98 



NATURE 



[NOVEMIJER 17, 1 9 10 



discharge. The author has repeated and confirmed some 

 experiments recently made by M. Gouy, and finds that 

 there is a particular strength of the magnetic field which 

 facilitates the maximum discharge. It is shown that this • 

 curious phenomenon is in general agreement with the 

 modern theory of disruptive discharge. — J. do Kowalski : 

 Progressive phosphorescence at low temperatures. — K. 

 Quntz and M. Qalliot : The preparation of crystallised 

 strontium. A mixture of strontia and aluminium powder 

 is placed in the lower half of a steel tube closed at one 

 end. This is enclosed in a porcelain tube, a high vacuum 

 being maintained in the latter. The temperature of the 

 mi.xture is gradually raised to 1000° C. ; after cooling, the 

 inside of the cool portion of the tube is covered with a 

 deposit of crystalline strontium. The yield is good, nearly 

 75 per cent, of the theoretical quantity, and the metal 

 contains only 05 per cent, of impurities. — E. Bergrer : 

 Tetranitromethane. This substance is obtained by the 

 action of pure nitric acid upon acetic anhydride in acetic 

 acid solution. The exact conditions necessary for a good 

 yield (50 per cent, of the theory) are given in detail. The 

 physical constants and the heat of combustion were deter- 

 mined. — E. Kayser : The influence of nitrates on alcoholic 

 ferments. Alcoholic fermentation is more complete in 

 presence of manganese nitrate, and for each strain of yeast 

 there is an optimum amount of salt, the addition of which 

 produces a maximum of diastatic activity. — G. Malfitano 

 and Mile. A. N. Mpschkoff : The purification of starch. 

 A I per cent, colloidal solution of starch is prepared, the 

 turbid liquid frozen and allowed to melt. The clear liquid 

 thus obtained holds in solution the greater part of the 

 mineral impurities and very little starch ; the bulk of the 

 latter deposits in flocculent form, and can be separated by 

 filtration or by centrifugation. After four or five repeti- 

 tions of this treatment a starch is obtained which gives 

 less than 0-02 per cent, of ash. The properties of starch 

 thus purified are compared with those of ordinary starch. 

 — M. Maragre : Subjective noises in the ear. A classifi- 

 cation of the various kinds of subjective noises in the ear 

 in accordance . with their pathological causes. — Henri 

 Labbd : The distribution of nitrogen . in the intestinal 

 excreta. The dried excreta were extracted successively with 

 various solvents, and the nitrogen determined in each 

 extract.— S. Lalou : The variations in the quantity and 

 composition of the pancreatic juice during secretions 

 brought about by secretin. Repeated injections of secretin 

 produce a regular secretion of pancreatic juice during a 

 long period. The juice thus obtained is not of strictly 

 constant Icomposition ; its alkalinity and diastatic activity 

 diminish, this diminution being especially marked as 

 regards the lipase. — P. Chausse : Latent mesenteric 

 tuberculosis produced experimentally in the dog. The 

 injection of tuberculous products in the normal dog pro- 

 duced no visible lesions after six months. Latent mesen- 

 teric tuberculosis was, however, easily shown to exist in 

 the majority of the dogs under experiment. — M. Fabre- 

 Domergrue : The food of the oyster and the mechanism 

 of its contamination in impure water. — R. Robinson : 

 Contribution to the study of the venous circulation in the 

 lower limbs. — Paul Marchal : Contribution to the bio- 

 logical study of Chermes. — A. Quidor : The evolution and 

 affinities of the Philichthydje. — O. Mongrel : Geology of 

 the primarv islet of La Guardia between Sfegre and 

 Noguera Pallaresa. — H. Mansuy : The stratigraphic 

 succession in the neighbourhood of Luang-Prabang. — 

 Maurice Leriche : The first fossil fishes met with in the 

 Belgian Congo in the Lualaba strata. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



THURSDAY, November 17. 

 Royal Soctetv, at 4.30. — On the Effect of Hravity upon the Move- 

 ments and Aegregation of Eiiglena ■niridis, Ehrb., and other Micro- 

 orcanisms : Harold Wager. F.R.S. — The Pro'eolvtic Enzyme of Drosera: 

 Miss Jean White. — The Influenre of Bacterial Endotoxins on Phagocytosis 

 (including a rew method for the Differentiation of Ba'-teria'). (Second 

 Report) : L. S. Dudgeon, P. N. Panton, and H. A. F. Wilson.— On the 

 State of Aggregation of Matter. Part I. On the Action of Salts in 

 Heterogeneous Svstems, and on the Nature of the Globulins. Part II. 

 On the_ Action of Formaldehyde on Witte's Peptone. Part III. On the 

 Solubility of Phenol and certain Crystalline Substances in Salt Solutions : 

 Dr. S; B. Schryver. — A Method for isolating and Growing the 

 Leprosy Bacillus of Man : F. W. Twort.— The Oxidation of Phenol by 

 .certain Bacteria in Pure Culture ; G. J. Fowler, E. Ardern, and W. T. 

 Lockett. 



