384 



NA TURE 



[Feb. 20, 1890 



proposals made by the Committee to mitigate or remove the evil ; 

 ^and of the improvements effected, or about to be effected, in 

 accordance with those suggestions.- — M. Kapteijn treated of 

 chronographical observations for the purpose of determining 

 parallaxes of fixed stars. After having explained the precautions 

 taken to prevent systematic error, he gave the results and subjected 

 them to several tests showing their absolute trustworthiness 

 within the limits defined by the probable errors. 



Jan. 25. — Prof, van de Sande Bakhuyzen in the chair. — M. 

 Hoogewerff, giving an account of joint work by himself and M, 

 van Dorp, spoke of the action of potassium hypobromite on suc- 

 •cinphenylamide, and on the amide of cinchonic acid. — M. van 

 Bammelen communicated certain results of a research relating 

 to the composition of volcanic and other soils, on which, in 

 Deli and Java, tobacco is cultivated. The extraordinary fitness 

 of the soil of the cleared forest grounds in Deli for the pro- 

 duction of exquisite tobacco is to be attributed, he thinks, to the 

 peculiar composition of the amorphous silicate occurring therein, 

 to the looseness of the forest soil, and to the auspicious climate 

 with regard to the rainfall. He concluded by insisting on the 

 urgent need for the establishment of a scientific experimental 

 station at Deli. Such an establishment would be favourable to 

 the culture of tobacco, and would enlarge our knowledge of the 

 soil, of the vegetable world, and of geological formations. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 

 London. 



THURSDAY, Feuruarv 20. 



;'R'5V\L Society, at 4.30. — A Comparative Study of Natural and Artificial 

 Digestions (Preliminary Account): Dr. A. Sheridan Lea. — On a Fer- 

 mentation causing the Separation of Cystin ; Sheridan Delepine. — Some 

 Stages in the Development of the Brain of Clupea harengus : Ernest W. 

 L. Holt. 



iLiNNBAN Society, at 8. — On the Fruit and Seed of Juglandia ; on the 

 Shape of the Oak-leaf; and on the Leaves of Viburnum; Sir John Lub- 

 bock, Bart., P.C, M.P., F.R.S. 



• Chemical Society, at 8. — The Behaviour of the most Stable Oxides at 

 High Temperatures : G. H. Bailey and W. B. Hopkins. — The Influence 

 of Different Oxides on the Decomposition of Potassium Chlorate : G. J. 

 Fowler and J. Grant. 



Zoological Society, at 4. 



Institution of Electrical Engineers, at 8. 



S.OVAL Institution, at 3. — The Three Stages of Shakspeare's Art : Rev. 

 Canon Ainger. 



FRIDAY, February 21. 



fiKOLOGiCAL Society, at 3. — Annual General Meeting. 



'Physical Socibtv. at 5. — On a Carbon Deposit in a Blake Telephone 

 Transmitter: F. B. Havves. — The Geometrical Construction of Direct 

 Reading Scales for Reflecting Instruments : A. P. Trotter.— A Paralle 

 Motion Suitable for Recording-Instruments : A. P. Trotter. — On Ber- 

 trand's Refractometer : Prof. S. P. Thompson. 



'Institution of Civil Engineers, at 7.30. — Some Types of American 

 Locomotives, and their Construction : C. N. Goodall. 



Royal Institution, at 9. — Magnetic Phenomena: Shelford Bidwell, F.R.S. 



SATURDAY, February 22. 

 Royal Botanic Society, at 3.45. 



Royal Institution, at 3. — Electricity and Magnetism : Right Hon. 

 Lord Rayleigh, F.R.S. 



SUNDAY, February 23. 

 S "*DAV Lecture Society, at 4. — Our Ancestors, the Sea-Kings : Justin 

 H. McCarthy, M.P. 



MONDAY, February 24. 

 Society of Arts, at 8. — Stereotyping : Thomas Bolas. 

 TovxBEE Philosophical Society, at 8. — Willand Reason : B. Bosanquet. 



TUESDAY, February 25. 



Anthropological Institute, at 8.30. — Exhibition of Stanley's Spiro- 

 meter : Dr. J. G. Garson — Some Borneo Traps: S. B. J. Skertchly. — 

 The Dieri and other Kindred Tribes of Central Australia ; A. W. 

 Hewitt. 

 NSTITUTION OF CiviL ENGINEERS, at 8. — The Shanghai Water-Works : 

 J. W. Hart. — ^The Tytam Water-Works, Hong-Kong : Jas. Orange. — The 

 Construction of the Yokohama Water-Works : J. H. T. Turner. (Dis- 

 cussion.) 



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

 Romanes, F.R.S. 



WEDNESDAY, February 25. 



.Geological Society, at 8. — On a Crocodilian Jaw from the Oxford Clay 

 of Peterborough : R. Lydekker. — On the Relation of the Westleton Beds 

 or " Pebbly Sands " of Suffolk to those of Norfolk, and on their Extension 

 Inland ; with some Observations on the Period of the Final Elevation and 

 Denudation of the Weald and of the Thames Valley, Pari III. : Prof. 

