400 



NA TURE 



\March i6, 1876 



Gkneva 



Physical and Natural History Society, Jan. 20. — Dr. 

 Prevost, Head I'hysician to the Geneva Cantonal Hospital, pre- 

 sented a photograph of the brain of a person who had been 

 aflected with aphasia. The lesion, which consists in a slightly 

 yellowish softening somewhat like cicatrisation, occupies a space 

 of about two centimetres on the posterior part of the third left 

 frontal convolution. The meninges are adherent on a level with 

 the diseased point. The " island " of Reil is healthy except at 

 a point which touches the affected convolution. The interval 

 separating two convolutions of the " island " presents a yellowish 

 coloration, and contains granulous bodies. The convolutions 

 themselves of the "island" are, on the other hand, sound. 

 This brain belonged to a woman aged seventy-five years, affected 

 for about a month wiih right hemiplegia without contractions 

 and without loss of sensibility, and who presented an almost 



complete aphasia. Incapable of speaking, she pronounced only 

 isolated syllables without any meaning, as Eh, ek : Ah, oi ; - - • 

 el), baba - ah ! ba, ba, za-za-ya. One day she said niaman ; this 

 was the only comprehensible word she uttered. She succumbed 

 twelve days after entry, to bronchitis, for which she came to the 

 hospital. The lesion observed in this case is that which M. 

 Broca regards as constant in cases of aphasia. It is known that 

 M. Meynert 'and : others, on the contrary, localise the faculty 

 of speech in the lobule of the insula, which in the above case 

 was scarcely touched. Dr. Prevost observed at the Cantonal Hos- 

 pital another case of aphasia, in which the lobule of the insula 

 was the seat of the lesion, while the third left frontal convolu- 

 tion was intact, and thinks we cannot localise exactly the faculty 

 of Janguage exclusively in either of the seats in question. 



Paris 

 Academy of Sciences, March 6. — Vice- Admiral Paris in the 

 chair. The following papers were read : — Note on geodesic opera- 

 tions undertaken in Brazil, by General Morin. A Commission is to 

 determine the position of a series of stations from Rio de Janeiro 

 to the town of San Juan de Rio Claro, and the m.outli of the 

 Tiele in the Parana. There will be measured an arc of parallel 

 of about 23'' S. lat. and 9° to 10° in longitude ; and an arc of 

 meridian from about 2" N. lat. to about 334° S. lat. or more 

 than 354°. — Transformation of nautical astronomy through the 

 progress of chronometry, by M. Yvon Villarceau. — Note on the 

 steam jacketing of engine-cylinders, by M. Resal. — On the 

 periodical variations or inequalities of temperature, by M. Sainte 

 Claire-Deville. From further data he is able to show that the oscil- 

 lation of the half of Nov. 1873 "^^'^s perceptible over Europe, Asia, 

 and America and the northern part of Africa ; that is, over 

 nearly the whole northern hemisphere. A similar oscillation in 

 November, 1874, seems to be established. — On a new simplifi- 

 cation of the fundamental law of electrodynamics, by M. Clau- 

 sius. — The Academy nominated candidates for the vacant cii-irs 

 of zoology and mineralogy ; MM. Alph. Milne-Edwards and 

 Oustalet, for the former, MM, Descloizeaux and Janettaz for 

 the latter. — On the absorption of bicarbonates by plants in natural 

 waters, by M. Barthelemy. Intey alia, these bicarbonates do 

 rot serve the respiratory action, for the quantity absorbed is not in 

 proportion to the rapidity of vegetation. During night, and in 

 water equally saturated, the plants seem to excrete a part 

 of the bicarbonates absorbed by day. — M. Dupuy de Lome 

 presented a memoir, by INI. Benin, on the rolling of ships. — M. 

 Andrade described a new governor for steam-engines, — M, de 

 Kostaing spoke of the antiseptic properties of the root of 

 madder, A piece of meat had been kept from July, 1875, 



to February 1876, in a pot containing the root in powder 

 form, and which had frequently been opened. The weight 

 was reduced fiom 119 to 25 grammes. There was no odour 

 nor development of live organisms. — Methods of transfor- 

 mation based on conservation of an invariable relation between 

 derivatives of the same order, by M. Haton de la Goupilliere, — 

 (Geometrical demonstration of a relation due to M, Laguerre, by 

 M. Mannheim.— On the photometry of stars, and the trans- 

 parence of the air, 1)y M. Trepied. The author tabulates the 

 intensities calculated for various stars. — Analysis of the white 

 smoke of a blast furnace in the neighbourhood of Longwy, by 

 M. Gruner. — ^Action of electrolytic oxygen on glycerine, by M. 

 Renard. The glycerine diluted with two-thirds of its volume of 

 acidulated water, is submitted to the electrodes from six P.unsen 

 elements ; after forty-eight hours the liquor is saturated w ith 

 carbonate of lime, filtered, and distilled, giving a ddute solution 

 of glyceric aldehyde. The white residue, after evaporation, hrs 

 for formula C3Hg03 ; M. Renard describes its properties. — 

 Note on the calorific action of certain regions of the brain (vaso- 

 motor apparatuses situated on the hemispheric surface), by MM. 

