220 



NATURE 



\7an. 13, 1876 



mining officers ; but still, notwithstanding these improvements, 

 the explosions of fire-damp are sadly too frequent. The lament- 

 able events which have taken place within the last few weeks 

 clearly show that they sometimes occur without any great change 

 in the barometric pressure of the atmosphere, although undoubt- 

 edly sudden depressions in a barometer ought to caution miners 

 against emission of gas from the seam of coal and coal-wastes, 

 and put the men more on their guard at such times. It has been 

 stated in this Society that certain conditions of the atmosphere 

 quite irrespective of barometric pressure may have something to 

 do with causing the "drag" in the currents of air circulating 

 through a mine, as explosions have frequently occurred during 

 an east wind and a muggy state of the atmosphere, and a vesicu- 

 lar condition of water in the air has been suggested as the pro- 

 bable cause of this lessening of the speed of the air passing 

 through the galleries of mines. Now, careful observations with 

 a good anemometer in the return air-course of a mine ought to 

 determine whether or not such an effect is produced, and thus 

 settle this point by direct experiment. Another source of acci- 

 dents at this time of the year has to be taken into consideration. 

 Before Christmas and in cold weather there is often a brisk 

 demand for coal, and both managers -and men are in a hurry to 

 increase the output, and under such circumstances probably there 

 may be sometimes not so much care and caution exercised as are 

 necessary for them to use in the dangerous work in which they 

 are engaged. In the management of a fiery mine, in ray opi- 

 nion — I. There ought not to be any unventilated wastes. 2. 

 The mixed use of Davy lamps and naked lights should not be 

 permitted where the former are commonly employed. 3. Blast- 

 ing of coal by gunpowder should not be sanctioned where Davy 

 lamps are in common use. 4. An anemometer under the care 

 of a competent man should be in constant use, in order to see 

 that a sufficient current of air is passing through the workings to 

 insure perfect ventilation of the mine. 5. When there are 

 marked indications of firedamp in a mine, shown by a cap on 

 the flame of a lamp, the men engaged in hewing and drawing 

 coal should be removed from the pit until by ventilation the 

 place is cleared of gas and rendered safe for a working collier. 

 The above precautions may probably cause an increased cost in 

 the getting of coal, but they are necessary for the preservation 

 of human life if such catastrophes as now frequently occur are 

 to be prevented. It is now pretty generally admitted that all 

 explosions of fire-damp are caused by there being too little pure 

 air and too much of that gas in a mine. — Chemical notes, by M. 

 M. Pattison Muir, F. R.S.E,, Assistant Lecturer on Chemistry, 

 Owens College. 



Paris 



Academy of Sciences, Jan. 3. — Vice-Admiral Paris in the 

 chair. — M. Peligot was elected vice-president for 1876 ; and 

 MM. Chasles andDecaisne were elected to the Central Adminis- 

 trative Commission. The following papers were read : — On the 

 interior constitution of magnets, by M. Jamin. — New thermic 

 researches on the formation of organic compounds ; Acetylene, 

 by M. Beithelot. The heat liberated by combustion of acetylene 

 with free oxygen = 4- 321 cal. for C4H2 = 26grs. — Final reflec- 

 tions on the production of saccharoid matters in plants, by M. 

 Duchartre. — Ephemerides of the planet (156) determined by M. 

 Rayet, from observations at Marseilles, by M. Lcewy. — On the 

 way in which caloric vibrations may dilate bodies, and on the co- 

 efficient of dilatation, by M. de Saint- Venant. — Sixteenth note 

 on the electric conductivity of moderately conducting substances, 

 by M. Du Moncei. Minerals, when truly conductors, have but 

 two kinds of conductivities, an electrolytic conductivity and one 

 which is proper to them and approximates m.ore or less to me- 

 tallic conductivity. The electrotonic conductivity proper to 

 dielectrics exists only in rocks known to be isolating and 

 in crystals. But there are effects which imply a charac- 

 teristic polarity of a moderately conducting medium. — New 

 crystallised hydrate of chlorhydric acid, by MM, Pierre and 

 Puchot. Mixing two parts of snow with one part of hydrochloric 

 acid (cooled previously to — 15° or — 16°), one may obtain a 

 temperature of — 35° C. — On a new fundamental law of electro- 

 dynamics, by I\I. Clausius. — On the study of thermic motors, 

 and on some points of the theory of heat in general, by M. Hirn. 

 This is an outline of Vol. II. of the author's work on Thermo- 

 dynamics. — Osseous heads of fossil and actual human races ; 

 history of ethnic craniology ; Negrito race, by MM. Quatrefages 

 and Hamy. — Report on]\I. de Magnac's method for representing 

 the daily course of chronometers. — Determination, by the prin- 

 ciple of analytical correspondence, of the order of a geometric 



place defined by algebraic conditions, by M. SalteL — On a point 

 of infinitesimal geometry, by M. Serret. — On left cubics, by M. 

