1 68 



NATURE 



\yune 13, 1889 



•Chroustchoff. In continuation of his previous paper on this 

 subject the author here gives in tabular form the measurements 

 of the conductivity of neutral saline mixtures capable of double de- 

 composition. In a supplementary paper, MM. Chroustchoff and V. 

 Pachkoff deal with the electric conductivity of saline solutions 

 containing mixtures of neutral salts. The chief object of this 

 research is to confirm by experiment the assumption that a 

 partial formation of double salts in solutions is a general phe- 

 nomenon. — On some substances derived by polymerization 

 from ethyl cyanide, by MM. M. Ilanriot and L. Bouveault. 

 . The preparation and properties are described of two bodies of 

 which the formulae are respectively C.,H, . CO . C(CH.j).,CN and 

 C2H3 . CO . C(C2Hs)(CH3)CN, the" former obtained by the ac- 

 tion of methyl iodide, the latter by that of ethyl iodide. — On some 

 rocks of the Maures district, by M. A. Le Verrier. Of the old 

 eruptive rocks here described the most interesting is a Iherzolite 

 consisting of olivine and hypersthene (labrador schiller spar), the 

 first associated with serpentine, the second with talc. — On the 

 toxic property of meteoric waters, by M. Domingos Freire. An 

 epidemic presenting some hitherto unknown symptoms having 

 broken out at Rio de Janeiro last March, the author, with a view 

 to determining its origin, made some experiments on the 

 character of the aqueous vapour suspended in the atmosphere. 

 The result of these experiments was a strong suspicion, if not 

 certainty, that the disorder was due to a toxic principle diffused 

 in the atmosphere, and belonging perhaps to the cyanic series 

 (hydrocyanic acid?). — Papers were contributed by M. G. Andre, 

 on some ammonio-chlorides of mercury ; by M. E. Pechard, 

 on the combinations of metatungstic acid with the alkaline bases 

 and the resulting thermic phenomena ; by M. Leon Bourgeois, on 

 the preparation of the crystallized orthosilicates of cobalt and 

 nickel ; by M. Trouessart, en the marine Acarians of the French 

 seaboard ; by M. Flammarion, on the earthquake of May 30 ; 

 and by M. Th. Moureaux, on the possible connection of 

 magnetic disturbances with the same earthquake. 



Berlin, 



Physical Society, May 24. — Prof, du Bois Reymond, 

 President, in the chair. — Prof. Bdrnstein exhibited a photograph 

 which he had taken during the recent heavy thunder-storms. 

 Two flashes could scarcely be distinguished on the photograph 

 owing to the marked occurrence of sheet lightning ; they 

 appeared as simply very sinuous lines without any zig-zags. — Dr. 

 Pringsheim. had carried out a series of researches with the 

 phonautograph in order to determine by physical methods upon 

 what the French accent is dependent, whether it is due to the 

 duration, pitch, or intensity of the tones. Several Frenchmen 

 spoke single words and short sentences slowly into the funnel of 

 the instrument so as to impinge upon a membrane, made of the 

 thinnest india-rubber, whose vibrations were recorded on a 

 smoked rotating drum by means of a fibre of glass. The some- 

 what troublesome analysis of the minute curves brought to light 

 very characteristic waves for the consonants, but these differed 

 considerably according as they were spoken at the beginning or 

 €nd of a word. The vowels showed a considerable difference 

 from the consonants chiefly in respect of their pitch. The 

 speaker exhibited and explained a number of the curves ; but 

 further researches are necessary before any general conclusions 

 can be arrived at, or the question as to the real nature of 

 "accent" can be decided. — Dr. Dieterici gave an account of 

 his researches on the determination of the specific volume of 

 saturated aqueous vapour at 0° C. On account of the difficulties 

 which presented themselves in connection with the measure- 

 ments necessary in the methods of research hitherto employed, 

 he had devised a new method. He measured the amount of 

 water which must be converted into vapour at 0° C. in order to 

 completely fill a known space with saturated vapour, by means 

 of the heat which becomes latent during its evaporation. The 

 ■vessel containing the water was immersed in an ice-calorimeter, 

 and was connected with a large space v.'hich could be rendered 

 both vacuous and dry. The water, or dilute saline-solution 

 'which behaves like water, was then allowed to evaporate until 

 the space was filled with saturated vapour ; the amount of heat 

 requisite to produce the observed evaporation was determined 

 from the amount of mercury which was expelled from the calori- 

 meter, and this then gave the amount of water evaporated. 

