328 



JNATURE 



[Feb. 8, 1877 



tion. The same chemist states oxythymochinone to have the 

 melting-point, I73°-I74°, and not 187°, as formerly observed. 

 He upholds the views regarding the constitution of this body 

 lately published by him in a separate form. — R. Anschutz and 

 G. Schultz obtained phenanthrenchinonimide by the action of 

 alcoholic ammonia on phenanthrenchinone, 



C14H8O2 + NH3 = C14H9NO + H2O. 



— H. Schwanert reported on several derivatives of dinitrotoluol- 

 sulphonic acids. — A. Berndtsen described the aldehyde of 

 thiobenzoic acid obtained from thiobenzamide by the action of 

 nascent hydrogen : — 



CgHs . CS . NH2 + 2H = CgHj . CS . H + NH3. 



thiobenzide thiobenzaldehyde 



A second body formed simultaneously forms the subject of further 

 investigations. The same chemist has succeeded in transforming 

 acetonitrile into acetothiamide, colourless prisms fusing at 

 108°:— 



CH3 . CN + SHg = CH3CS . NHj. 



C. Seuberlich, by the action ot sulphuric acid on a mixture of 

 gallic and benzoic acids, has obtained black metallic needles of 

 anthragallol, Ci4H80g. — C. Liebermann communicated that H. 



E. Armstrong has transformed nitrosothymol into amidothymol 

 and into thymochinone by oxidation, and that R. Schiff has proved 

 that nitrosothymol can be transformed into ordinary dinitrothy- 

 mochinone. These facts prove the relative position of the 

 constituent groups to be different than supposed by Ladenburg. 



F. Tiemann described a new acid, C9H10O4, homovanillinic 

 acid, obtained from acetyl-eugenol by oxidation, which, treated 

 with alkali, yields homoprotocatechic acid, C8Hg04. The rela- 

 tions of these substances are : — 



C«H 



CfiH 



COOH 



OCH3 



OH 



Vanillinic. 



CH^COOH 



OCH3 



OH 



Homovanillinic. 



(COOH 

 C6H3 OH 



(OH 

 Protocatechic acid. 



( CH2COOH 

 CeHa ] OH 



(oh 



Homoprotocatechic acid. 



Conjointly with A. Herzberg, the same chemist has obtained 

 cinnamic acid by the action of acetic anhydride on benzaldehyde. 

 The reaction gives a better yield than chloride of acetyl, and is 

 also applicable to salicylic aldehyde and to vanilline. — C. Vogel 

 communicated spectroscopic reactions of magnesia with purpurine 

 and with cochineal.— The chairman read a letter of Prof. F. 

 Wohler, in Gottingen, in which he accepts the office of president 

 of the Society for the ensuing year, with thanks for this acknow- 

 ledgment of his past services to science. 



Paris 



Academy of Sciences, January 29. — M. Peligot in the 

 chair. — The following papers were read : — Note on the stability 

 of arches, by M. Resal. He gives an analytical demonstration 

 of the theorem, that when the thrust at the key-stone of an arch 

 is minimum the curve of pressures is tangent to the intrados at 

 the joint of rupture. — Reply to Dr. Bastian, by M. Pasteur. 

 He defies Dr. Bastian to obtain the result he got with sterile 

 urine, provided only the solution of potash used be pure, 

 water pure, and potash pure, both exempt from organic 

 matters. If Dr. Bastian takes impure potash, M. Pasteur 

 authorises him to take it or anything else in the English 

 pharmacopoeia, if only it be heated previously to 1 10 degrees 

 for twenty minutes or 130 degrees for five minutes. — On 

 the germs of bacteria in suspension in the atmosphere and in 

 water, by MM. Pasteur and Joubert. An inquiry suggested by 

 the discussion with Dr. Bastian. The germs are shown to be 

 very numerous in water, like that of the Seine ; they occur iu 

 the distilled water of our laboratories, and can traverse all filters. 

 They are absent from water of springs in the interior of the 

 ground that has not been reached by dust from the atmosphere 

 nor by water circuladng above ground. — Researches on the 

 irisation of glass, by MM. Fremy and Clemandot. They repro- 

 duce at will the irisation sometimes observed in glass (from some 

 old tombs, &c.), by subjecting glass under heat and pressure, to 

 the action of water containing about 15 per cent, of hydrochloric 

 acid. The chemical composition and the conditions of anneal- 



ing and tempering, influence the phenomenon. (Particulars 

 later). Bottle glass for holding an acid liquid like wine should 

 not irisate under action of acids ; if it does the liquid is quickly 

 altered. The author's method enables him to test the quality of 

 a glass beforehand, by submitting it to dilute hydrochloric acid. 

