4o8 



NA TURE 



[Sei'tembkr 15, 1923 



Societies and Academies. 



Paris. 



Academy of Sciences, August 20. — M. Guillaumc 

 Bigourd.in in the chair. — A. Lacroix : The constitu- 

 tion of the Rockall bank. The island of Rockall 

 emerges from a .submarine bank defined by depths 

 of 183 metres, and measures about 70 miles. Blocks 

 of basalt have been frequently found on this bank 

 by fishermen and by systematic dredging. Two views 

 have been put forward as to the origin of these blocks. 

 Forbes suggested transportation by glaciers from 

 Iceland or Jan Mayen island, but G. A. J. Cole con- 

 siders them as constituting the debris of a submerged 

 basaltic ])lateau, and this view was accepted by Judd. 

 Detailed examination and chemical analysis of the 

 rocks collected by Charcot in 1921 on the Rockall 

 bank confirms Cole's hypothesis. — Charles Richet : 

 The influence of removal of the spleen in cases of 

 insufficient feeding. Details of experiments lasting 

 126 days on five dogs without spleens and four 

 normal dogs, as controls. — Paul Vuillemin : Variation 

 and fluctuation jn the number of stigmata of Papaver. 

 — Charles Nordmann : The mechanism of hovering 

 flight and the morphology of hovering birds. — N. 

 Vasilesco Karpen : The electromotive force of 

 batteries, chemical affinity, and molecular attraction. 

 The formulae for the E.M.F. of a Daniell cell given 

 by Nernst and by Hclmholtz are regarded by the 

 author as inconsistent, and other objections are 

 raised against the Nernst expression. A modified 

 Nernst theory is proposed based on the Laplacian 

 attraction exerted on the molecules and ions situated 

 at the level of the surface of separation between two 

 different media. — L. Bert : The preparation and 

 application to organic syntheses of the magnesium 

 derivative of />-bromcumene. ^-Bromcumene has not 

 hitherto been utilised in syntheses by tlie Grignard 

 reaction, on account of its high price. Recently, 

 isopropyl alcohol has been obtainable commercially 

 at a low price, and this can readily be converted into 

 isopropyl bromide, cumene, and ^-bromcumene, with 

 good yields. Details are given of the best method 

 of preparing the magnesium compound of p-brom- 

 cumene and of some compounds prepared by means 

 of it. — G. Vavon and D. Ivanoff : Catalytic hydro- 

 genation and steric hindrance. The study of some 

 nonanones. Four saturated C9 ketones were studied, 

 dipropylacetone, methylethylpropylacetone, dimethyl- 

 diethylacetone, and hexamethylacetone. Both the 

 formation of oxims, and of phenylhydrazones, as well 

 as the catalytic hydrogenation of the ketones in the 

 presence of platinum, follow the law of steric hindrance. 

 — P. Lebeau : The quantity and the nature of the 

 gases evolved by solid combustibles under the action 

 of heat in a vacuum : anthracites. The volume of 

 gas given by various combustibles is not a function 

 of the percentage of volatile matter. Anthracites, 

 poor in volatile matter, give volumes of gas of the 

 same order as bituminous coals. The gas from 

 anthracite contains high proportions of hydrogen. — 

 M. de Rohan- Chabot : Magnetic measurements in 

 Angola and in Rhodesia by the Rohan-Chabot 

 expedition. Observations taken in 191 2 and 191 3 

 at 44 stations in Angola and 3 ifi Rhodesia are given 

 in tabular form. — Femand Chodat and A. Kotzareff : 

 The difference between pathological and normal sera 

 and the autophy lactic property of the latter. — A. 

 Paillot : A new flageilosis of an insect and a process 

 of natural infection not hitherto described. — C. 

 Levaditi and S. Nicolau : The persistence of the 

 neurovaccine in the testicle, the ovarv, and the lung 

 of animals having acquired an ti- vaccinal immunity. 