 Joseph Prestwich, F.R.S. — On a Deep Channel of Drift in the Valley of 

 the Cam, Essex: W. Whitaker, F.R.S. 



Society of Arts, at 8.— The English in Florida: .Arthur Montefiore, 



THURSDAY, February 27. 

 Royal Society, at 4.30. 

 Society of Arts, at 5. — The Northern Shan States and the Burma-China 



Railway : Wilham Sherriff. 

 Institution of Electrical Engineers, at 8. 



Royal Institution, at 3 — The Three Stages of Shakspeare's Art : Rev. 

 Canon Ainger. 



FRIDAY, February 28. 



.\mateur Scientii'ic Society, at 8. — Practical Coal-mining: H. S. 



Streatfeild. 

 R JYAL Institution, at 9. — Evolution in Music : Prof. C. Hubert H. Parry. 



SATURDAY, March i. 



Essex Field Club, at 7. — Micro-Fungi of Epping Forest ; how to Collect, 



Preserve, and Study Them : Dr. M. C. Cooke. 

 RovAL Institution, at 3. — Electricity and Magnetism: Right Hon. Lord 



Rayleigh, F.R.S. 



BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, and SERIALS RECEIVED. 



Elementary Dynamics of Particles and Solids : Prof W. M. Hicks (Mac- 

 millan). — La Vie des Oiseaux : Baron D'Hamonville (Paris, J. B. liailliere). 

 — A Naturalist's Voyage round the World, new edition, illustr.ited : C. 

 Darwin (Murray).— A Naturalist among the Head Hunters : C. M. Wood- 

 ford (Philip). — Geology of the (Quicksilver Deposits of the Pacific Slope, 

 and Atlas to accompany .same : G. F. Becker (Washington). — Fossil Fishes 

 and Fossil Plants of the Triassic Rocks of New Jersey and the Connecticut 

 Valley: J. S. Newberry (Washington). — 11 Teorema del Parallelogramma 

 delle Forze Dimostrato Erroneo : G. Casazza (Brescia). — Materials for a 

 Flora of the Malayan Peninsula : Dr. G. King (Calcutta). — Journal of 

 Physiology, vol. xi. Nos. i and 2 (Cambridge). — Transactions of the Wagner 

 Free Institute of Science of Philadelphia, vol. 2 (Philadelphia).— Observa- 

 ciones Magneticas y Meteorolo'gicas del Real Colegio de Belen de la Comp. 

 de Jesus en La Habana, Julio-Die. 1887 (Habana). — Bulletin of the U.S. 

 Geological Survey, Nos. 48 to 53 (Washington). — Department of Agricul- 

 ture, Melbourne, Bulletin No. 4 (Melbourne). — "Timehri," being the 

 Journal of the Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society of Br.tish 

 Guiana, December 1889 (Stanford). 



CONTENTS. p.^GE 



The Physics and Chemistry of the "Challenger" 



Expedition 361 



The Human Foot 365 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Ettingshausen : "Das australische Florenelement in 



Europa,"— W, B. H 365 



Cassedy : "Is the Copernican System of Astronomy 



True?" 366 



Emerson : " Naturalistic Photography " 366 



Letters to the Editor : — 



Acquired Characters and Congenital Variation. — 

 The Duke of Argyll, F.R.S. ; The Right Rev. 



Bishop R. Courtenay; Dr. J. Cowper .... 366 

 Easy Lecture Experiment in Electric Resonance. 



(///«j^ra/^^.)— Prof. Oliver J. Lodge, F.R.S. . . 368 

 African Monkeys in the West Indies. — Dr. P. L. 



Sclater, F.R.S 368 



Galls. — Prof. George J. Romanes, F.R.S. . . . 369 

 The Supposed Earthquakes at Chelmsford on January 



7. — Charles Davison 369 



Shining Night-Clouds. —Robert B. White .... 369 



A Greenish Meteor. — T. D. A. Cockerel!. . . . • 369 

 The Molecular Stability of Metals, particularly of 



Iron and Steel. By Carl Barus 369 



Christoforus Henricus Diedericus Buys Ballot . . 371 



Notes 371 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Objects for the Spectroscope. — A, Fowler 374 



Progress of Astronomy in 1886 374 



The Maximum Light-Intensity of the Solar Spectrum 374 



Spectrum of Borelly's Comet, g 1889 374 



Spectra of 5 and ^u Centauri 374 



On the Star System | Scorpii 374 



Geographical Notes 374 



On some Needless Difficulties in the Study of 



Natural History. By Dr. C. T. Hudson, F.R.S. . 375 



The Total Eclipse, By Prof. David P. Todd ... 379 



Scientific Serials 380 



Societies and Academies 380 



Diary of Societies 384 



Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received 384 



