February 23, 191 1] 



NATURE 



565 



escence, separated by dark or non-luminous bands : they 

 appeared to radiate from a centre on the horizon, round 

 which they seemed to rotate with increasing brilliancy 

 and velocity. In one case they overtook the ship. The 

 writer attributed them to the stimulation of phosphorescent 

 organisms by tide-ripplings. — G. P. Farran : The breeding 

 seasons of Calanus finmarchius. Though found over 

 much of the North Atlantic, the species is only abun- 

 dant shoreward of the isohaline of 3525 per mille. In 

 the end of the year a small stock, consisting of the penul- 

 timate stage V is found. In early March maturity has 

 been attained and rapid reproduction sets in. By May 

 immense shoals are formed, consisting mostly of the 

 youngest stages, but with some adults. Reproduction 

 slackens gradually, and by November has ceased. 



Royal Meteorological Society, February 15.— Dr. H. N. 

 Dickson, president, in the chair. — R. Cooke and S. C. 

 Russell : Variation of the depth of water in a well at 

 Detling, near Maidstone, compared with the rainfall 1885- 

 1909. This well is on the chalk formation at the foot of 

 the range of the North Downs, 358 feet above sea-level ; 

 its present depth is 118 feet. Weekly plumbings of the 

 water in the well have been taken without interruption 

 since 1885, and the authors have compared these plumbings 

 with the rainfall of the previous week. The extreme 

 variation of the water-level during the whole period was 

 30 feet 3 inches. Successive weeks of steady rainfall 

 exercise a far greater effect upon raising the water-level 

 than weeks of heavy but intermittent rainfall. .\s a rule, 

 the effect of the autumn rains is not felt on the well until 

 the month of December, but the winter rainfall penetrates 

 most readily. Following a series of wet years, a high 

 limit of saturation is attained ; and once this condition is 

 thoroughly established, the water remains at an almost 

 constant level throughout the seasons, excess or deficiency 

 of rain causing ven.- little effect. — .\. W. Clayden : The 

 actinograph — a new instrument for observing and recording 

 changes in radiation. — K. M. Clark : New set of cloudi- 

 ness charts for the United States. 



Eoi.NBURUIl. 



Royal Societv, January 23.— Prof. J. C. Ewart, F.R.S.. 

 vice-president, in the chair. — ^James Ritchie : .-Vn ento- 

 proctan polyzoon {Barentsia benedeni) new to the British 

 fauna, with remarks on related species. .An account was 

 given of the minute structure of individuals attributed to 

 this species, colonies of which, obtained at Hull, were 

 kept alive under observation for some time. The later 

 development and the various forms of this and related 

 species were described, and the conclusion was arrived at 

 that a redundancy of species and of genera had been 

 established among the entoproctan polyzoa. Some of these 

 the author proposed to suppress. — ^The following three 

 papers w^ere from the Physiological Department of 

 Glasgow University : — (i) .Adam Black : A study of 

 artificial pyrexia produced by tetrahydro-3-naphthylamine 

 hydrochloride. Experiments on rabbits were given to 

 show that the fall of temperature produced by ether 

 anaesthesia was largely due to increased loss of heat, and 

 that it was prevented if the loss of he?t were checked. 

 It was then shown that the ether prevented the develop- 

 ment of pyrexia under the drug, the conclusion being that 

 the drug acted largely by causing contraction of cutaneous 

 vessels, and thus decreasing heat loss. The changes in 

 the protein metabolism under the drug were studied in the 

 dog, and it was found that the disturbance was small in 

 comparison with the disturbance produced by fever-pro- 

 ducing toxins. (2) Dr. Janie Hamilton M'llroy : The 

 independence of the peripheral neurons of the retina. The 

 nature of the neurons having been considered, the results 

 of a series of experiments upon section of the optic nerve 

 upon these neurons were described, and it was shown 

 that the f>eripheral neurons having their cells in the inner 

 and outer nuclear layers preserve their integrity for at 

 least nine months after section of the nerve. On the other 

 hand, another series of experiments showed that in aseptic 

 autolysis these peripheral neurons disintegrated rapidly and 

 at an earlier date than the neurons of the ganglionic layer. 

 — (3) Dr. Williamina Abel : A description of the cerebral 

 cortex of the guinea-pig. The histological examination of 

 the cerebral cortex showed the presence of five tv-pes of 



NO. 2156, VOL. 85] 



cerebral lamination. The area, in which the lamination 

 indicated a motor t>-pe of cortex, lay in the posterior half 

 of the cerebrum, and was surrounded by sensory zones. 

