500 



NA TURE 



\April 10, 1876 



lie is described as mild and gentle wlien unprovoked, and always 

 with tears in hi^ eyes {i.e , rain), but when resisted he bursts 

 into uncontrollable fury, uprooting trees and devastating the 

 world. Frightened with his violence, his sis^er, the Sun-god- 

 dess, retires into a cave in the sky, closing the entrance with a 

 rock, and leaving the world in darkness. By the advice of the 

 god of Thought, a fire is kindled and dances performed outside, 

 and the sacred mirrors and pieces of cut paper [go-hei) which 

 still form the furniture of a Sin-to temple, are displayed. The 

 vSun peeps forth, and is then pulled out altogether, and the cave 

 closed. The whole episode is evidently a mythic picture of the 

 Sun hidden in tempest in the clo'.ids as in a cavern, till she 

 comes forth again to ealighten the world. — A paper on the term 

 "Religion" was read by Mr. Distant. He said that the pos- 

 session or non-possession of religion, and the nature of the reli- 

 gion possessed were usually made by our leading anthropologists 

 tests of development in civilisation and culture. But accounts 

 are often untrustworthy, and depend upon the bias of the in- 

 quirer. Also, "Religion "is an undefined term ; scarcely two 

 writers on culture agreeing on the subject Indeed, some of the 

 religious ideas of savages are found to be held by eminent men. 

 A term required to be used, that was alike capable of being con- 

 ceived and incapable of being misunderstood. — In the discus- 

 sions Mr. Tatui Babo, Mr. Conway, Mr. Moggridge, Mr. 

 Bouverie Pusey, Mr. Jeremiah, and others, took part. 



Institution of Civil Engineers, March 28. — Mr. Geo. 

 Rob. Stephenson, president, in the chair. — The first paper read 

 was on sewage interception systems, or dry-sewage processes, by 

 Mr. Gilbert R. Redgrave. — The second paper read was on the 

 treatment of sewage by precipitation, by Mr. W. Shelford. 



Paris 

 Academy of Sciences, April 10. — Vice-Admiral Paris in 

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

 critique on the formation of sugar in the blood, or the function 

 of physiological glycsemia, by M. CI. Bernard. — Analytical solu- 

 lion of the problem of distribution in a magnet, by M. Jamin. — 

 Vegetation of maize commenced in an atmosphere without car- 

 bonic acid, by M. Boussingault. The grain, germinating, pro- 

 duces a fertile atmosphere {i.e., one containing carbon), in which, 

 with aid of light, the leaves organise chlorophyll, and then 

 amylaceous and saccharine matters.- — Verbal observations on the 

 same subject, by M. Pasteur. — Seventeenth note on the electric 

 conductivity of substances that are mediocre conductors, by M. 

 Du Moncel. The substances here studied are the stems of certain 

 shrubs, and the human body. The conductivity of the former 

 varies with the mode of application of the electrodes, the nature 

 and thickness of the bark, and the season. The resistance of the 

 human body between the wrists is estimated at 350 to 220 kilo- 

 metres. But when the skin is dry, and at the commencement of 

 an experiment, it may exceed 2,000 kilometres.— Experiments on 

 the schistosity of rocks ; geological consequences that may be 

 deduced, by M. Daubree. The geometrical arrangement of the 

 leaves of crystalline masses and Jurassic layers above them in 

 various central formations of the Alps (Mont Blanc), are ex- 

 plained, through experiment, as the effect of flow of a mass 

 which was not completely solid.— Discussion of barometric 

 curves continued from March 7 to 14, 1876 ; best process for 

 comparing the course of the temperature and the pressure, by 

 M. Sainte-Ciaire-Deville. — On the trovtbe of Heiltz-le-Maurupt 

 (Marne), Feb. 20, 1876. Two persons witness that the irombe 

 descended ; the windows of the town-hall were broken inwards, 

 which is against the suction-hypothesis, as is also the fact that 

 the circle of mechanical action was very distinctly circumscribed. 

 — On the displacement of lines in the spectra of stars, produced 

 by their movement in space (continued), by P. Secchi. — M. 

 Borchardt was elected correspondent of the Academy in the 

 seciion of geometry, in place oi M. le Besgue. — Velocity of 

 thermal flow in a bar of iron (second part), by M. Decharme. — 

 On the solar spots and the physical constitution of the sun, by 

 M. Plantc. A horizontal .sheet of filter paper, moistened with 

 .<-alt water, is connected above with the negative pole of the 

 secondary battery ; on bringing up towards it from below the 

 positive electrode, a crater- like cavity is formed with torn 

 edges projecting towards the -t- electrode (light and vapour 

 also being emitted) ; and the aspect is very much that of 

 sim-spots. M. Plante also studied the incandescent globuleg 

 obtained in fusing thick metallic wires with a strong electric 

 current of quantity, and draws a parallel between their structure 

 and that of the £un. — Influence of the asparagine contained in 

 saccharine juices (of beet and cane) on the saccharimetric test ; 



destruction of the rotatory power of asparagine ; method of deter^ 

 mination, by MM. Champion and Pellet. — The elephants of 

 Mount Dol ; attempt at organogeny of the system of molar 

 teeth of the mammoth (second communication), by M. Sirodot. 

