444 



NATURE 



{March 15, 1877 



very useful in measuring the fineness of wool, was read by the 

 Secretary.— A communication from the Rev. W. H. Dallinger, 

 entitled " Additional Notes on the identity of Navicula crassi- 

 nervis, N. rhomboides, and Frustulea saxonica " was read by the 

 Secretary, and some further observations on the subject were 

 made by Mr. Ingpen, Mr. Slack, and Mr, Chas. Brooke. 



Cambridge 



Philosophical Society, February 26. — A communication 

 was made to the society by Mr. Creighton on the order in which 

 the secreting and the conducting parts of an acinous gland ap- 

 pear in the individual development and in the succession of 

 animals. 



Paris 



Academy of Sciences, March 5. — M. Peligot in the chair. 

 — The following papers were read : — On the temperatures of 

 combustion, by M. Berthelot. M. Bunsen's hypothesis, that 

 the specific heat of the components and that of the products are 

 constant quantities, independent of temperature and pressure, 

 does not always apply ; e.g., to gases formed with condensation. 

 Still his measurements allow of calculating without any hypo- 

 thesis on specific heats, two limits between which the temperature 

 of combustion is necessarily comprised. That of carbonic oxide 

 by oxygen at constant volume is between 4,000 and 2,600 ; by air, 

 between 2,200 and 1, 750. That of hydrogen by oxygen, between 

 3,800 and 2,400; by air, between 2,100 and 1,700. — Physical 

 and mechanical action of incandescent gases after combus- 

 tion of powder ; application of these facts to certain cha- 

 racters of meteorites and bolides, by M. Daubree. — Agree- 

 ment of the laws of mechanics with the liberty of man in 

 his action on matter, by M. de Saint- Venant. — Observa- 

 tions of solar protuberances during the second semester of 

 1876; rotations Ixix. to Ixxv., by P. Secchi. Very few pro- 

 tuberances ; average 5 "4 (and even this exaggerated, including 

 small jets), average height 40 "8 seconds. Few protuberances 

 over 68 seconds, general maximum between 40° and 50° latitude. 

 The most notable point is the frequency of thin, very high and 

 straight hydrogenic threads, sometimes one minute high ; this 

 indicates great calm. Metallic protuberances rare, and always 

 preceding or accompanying spots. In December there was an 

 important instance of a spot with apparent rotation ; two nuclei 

 in same penumbra, then separated by a bridge, which ere 

 long was broken. The movement was in the direction of the 

 hands of a watch, and the spot near the equator gained on that 

 further north. — Observations of the spectrum of Borrelly's comet, 

 by P. Secchi. Three bright bands, a broad one in the green, 

 a narrower in the blue, a third still more narrow and less 

 refrangible, but difficult to define. — Report, in name of the 

 Academy, on measures to be taken against Phylloxera, in 

 regions uninvaded or threatened. The Commission advise in- 

 terdiction of exportation and importation from phylloxerised 

 regions, thorough destruction by fire of any vines attacked, 

 and vigorous disinfection of ground and stocks in neighbour- 

 hood. — Dr. Bastian, in a letter, proposed to come to Paris 

 and make his experiments before the Commission on spon- 

 taneous generation. — On the asymptotic lines of a surface of 

 the fourth degree, by M. Rouche. — Demonstration, by the prin- 

 ciple of correspondence, of a theorem on the contact of surfaces 

 of an implex with an algebraic surface, by M. Fouret. — On the 

 extension of the theorem of Fermat generalised, and of the 

 Canon Arithmeticus, by M. Lucas. — On the mechanical theory 

 of heat, by M. Levy. — Method of extracting platinum from 

 chloroplatinates, by M. Duvillier. He utilises the property which 

 salts of platinum have of being reduced in boiling by alkaline 

 formiates in the presence of alkalies. — On the isomerism of 

 rotatory power in the camphols, by M. de Montgolfier. — On a 

 vat of aniline black, and on the transformation of aniline black 

 into a fluorescent rose [colouring matter, by M. Goppelsroeder. 

 — Researches on the acidity of the gastric juice of man, and 

 observations on stomachic digestion, made with a gastric 

 fistula, by M. Richet.^ — Action of hydrosulphite of soda on 

 the hematosin of blood, by M. Cazeneuve. The change of 

 colour might prove useful in legal medicine. — Experimental 

 study on the role of the blood in transmission of vaccinal im- 

 munity, by M. Raymond. He inoculated children with blood 

 from newly-vaccinated children. Neither was vaccination thus 

 produced nor was there ulterior immunity. But, resorting to 

 transfusion of blood from a vaccinated heifer to another heifer, 

 he obta,ined immunity, in the latter, without any eruption. — On 

 the rnaintenance of constant temperatures, by M. D'Arsonval. 

