 



Murche : " The Teacher's Manual of Object-Lessons 



in Domestic Economy " 463 



Lock wood : " Storm and Sunshine in the Dales" . . 463 

 Letters to the Editor : — 



A Dust Shower.— C. St. A. Coles 463 



The Solution of Quadratic Equations.— E. Cuthbert 



Atkinson; Prof. G. B. Mathews, F.R.S. . . 463 



West Indian Resources. By H. H 464 



On the Breeding Habits of the Grey Seal. [IHus- 



trated.) By J. E. Harting 465 



Sir Richard Quain, Bart., F.R.S 467 



Notes 468 



Our Astronomical Column: — • 



Constant of Aberration 472" 



Winnecke's Comet {a 1898) 472 



New Variable Stars 472 



Astronomical Serials 472 



The Spitsbergen Glaciers 472 



The Lake Superior Iron Ore Region. {Illustrated.) 



By Bennett H. Brough 473 



University and Educational Intelligence 475 



Scientific Serials 475 



Societies and Academies 47^ 



Diary of Societies 480 



Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received 480 



