594 



NATURE 



\April 24, 1890 



At the seventh Congress of the American Ornithologists' 

 Union, Dr. R. W. Shufeldt read a report on progress in avian 

 anatomy for the years 1888-89. Towards the end of this report, 

 which has now been reprinted separately, Dr. Shufeldt said he 

 had greatly felt the need of a good hand-book to the muscles of 

 birds. In looking about him, he soon found that there was no 

 such manual in the English language ; at least, there was not the 

 kind of work that the thorough dissector required. To meet 

 this want he undertook the preparation of a volume devoted to 

 the subject. A thoroughly cosmopolitan form, or rather a form 

 well representing a cosmopolitan group of birds, the raven, was 

 selected. He carefully dissected out on many specimens every 

 muscle of this type, and figured them in a careful series of 

 drawings. These he supplemented by a series of drawings of 

 the skeleton of the same form, and on the bones indicated the 

 origin and insertion of all the muscles. Full descriptions were 

 written out, and the groups of muscles classified ; and finally 

 some comparative work was added. Both the drawings of the 

 muscular system, as well as the skeleton, were life-size, which 

 made ihe parts very clear and convenient for use. "To my 

 sui-prise," says Dr. Shufeldt, "when it was all completed, the 

 manuscripts for a small volume were on my hands." The work is 

 inow in the press, and will be published shortly by Messrs. 

 Macmillan and Co. 



Two volumes of the I ntei- national es Archiv fiir Ethttographie 

 have now been completed. With the current number, just 

 issued, the third volume begins. In a prefatory note, the editor, 

 Dr. Schmeltz, refers with satisfaction to the help he has received 

 from eminent contributors ; and he is able to promise that the 

 periodical shall be not less instructive and interesting in the 

 future than it has been in the past. In the present number 

 there are several valuable papers. One of them, by Dr» Franz 

 Boas, deals with the use of masks and head-ornaments on the 

 north-west coast of America. Herr Strebel, of Hamburg, con- 

 tributes the first of a series of "studies "on a peculiar kind 

 of stone implements found in Mexico and Central America. 

 Hitherto it has been generally supposed that these implements 

 were put on the necks of human victims destined for sacrifice. 

 The author undertakes to show that this view is mistaken. 



The Journal of the Anthropological Institute (vol. xix. No. 3) 

 contains an elaborate and most interesting paper, by Prof. A. C. 

 Haddon, on the ethnography of the western tribe of Torres 

 Strait. The other contributors to this number are Dr. Beddoe, 

 who writes on the natural colour of the skin in certain Oriental 

 races ; and the Rev. James Macdonald, who has a paper 

 on the manners, customs, superstitions, and religions of South 

 African tribes. 



Tu^ Photographic Quarterly, of which three numbers have been 

 published, meets a need which must often have been felt by 

 those who specially devote themselves to photography. It in- 

 cludes among its contributors many eminent students, and deals 

 freely with all important questions in which photographers are 

 interested. The third number opens with an article on photo- 

 graphy of the sky at night, by Captain W. de W. Abney. 

 Among the other contents are papers on the limits and possi- 

 bilities of art photography, by George Davison ; photogravure 

 and heliogravure, by P. G. Hamerton ; the optical lantern as an 

 aid in teaching, by C. H. Bothamley ; and a phase of naturalistic 

 ■focussing, by H. Dennis Taylor. 



A COMPLETE index of the papers printed in the Proceedings 

 of the London Mathematical Society has been issued. It will 

 ■be of great service to all who have occasion to refer to the series, 

 which now includes twenty volumes. 



A CATALOGUE of the books in the library of the Indian 

 -Museum has been issued by the trustees. It has been compiled 

 iby Mr. R. Leonard Chapman. The number of separate works 



in the library is about 3500, and every facility is given to students 

 consulting them. In a prefatory note Mr. J. Wood-Mason, 

 superintendent of the Indian Museum, says that most of the 

 books are on zoology and kindred subjects, and he has no doubt 

 that "the gradual spread of scientific education in India will 

 largely extend the field of usefulness of the Museum library in 

 the future." 



CH., 



CB./ ^CHg 

 A NEW acid, ' I , the first member of a series 



CIIox .HC, 



CH 



I 

 COOH 



possessing the generic formula CnH.jn-oOg, derived from the 



CH, 



saturated hexa-hydride of benzene, 



CH, 



CH 



CH, 



CHo 



CH, 



the so-called 



naphthene and its homologues of the generic formula CnH2n, 

 has been isolated by Dr. Ossian Aschan, of the University of 

 Helsingfors, from the natural oil of Baku [Berichte, 1890, No. 

 6, p. 867). The acid may be considered as a saturated hexa- 

 hydride of benzoic acid ; it is a very stable liquid substance of 

 strongly acid properties, readily decomposing calcium chloride 

 with evolution of hydrochloric acid and formation of a calcium 

 salt. The raw mixture of acids obtained by treating the oil 

 with alkali, and subsequent decomposition of the sodium salts 

 by dilute sulphuric acid, was first distilled and the lower bjiling 

 portion specially examined. Upon partially saturating this 

 fraction with caustic soda solution, and again decomposing with 

 sulphuric acid, a colourless oil separated. In order to separate 

 the various acids contained in this oil, they were converted into 

 methyl esters by the action of methyl alcohol and strong 

 sulphuric acid. These esters were then submitted to fractional 

 distillation, when a large quantity of an ester boiling constantly 

 at l65°'5-i67°'5 C. was eventually isolated, possessing the com- 

 position CgHu-COOCHg. This was, in fact, the methyl ester 

 of the new acid, the first member of the series, of which other 

 higher members have previously been obtained by Markovnikoff 

 and others. The methyl ester is a highly refractive colourless 

 oil of pleasant fruit-like odour. By saponification with alcoholic 

 potash, crystals of the potassium salt of the acid itself were ob- 

 tained. On acidification of the aqueous solution of these 

 crystals, the free acid separates as an oil, which after rectification 

 boils constantly at 2I5°-2I7°. It is a colourless thick liquid 

 of unpleasant and very- persistent odour, and does not solidify at 

 - 10°. Its strength as an acid has already been alluded to as 

 evidenced by the turning out of hydrochloric acid from chlorides 

 of the alkaline earths ; moreover, the calcium and barium salts 

 are not decomposed by carbonic acid. Strong sulphuric acid 

 readily dissolves it, with decomposition upon heating. Its specific 

 gravity at 1 8° '4 is o '95025. This acid is isomeric with the methyl 

 pentamethylenic acid synthesized by Messrs. W. H. Perkin, 

 Jun., andColman, the latter boiling a little higher,at 2I9''-2I9°'5, 

 and possessing a higher specific gravity, r '02054 at 15°. The 

 potassium salt C,;HjjCOOK is a soft soap-like substance, which 

 may sometimes be obtained in distinct crystals. It is readily 

 soluble in water and alcohol and is strongly hygroscopic. The 

 sodium salt much resembles its potassium analogue, and may be 

 obtained crystallized in flat prisms from alcohol. It likewise 

 deliquesces very rapidly in the air. The calcium salt dissolves 

 readily in alcohol, but is more difficultly soluble in water. If an 

 aqueous solution is allowed to evaporate over oil of vitriol, the 

 salt, {CBHiiCOO)._jCa -t- 4H2O, is obtained in long needles. If a 

 solution saturated at the ordinary temperature is heated to boil- 

 ing, it becomes turbid and viscous drops begin to separate ; these 



