312 



NATURE 



\yan. 2f>y 1890 



communication {Comptes rendus, cix. p, 900) on the combina- 

 tions of potassium and sodium with ammonia. — On the 

 absorption of the ultra-violet rays by some organic substances 

 belonging to the fatty series, by MM. J. L. Soret and Alb. A. 

 Rilliet. These studies, which to a large extent confirm the 

 conclusions of Messrs. Hartley and Huntington (Philosophical 

 Transactions of the Royal Society, 1879), show in ageneral way 

 that the measurement of the absorption of the ultra-violet rays 

 constitutes a delicate means of estimating the purity of organic 

 substances. — On the refracting powers of double salts in solu- 

 tion, by M. E. Doumer. These researches have been carried 

 on by the same method which enabled the author to determine 

 the refracting powers of simple salts. The results, which are 

 here tabulated, show that the molecular refracting power of a 

 double salt is equal to the sum of the molecular refracting powers 

 of the constituent simple salts ; and in general, the molecular 

 refracting power of any salt, simple or double, is proportional to 

 the number of valences of the metallic part of the salt. — Papers 

 were read by M. Ph. A. Guye, on the molecular constitution of 

 bodies at the critical point ; by M. Raoul Varet, on the re- 

 actions between the salts of copper and the metallic cyanides ; 

 by MM. C. Chabrie and L. Lapicque, on the physiological 

 action of selenious acid ; and by M. L. de Launay, on the 

 geology of the island of Lesbos. M. de Launay considers the 

 volcanic eruptions of this island as comparatively recent, possibly 

 not older than the Pliocene epoch, and doubtless contemporary 

 with the disturbances resulting in the creation of the ^gean Sea 

 in a region previously forming a vast marshy plain with shallow 

 lakes. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 

 London. 



THURSDA y, January 30. 



Royal Society, at 4.30. — Investigations into the Effects of Training Walls 

 in an Estuary like the Mersey : L. F. Vernon Harcourt. — On Outlying 

 Nerve-Cells in the Mammalian Spinal Cord : C S. Sherrington. — On the 

 Germination of the Seed of the Castor-oil Plant (Ricinus communis) : Prof. 

 J. R. Green. 



Royal Institxjtion, at 3 — Sculpture in Relation to the Age : Edwin 

 Roscoe Mullins. 



FRIDAY, January 31. 



Royal Institution, at 9. — Smokeless Explosives : Sir Frederick Abel, 

 C.B., F.R.S. 



SATURDAY, February i. 



Essex Field Club, at 7. — Annual General Meeting. — Migration of Birds : 



E. A. Fitch, President. 

 Royal Institution, at 3. — The Natural History of the Horse, and of 



its Extinct and Existing Allies : Prof Flower, C.B. , F.R.S. 



SUNDAY, February 2. 



Sunday Lecture Society, at 4. — The Health of the Mind ; and Mental 

 Contagions: Dr. B. W. Richardson, F.R.S. 



MONDAY, February 3. 



Society of Arts, at 8. — The Electromagnet': Dr. Silvanus P. Thompson. 



Society of Chemical Industry, at 8. — On the Properties and Applica- 

 tions of Metallic Compounds of the Phenols : A. H. Allen and W. W. 

 Staveley. 



Aristotelian Society, at 8. — The Conception of Sovereignty : D. G. 

 Ritchie. 



Royal Institution, at 5. — General Monthly Meeting. 



TUESDAY, February 4. 



Zoological Society, at 4. — On the Morphology of a Reptilian Bird 

 (Opisthoco mus cristatus) : W. K. Parker, F.R.S. — ObservaUons on 

 Wolves, Jackals, Dogs, and Foxes : A. D. Bartlett. — A Synopsis of the 

 Genera of the Family Soricidae : G. E. Dobson, F.R.S. 



Institution of Civil Engineers, at 8. — Bars at the Mouths of Tidal 

 Estuaries : W. H. Wheeler. 



Royal Institution, at 3. — The Post-Darwinian Period : Prof G. J. 

 Romanes, F.R.S. 



WEDNESDAY, February s- 



Geological Society, at 8. — The Variolitic Rocks of Mount Genevre : 

 G. A. J. Cole and J. W. Gregory. — The Propylites of the Western Isles 

 of Scotland and their Relation to the Andesites and Diorites of the same 

 District: Prof J. W. Judd, F.R.S. 



