6o6 



NATURE 



L^ A it»biK 20, 1923 



physicist, horn at Sion, whose ideas not only made a 

 Kreat stir at the time, but have also proved a source 



' ■nce. 



Sections a number of interesting com- 

 uiiiiu. .i.i.Mi-. "rie made. Tlic Mathematical Section 

 opened withacausfricof myownon the nuptial nunilwr 

 01 riato. I''"f ""io'-iscr then explaineil a very pretty 

 geometrical i rational points on the straight 



line and cirL (' luig the latter in those points and 



toucliing one another, and Prof. Wavre, of Geneva, 

 gave a short account of some work on a substitution 

 in the realm of several complex variables. After the 

 meeting I communicated by desire a new theorem of 

 Prof. W, H. Young's in the theory of trigonometric 

 series; he had promised to speak on this subject, 

 but was prevented from attending the meeting. I 

 pointed out how the theorem itself as well as the 

 proof again illustrate the efficacy of the method of 

 mtegration with respect to a function of bounded 

 variation. 



In the Physical Section the communications fell 

 distinctly into two classes, pure and applied, the latter 

 being in the majority. The former included an 

 account of the separation of neighbouring radioactive 

 substances as carried out in the Brussels laboratory 

 of August Piccard, and another of experiments made 

 in Prof. Perrier's laboratory at Lausanne by S. 

 Gagnebin, on the thermic variation of the dielectric 

 constants of quartz. These latter form part of 

 a general scheme of research undertaken in the 

 Lausanne laboratory on the dissymmetries of solid 

 matter ; they constitute, moreover, a fine example of 

 the use of the triode lamp in the problem of measuring 

 exceedingly feeble capacities with imperfect isolation. 

 In applied physics we may in particular mention an 

 account of the determinations of the variation of the 

 first modulus of the elasticity of steel under changes 

 of temperature, made in Prof. Jaquerod's new horo- 

 logical laboratory at NeuchS,tel ; it is expected that 

 the result of the creation of this department will have 

 a beneficial effect on the Swiss watchmaking industry. 

 Almost all the remaining contributions consisted of 

 technical improvements in telegraphy and wireless 

 telephony, among which we note the realisation of 

 very simple and strong, but small, apparatus, of 

 national importance to Switzerland in so far as they 

 are to be set up in the huts of the Alpine Club. 



The Botanical Section was strongly represented. 

 P. Konrad gave an account of his researches on certain 

 fungi in the Jura ; in particular he has found a new 

 type of Hymenomycetes which enables him to settle 

 certain systematic questions hitherto unsolved. Prof. 

 Schinz, of Zurich, showed a collection made by one 

 of his staff. Prof. A. Thelling, unfortunately him- 

 self absent, of the flowers of Zermatt, corroboiating," 

 among other things, the known fact that, in this 

 region, plants are able to exist at a greater height 

 than in other parts of Switzerland. 



Dr. W. Vischer, of B&le, spoke upon heredity in 

 relation to the physiological properties of Hevea 

 Brasiliensis, the chief rubber producing plant at the 

 present time. Prof. E. Fischer, of Berne, gave two 

 communications ; the first on the work carried out 

 under his direction by Dr. Baumgartner, who has been 

 able to show that an interesting family of fungi, the 

 Laboulbeniaces, hitherto supposed to be confined 

 almost exclusively to North America, contains numer- 

 ous representatives in Switzerland. The excessive 

 minuteness of these organisms renders their recogni- 

 tion extraordinarily difficult. The second of P^of. 

 Fischer's communications related to the infection of 

 certain plants by rust-fungi (Uredineae), which he had 

 collected in the Rhone valley, and by means of which 

 new light is thrown on the susceptibility of determinate 



NO. 2816, VOL. I 12] 



races <' ' l.ints to infection b\ ' ' 



Prof, j at pleasure to his 



account 111 itaiiaii of the mosses he ii;i^ 

 the pass of Sasso Corbaro, near I^Ilinzoti 

 found several hitherto unknown in the 'le:i^.ii 

 remarkable variety found in such a small .1 

 doubtless due to the lie of the region in r< 

 both to the Alps and the Mediterranean. F< - 

 Chodat, the son of I*rof. Chodat, of G«Mif\;i 

 upon the determination of the c<> 

 hydrogen ions in the soil and its in: 

 vegetation. In places where the saute gruup ui 

 plants occurs, the concentration is found to Yu- 

 remarkably constant in spite of external 

 of the surroundings ; hence it may be exj 

 this factor plays an important part in tli' 

 tion of plants. F*rof. Schellenberg, of Zu: 

 upon a subject closely connected with thai o: 

 Fischer's second communication. The pa 

 fungus which formed the subject of his invcMig.i 

 tions, Sclerotinia, attacks especially the quince tree, 

 and others of the same family. 



In the Section of Geophysics, Meteorolog)'. and 

 Astronomy, we may refer to an interesting "^-"^ 

 munication by O. Liitschg, of Bern, giving 

 details with respect to the advance of a i • 

 glacier founded on archives of the year 1300; . 

 the Section of Anthropology and Ethnology, in 

 tion to the account given by Prof. Pittard, of Geneva, 

 on Palaeolithic traces in Northern Africa, we mtist 

 notice H. Junod's communication on tot< • 

 among the Tongas, P6dis, and Vendas. The t , 

 customs which he had chronicled during his long 

 residence in South Africa among these jjeoples seem 

 to indicate that the totemism which exists, more 

 particularly among the Pedis, may be a relic of the 

 past, the real meaning of which has been lost and the 

 practice become degenerate. 



Among other communications of interest we note, 

 in the Section of the History of Medicine and of 

 Science, Dr. Morgenthaler's account of a hysterical 

 case at the beginning of the sixteenth century. The 

 account as written down by the doctors at the time 

 is so exact that it is p)ossible in the present day to 

 diagnose the case precisely. In those days the 

 patient was fortunate to escape being tried and burned 

 for witchcraft. In the same Section, Prof. G. Senn 

 examined carefully the pharmaceutical-botanical 

 handbook of Theophrastus (chapters 8-20 of his 

 " Historia plantarum "), and came to the conclusion 

 that we have here a conglomerate of results from 

 various sources, which were edited rather inefficiently 

 at a later date by an unknown person. Nevertheless, 

 the book has scientific value, and certainly contains 

 parts due to Theophrsistus. 



In each of the Sections there was, besides the 

 scientific communications read and discussed, a 

 business meeting which, for the most part, presents 

 no interest to a British public ; we notice, however, 

 with pleasure that Sir Clifford Allbutt was elected an 

 honorary member of the Society, in recognition of his 

 important contributions to the historj' of medicine. 

 In the Physical Section, moreover, two matters of 

 general interest came up : first, the question of the 

 federation of the Swiss Physical Society with the 

 Intemationed Union of Pure and Applied Physics, 

 and secondly, the creation of a Swiss periodical for 

 physicists. The Helvetic Society as a whole had 

 already given in its adhesion to the International 

 Research Council, and the question was put by the 

 central president to the Physical Society, as a 

 branch of the laa"ger body. It was decided to 

 answer in the affirmative. A Swiss Committee of 

 Physics was there and then constituted, comprising 



