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NATURE 



\_May 23, 1878 



May 2, — "On the Determination of the Scale Value of a 

 Thomson's Quadrant Electrometer used for Registering the 

 Variations in Atmospheric Electricity at the Kew Obser- 

 vatory," by G. M. Whipple, B.Sc, Superintendent of the 

 Kew Observatory. 



The Meteorological Council, being desirous of discussing the 

 photographic traces produced by their electrograph at the Kew 

 Observatory some time since, requested the Kew Committee to 

 institute a series of experiments, with the view of determining 

 the scale value of the instrument, in order to prepare a suitable 

 scale for measuring the curves. 



The author having found, in some preliminary experiments 

 with 300 Bunsen's elements, that the greatest potential to be 

 obtained with these was inadequate for his purpose, he was 

 enabled through the kindness of Dr. De la Rue, to make use of 

 that gentleman's large chloride of silver battery for determining 

 the scale value of the electrometer. There were in all nine 

 experiments ■ made, in five of which the deflections were read 

 off with the eye, whilst in the remaining four they were registered 

 by photography. Deflections were measured for potentials 

 varying from o to 900 cells positive, and from o to 300 negative. 



By combining the results of these experiments and taking the 

 means for every hundred cells, the following table is obtained : — 



On laying down these values in a curve, making use only of 

 those between the limits of - 200 and + 700, as the others are 

 beyond the capability of correct registration by the electro- 

 graph, a regular smooth curve is produced, which, being pro- 

 jected upon one of the ordinates, gives a scale by means of 

 which the electrograms are now easily tabulated. 



The value of the electromotive force of one De la Rue chlo- 

 ride of silver cell being 1*03 volt, as determined by Messrs. 

 De la Rue and Miiller {Proc. Roy. Soc, vol. xxvi. p. 324), the 

 scale thus formed has been assumed to represent volts with suffi- 

 cient accuracy for the required purpose. 



Chemical Society, May 2. — Dr. Gladstone, F.R.S., presi- 

 dent, in the chair. — A lecture on the chemical aspects of vegetable 

 physiology was delivered by Sidney H. Vines. The lectiu-er com- 

 menced by giving a historical sketch of our knowledge of the 

 absorption of carbonic acid and the evolution of oxygen by plants, 

 the circulation of starch grains, and the functions and nature of 

 chlorophyll. Sachs first proved that starch grains were not formed 

 in plants which are bleached, from the absence of light, and that 

 their formation in the chlorophyll corpuscles depended on the 

 exposure of the plant to bright sunlight. Godlewski showed 

 that if no carbonic acid was present no starch grains were formed. 

 So there are two sets of phenomena, viz., the evolution of oxygen 

 (with absorption of carbonic acid) and the formation of starch 

 grains, for both of which three conditions are essential, viz., 

 sunlight, chlorophyll, and carbonic acid. These two sets of 

 phenomena are therefore probably connected and belong to the 

 same function. Great diversity of opinion exists both as to the 

 composition and functions of chlorophyll. The lecturer gave a 

 short account of the views brought forward by Pringsheim, Karl 

 Kraus, Pfaundler, Wiesner, &c., and entered more in detail into 

 the' statements and theories advanced by Sachse. In the second 

 part the lecturer considered the formation of vegetable acids, 

 and pointed out that the views of Liebig and Mulder had not 

 been confirmed by subsequent experiments. The part played by 

 pyrocatechin, asparagin, &c., in the formation of carbohydrates 

 was next considered, and the lecturer concluded by pointing out 

 the necessity for quantitative work before we could hope to attain 

 clearer and more certain views on the important functions of 

 assimilation, excretion, &c., in the vegetable kingdom. 



Anthropological Institute, April 9. — John Evans, F.R.S., 

 president, in the chair. — The following new Members were an- 



nounced : — Messrs. G. J. Romanes and R. J. Hutton. — Mr. W. 

