26o 



NATURE 



{Jan. 27, 1876 



of zinc on benzol, Cglln, and chloride of benzyle, CgHg. CHjCl. 

 Besides diphenyl-methan, CgH^— CHg — CgH^, two isomeric 

 hydrocarbons are formed of the formula : — 



CgHj . CHg— CgHj— CH„ . CgHj, 

 which^by oxidation yield corresponding ketones : — 



CgHj . CO— CcH4— CO . CgHs 

 (dibenzoylbenzol), and two isomeric acids, viz., benzoylbenzoic 

 acid ( I : 4), and benzoylbenzoic acid (i : 2): — 



CgHsCO— CgHi— COOH. 

 — W. Leppertjhas succeeded in oxidising dibenzyl : — 



CeH^.CIL— CH.,.CoH5. 

 It yields benzoic acid. Two isomeric dinitrodibenzyls yield 

 both paranitrobenzoic acids. Assuming the position of CHj— i 

 the position of the two nitro groups appears as 4 : 4 and 4 : 2 

 in the two isomeric dinitrodibenzyls. — ^H. Salkowsky proved the 

 existence of a double salt of paranitrobenzoate and benzoate of 

 barium, and thinks that Fittica's pretended fifth isomeride of 

 nitrobenzoic acid may be a mixture of nitrobenzoic and 

 benzoic acids precipitated from double salts like the above. — 

 H. Abelganz has studied the action of potassium on benzol. It 

 appears to yield two compounds, CgHjK and CgH4K2. With 

 vi'ater (as well as with bromide of etifiyl) it yields diphenyl- 

 benzol, CgH4^CgH5)2, and a small quantity of diphenyl ; also 

 an oil boiling at 222" of the composition (CgHg)^. — E. Demole 

 has tried the action of brominated ethylene, CjHgBr, on hypo- 

 bromous acid, HBrO. The chief product appears to be 

 CHBr2 — CHjOH. — A. Hilger has studied hesperidine, to 

 which he gives the improbable formula, CjgHj^Og, and which 

 he considers ns a glucoside of an acid, Cj2Hjj04 (?). — A. Ban- 

 now showed a large specimen of solid formic acid in beautiful 

 ciystals of more than 5 cm. in length, obtained during the cold 

 weather of the last days in Berlin. The fusing-point is + 2°. — 

 E. Baumann has found in the urine of horses considerable quan- 

 tities of phenol-sulphate of potassium. — Al. Saytzeff has pro- 

 duced the following interesting synthetical reactions : by the action 

 of iodide of allyl and zinc on oxalic ether ; diallyl-oxalic ether, 

 C(C3H5)20H— COOC2H5, a liquid boiling at 210° ; by the 

 action of iodide of allyl and zinc on acetone ; the tertiary alcohol, 

 ( -CH, 



— C3H5 

 — C3H5' 

 —OH 



boiling at 119°; by the action of iodide of allyl 



and zinc on acetic ether the tertiary alcohol, C 



CH3 



C3H5 



C.H/ 



IC^IH 



(oh 



Vienna 



Imperial Academy of Sciences, Dec. 9, 1875. — The 

 following (among other) papers were read : — On the different 

 excitability of functionally different nerve-muscle apparatus, 

 by M, Rollett. This contains myographic studies on antagonistic 

 muscles, and replies to Pick's objections to former experiments. — 

 Attempts to meet objections lately raised against an increase of 

 temperature with depth in the earth, in connection with the low 

 temperature at great depths in the ocean and in some bore holes, 

 by M. Boue. The cold water must flow under the warmer, and 

 the earth's crust under the sea-bottom must be equal to that in 

 continents. As to the Speremberg hole, infiltration of cold 

 water must be considered ; also the fact that many chemical 

 combinations produce cold, and such are very likely to occur in 

 salt and gypsum regions with mineral springs. — On the growth 

 and decrease of crystals in their own solution and in the solution 

 of isomorphic salts, by M. Pfaundler. He discusses objections 

 by Lecoq de Boisbaudran to his theory. — On nitroglycerine and 

 the most important preparations from it, by M. Beckerhin. He 

 determines the specific heat of nitroglycerine and of Kieselguhr. 

 Another paper of his gives a determination of the efficiency of 

 blasting agents in a theoretical way. — On the formation of a 

 lational space-curve of the fourth order on a cone-section, by 

 M. Weyr. — On the utilisation of solar heat for heat eflTects, by a 

 new plane mirror reflector, by M. Giintner. — Discovery of a 

 disorder in the bones analogous to hemorrhagic infarction of 

 other organs, by M, Chiari. The changes in the bones coin- 

 cided with disorders in the lungs and the right kidney. — On the 

 laws of nervous excitation, by M. Fleischl— (i) For chemical 

 siimuli nerves are at all parts ot their course alike sensitive. 

