504 



NA TURE 



^March 27, 1890 



these bodies on diluting or heating their solutions. — A botanical 

 note, by M. Leon Guignard, on the formation and differentia- 

 tion of the sexual elements which take part in fertilization. — 

 Another botanical paper, by M. A. Prunet, on the comparative 

 structure of the nodes and internodes in the trunk of the Di- 

 cotyledones. — Under geology, M. de Folin has a paper on the 

 formation of nummulitic rocks. He concludes that these rocks 

 are formed by the work of an organism of the same order as the 

 Rhisopodes. — Also under geology, M. Stanislas Meunier con- 

 tributes some chemical researches on the fossil shells of Fora- 

 minifera, Mollusks, and Crustacea. He has investigated the 

 composition of the flocculent organic residue formed when ihese 

 fossil shells are dissolved in acid. — On Pyrenean kersanton, its 

 age and affinities with ophite, by M. J. Caralp. 



Berlin. 



Physiological, Society, February 28. — Dr. Rosenstein ex- 

 hibited a patient with di.stension of the lymphatics in the leg, and 

 fistulous openings which discharged an albuminous fluid some- 

 times amounting to 11 00 c.c. in a day. Dr. J. Munk has made 

 observations on this fluid. It is sometimes transparent, but is 

 always milky after a meal containing fat. It thus resembles chyle 

 rather than lymph, and probably really is chyle. At least two- 

 thirds of the fat given at any one meal reappeared in the fluid from 

 the fistula. On giving olive oil, fat appeared in the fluid in two 

 hours, increased steadily till its maximum after five hours, then 

 diminished, and in ten or twelve hours disappeared. With a 

 harder fat, e.g. mutton fat, the phenomena were the same, but 

 were longer in appearing. Erucic acid given to the patient ap- 

 peared as a neutral fat, and not as free acid, synthesis having 

 been effected in the body. No appreciable absorption of fat 

 occurs from the rectum. Large doses of starch or sugar scarcely 

 increased the percentage of sugar, nor did large meals of albumen 

 increase that of proteids in the fluid. Thus the only food-stuff 

 which leaves the intestine by the lacteals is fat. 



Meteorological Society, March 4. — Dr. Vettin, President, 

 in the chair. — Dr. Wagner spoke on fire-damp explosions in 

 mines in their relationship to cosmic and meteorological con- 

 ditions. He discussed the collection of the gas, the conditions 

 necessary for its explosion, the part played by coal-dust, and the 

 several chance circumstances which may lead to the non-dis- 

 covery of the gas in the workings. He next discussed the 

 various means available for avoiding and removing accumulations 

 of fire-damp, and gave an account of researches on the relation- 

 ship of its explosion to varying barometric pressures. His own 

 work had consisted in working up the statistics of the Dortmund 

 mining district in which explosions are more frequent than in 

 any other state of Prussia. The reports cover a period of 21 

 years and give a record of 7000 explosions. He first compared 

 the numerical relationship of the explosions with the phases of 

 the moon, and concluded that there is no connection between the 

 two. He then made a similar comparison of their frequency 

 with the rotational period of the sun, taking the latter as 25 "5 

 days : the result was again negative. He finally compared their 

 frequency with periods of 27^9 days, this being, according to 

 Buys-Ballot, the cycle of temperature variations resulting from 

 the sun's rotation. In this case the curves he obtained were 

 quite uniform and regular, showing a maximum on the third day 

 and a second maximum on the twentieth. He refrained from 

 drawing any definite conclusions from this last observation in 

 view of the numberless chance circumstances which may lead to 

 explosions. 



