222 



NATURE 



[April 14, 192 1 



Societies and Academies. 



London. 

 Zoological Society, March 22. — Sir S. F. Harmer, 

 vice-president, in the chair. — Prof. J. C. Ewart : 

 The nestling feathers of the mallard, with observa- 

 tions on the composition, origin, and history of 

 feathers. — E. T. Newton : Fossil bones of birds which 

 had been collected by Dr. Forsyth Major from caves 

 in Sardinia, Corsica, and Greece. — G. C. Robson : The 

 moUuscan genus Cochlitoma and its anatomy, with 

 remarks upon the variation of two closely allied 

 forms. — H. E. Andrews : The Oriental species of the 

 genus Callistomimus (Coleoptera, Carabidae). 



Geological Society, March 23. — Mr. R. D. Oldham, 

 president, in the chair. — E. B. Bailey : The structure 

 of the south-west Highlands of Scotland. Evidence is 

 given for allotting the south-west Highlands to three 

 great structural divisions in descending order as 

 follows : — Loch Awe Nappe, Iltay Nappe, and Bal- 

 lappel Foundation. The two lower of these divisions 

 are themselves structural complexes. All available 

 evidence points consistently to movement from the 

 north-west during the development of these structural 

 divisions. In a general way there is a close relation- 

 ship between depth of cover and degree of meta- 

 morphism. No metamorphic inversions have been 

 noted, and it is clear that crystallisation continued 

 until the close of the early nappe-movements. In 

 Cowal a peculiar type of metamorphism reigned, both 

 in pre-anticlinal and in anticlinal times, wherefore 

 it would seem that the early and late movements of 

 the south-west Highlands are but successive chapters 

 of a continuous history of mountain-building. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, March 21. — M. Georges Lemoine 

 in the chair. — MM. H. Deslandres and Burson : Re- 

 searches on the atmosphere of the stars. The recogni- 

 tion of the upper layer in some stars and comparison 

 with the sun. The H3 and K., lines (hydrogen and 

 calcium) have been found in the spectra of e Geminorum 

 and a Orionis, and have proved to be about five times 

 larger than in the sun. Hence it is concluded that 

 the upper atmosphere in these two stars has a greater 

 density or a stronger electrical field than in the sun. — 

 L. Lecornu : The experimental determination of the 

 movement of a solid. — E. Bouty : The interpretation 

 by dielectric cohesion of a celebrated experiment of 

 Sir J. J. Thomson. — P. Sabatier and B. Kubota : Cata- 

 lytic hydrogenation with copper. Experiments with 

 copper prepared by reducing the hydroxide at about 

 200° C. as a catalyst. The substances reduced in- 

 cluded benzaldehyde, acetophenone, benzoquinone, 

 benzoylpropanone, and phthalic anhydride. — G, Julia : 

 Two consequences of the functional differential equa- 

 tion deduced from the conformal representation. — G. 

 Valiron : The zeros of integral functions of infinite 

 order. — A. Sartory, L. Scheffler, P. Pellissier, and C. 

 Vaucher : A method of evaporation, concentration, and 

 desiccation of organic or mineral substances. A cur- 

 rent of cool, dry air is passed over the material to 

 be dried, and the moisture thus taken up removed 

 from the air by freezing, the whole forming a cir- 

 culating system. Some results are given. — M. and 

 L. de Broglie : Bohr's model atom and corpuscular 

 spectra. Some consequences of this theory of the 

 atom are developed and compared with experiment. 

 In some cases the results predicted are in agreement 

 \yith the experimental results ; in others, addi- 

 tional experiments are required.- — ^F. Michaud : The 

 energy of a system of currents. Conditions of 

 stability of equilibrium. — H. Chipart : The mutual 

 NO. 268s, VOL. 107] 



(apparent) actions of magnets and currents plunged 

 in a magnetic liquid. — R. Audubert : The mechanism 

 of the energy exchanges in the electro-chemical pas- 

 sage of an atom to the state of ion. — A, Bigot : The 

 contraction on drying of kaolins and clays. The 

 materials examined were moulded into briquettes, 

 either as pastes of varying consistency or dry, then 

 allowed to dry slowly, and the losses in weight and 

 alterations in length determined. The results obtained 

 with six substances are given in a diagram. — E. 

 Passemard : The alluvial terraces of Nive and their 

 relations with the Mousterian screen of Olha. — P. 

 Scherfschewsky : Dry mist. A discussion of the dif- 

 ference between dry mist and fog and of the meteoro- 

 logical conditions peculiar to each, with special refer- 

 ence to the effects on aviation. — L. Armand : The 

 nuclear phenomena of heterotypical kinesis in Lobelia 

 urens and in some Campanulaceae. — C. A. Bey : The 

 utilisation of the stems of various annual plants in 

 view of the production of mechanical energy neces- 

 sary for agricultural work in the valley of the Niger. 

 From a calculation of the amount of energy required 

 for growing cotton it is shown that this could be 

 obtained from a power gas plant manufacturing a 

 weak gas, the raw material being plant products 

 grown annually, timber being excluded. ^ — H. Herissey : 

 The hydrolvsis of o-methyl-d-mannoside by soluble 

 ferments. The most advantageous source of d-man- 

 nosidase is germinated lucerne seed. — G. Bertrand and 

 R. Vladesco : The causes in the variation in the 

 amount of zinc in vertebrate animals : the influence 

 of age. The amount of zinc present is at its maximum 

 in young individuals. This is opposed to the results 

 obtained bv S. Giava, and the causes of this disagree- 

 ment are discussed. — R. Fosse and Mile. N. Rouchel- 

 man : The formation of urea in the liver after death. 

 Proof of the formation of urea in the liver after death 

 is given ; this oropertv of the liver is destroved by 

 heating to 100° C— A. Lumifere and H. Couturier: 

 Pregnancy and the phenomena of anaphvlactic shock. 

 Guinea-pigs in a state of pregnancy are immune from 

 anaphvlactic shock. — J- Pellegrin : The subfossil 

 otoliths of the fishes of the southern Sahara and their 

 signification.— E. F. Galiano : The chemicotactic re- 

 actions of the flaffellated Chilomonas. — Mme. .\nna 

 Drzewina and G. Bohn : The defence of animals grouped 

 together against poisons. In an earlier communication 

 on the poisonous action of colloidal silver on the Con- 

 voluta it was shown that isolated individuals \vere 

 much less resistant than grouped individuals. Similar 

 experiments on the larvae of Rana fusca ^ are now 

 described, with results confirming the earlier work. 

 The larvae appear to emit a protective substance, and 

 when the individuals are grouped the defence is 

 eflicacious.— MM. Alezais and Peyron : The mode of 

 development of the so-called mixed tumours and cylin- 

 droma of the region of the face. 



Washington, D.C. 

 National Academy of Sciences CProceedings, vol. vi.. 

 No. 7, July, 1920).— H. S. Reed : The dvnamics of a 

 fluctuating growth-rate. A detailed discussion of 

 various formulae proposed on chemical, biochemical, 

 or empirical f^rounds for the representation of th'' 

 rate of growth, with illustrative statistics obtained 

 from measurements on young apricot-trees. There 

 are three distinct intra-seasonal cvcles of growth, in 

 each of which the growth resembles the rate of auto- 

 catalvtic reaction.— A. J- Lotka : Analytical note on 

 certain rhvthmic relations in organic systems. In 

 cases hitherto considered on the basis of chemical 

 dvnamics, oscillations have been found to be damped 

 instead of periodic. It is shown, however, that in 

 certain special cases the oscillations may be undamped 