 In his system are two concentric cylindro-conical vessels ; the in- 



terior, open above, being the cavity of the stove ; the water bath 

 is in the concentric space, and its dilatation acts on a caoutchouc 

 membrane governing the passage of gas into the Schloesing re- 

 gulator. — On "grisoumetres," or firedamp measuring apparatus, 

 by M. Coquillon. Their principle is, that hydrogen or any of its 

 compounds in the gaseous state is completely burnt in presence 

 of oxygen and a palladium wire white hot. — On the unity of 

 the forces in geology, by M. Hermite. Gravity may serve as 

 the common measure of the forces which maintain the equili- 

 brium of continents. — Chemical examination of turnerite, by M. 

 Pisani. — Observation of a parhelion on February 5, by M. 

 Soucaze, — On the treatment of cancerous affections by acetic 

 acid and the acetates, by M. Curie. — Results of microseismic 

 observations, by M. Bertelli. 



Vienna 



Imperial Academy of Sciences, February i. — On Pel- 

 tier's experiment, by M. v. Waltenhofen. — On space-curves of 

 the fourth order with a double point, by M. Weyr. — On the 

 theory of electrodynamics, by M. Lippich. — On the theory of 

 algebraic equations, by M. Igel. — New method of deduction of 

 Taylor's series, by M. Zimels. — Report on the excavation of a 

 bone deposit at Zeiselberg, by M. Wurmbrand. 



February 8. — On collateral innervation, by M. Strieker, — 

 Contributions to knowledge of hydrate of chloral, by M. Cech. 

 — Researches on vaporisation, by M. Baumgartner. — On the 

 condition of heat equil'brium of a system of bodies with refer- 

 ence to the force of gravity. — On the diffusion of vapours through 

 liquid films, by M. Exner. — Observations during 1876 at the 

 Central Institution for Meteorology and Terrestrial Magnetism. 



Rome 



R. Accademia dei Lincei, February 4. — Palseontological 

 notes on the fossils of Genoa marls, by M. Issel. — Thirty years' 

 experiments of Messrs. Lawes and Gilbert at Rothamsted, by 

 M. Ronna. — On some palaeozoic fossils of the Maritime Alps 

 and the Ligurian Apennines, studied by Michelotti. — The ter- 

 tiary formation of Reggio in Calabria, by M. Seguenza. — Mono- 

 graph of tertiary nuculidae found in the southern provinces of 

 Italy, by M. Seguenza. — On the quaternary sea, by M. Moro. — 

 On the existence of realgar and orpiment in the hills of Santa 

 Severa in the province of Rome, by M. Sella. — On the modular 

 equations of Prof. H. J. Stephen Smith, by M. Cremona. —On a 

 new difficulty proposed against Melloni's theory, by M. Volpi- 

 celli. — Effect produced by the mass of Monte Mario on the 

 vertical of the observatory on that hill, by M. Kella. — Ex- 

 perimental researches on electric discharges, by M. Righi. — On 

 a class of finite and continuous functions which have only one 

 derivative, by M. Dini. — On the degeneration of cut nerves, by 

 M. Colasanti. — On the coloration proper of the retina and modi- 

 fications of it, by M.j Boll. — On the constitution of chloram- 

 monium and aldehydes of ammonium, by M. Schiff. 



CONTENTS Page 



The Treasury Report on Meteorology 42s 



Mr. Trotter on University Reform. By Dr. M. Foster, F.R.S. 428 



LETTERS TO THK EDITOR I— 



Science at Oxford. — Charles H. Wade 430 



Just Intonation.— ^Wm. Chappell 430 



Typical Division of Stars. — Borrelly's Comet. — Father Secchi 



{With Illustration) 430 



" Stone Rivers." — Phin. S. Abraham (IVitA Illustration) . . 431 

 The Measurement of the Height of Clouds. — W. M. Flinders 



Petrie 431 



The " Hog- Wallows" of California. — Alfred R. Wallace . . 431 



Science at Cambridge, Mass 432 



Natural History and Geological Results of the Arctic 



Expedition 432 



The Phy.siological Action of Light. By Prof. Dhwar, F.R.S. 



{IVith Illustrations) 433 



Sir William Grove on the Radiometer. By the Hon. S r Wm. 



Grovb, F.R.S. {With Illustration) 435 



The Norwegian North-Sea Expedition of 1876, II. By Dr. 



G. D. Sars 435 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



The Suspected Intra-Mercurial Planet 437 



'I'he New Observatory at Kiel 438 



6s Ophiuchi (Fl.) 438 



Biological Notes : — 



Flora of New Guinea 438 



Salmo Arcturus " 438 



Prof. Ovsiannikoff on the Functions of the Cerebellum .... 438 



Fauna of Lake Gokcha , 438 



Ants 439 



New Forms of Haliphysema 439 



Notes 439 



Scientific Serials 44x 



SOCIBTIKS AND ACADEMIES .1. 44^ 