 From among the experimental details, which the speaker 

 described in full, the only points which may here be mentioned 

 are that a small residual quantity of air in the vacuum has no 

 effect on the total amount of water which evaporates, but only 



slows the rate of evaporation to a slight extent ; on the other 

 hand, the pellicle of water which is condensed on the inner 

 surface of the vacuous space was found to exert a quantitative 

 influence on the evaporation, and necessitated special modifica- 

 tions of the methods of experiment for its exclusion. As one 

 outcome of the experiments may be mentioned that Gay Lussac's 

 law holds good almost up to the temperature of saturation, and 

 that the mass of water which must be evaporated in order to 

 saturate a space of i litre capacity at o'' C. is 4'886 mgr. ; 

 hence the specific volume of aqueous vapour saturated at 0° C. 

 is 2047 litres, and its pressure is 4'62 mm. The speaker had 

 deduced a considerable number of other important constants 

 from the results of his experiments ; and he further intends to 

 determine the above for other fluids and at other temperatures in 

 a subsequent research. 



BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, and SERIALS RECEIVED. 



An Essay on Asphyxia : G. Johnson (Churchill).— The Working and 

 Management of an English Railway : G. Findlay (Whittaker).— Scientific 

 Memoirs by Medical Officers of the Army of India, Part 4, 1889 : edited by 

 Sir B. Simpson (Calcutta).— Metodo de los Cuadrados Minimos ; Libro de 

 Texto por M. Merriman ; traducido del IngMs por V. Balbin (Buenos Aires, 

 Biedma). — Black ie's Modern Cyclopedia, vol. ii. (Blackie).— Life Lore, 

 vol. i. (Mawer). — Kant's Critical Philosophy, a new and completed edition, 

 vol. i., the Kritik of Pure Reason Explained and Defended : ]. P. 

 Mahaffy and J. H. Bernard (MacmiUan). — An Elementary Treatise on Heat : 

 H G. Madan (Rivingtons).— Transactions of the Linnean Society of Lon- 

 don, vol. v.. Part 3, the Zoology of the Afghan Delimitation Commission: 

 J. E. T. Aitchison (Longmans).— A Grammar of the Kwagiutl Language: 

 Rev. A. J. Hall (Montreal, Dawson).— Rapporteur Esthetique : M. C. 

 Henry (Paris. Seguin).— Cercle Chromatique : M. C. Henry (Paris, Verdin). 

 —'the Mineral Wealth of British Columbia: G. M. Dawson (Montreal, 

 Dawson). 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



The Elements of Vital Statistics 14S 



Bird- Life of the Borders I47 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Dodgson : " Cur iosa Math ematica" H^ 



Chisholm : " Longmans' New Atlas " i^ 



Thomson : " Travels in the Atlas and Southern 



Morocco " 149 



Hinman : " Eclectic Physical Geography " 149 



Letters to the Editor: — 



" Mithradatism."— Prof. E. Ray Lankester, 



F.R.S 149 



Report of the Royal Commission on the University of 



London.— A London Teacher 149 



A Lizard Swallowed by a Viper.— Prof. T. G, 



Bonney, F.R.'S 150 



Remarkable Meteors.— W. F. Denning 150 



Palgeolithic Implements from the Hills near Dunstable. 



— Worthington G. Smith i5' 



JapaneseClocks.—V. Ball, F.R.S 151 



Luminous Night Clouds.— D. J. Rowan 151 



Note on some Hailstones that fell at Liverpool on 

 Sunday, June 2, 1889. {Illustrated.)— ^^vjzxA E. 



Robinson '5' 



The Subdivision of the Electric Light 152 



The Life-History of a Marine Food-Fish. II. {Illus- 

 trated.) By Prof. W. C. Mcintosh, F.R.S. ... 15 

 On the Mental Faculties of Anthropopithecus calvus. 



By Prof. George J. Romanes, F.R.S if' 



Notes i^ 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Stonyhurst College Observatory l^-^ 



Astronomical Phenomena for the Week 1889 



June 16-22 '^-^ 



Geographical Notes ^"- 



The Priority of Chinese Inventions i^f 



University and Educational Intelligence 166 



Societies and Academies ^"^ 



Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received 16' 