 Electrical stimulation supported the conclusion come to 

 through histological investigation as to the position of this 

 nMtor area. Consideration was given as to the signifi- 

 cance of this special type of cerebral top<^raphy. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, February 15. — M. Armand Gautier 

 in the chair. — C. Quichard : The deformation of quadrics. 

 — M. GoMy : The periodic structure of the magneto- 

 kathode rays. A further investigation of the fringes 

 described in an earlier paper. A reproduction of a photo- 

 graph of a set of fringes is given. According to the 

 electron hypothesis of these phenomena, the figures 

 described would be the caustics of the trajectories of the 

 electrons, and the experimental results are not inconsistent 

 with this view. — Lecoq do Boist>audran : The dehydra- 

 tion of salts. It has been stated that there are no examples 

 of salts, containing more than one molecule of water of 

 crj'stallisation, losing a single molecule of water to form 

 a lower hydrate. Examples are given from the sulphates 

 of copper, iron, cobalt, magnesium, zinc, and nickel dis- 

 |>roving this statement. — Paul SalMitier and A. Maiihe : 

 Direct esterifkration by catalysis. The preparation of 

 benzoic esters. If a solution of benzoic acid in an alcohol 

 is vapourised, and the vapours passed over a column of 

 oxide of thorium heated to 350° C, a nearly quantitative 

 yield of the corresponding benzoic ester is obtained. The 

 benzoates of ethyl, propyl, isobutjl, isoamyl, and allyl 

 have been prepared in this manner. — C. E. Guillaume was 

 elected a correspondant for the section of physics in the 

 place of M. Van der W'aals, elected foreign associate. — 

 Paul Dienes : Series of polynomials and the singularities 

 of analytical functions. — N. Saltykoww : The theorj' of 

 characteristics and its applications. — Pierre Weiss : The 

 magnitude of magneton deduced from the coefficients of 

 magnetisation of solutions of iron salts. The mean figure, 

 1 122- 1, is practically identical with the 1123-5 deduced from 

 experiments made at Leyden on the metals themselves in 

 liquid hydrogen. — A. Hanriot : .Adhesivit>-. When two 

 strips of brown gold are heated within the limits of 

 temperature of their transformation into ordinars' gold, 

 and the strips are allowed to come in contact, they 

 become soldered to each other. The conditions under 

 which this phenomena takes place have been experiment- 

 ally studied, and the results are given in detail. — .A. Guntz 

 and J. Mingruin : Contribution to the study of the ultra- 

 violet radiations. .An account of the mechanical, physical, 

 and chemical effects of ultra-violet light on some organic 

 substances. — J. Boselli : The velocities of reactions in 

 gaseous-liquid systems. — Daniel Berthelot and Henry 

 Gaudechon : The comparative action of the ultra-violet 

 rays on organic compounds possessing linear and cyclic 

 structure. The study of mineral salts in aqueous solu- 

 tions. It has been shown in earlier papers that fatty com- 

 pounds are decomposed with evolution of gas under the 

 action of the ultra-violet rays. The treatment in a similar 

 manner of a series of aromatic derivatives has given 

 throughout negative results ; no change is effected. — R. L. 

 Espil : Some new anhydrous selenites. — .A. Verneuil : The 

 preparation of the black enamel of the Italo-Greek 

 potteries. The secret of the preparation of this fine 

 enamel has been lost, and numerous attempts to reproduce 

 it in current times have been unsuccessful. The author 

 finds that the use of finely divided metallic iron in the 

 coating gives a black resembling that of the ancient 

 pottery. — Marcel Oswrald : The action of heat upon silver 

 nitrite. — J. B. Senderens : Ketones derived from phenyl- 

 propionic acid. Mixtures of phen\ipropionic acid and a 

 fatty acid, passed over a column of thoria at about 460° C, 

 give three ketones, the two symmetrical ketones derived 

 from the phenylpropionic and fattA- acids singly, and the 

 mixed ketone. .A description is given of several new 

 ketones prepared by this method.— Charles Moureu and 

 .Amand Valeur : The preparation of isosparteine. The 

 action of methyl iodide on this base. — M. Grigrnard : Two 

 new methods for the synthesis of nitriles. Chloride of 

 cyanogen or cyanc^n itself reacts with organo-magnesium 

 compounds, giving nitriles, the necessary condition being 

 that the magnesium compound should be added drop by 



