192 



NA TURE 



yjune 20, 1889 



repellent action on the other, and driving it with disastrous 

 consequences across the island of Cuba. But Mr. E. Hayden, 

 of the United States Meteorological Bureau, rejects this explana- 

 tion, and traces the disturbance to the influence that zones of 

 high pressure appear to exercise on low pressures and especially 

 on cyclones. M. Faye seems inclined to accept this view, if it 

 could be shown that the action of high-pressure zones is felt in 

 the higher atmospheric regions far above the crests of the loftiest 

 mountain ranges. — On the value of a finite continuous and purely 

 periodical fraction, by Prof. Sylvester. The positive root of the 

 equation 



^tix' - (M - ^f\)x - in = o 



gives the value of the purely periodical infinite fraction (/°°), 

 where / is a type — that is, a succession — of any elements what- 

 •ever. By means of a formula given in a previous communication 

 the author here offers an easy solution for the problem : To find 

 the vajue of the analogous periodical but finite continuous frac- 

 tion {/„). — Researches on the elasticity of solids, by M. E. II. 

 Amagat. The method applied by the author to crystal, as de- 

 scribed in a former note {Comptes rendtis, October 15, 1888), is 

 here employed for other substances, such as glass, steel, copper, 

 brass, and lead, which are also treated by the Wertheim process. 

 The tabulated results, obtained at a mean temperature of 12° C, 

 seem to show that for metals the value of Poisson's coefficient 

 ,u increases with the coefficient of compressibility^ and for the 

 other substances with the facility with which they under^^o per- 

 manent deformation. The value of n, theoretically equal to 

 ■0'5o for fluids, would appear to increase in the scale of bodies, 

 passing through all the intermediate states (pasty, viscous, &c., 

 :and consequently for the same body passing through these 

 various states), and approaching o'25 according as the bodies 

 become more and more refractory to permanent deformations 

 — that is, more perfectly elastic. Glass approaches nearest to this 

 theoretic condition, the next in order being steel, copper, and 

 lead, while caoutchouc occupies the opposite extremity of the 

 scale. Hence the perfect solid, for which the value of /x would 

 be 0'25, should realize the double condition of being at once 

 .perfectly elastic and perfectly isotropic. — On the solubility of 

 saccharose in distilled water, by M. Leon Perier. After the 

 ■ disastrous vintages of 1888 in the Gironde district, various 

 growers attempted to substitute for the ordinary wines a drink 

 .prepared from grape-cake and sugar refermented. M. Perier 

 here describes the results of the examination he has made of 

 numerous specimens of these liquids submitted to his inspection. 

 — Erosions due to wind action, by M. Contejean. During a 

 irecent visit to Corinth the author observed a remarkable instance 

 of this phenomenon on the neighbouring plateau, where an old 

 amphitheatre some fifteen metres from the edge of the escarp- 

 ment communicates with the beach through a cavern with wide 

 opening at both ends, and above which the limestone rock forms 

 a natural bridge. The walls of this cavern, which is formed in 

 the sandstone stratum at the foot of the clift'', are extremely 

 rugged and irregularly corroded, nowhere showing traces of 

 human workmanship. The tunnel could not possibly have been 

 excavated either by the rains or the running waters, and its 

 existence can be explained only by the action of the sands play- 

 ing on a point of least resistance under the influence of the fierce 

 northern gales prevalent in this region. — On the rectification of 

 alcohol, by M. E. Sorel. In continuation of his previous com- 

 munication on this subject {Coiiiptes rendiis, May 27, 1889), the 

 author here shows how the theoretical data maybe verified, and 

 indicates the practical conclusions that may be drawn from them. 

 — Some documents were submitted to the Academy by le Pere 

 D;?nza, on the recent earthquakes in the north-west of France, 

 slight vibrations of which were also felt in Genoa, Sinigaglia, 

 Sienna, and other parts of Italy. At the Observatory of 

 Moncalieri the seismic instruments showed some indications of 

 the underground disturbances. 



Berlin. 



Physiological Society, May 31. — Prof, du Bois-Reymond, 

 President, in the chair. — Dr. Nitze described and demonstrated 

 his apparatus for observing and examining the interior of the 

 urinary bladder. The apparatus, called a cystoscope, consists of a 

 small incandescent electrical lamp, a prism, and a small ocular and 

 objective, the whole arranged in the form of a catheter. Before 

 making an observation the bladder is washed out with water, 

 the instrument is then introduced, and the terminals of the 

 electric lamp are connected with a battery. While intended in 

 the first instance to facilitate the ocular inspection of pathological 



conditions of the bladder,' this instrument also makes it possible 

 to observe various physiological functions, such as the periodic 

 extrusion of small quantities of urine from the mouths of the 

 ureters, and the peristaltic movements of the ureters themselves. 

