October 27, 1921] 



NATURE 



295 



maintenance of life? In 90 per cent, of the animals 

 used the removal of both ganglia proved fatal, and 

 the evidence seems to be that the death of the animals 

 was not due to the procedure of the operation, but 

 to the fact that the ganglia are essential to the main- 

 tenance of life. — M. Kriss : Observations on the body 

 temperature of dry cows. — S. D. Zeldin : On the 

 structure of finite continuous groups with exceptional 

 transformations. 



Cape Town. 

 Royal Society of South Africa, August 17. — Dr. 

 J. D. F. Gilchrist, president, in the chair. — H. G. 

 Penham : Note on the bismuth sub-salts. The basic 

 oxalate of bismuth, when heated to 300° under re- 

 duced pressure, yields bismuth suboxide BiO. When 

 the vapour of methyl iodide is distilled through this 

 suboxide at 260°, a basic subiodide, 2Bil2, 3BiO is 

 obtained — a reddish, insoluble powder of considerable 

 reducing power. Outside the oven bright red, ortho- 

 rhombic crystals of bismuth subiodide, BiL, separated 

 out. Both salts are quite stable in dry air, but 

 readily oxidise in the pressure of moist oxjgen. — S. H. 

 Skaife : On variation and heredity in the Bruchidae. 

 Breeding experiments with beetles of the family 

 Bruchidae. A mutation was found in Acanthoscelides 

 obtectus, which was lacking* in pigment; lack of pig- 

 mentation is recessive. Attempts to hybridise 

 Chinensis and Quadrimaculatus were unsuccessful. 

 Interspecific crossing is prevented among the Bruchidae 

 by differences in the size, shape, and structure of the 

 internal sacs of the males. 



Books Received. 



Home Carpentry and Cabinet-Making. By F. W. 

 Lewis. Pp. X+170. (London: G. Routledge and 

 Sons, Ltd. ; New York : E. P. Dutton and Co.) 

 35. 6d. net. 



Practical Physiological Chemistry. By Dr. J. A. 

 Milroy and Prof. T. H. Milroy. Third edition. Pp. 

 ix+449+2 plates. (Edinburgh and London : W. 

 Green and Son, Ltd.) 21^. net. 



Elementary Statics of Two and Three Dimensions. 

 By Prof. R. J. A. Barnard. Pp. vii + 2S4. (London : 

 Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 7s. 6d. 



An Abstract of the Legislation in Force in the British 

 Empire dealing with Plant Pests and Diseases up to 

 the Year 1920. Compiled by M. Ralfs. Pp. 65. 

 (London : Imperial Bureau of Entomology.) 25. 6d. 

 net. 



Dove Marine Laboratory, Cullercoats, Northumber- 

 land. Report for th3 Year ending June 30, 192 1. 

 Edited by Prof. A. Meek. Pp. iii. (Newcastle-upon- 

 Tyne : Armstrong College.) 



A Critical Revision of the Genus Eucalyptus. By 

 J. H. Maiden. Vol. 5, Part 8. (Part 48 of the com'- 

 plete work.) Pp. 223-61 + plates 196-99. (Sydney : 

 W. A. GuUick.) 35. 6d. 



Uber Ather und Urather. By P. Lenard. Pp. 56. 

 (Leipzig : S. Hirzel.) 9 marks'. 



Die Einsteinsche Gravitationstheorie : Versuch einer 

 Allgemein Verstandlichen Darstellung der Theorie. 

 By Prof. G. Mie. Pp. iv+67. (Leipzig : S. Hirzel.) 

 7 marks. 



Introduction to the Study of Minerals and Guide 

 to the Mineral Collections in the Kelvingrove 

 Museum. By Prof. P. Macnair. Second edition. 

 Pp. viii+94. (Glasgow: Hav Nisbet and Co., Ltd.) 



IS. 



■^ Mind and its Disorders: A Text-book for Students 

 "and Practitioners of Medicine. By Dr. W. H. B. 

 NO. 2713, VOL. I08I 



Stoddart. Fourth edition. Pp. xvi-l-592. (London : 

 H. K. Lewis and Co., Ltd.) 22s. 6d. net. 



Among the Hill Folk of Algeria : Journeys among 

 the Shawfa of the Aures Mountains. By M. W. 