SVDNRY 



Royal Society of New South Wales, luly 4.— M 

 R. H. Cambage, president, in the chair. — G. J. 

 Burrows and F. Eastwood : Molecular solution volumes 



in ethyl alcohol. The ;.ii«l>'.r>. i,:.v.. ^^^..^^^^r,,,\ the 



den.sities of alcoholic : ic 



compounds, and calculai n 



volumes. It has been found ih;> 

 non-associated solute in alcohol ( 

 in volume of 20 c.c. per gram molecule oi id 



that a smaller contraction indicates that h? 



is associated in the liquid state. — E. Cheel : 1 v. 

 additional species of Leptospermum. Two additiou' 

 species of plants belonging to the tea-tree gnjup were 

 described. One sjxjcies, namely, Leptospermum 

 coriaceum, was originally described by liaron von 

 Mueller as a distinct species, but was afterwards 

 merged as a synonym witn the common " sand si •> 

 or coastal tea-tree of N. S. Wales (L, lavtg' 

 Certain structural characters, hawever, as wcii a.'» 

 geographical range from Sandringham in Victoria 

 through Murray Bridge in S. Australir' ♦" ' '-I'l" ■ -" 

 the Transcontinental Line, serve to ( 



species. The second species, which i...., ... - 



the " small-fruited tea-tree " (L. mtcrocarpum) is 

 confined chiefly to the northern parts of N. S. Wales 

 and Queensland. It has smooth whip-stick-like 

 branches, and sheds its bark like some of the ^urn- 

 trees. — A. R. Penfold : The essential oils of Call 

 slemon lanceolatus a.nd C.viminalis. The essential on 

 from two well-known " bottle brushes," Callisttmon 

 /aMC«o/a/j/sandC.t'm»na/i5,weredescribed. The former 

 inhabits the swampy situations of the coast extending 

 to about Gloucester, while the latter is a denizen of 

 the banks of the rivers of the far north coast and 

 extends into Queensland. The essential oils were of 

 a pale yellow colour, and were practically identical 

 with a medicinal eucalyptus oil. Unfortunately, the 

 low percentage yield of oil, 02 per cent., precludes 

 their successful exploitation, despite their abundance, 

 on account of the higher yield of 2 to 3 per cent 

 obtainable from the eucalypts. 



Official Publications Received. 



UnlversUlKl Nacional ile La Plata Museo. Habitontea Neoliticot d<l 

 lago Buenos Aires: Documeutoti parm la Antroiologia fwica de la 

 Patagonia Austral. Per Dr. Josi Imbelloni. Pp. S5-U0. (Buenos 



Bernice P. Bisbop Museum. Bulletin 4 : Report of the Director for 

 1922. By Herbert E. Gregory. Pp. 38. (Honolulu, Hawaii.) 



Lougbborough College, I ' ' "lire. Calendar, Session l?2»-24. 



Pp. xiv + 213 + 5 plates. (1 n.) 



Prospectus of University be Municipal College of Techno- 



logy, Manchester. Session i.'i.>--4. i'p. 22.'>. ■ »<-■ -i-- •■■• > 



Department of the Interior: Bureau of K • n, IMS, 



No. 8: Sipniticant Movements in City St-: :■ W. 8. 



Deffenbaujth. Pp.28. (Wa-shington : Govenui.' n 



State of Illinois. Department of Regi.stration an.: on 



of the Natural Hi.story Survey. Bulletin, Vol. 14. .rt 



on a Forestrv Survey of Illinois, By Kol>ert I" 77 



+ 27 plates. " Bulletin, VoL 14, Art. y : The 1 -n 



Ion Concentratioii in connection with Pre.- •■». 



By Victor E. Shelford. Pp. iv + 37Vt-395. (Uri>ans, m.j 



Field .Aluiieum of Natural History. Report Seriea, Vol. 6, Na 

 Annual Report of the Direct^or to the Boani of Trustees for the Ye*r l;-;- 

 (Publication 213.) Pp. v + 82-ie3. (Chicago ) 



Field Museum of Natural History. Antliropological Series, Vol. 6, 

 No. 5: The Uor>ewell Mound Group of Ohio. By Warren K. Mwrehead. 

 (Publication 211.) Pp. "5-lS.') + 48 plate-o. Anthropological S " 14, 



No. 2 : The Tinguian ; Social, Religious, and Economic Lii> ne 



Tribe. By Fay-Cooper Cole ; with a Chapter on Music 1;. .e. 



(Publication 2W.) Pp. vi + 231-4l»3+S3 plates. (Chicago.) 



Merchant Venturers' Technical College. Calendar for the Sixty-eighth 

 Session, 1923-24. Pp. .53. (Bristol.) <W. 



irniversita Comuj^rciale Luigi Bocconi. Annuario 11»22-1923. Pp. 204. 

 (Milano.) 



Jamaica. Annual Report of the Department of Agriculture for the 

 Year ended Slst December 1922. Pp. 35. (Kingston, Jamaica.) 



British L^ion : Officers' Benevolent Department. Third Annual 

 Report and Account-s, for the Year ending Slst December l-.ei Pp. 20. 

 (London : 48 Qrosvenor Square.) 



NO. 281 I, VOL. I 12] 



