484 



NA TURE 



{Sept. 12, 1889 



The following are the statistics so far as scientific subjects are 

 concerned : — 



Higher Certificates. 



q , . No. of Total Distin- 



■' ■ Candidates. Passed. guished. 



Mathematics, Elementary ... 1068 ... 924 ... o 



Mathematics, Additional ... 483 .. 344 ... 85 



Natural Philosophy, Mechanical 



Division 102 ... 96 ... 47 



Natural Philosophy, Physical 



Division 46 .. 42 ... 21 



Botany 23 ... 17 ... 7 



Physical Geography and Ele- 

 mentary Geology 46 ... 44 ... 16 



Biology 4 ... 3 ... 2 



Lower Certificates. 



Subject. 



Arithmetic 



Additional Mathematics 



Geography 



Mechanics and Physics 

 Physics and Chemistry 

 Chemistry and Mechanics 



Subject. 



Arithmetic 



Algebra 



English 



Shorthand 



Geography 



Inorganic Chemistry 



Mechanics 



Electricity and Magnetism 

 Sound, Light, and Heat ., 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



Paris. 



Academy of Sciences, September 2. — M. Des Cloizeaux, 

 President, in the chair. — Definitions adopted by the Inter- 

 national Congress of Electricians, by M. Mascart.— On the 

 results obtained at Bourganeuf (Creuse), in transmission of 

 force by electricity, by M. Marcel Deprez. The force is con- 

 veyed 14 kilometres, from a waterfall, by a bare siliceous bronze 

 wire on posts. Generator and receiver have each 100 nominal 

 horse-power ; electromotive force of former 3000 volts. Further 

 details are promised. — On the analytic representation of per- 

 turbations of planets, by M. Hugo Gylden. — Researches on the 

 relations between the carbon of plants and the quantity of fertiliz- 

 ing agents in the soil, by M. Georges Ville. The coloration of 

 leaves varies with the nature of the manure, nitrogen having 

 most effect. The colours of liquids got by treating leaves with 

 alcohol (after extraction of the colouring matter carotine) corre- 

 spond with those directly observed, but the differences in in- 

 tensity are less. The orange solutions of carotine (with carbon 

 sulphide) show corresponding variations of intensity with those 

 of chlorophyll. — A prize competition, from Spain, was an- 

 nounced, for a work commemorating the discovery of America 

 (30,000 francs and 15,000 francs). — On Brooks's comet, July 6, 

 1889, by M. Charlois. — On the aspect and on a companion of 

 Brooks's comet, by M. G. Bigourdan. This companion, observed 

 since the 27th ult., is a small round nebulosity (of magnitude 

 I3-3) on one side of the tail, and 20" from the nucleus. — Uni- 

 polar and bipolar induction on a turning sphere, by M. Ch. V. 

 Zenger. The poles of the electro magnet can be moved towai-ds or 

 from each other, by means of movable coils. Tlie suspended cop- 

 per sphere, rotated by torsion, with axis near that of magnet, has a 

 spiraloid elliptic movement, which is recorded on smoked paper. 

 M. Zenger seeks to explain the orbital motion of planets and 

 comets, on principles here involved.. — Electrodynamic laws and 

 planetary motion, by the same. — New experiments on the poison 

 of the terrestrial salamander, by M. C. Phisalix. The mini- 

 mum fatal dose of chlorhydrate of salamandrine for a dog is 

 about I 8 milligranames per kilogramme of the animal, with 



subcutaneous injection ; i milligramme with intravenous injec- 

 tion ; and 8 to 10 milligrammes by the stomach. By a series of 

 preventive inoculations a dog can be gradually accu.stomed to 

 doses otherwise fatal. A dose of 5 to 10 milligrammes subcu- 

 taneous, or I milligramme intravenous, is fatal to the salamander 

 itself. — On the cardiac effects of centrifugal excitations of the 

 vagus, indefinitely prolonged beyond return of the heart-beats, by 

 M. F. Laulanie. The intracardiac arresting apparatus isnot, as has 

 been supposed, exhausted when the heart begins to beat again after 

 stoppage through the vagus. — Catheterism of the ureters, by M. 