 Appell. — Physiological conditions influencing the character of 

 unipolar excitation of nerves, during and after the passage of a 

 battery current, by M. Chauveau. He studies four cases : 

 nervous system intact, spinal cord separated from brain, cord 

 destroyed, and nerve cut above point of application of electrode. 

 — On a commensal Amphipodan {Urothoe marinits) of ihcEchino- 

 cardhtm cordatum, by M. Giard. — Elliptic elements of the planet 

 (157) Dejanire, and calculated epheme'ides, by M. Stephan. — Re- 

 searches on the law of transmission, by the earth's atmosphere, of 

 calorific radiations from the sun, by M. Crova. — On the phenomena 

 of induction, by M. Mouton. He studies the electric state of an 

 induced bobbin with the ends unconnected, and too far apart for 

 a spark to pass ; a series of oscillations in potential is observed. 

 — On the role of acids in dyeing with alizarine and its congeners, 

 by M. Rosenstiehl. — On the phosphates of sesquioxide of iron 

 and alumina, by M. Millot. — On a secondary hexylic alcohol, by 

 M. CEchsner de Coninck. — On the assimilability of fossil phos- 

 phates, and on the danger of exclusive use of azotised manures, 

 by M. Roussille. — On the preparation of gaseous bromhydric 

 acid, by M. Bertrand. — Researches on the functions of glands 

 in the digestive apparatus of insects, by M. Jousset. He was 

 able, in Blatta orientalis, to obtain the liquids in the gland itself 

 before entrance into the alimentary canal. — On the floral glands 

 of Parnassia palush'ts, new physiological functions, by M. 

 Hjeckel, These glands are a carnivorous organ. — Undulations 

 of the clay in the north of France, by M. Hebert. 



Vienna, 



Geological Society, Dec. 7, 1875. — After welcoming Dr. E. 

 Tietze on his return from Persia, M. von Hauer presented some 

 papers sent in by Dr. K. Peters on the interesting limestone 

 from the Sauerbrunngraben, near Stainz, in Styria, which en- 

 closes crystals of a plagioclastic felspar belonging to the species 

 Albite. — Dr. A. Feistmantel, on the minerals of the peculiarly 

 large-grained granite (Pegmatite) from the districts of Behar and 

 Rangun, in Bengal. Among them large plates of mica are 

 very remarkable, which the inhabitants make use of as ground 

 for paintings, but they are also, like the Russian mica, brought 

 to Europe for sale. — Dr. Kapf, of Stuttgart, on some very in- 

 teresting remains of Saurians found in the so-called Stuben 

 sandstone of Wurtemberg. — Dr. Mojsisovics presented the 

 second volume of his work on the Mountains of Hallstadt, and 

 gave a short account of its contents. In this volume the genera 

 Arcestes (with 112 species), Didymites (with 6 species), and 

 Lobites (with 26 species) are described, and illustrated in thirty- 

 eight lithographic plates. — Dr. Dolter reported on the composi- 

 tion of the Melaphyres from the Southern Tyrol. Among the 

 essential constituents of them, he recognised in some cases 

 Amphibole, in others Augite. — R. Homes exhibited some re- 

 mains of Atithracotherium magnuvi, from the coal-mines of 

 Trifail, in Styria, and expressed the opinion that the carboni- 

 ferous strata of Trifail and Sotzka are not identical with those of 

 Eibiswald and^Wies, but belong to an older stage of the tertiary 

 period. 



CONTENTS Pack 



Our Water Sufplv 201 



Lieut. Cameron IN Central Africa ........ . . 202 



Morell's " Euclid Simplified" 202 



Tissandier's Photography. By R. Me.lt>ola (,lVii/t lUtisiraiiofts) 204 

 Our Book Shelf :— 



Leared's " Morocco and the Moors " 206 



Grohraan's "Tyrol and the Tyrolese" 206 



Letters to the Editor : — 



The Late Eclipse. — Dr. Arthur Schuster 207 



The Fossil Skeletons of Le Puy en Velay. — Rev. W. S. Symonds . 207 



A Meteor in the Daytime. — William F. Denning 208 



Blowpipe Analysis. — T. S. Humpidge 208 



Marine Aquaria. — H. J. M'G 208 



The Glow-worm in Scotland. — Dr. Wm. McLacrin 208 



Bryant and May's Safety Matches. — W. H. Preece 208 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



The Minor Planet, No. 153 208 



Satellites of Uranus 208 



The Great Comets of 1874 and 1680 ... 208 



An Exploring txPEDiTioN to the Interior of Sumatra By 



Dr. A. A. W. HuBRECHT {IVith Illustration) 209 



Fertilisation of Flowers by Insects, XII. By Dr. Hermann 



MuLLER (iVith Illustrations) 210 



Beats in Music By W. Pole, F.R.S., Mus. Doc. Oxon .... 212 



United States National Academy of Sciences 214 



Notes 216 



Scientific Serials 218 



sociktibs and academies , . . 2l8 