Entomological Society, at 7. — On the Peculiarities of the Terminal Seg- 

 ment in some Male Hemiplera : Dr. Sharp. — The Lepidoptera of Burmah : 

 Colonel Chas. Swinhoe. — On the Phylogenetic Significance of the Wing- 

 Markings in certain Genera of Nymphalida : Dr. F. A.Dixey. 



Society of Arts, at 8.— High-Speed Knitting and Weaving without Weft : 

 Arthur Paget. 



University College Chemical and Physical Society, at 4.30. — 

 The Life and Work of Faraday : S. B. Schry ver. 



THURSDAY, FEURUARve. 



Royal Society, at 4.30. 



LiNNEAN Society, at 8.— On the Stamens and Setae of Scirpeae : C. B. 

 Clarke, F.R.S.— On the Flora of Patagonia : John Ball. F.R.S. 



Chemical Society, at 8 — Ballot for the Election of Fellows. — The Oxides 

 of Nitrogen: Prof. Ramsay, F.R.S. — Studies on the Constitution of Tri- 

 Derivatives of Naphthalene : Dr. Armstrong and W. P. Wynne — On the 

 Action of Chromium Oxychloride on Nitrobenzole : G. G. Henderson and 

 J. Morrow Campbell. 



Royal Institution, at 3. — Sculpture in Relation to the Age: Edwin 

 Roscoe Mullins. 



FRIDAY, February 7. 



Physical Society, at 5. — Annual General Meeting.^On Galvanometers : 

 Prof. W. E. Ayrton, F.R.S., T. Mather, and W. E. Sumpner.— On a 

 Carbon Deposit in a Blake Telephone Transmitter : F. B. Hawes. 



Geologists' Association, at 7.30. — Annual General Meeting — Notes on 

 the Nature of the Geological Record : The President. 



Society of Arts, at 5. — The Utility of Forests and the Study of Forestry : 

 Dr. Schlich. 



Institution of Civil Engineers, at 7.30. — Reclamation of Land on the 

 River Tees : Colin P. Fowler. 



Royal Institution, at 9. — The London Stage in Elizabeth's Reign: 

 Henry B. Wheatley. 



SATURDAY, February 8. 



Royal Botanic Society, at 3.45. 



Royal Institution, at 3. — The Natural History of the Horje, and of 

 its Extinct and E.xisting Allies : Prof Flower, C.B., F.R.S. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



The Hyderabad Chloroform Commission 289 



Hygiene 290 



In the High Alps. By T. G. B 291 



The Story of Chemistry 292 



Luminous Organisms. By Prof. W. A. Herdman . 293 

 Our Book Shelf:— 



Meldola : ' ' The Chemistry of Photography " . . . . 293 

 Smith: "The Popular Works of Johann Gottlieb 



Fichte" 294 



Young: " Travels in France " 294 



Letters to the Editor : — 



Acquired Characters and Congenital Variation. — The 



Dukeof Argyll, F.R.S 294 



Multiple Resonance obtained in Hertz's Vibrators. — 

 Prof. Geo. Fras. Fitzgerald ; Fred. T. 



Trouton 295 



Bourdon's Pressure- Gauge. {Illustrated.)— Vroi. A. 



M. Worthington 296 



Foreign Substances attached to Crabs. — Alfred O. 



Walker; Captain David Wilson-Barker . . . 297 

 Thought and Breathing. — R. Barrett Pope .... 297 

 On the Effect of Oil on Disturbed Water.— A. B. 



Basset, F.R.S 297 



Luminous Clouds. — T. W. Backhouse ; Joseph 



John Murphy 297 



The Meteorite of Mighei.— J. Rutherford Hill . . 298 



Achlya. — Prof. Marcus M. Hartog 298 



The Parallelogram of Forces. — Prof. A. G. Green- 

 hill, F.R.S 298 



Foot-Pounds.— A. S. E 298 



Chiff-Chaff singing in September. — F. M. Burton . 298 

 East Africa and its Big Game. {Illustrated.) .... 298 

 The Coral Reefs of the Java Sea and its Vicinity. 



By Dr. H. B. Guppy . 300 



The Electric Light at the British Museum .... 301 



Notes 301 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Objects for the Spectroscope. — A. Fowler 304 



The Total Eclipse of January i, 1889 305 



The Orbits of the Companions of Brooks' Comet 



(1889 v., July 6) 305 



Greenwich Observatory 305 



The Physical and Chemical Characteristics of 

 Meteorites as throwing Light upon their Past 

 History. {Ilhistrated.) By J. Norman Lockyer, 



F.R.S 305 



Scientific Serials 309 



Societies and Academies 309 



Diary of Societies • . 312 