 — Report on a memoir by M. Henri Becquerel, entitled " Ex- 

 perimental Researches on Magnetic Rotatory Polarisation." He 

 studies the relation between this property and the index of refrac- 

 tion, examining bodies with a high index ; and these he finds to 

 have a high rotatory power. In solutions of salts the rotatory 

 power increases rapidly with the concentration. He demonstrates 

 also an anomalous rotatory dispersion accompanying negative 

 magnetic rotation. — On the products obtained by calcination, in a 

 closed vessel, of the wash {vinasses) of molasses of beet, by M. 

 Camille Vincent. —On a new arrangement of the rods of lightning 

 conductors, by M. Janiant. The rods are generally six metres 

 long, weigh not less than 120 kilogrammes (involving much 

 strain), and cost, with their copper point, some 300 francs. The 

 author arranges four iron corner channels in form of a quad- 

 rangular pyramid connected at the base by iron sockets attached 

 to the timlDer work. At the top the channels are thinned to the 

 prescribed diameter of 2 cm. for the copper point, and this is 

 screwed on an iron rod, which traverses the system from top to 

 bottom, and ensures metallic communication with all the parts. 

 The system weighs only 20 kilogrammes, and is half the price of 

 the other. — On the effects produced by introduction of foreign 

 substances into carbon, in preparation of carbon points for the 

 electric light, by M. Gauduin. These experiments were made 

 in 1875, with phosphate of bone, lime, chloride of calcium, 

 borate and silicate of lime, pure precipitated silicon, mag- 

 nesia, borate and phosphate and magnesia, alumina, and 

 silicate of alumina. The salts of lime gave the greatest increase 

 of light ; with the first substance, the intensity was doubled. 

 Silicon diminished the light. — Treatment of phylloxerised vines 

 by sulphide of carbon fixed in pulverulent matters, by M. Four- 

 net. — On the necessity of abandoning the Baume areometer and 

 replacing it by Gay Lussac's densimeter, by M. Maumene." — On 

 the development of the ellipse, by M. Laguerre. — On the two 

 theorems of M. Clebsch relative to curves quarrable by elliptic 

 functions or by circular functions, by M. Marie. — Researches on 

 the spectra of metals at the base of flames, by M. Gouy. The 

 base of the flame gives, up to a very small height, a spectrum 

 resembling the electric spectrum of the metal examined. — On the 

 preparation of alkaline nitrites, by M. Etard. — Researches on 

 the formation of natural sulphurous waters, by M. Plauchud. 

 Sulphurous mineral waters owe their formation to the reduction 

 of various sulphates produced under the influence of living 

 beings acting like ferments. It is possible that not every sulphu- 

 ration of water is attributable to ferments, as acetic acid may be 

 produced by spongy platinum as well as mycoderma aceti. 



CONTENTS Page 



Grimm's Law. By Rev. A. H. Savce 309 



Steele's " Equine Anatomy" 3T0 



Our Book Shelf : — 



Palgrave's " Dutch Guiana " , 311 



Brown's " Canoe and Camp Life in British Guiana " .... 311 



" The Royal School of Mines' Magazine " . . . 311 



Letters to the Editor : — 



Storm Waves of Cyclones. — Vortex {With Illustrations) . . . 311 



" Polar Cyclones" — Etna Observatory. — Joseph John Murphy , 312 



The Boomerang. — A. W. Howitt 312 



Longmynd Rocks. — Charles Callaway 313 



The Measurement of the Height of Clouds. — Arnulph Malloch 313 . 



Mimetic Habit of Bats. — S. Archer 313 ; 



The Spontaneous Generation Question. By MM. Pasteur, 



Joubert, and Prof. H. C. Bastian 313 



Johann Christian Poggendorff 314 - 



The New Star in Cvgnus. By H. Vogel, Ralph Copeland, and ' 



P. A. Secchi 3tS 'i| 



Fertilisation of Flowers by Insects, XV. By Dr. Hermann 



Mueller {With Illustrations') 317 



Deep Sea Muds. By Mr. John Murray 319 



Chemistry and Telegraphy. By Prof Abel, F.RS 321 



Scholarships and Exhibitions for Natural Science at Cam- 

 bridge, 1877 322 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



The Comet of 1812 323 



The Zodiacal Light 324 



Biological Notes : — 



Amount of Water in Trees 324 



The Eel 324 



Honeydew in Plants 324 



Relation of Body-Change to Temperature 3^4 



Notes 324 



Societies and Academies 327 