 P. Poirier. The bladder is illumined with a cystoscope, con- 

 taining a small incandescent lamp at the end of the sound, and 

 an optical apparatus, whereby the mouth of the ureter can be easily 

 found, and the small catheter (also included in the cystoscope) 

 inserted. — On the ovogenesis, the structure of the ovary, and the 

 regression of the parenchyma of Gordians, by M. A. Villot. — 

 On the Polyodontes maxillosjts, by M. Remy Saint-Loup. This 

 relates to the rare capture of a gigantic annelid (2 metres long) 

 in the Gulf of Marseilles. The animal is described. — The pro- 

 tophylline in etiolated plants, by M. C. Timiriazeff. He finds 

 confirmatory evidence of his view that it is protophylline that, 

 oxidizing in light, gives rise to chlorophyll in the living or- 

 ganism. Protophylline is obtained from chlorophylline {i.e. 

 chlorophyll minus xanthophyll). 



BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, and SERIALS RECEIVED. 



Ephemeris of Stars in the Vertical of "Polaris," 1S89: F. L. Blake 

 (Toronto, Ontario). — Hygiene and Public Health : L. C. Parke= (Lewis). — 

 A Text-book of Organic Chemistry ; A, Bernthsen, translated by G. 

 M'Gowan (Blackie). — Cancer and its Complications : C. E. Jennings I Bail- 

 liere). — A Manual of Pathology, 2nd edition: J. Coats (Longmans).— A 

 Hand-book of Descriptive and Practical Astronimy; L the Sun, Planets, 

 and Comets, 4th edition : G F. Chambers (Oxford, Clarendon Pres=). — 

 Seventh Annual Report of the Fishery Board for Scotland, being for the 

 Year t888, 3 parts (Edinburgh). — Key to Todhimter's Integral Calculus : H. 

 St. J. Hunter (Macmillan). — An Illustrated Manual of British Birds, Parts 

 15, 16, 17: H. Saunders (Gurney and Jackson). — University College of 

 North Wales, Calendar for the Year 1889-90 (Manchester, J. E. Cornish). — 

 A Treatise on Elementary Dynamics : S. L. Loney (Cambridge University 

 Press).— ahe God of the Children : B. Pollard (E. Stock).— Blackie's 

 Modern Cyclopedia, vol. iii. (Blackie). — Proceedings of the Davenport 

 Academy of Natural Sciences, vol. v. Part r (Davenport, Iowa). 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



The Technical Instruction Act 457 



Cambiidge Mathematics 458 



De Lapparent's "Mineralogy." By A. F. Renard . 460 

 Our Book Shelf:— 



Hall and Knight : " Key to Higher Algebra "... 460 

 Letters to the Editor : — 



On the Use of the Word Antiparallel. ( With Dia- 

 grams.) — E. M. Langley 460 



The Force of Example in Animals. — <p 461 



" Astrarchia stephanias." — Dr. A. B. Meyer . . . 461 



The Recent Great Earthquakes in Japan 461 



The United Stales Eclipse Expedition 462 



Uranium 462 



The British Association 462 



Inaugural Address by Prof. W. H. Flov/er, C.B., 

 LL.D., F.R.S., F.R.C.S., Pres.Z.S., F.L.S., 



F.G.S., President 463 



Section A (Mathematics and Physics). — Opening Ad- 

 dress by Captain W. de W. Abney, C.B., R.E., 



F.R.S., F.R. A. S., President of the Section ... 469 

 Section B (Chemistry).— Opening Address by Sir 

 Lowthian Bell, Bart., F.R.S., F.C.S., D.C.L., 



M. Inst. C.E., President of the Section 473 



Notes 479 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



The Triple Star 2 2400 482 



The Potsdam Observatory 482 



The Observation of Sudden Phenomena 482 



Astronomical Phenomena for the Week 1889 



September 15-21 482 



Geographical Notes 483 



University and Educational Intelligence 483 



Societies and Academies 484 



Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received 484 