Physical Society, March 7. — Prof. Kundt, President, in 

 the chair. — Dr. Rubens spoke on the employment of the 

 bolometer for observing the electrical radiations of Hertz as 

 carried out by himself and Dr. Ritter. Up to the present it 

 had not been found possible to measure the intensity of the 

 radiation owing to the extraordinarily minute amplitude of the 

 oscillations ; but the speaker had been able to carry out the 

 determination by means of a bolometer whose construction 

 and working he fully described. It consists essentially of an 

 accurately balanced primary Wheatstone bridge, two of whose 

 arms are again converted into secondary Wheatstone bridges. If 

 a current passes through one of them its resistance is altered by 

 the rise of temperature, and the galvanometer gives a proportion- 

 ate throw. A similar effect is produced by a wave of electrical 

 radiation, and hence its amplitude can be measured by this 

 bolometer when once it has been calibrated. When experi- 



menting with the polarizing wire-grating it was found that there 

 is a constant relationship between the intensity of the rays which 

 pass the grating and the angle of inclination of the wires to the 

 plane of oscillation of the rays. It was further observed that 

 the energy which does not pass the grating is reflected, and to 

 the extent of 98 per cent., when the wires are at right-angles to 

 the plane of oscillation. Experiments in illustration of the 

 above were shown at the end of the communication. 



BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, and SERIALS RECEIVED. 



Report of the Meteorological Service of Canada, 1886: C. Carpmael 

 (Ottawa). — The Mammalia of the Uinta Formation : W. B. Scott and H. F. 

 Osborn (Philadelphia). — A Monograph of Oriental Cicadidae, Part 2 : W. L. 

 Distant (West, Newman). — II Monismo: E. dal Pozzo di Monibello (Cas- 

 tello, Lapi). — British Fossils and whereto seek them; J. W. Williams 

 (Sonnenschein). — Poems, complete edition : W. Leighton (Stock). — Classifica- 

 tion of Birds: H. Seebohm (Porter). — Personal and Social Evolution 

 CUnwin). — Proceedings of the Physical Society of London, Vol. x. Part 3 

 (Taylor and Francis). — The Asclepiad, vol. vii. No. 25 (Longmans). — Tra- 

 vaux de la Societe des Naturalistes de St. Petersbourg, Section de Zoologie 

 et de Physiologic, Tome xx. Livr. 2. — Supplement auxTravaux dela Societe 

 des Naturalistes de St. Petersbourg. — An International Idiom; A Manual 

 of the Oregon Trade Language : H. Hale (Whittaker). — Second Melbourne 

 General Catalogue of 1211 Stars for the Epoch 1880 (Melbourne, Brain). — 

 Essays of an Americanist: Dr. D. G. Brinton (Philadelphia. Porter and 

 Coates). — Days and Hours in a Garden, 7th edition : E. and B. (Stock). — 

 Weather and Tidal Forecasts. i8go : D. De war (Glasgow, Brown). — Royal 

 University of Ireland Calendar for 1890 (Dublin, Thom). — Report of the 

 Rugby School Natural History Society, 1S89 (Rugby, Lawrence). — The 

 Signing of the Treaty of Waitangi : W. Colenso (Wellington, Didsbury). — 

 Mekrolog auf Theodor Kirsch (Berlin, Friedlander). — Journal of the Che- 

 mical Society, March (Gurney and Jackson). — Journal of Physiology, vol. 

 xi., No. 3 (Cambridge). 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



A South London Polytechnic 481 



A Geological Map of the Alpine Chain. By Prof. 



T. G. Bonney, F.R.S 483 



Old Age. By E. H. S 484 



The Elements of Astronomy. By A. F 485 



Our Book Shelf: — 



Lagrange : " Physiology of Bodily Exercise." — 



E. H. S 485 



Traill : " Boilers— Marine and Land."— N. J. L. . . 486 

 Crookshank : "The History and Pathology of Vac- 

 cination." — Dr. Robert Cory 486 



Letters to the Editor : — 



The Transmission of Acquired Characters and Pan- 

 mixia.— Prof. E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S. . . . 486 

 Exact Thermometry. {With Diagram.)— Tit. Sydney 



Young 488 



Foreign Substances attached to Crabs. — Walter 



Garstang • . . . 490 



Sea-bird Shooting.— G. W.Lamplugh 490 



Locusts.— E. C. Cotes 491 



The Royal Meteorological Society's Exhibition. By 



William Marriott 49^ 



The Origin and Composition of the Flora of the 

 Keeling Islands. By W. Botting Hemsley, 



F.R.S 492 



Notes 493 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Objects for the Spectroscope. — A. Fowler 496 



Charles Marie Valentin Montigny 497 



An Observatory at Madagascar 497 



The Administration of Foreign Fisheries. By Prof. 



W. C. Mcintosh, F.R.S 497 



Scientific Serials 5°° 



Societies and Academies 5°' 



Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received 504 