 (2) For electric stimuli they are more sensiiive at higher points 

 than at lower, if the electric currents pass downwards ; the case 



is reversed if they pass upwards. (3) The doctrine of an increase 

 {AnscJnvellen) of stimulus in the nerves is untenable. — On phyl- 

 lometric values as means for characterisation of plant leaves, by 

 M. Pokovy. 



Paris 

 Academy of Sciences, Jan. 17. — Vice- Admiral Paris in the 

 chair. — The following papers were read : — Experimental critique 

 on the formation of saccharine matter in animals (continued), by 

 M. CI. Bernard. — On the irombe of Ilallsberg (with general con- 

 clusions), by M. Faye. The autlior controverts JVI. Hilde- 

 brandsson's views on the subject. — Action of fuming sulphuric 

 acid on the carburets of hydrogen, by M. Berthelot. — History of 

 attempts at formation of an observatory on the summit of the 

 Pic du Midi de Bigorre, by M. Sainte-Claire Deville. The first 

 to conceive the idea was Plantade, who died on the mountain in 

 1741- — New considerations on the regulation of slide-valves 

 (concluded), by M. Ledicu.— M. NordenskjolJ was elected cor- 

 respondent for the section of Geography and Navigation in 

 room of Mr. Livingstone. — Report on the work of M. Revy, 

 English engineer, on hydraulics of great rivers, Parana, Uru- 

 guay, and the valley of La Plata. — Mission to Campbell 

 Island, geological constitution of the island, by M. Filhol. 

 During the Upper Jurassic and Lower and Middle Eocene, the 

 land formed part of a large continent ; in the Upper Eocene 

 and Lower Miocene it was submerged ; in the Middle Miocene it 

 rose again (under volcanic influence), and has sirce been an 

 island. — On the transit of Venus of December 1874, by M. 

 Andre. — On a new analogy to the theorems of Pascal and of 

 Brianchon, by M. Serret. — Transformation of cane-sugar in raw 

 sugars and in sugar-cane, by M. Miintz. The reducing sugar in 

 these bodies is generally formed by an inactive glucose, to which 

 are often added variable proportions of normal glucose and of 

 levulose. — On the optical inactivity of the reducing sugar con- 

 tained in commercial products, by MM. Aime Gerard and 

 Laborde. — Observations on results already obtained in the mag- 

 netism of steels, by MM. Treve and Durassier. — Generalisation 

 of the theory of an osculating radius of a surface, by M. Lipschitz. 

 — On trombes, by M. Plante. In one experiment made, salt 

 water is passed through a funnel into a shallow dish over the 

 pole of an electromagnet ; and the poles of a battery of 400 

 secondary couples are connected, one ( -^ ) with the water in the 

 funnel, the other ( — ) with that in the dish. A luminous thread 

 appears in the liquid vein ; sparks pass at the botto n, and the 

 water in the dish is put in rotation. This and other experiments 

 described are thought to illustrate the action ol tro tubes. — On the 

 spectrum of nitrogen and that of alkaline metals in Geissler tube.-, 

 by M. Salet. We shall notice this at length next week. — On new 

 derivatives of anethol, by M. Landolph. — On the synthesis of 

 aniline black, byM. Coquiilion (second note). — Crossing of nerve 

 fibres which connect the brain with the spinal cord, by MM. Sappey 

 and Duval. — On the embryogeny of the Sahnacina Dyst:ri, 

 Huxley, by M. Giard. — Undulations of the chalk in the north of 

 France, second part ; origin and general disposition of these un- 

 dulations, by M. Ilebert. 



CONTENTS Page 



George Pol LETT ScROpa, F.R.S. By A. G 241 



SoMBRSKT House and the Public Analysts 242 



Hartley's "Air and its Relation to Life." By Prof. Osborne 



Reynolds 243 



The Recent Origin ok Man. By W. B. D 245 



Our Book Shelf : — 



" The Indian Alps " 246 



Letters to the Editor : — 



The Article " Birds" in "Encyclopaedia Britannica." — Prof T. H 



Huxley, F.R.S 247 



D-line Sptctra. — Prof. G. G. Stokes, F.R.S 247 



The True Nature of Lichens. — Dr. W. Lauder Lindsay . . . 247 

 Our Astronomical Column : — 



The Binary Star 7 Coronae Australis 248 



The Solar Eclipse of 1876, March 25 248 



Bessel's Treatises 248 



The Flowering of Spring Plants. By Alexander Buchan . . 249 



The Work of the Challenger and the Valorous 250 



Science in Germany. By S. W. {With lllnstraiion) 250 



The Physical Observatory ON THE Pic Du Midi 251 



Prof. Tyndall on Germs 252 



Notes 254 



Scientific Serials 257 



SoCIKTiKS AND ACADEMIKS 258 