NO. 2142, VOL. 85] 



LiNNEAN Society, at 8.— (i) Theoretical Origin of Plantago maritima 

 and P. alpina, from /'. coronopus\ (2) Supplementary Observations on 

 the Theory of Monocotyledons being derived from .\quatic Dicotyle- 

 dons : Rev. George Henslow. 



Royal Geographical Society, at 5.— Research Meeting. Origin of the 

 Present Geography of Northern Nigeria : Dr. J. D. Falconer. 

 FRIDAY, November 18. 



Institution of_ Mechanical Engineers, at 8. — The Development of 

 Road Locomotion in Recent Years : L. A. Legros. 



MONDAY, November 21. 

 Royal Geographical Society, at 8.30. — The Duke of Abruzii's Kara- 



koram Expedition: Dr. Kilippo de Filippi. 

 Royal Society of Arts, at 8. — Industrial Pyrometry : C. B. Darling. 



TUESDAY, November 22. 

 Royal Anthropological Institute, at 8.30.— The Arrival of Man in 



Britain in the Pleistocene Age : Prof. W. Boyd Dawkins, F.R.S. 

 Institution of Civil Engineers, at 8. — Portland Cement, and the 



Question of its Aeration : H. K. G. Bamber. 



WEDNESDAY, November 23. 



Royal Society of Arts, at 8. — Methods of Detecting Fire-damp in 

 Mines : Sir Henry H. Cunynghame, K.C.B. 



Geological Society, at 8. — The Effects of Secular Oscillations in Egypt 

 during the Cretaceous and Eocene Periods: Dr. W. F. Hume. — Ihe 

 Origin of the British Trias : A. R. Horwood. 



THURSDAY, November 24. 



Royal Society, at 4.30. — Probable Papers : Colour-blindness and the Tri- 

 chromatic Theory. Part II. Incomplete Red or Green Blindness: Sir 

 W. de W. Abney, K.C.B., F.R.S. — On the Sequence of Chemical Forms 

 in Stellar Spectra: Sir N. Lockyer, K.C.B , F.R.S.— The Influence of 

 Viscosity on the Stability of the Flow of Fluids : A. Mallock, F. k.S.— .^n 

 Electrostat'c Voltmeter for Photographic Recording of the Atmospheric 

 Potential : G. W. Walker. — Optical Dispersion, an Analysis of its Actual 

 Dependence upon Physical Conditions : Dr. T. H. Havelock. — The 

 Spectrum of Halley's Comet : C. P. Butler. 



Institution of Electrical Engineers, at 8. — Street Lighting by 

 Modern Electric Lamps : H. T. Harrison. 



PR /DAY, November 25. 



Physical Society, at 5. — The Electric Stress at which lonisation begins 

 in Air : Dr. A. Russell. — On the Measurement of a Flow of Water in a 

 Closed Circuit by a method involving little or no Statical Friction : 

 Dr. A. Griffith.s. — Exhibition of a Surface Brightness Photometer : I. S. 

 Dow. — The Approximate Solution of various Boundary Problems by 

 Surface Integration combined with Freehand Graphs: L. V. Richardson. 

 —The Aftev-glow produced in Gases by Electric Discharge : Prof. K. J. 

 Strutt, F.R.S. 



CONTENTS*. PAGE 



The Cellulose Age .67 



Descriptive Meteorology 68 



Theories and Physics of the Sun 68 



Some Aspects of Physical Chemistry. By Dr. Arthur 



harden, F.R.S 69 



Chemistry for First-year Students 70 



Out Book Shelf . 71 



Letters to the Editof : — 



The Limiting Line of Sedimentation in Wave-stirred 



Area"!.— A. R. Hunt 72 



Two Notes from India.— Capt. J. H. BarDour . . 73 



Instruction in Methods of Research.— W. P. Dreaper 73 



The Armour of Stegosaurus.—F. A. Lucas; R. L. . 73 

 The Carnegie Institution of Washington and its 



Work. {Illustrated.) By Dr. R. S. Woodward 74 

 The Roosevelts in Africa. (Illustrated.) By Sir 



H. H.Johnston, G. CM. G., K.C.B 77 



Atmospheric Electricity and Rain. By Dr. C Chree, 



F.R.S 80 



The Prevention of Plague. By Dr. G. F. Petrie . . 81 



Dr. Theodore Cooke 82 



Notes 82 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Discovery of a Comet 87 



Metcalf's Comet (1910Z1) 87 



Recent Fireballs .... • ... 87 



Solar Activity and Terrestrial Temperatures ... 87 



Stars having Peculiar Spectra, and New Variable Stars 87 



The Discovery of Neptune 87 



Variable Stars in the Orion Nebula 87 



The Banquet to Jubilee Past-Presidents of the 



Chemical Society .... 87 



The International Agrogeological Congress at 



btockholm 88 



Education at the British Association 89 



The Production and Use of Electric Power. By 



S. Z. de Ferranti ... 90 



Matavanu: A New Volcano in Savaii (German 



bamoa). [Illustrated.) By Dr Tempest Anderson 92 



University and Educational Intelligence 93 



Societies and Academies 95 . 



Diary of Societies 98 