 M. Flinders Petrie read a paper on inductive metrology, the 

 purpose of which, as explained by him, is to deduce the units of 

 measure employed by ancient peoples from the dimensions of 

 existing remains. Where units derived from several different 

 buildings coincide, a high probability of the accuracy of the 

 result in units is obtained. This principle has been tested by 

 application to the monuments existing among the peoples of the 

 Mediterranean. Mr. Petrie had also applied it to the earth- 

 works of this country. At Hill Devereux he had obtained an unit 

 of 691 inches. At Steeple Langford, an unit had been derived 

 which varied only by 5 inches. Near Orcheston is an earthwork 

 forming a perfect ellipse. From this Mr. Petrie argued a con- 

 siderable knowledge of mensuration on the part of the flint- 

 workers, by whom it had been constructed. He urged the 

 necessity of accurate measurement on the part of observers. — 

 Dr. E. B. Tylor read a paper on the game of PatoUi, in ancient 

 Mexico, and its probable Asiatic origin. The game is a com- 

 bination of dice and draughts. It was similar to a game called 

 Patcheesi, in use in India, played by throwing cowries on to a 

 board divided into squares of a certain pattern. So devoted are 

 the natives to this game, that a story is told of a Provincial 

 Governor who habitually won back his servants' wages from thera 

 at it, and thus got served for nothing. 



Linnaean Society, May 2. — Dr. W. B. Carpenter, F.R.S., 

 vice-president, in the chair. — M. C. Chambre and Mr. T. Comber 

 were elected Fellows of the Society, and five Foreign Members, 

 to fill the annual yacancies, were likewise unanimously elected. 

 — Mr. J. R. Jackson exhibited specimens of fruits, leaves, and por- 

 tions of the stem (used as a substitute for soap) illustrating pecu- 

 liarities oiYucca baccata, Torrey. This plant extends from South 

 Colorado far into Mexico. Northwards it is acaulescent, southwards 

 it develops a trunk ten feet high. The fruit, a dark piu-ple berry, is 

 preserved and eaten as winter provision, and the plant is com- 

 monly known as the Rocky Mountain Banana. — A note was 

 read from the Rev. H. H. Higgins concerning a large new 

 Tubularian Hydrozoon (probably allied to Clava?) from New 

 Zealand. — On behalf of Mr. Thomas Higgin there was ex- 

 hibited a photograph of Chitina ericopsis. Carter, and also 

 microscopic specimens of this rare species of the Hydrac- 

 tiniidce from New Zealand. — Mr. J. C. Galton called attention 

 to a spined dermal plate of the Ray tribe of fishes, mistaken for 

 a fossil, and obtained near the Barking Priory. — The Secretary 

 read in abstract a paper on Mampa, a genus of the Simaru- 

 bacece, by Mr. J. Miers. This is founded on a curious fruit 

 and specimens of -wood exhibited in the Brazilian department of 

 the Paris Exhibition, 1857. Signor Netto, in 1856, described a 

 Brazilian plant under the designation Odina francoana, and 

 bearing the vernacular name " Pao Pombo," as did the above- 

 mentioned woods. Mr. Miers, however, is of opinion that 

 Netto's species cannot belong to Odina as that genus is Anacar- 

 diaceous, and quite foreign to the American Continent. Then 

 follows the technical characters of the new species Marupa 

 francoana and M. paraensis. — A short paper was read by Mr. R. 

 Irwin Lynch on the seed -structure and germination of a species 

 of Pachira. The seeds were received at Kew, July, 1877, 

 and labelled the " Provision Tree." Varying in size, they con- 

 sist chiefly of one fleshy-lobed cotyledon, the second being 

 exceedingly diminutive and functionless. Germination occurs in 

 a fortnight after sowing, and in one instance the larger per- 

 sistent cotyledon did not appear to be exhausted for nearly six 

 months. — The main facts of a detailed communication on the 

 occurrence of conidial fructification in the Mucorini, illustrated 

 by Choanephora," by Dr. D. D. Cunningham, was, in his 

 absence, read by the Secretary. According to observations and 

 experimental investigations conducted for a series of years in 

 India, Dr. Cunningham proved that Choanephora is a genus of 

 Mucorine, and not Mucedine fungi, as Currey had regarded it in 

 1872. It is, moreover, capable of producing four kinds of 

 fructification, as follows : — By (i.) Zygospores = sexual fnictifi 

 cation ; by (2.) Conidia ; (3.) Sporangial spores ; and (4.) Chlamy« 

 dophorous = asexual fructification. These phenomena afford 

 a possible explanation of certain otherwise conflicting con- 

 clusions which have been arrived at by such competent 

 observers and authorities as Brefeld, Van Tieghem, and Le 

 Monnier. At all events, it yields a note of warning that clasfi- 

 fication of fungal organisms based alone on one form of fructi- 

 fication may lead to false conclusions. The present researches 

 likewise show that M. de Bary's suggested analogy between the 

 Mucorini and Ascomycetes, fin -respect "pt their fructification. 