 The applicability of the method was demonstrated on two 

 patients. — Starling with the observed fact that canaries fed with 

 cayenne pepper acquire a ruddy plumage. Dr. Sauermann has 

 based upon it a scientific investigation of canaries, fowls, pigeons, 

 and other birds. From these he has obtained the following 

 results. Feeding with pepper only produces an effect when 

 given to young birds before they moult ; the colour of the 

 feathers of older birds cannot be affected. Moisture facilitates 

 the change of colour to a ruddy hue, which is again discharged 

 under the influence of simiight and cold. A portion of the 

 constituents of cayenne pepper is quite inactive, as for instance 

 piperin and several extractives : similarly the i-ed colouring- 

 matter alone of the pepper has no effect on the colour of the 

 feathers. It is rather the triolein, which occurs in the pepper in 

 large quantities, together with the characteristic pigment, which 

 brings about the change of colour by holding the red pigment of 

 the pepper in solution. Glycerin may be used instead of triolein to 

 bring about the same result. The same statement holds good 

 with regard to the feeding of birds with aniline colours. The 

 red pigment of the pepper is also stored up in the egg-yolk as 

 well as in the feathers. The first appearance of the pigment in 

 the yolk may be observed as a coloured ring four days after the 

 commencement of feeding with the pigment dissolved in fat ; 

 after a further two days' feeding the whole yolk is coloured. Dr. 

 Sauermann is still engaged in carrying on his researches. 



BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, and SERIALS RECEIVED. 



The Flora of Switzerland fur the Use of Tourists and Field Botanists : A. 

 Gremli ; translated by S. W. Paitson (Nutt). — Commercial Organic Analy- 

 sis, vol. iii Part i, 2nd edition : A. H. Allen (Churchill). — Morocco : H. M. 

 P. De la Martinicre (Whittaker). — Woolwich Mathematical Papers for the 

 Years 1880-88, edited by E. J. Brooksmith (Macmillan). — Physiological 

 Diagrams for Use in Schools ; also Index ; G. Davies (W. and A. K. 

 Johnston).— Days with Industrials : A. H. Japp (Triibner).— New Verse in 

 Old Vesture : J. C. Grant (E. W. Allen).— Catalogue of the Fossil Reptilia 

 and Amphibia in the Lritish Museum (Natural History), Part 2 : R. Lydek- 

 ker (London).— Climatology of New Jersey (Trenton, N.J.).— Bulletin of 

 the TJnited States National Museum, No. 33 : T. Egleston (Washington). 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Evolution Ethics 169 



The Zoological Results of the Challenger Expedition 171 



Greek Geometry from Thales to Euclid 172 



Our Book Shelf :-^ 



Giinther : " Die Meteorologie, ihren neuesten Stand- 



punkte gemass " 173 



Worsley-Benison : " Haunts of Nature " 173 



Letters to the Editor : — 



The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs. — Dr. 



H. B. Guppy 173 



The Fireball of May 29, 1889.— W. F. Denning . 174 



Meteor.— F. T. Mott 174 



Stationary Dust- Whirl.— J. Lovel 174 



Bunsen's Photometer. — D. M. Lewis 174 



The Tuticorin Pearl Fishery. By Edgar Thurston . 174 



Californian Forestry 176 



The Extinct Starling of Reunion {Fregilupus varius). 



By R. Bowdler Sharpe 177 



A Mansion House Meeting in Aid of the Pasteur 



Institute 177 



Notes • 178 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Two Remarkable Conjunctions 180 



The General Relations of the Phenomena of Variable 



Stars 181 



Astronomical Phenomena for the Week i88g 



June 23-29 181 



Geographical Notes • 181 



Aluminium. By Sir Henry Roscoe, M.P., F.R.S. . 182 

 The Palaeontology of Sturgeons. By A. Smith 



Woodward 186 



Nitrate of Soda, and the Nitrate Country. I. {Illus- 

 trated.) By Hon. Ralph Abercromby 186 



University and Educational Intelligence 189 



Scientific Serials 189 



Societies and Academies 190 



Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received 192 



'J 