 Eulenberg and Lander. These experiments were on young 

 dogs, which were submitted to chloroform and curare, and the 

 brain-surface burnt with hot copper wire and stimulated with 

 induction currents. As thermo-electric elements, Dutrochet 

 needles were inserted under the skin of the paws, and were 

 connected with a very delicate galvanometer. The authors 

 define the efficacious calorific: region, and the relation of its 

 parts, and they explain the results by vaso-motor apparatuses 

 there which are probably connected with vaso-motor fibres iu 

 the peduncle of the brain. — On the action of biliary salts on the 

 pulse, the tension, the respiration, and the temperature, by MM. 

 Feltz and Ritter. It is shown that by injections of natural bile 

 into the blood, in proportions that are not toxical, the pulse is 

 diminished in frequency, the respiration is retarded, ani the 

 temperature and arterial tension are lowered. --Some remarks 

 on MM, Feltz and Ritter's note, by M. BouiJlaud. — On the roie 

 of the arterial bulb in fishes, by M . Carlet. En resume ( i ) the 

 bulb preserves the branchial arterioles from the shocks commu- 

 nicated by the heart ; (2) it facilitates the action of the heart ; 

 (3) if its action be prevented, there immediately follows a con- 

 siderable disorder of the htematosis. — Note on inverted sugar, 

 by M. Maumene. 



BOOKS RECEIVED 



British. — Evolution of the Human Race from Apes : T. W.Jones, F.R.S. 

 (Smith, Polder and Co.)— Scientific Culture : Josiah P. Cooke, jun. (H. S. 

 King and Co.) — Memoirs of Caroline Herschel : Mrs John Hcrschel (John 

 Murray). — The Geological Record for 1874 : William Whit-Vicer, F G.S. 

 (Taylor and Francis).— Medicinal Plants. Part V. : Bentley aud Trimea 

 (Churchill).— Australian Heroes: Charles H. Eden (S.P.C.K.) 



CONTENTS Pa^k 



University Reform 381 



Minerals of New South Wales 382 



Our Book Shelf :— 



Agasslz's " Geological Sketches " 3S3 



D'Anver's " Victoria Falls of the Zambesi" 3S4 



The Karl of Mayo's " Sport in Abyssinia " 384 



Buckton's "Health in the House" 38} 



Letters to the Editor : — 



Corrections in the Address of the President of the Royal Micro- 

 scopical Society (vol. xiii. p. 332). — H. C. Sorbv, F.K.S. , . . 



Vivisection. — Fk.anxis Darwin 334 



The Use of the VVords " Weight" and " Mass." — G. Johnstone 



Stoney ; Prof. W. F. Barrett 385 



Metachromism. — Wm. Ackrovd .... 385 



The U. S. Survey PubUca'ious -Fredi-:. T. MoTT 385 



Origin of the Screw Propeller. — Willi.\m EarleV 3S6 



The Three Kingdoms of Nature. — E. G. C 3S6 



The Recent Storm. — T. S. Usborne 3S6 



Bed-time.— Vita Brevis 386 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Comet 1840(11.) . . . ." 386 



Berliner Astronomisches Jahrbuch, 1S78 3S6 



Physical Science IN Schools. By Prof. Henkv E Roscoe, F.R.S. 386 

 HuNTHRi.\.v Lectures on the Relation of Extinct to Existing 



Mammalia, IV. By Prof. Flower. F. K.S 38 



Prof. Huxley's Lectures on the Evidence as to the Origin op 



Existing Vertebrate Ani.iials, 1 3*8 



The Old Red Sandstone. By Prof. Geikie, F.R.S 389 



On Repulsion Resulting kro.m K.\diation. By W. Ckookes, 



F.R S 39' 



The Water Sukply of the Metropolis. By Dr. Frankl.\nd, 



F.R.S 392 



Scientific Notes taken IN the Himalayas. By Dr. A. Schuster 393 

 Visit of the Chemical Society to the Royal Arsenal . . . . 39; 



Notes , ■ • 



Sucihties AND Academies 



Books Received 