 — On the optical effects of lamellar snows floating horizontally, 

 by M. De Fonvielle.— On the catastrophe of Grand Sable (dis- 

 trict of Salazie) in the Isle of Reunion ; second note by M. 

 Vinson. He endeavours to show it was the work of subter- 

 ranean fire, which prepared a normal eruption that followed. 

 — Letter from M. Cassien on the same subject; he rejects the 

 idea of volcanic action. — On the catastrophe of the Jabin pits 

 (Feb. 4, 1876), by M. Riembault. Fine coal-powder, suspended 

 in air, is explosive. In the Jabin pits a little fire-damp was pro- 

 bably first inflamed at a poin^, and this ignited the coal-powder, 

 which, under high temperature, liberates its explosible gases. 

 The galleries were found incrusted with coke, evidently the < 

 result of combustion of coal. The air of the miner's lungs, 

 forming part of the explosive atmosphere, is inflamed with it. — 

 On the hatching of the winter egg of Phylloxera ; note by 

 M. Balbiani. He succeeded in observing a young Phylloxera 

 (April 9) immediately after hatching. He regards it as a fourth 

 specific form of the animal. — On a compensating balance wheel 

 for marine and other watches, by M. Winnerl. — On the theory 

 of the proof plane, by M. Bouty. — Note on the coloured rings 

 produced by pressure in gypsum, and on their connections with 

 the coefficients of elasticity, by M. Janetfaz. — On the employ- 

 ment of Gramme's magneto-electric machines for lighting the 

 large halls of railway stations, by M. Sartiaux. — Simple appa- 

 ratus for the analysis of gaseous mixtures by means of absorbent 

 liquids, by M. Raoult. — On exchange of ammonia between 

 natural waters and the atmosphere, by M. Schloesing. — On the 

 products of reduction of anethol, and on the probable constitu- 

 tion of this substance, by M. Landolph. — On change of the 

 volume of organs in its relations to circulation of the blood, by 

 M. Franck. — Researches on the functions of the spleen, by MM. ; 

 Malassez and Picard. Iron appears to be, in the spleen, purely ! 

 and simply in the sta'e of haemoglobin the same as that of the ' 

 blood. — The physiological relations between the acoustic nerve 

 and the motor apparatus of the eye, by M. Cyon. — On the ! 

 embryology of Nemertina, by M. Barrois.-i^-Osteolo^ical cha- I 

 racters ; observations on the persistence of the intermaxillary in ! 

 man, by M. Roujou. — Action of sulphide of carbon on an insect ' 

 which attacks the plants of herbaria, by M. Schnetzler. 



BOOKS RECEIVED 



British. — Geological Sketches: L. Agassiz (Triibner and Co.) — 1 

 Secret of the Circle, its Area ascertained : Alick Carnck (Henry Solheraa , 

 and Co.)— The Intellectual Development of Europe : J. W. Draper. 2 vols ' 

 (George Bell and Sons). — Sport in Abyssinia : Earl of Mayo (John Murray). 

 —The Year-Book of Facts, 1876: C. Vincent (Ward, Lock, and Tyltr 

 Animals and Plants under Domestication, 2nd edition : Charles Dan 

 2 vols. (John Murray). — Vital Motion as a Mode of Physical Motion : i 

 Radcliffe (Macmillan and Co ) —Philosophy without Assumptions: T. 

 Kirkman, F.R.S. (Longmans) — Diseases of the Nose: Spencer Wat 

 F. R C.S. (H. K. Lewis). — Discoveries in New Guinea : Capt. John More 

 ( fohn Murr.ay 1. — Problems and Examples in Physics, an Appendix to Ganoi > 

 Elementary Physics (Longmans). 



CONTENTS p 



Campbell's " Circular Noths." By J. W. J 



Sclatbr's " Geographical Zoology " .- 



Our Book Shelf :— 



Works on Curve-tracing • 



Dammer's " Chemical Dictionary " 



Baker's " Clouds in the East" 



Lktteks to the Editor : — 



TheUseof the Words "Weight" and "Mass."— J. J. Walker . 



" The Recent Origin of Man " — Ja.-'.iks C. Southall 



"The Unseen Universe." — Josiah Emery ■ 



Prof. Tait on the Earth's Age. — Prof. J. D. Everett . . . . : 

 A Relapsed Donkey. — Dr. E. Bonavia 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Variable Stars 4 ■ 



The Search for Comets i' 



To Find E.ASTER - -r 



HuNTHRiAN Lectures on the Relation of Extinct to Existing 

 Mammalia, VIL By Prof. Flower, F.R.S 



University College, Bristol 



ThkUse OF Yellow Glass FOR Zoological CoLLHcnoNS ... 4 



Radiomkter=. By W. Crook hs, F.R.S 



Compressed Air Locomotive used in the St. Gothard Tunnel 

 Works (^With Illustratiom) - 



Physical Science in Schools. By Dr. Watts ; Rev. Gkorge 

 Henslow ■ 



Notes . ; 



Abnormal Multiplication and Abortion of Parts in Medusa. 

 B.J. G. Romanes 



Scientific Serials 



Socihtirs and Academies 



Books Received ;- 