 Hilton-Simpson. Pp. '248. (London: T. Fisher 

 LJnwin, Ltd.) 215. net. 



Office Scientifique et Technique des Peches Mari- 

 times. Notes et Memoires No. 7 : Resume de nos 

 principales connaissances pratiques sur les Maladies 

 et les Ennemis de I'Huitre. 'By R. Ph. DoUfus. 

 Pp. 47. (Paris : Ed. Blondel La Rougery.) 3 francs. 



Type Ammonites. By S. S. Buckman. Part 29. 

 Pp. 49-54+ 16 plates. (London : Wheldon and 

 Wesley, Ltd.) 



Practical School Gardening. By P. Elford and 

 S. Heaton. Second edition. Pp. 224. (Oxford : 

 Clarendon Press.) 35. 6d. net. 



Experimental Researches and Reports. Vol. 3, 

 1919-20: Collected from "Journal of the Society of 

 Glass Technology," "Journal of the American 

 Ceramic Society," and "Reports of the Progress of 

 Applied Chemistry " issued by the Society of 

 Chemical Industry. Pp. iii+i8o. (Sheffield Univer- 

 sity : Dept. of Glass Technology.) 



Hermann v. Helmholtz Schriften zur Erkenntnis- 

 theorie. Edited by Paul Hertz and M. Schlick. Pp. 

 X+175. (Berlin: J. Springer.) In Germany, 45 

 marks ; in England, 90 marks. 



Confectioners' Raw Materials : Their Sources, 

 Modes of Preparation, Chemical Composition, the 

 Chief Impurities and Adulterations, their More Im- 

 portant Uses and other Points of Interest. By James 

 Grant. Pp. viii+173. (London: E. Arnold and Co.) 

 85. 6d. net. 



Hormones and Heredity : A Discussion of the Evolu- 

 tion of Adaptations and the Evolution of Species. 

 By J. T. Cunningham. Pp. xx + 246. (London : Con- 

 stable and Co.. Ltd.) 2^s. 



The Rainfall of the British Isles. By M. de 

 Carle S. Salter. Pp. xiii+295. (London : University 

 of London Press, Ltd.) Ss. 6d. net. 



The Institution of Civil Engineers. Engineering 

 Abstracts prepared from the Current Periodical Litera- 

 ture of Engineering and Applied Science published 

 outside the United Kingdom. New Series. No. 9. 

 Pp. 230. (London : Institution of Civil Engineers.) 



An Account of the Crustacea of Norway. By G. O. 

 Sars. Vol. 8 : Copepoda, Monstrilloida, and Noto- 

 delphyoida. Parts i and 2 : Thaumatopsyllidae, 

 Monstrillidae, Notodelphxidae (part). Pp. 32+16 

 plates. (Bergen : Bergens Museum.) 



Das Klima des Eiszeitalters. By Prof. Dr. R. 

 Spitaler. Pp. iv+ 138. (Prag : Selbtsverlag.) 



Metric System for Engineers. By C. B. Clapham. 

 (The D.-U. Technical series.) Pp. xii + i8i. (Lon- 

 don : Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 125. 6d. net. 



A Popular Chemical Dictionary : A Compendious 

 Encyclopaedia. Bv C. T. Kinjjzett. Second edition. 

 Pp. viii + 539. (London : Bailli^re, Tindall and Cox.) 

 215. net. 



History of the Great War, Based on Official Docu- 

 ments. By Sir J. S. Corbett. Vol. 2. Pp. xi + 448 + 

 17 plates. (London : Longmans, Green and Co.) 

 2 IS. net. 



Memoirs of the Geological Sur\ey of India. Palae- 

 ontologia Indica. Vol. 3. Memoir No. 2. Plates 

 1-2 1. The Brachiopoda of the Namyan Beds, Northern 

 Shan States, Burma. Bv S. S. Buckman. Pp. v + 

 229 + plates. (Calcutta: Geolo£jical Survey; London: 

 Kecan Paul and Co., Ltd.) Rupees 5.4, or 75. 



Edina Geographies. Book 3 : Asia. By T. Frank- 

 lin. Pp. 63. (Edinburgh : W. and A. K. Johnston, 

 Ltd. ; London : Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 15. net. 



