414 



NATURE 



[May 26, 192 1 



extend the records into August. The mean date of all 

 is 8-2 days earlier, or the earliest in the thirty years 

 except 1893 (14 days). The latest were 1891 (9^ days 

 late) and 19 17 (7^ days). Two charts show by isohels, 

 isotherms, and isophenes the relation between lines of 

 equal sunshine, equal temperature, and equal appear- 

 ance of flowers. The correspondence is closest be- 

 tween the last -two. Thus the averag-e flowering date 

 ranges from April 19, in the south-west, near the 

 isotherm of 50°, to May 31 on the isophene lyin^ 

 between isotherms 45° and 44°, 7° further north, 

 which represents a rate of change of 6 days for each 

 degree. In continental districts, European and North 

 American, the rate is nearer 4 days. Bird migrations 

 and appearances of insects confirm t^e plant records. 

 The former were 3^ days earlier than the mean of 

 the seven years available. — Dr. E. J. Salisbury : 

 Phenology and habitat, with special reference to 

 woodlands. The observations of Klebs and Lakon 

 have shown the importance of conditions of nutrition 

 in determining periodic phenomena. Raun Kaier 

 has, moreover, shown that earliness or lateness rn 

 foliar development is an hereditary character. Prob- 

 ably no less important is the influence of habitat. The 

 flowering period of chalk-down plants is, on the whole, 

 early, whilst that of aquatics is late, but the close 

 relation between phenology and habitat is best illus- 

 trated by woodland plants. Here we find there is a 

 definite sequence from below upwards. Taken as a 

 whole, woodland species develop earlier than non- 

 woodland, but this is especially true of the shade 

 flora. The average date for the inception of foliar 

 development of woodland herbs, which lose their 

 leaves during the winter, is February 19. Many, 

 however, retain all or oart of their foliage throughout 

 the "light-phase." The leafage of the shrubs begins 

 about a month later (average date March 19), and that 

 of the trees towards the end of April (average, April 

 21). This upward sequence and its early inception 

 are clearly correlated with the diminished light (7 to 

 I per cent, of that in the open) in the interior of the 

 wood from the end of May to the beginning of Novem- 

 ber. Such facts emphasise the importance of choosing 

 species for phenological observation belonging to 

 similar habitats and possessing aerial and under- 

 ground organs of a similar nature. Further leafage 

 appears to be more susceptible to meteorological 

 changes than the flowering neriod. which is the usual 

 subject of meteorological observation. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, May 2. — M. Georges Lemoine 

 in the chair. — J. Boussinesq : Rectification and com- 

 pletion of a note of April 18 on the flattening of a 

 rotating liquid drop. — T. Bonnesen : An improvement 

 of the isoperimetric inequalitv of the circle and the 

 demonstration of an inequality of Minkowski. — M. 

 Alayrac : The movement of the centre of gravity of a 

 solid symmetrical with respect to a vertical plane 

 displacing itself in a resisting medium. — H. Godard : 

 Observations of Winnecke's comet (1921&) made at 

 the Bordeaux Observatory with the 38-cm. equatorial. 

 Apparent positions and positions of comparison stars 

 given for April 26, 28, and 29. The comet was of 

 the 12th magnitude. — J. Malassez : The use of the 

 lamp with three electrodes for the measurement of 

 ionisation currents. — F. Guery : Some consequences 

 of the T>orentz contraction from the point of view 

 of cohesion, of gravitation, and of electromagnetism. 

 — G. Contremoulins : The protection of third parties 

 against X-ravs. The range of the radiations emitted 

 by a Coolidge tube is considerable, and the effects 

 have been traced up to a distance of 80 metres. — C. 

 NO. 2691, VOL. 107] 



Raveau : Saturated solutions of two or more sub- 

 stances. The application of Le Chatelier's principle. 

 — E. Darmois : The specific dispersion of hydro- 

 carbons. — x^'. Damiens : Tellurium tetraiodide. An 

 account of the preparation, purification, and physical 

 and chemical properties of the iodide Tel^. It is a 

 well-defined compound, and will serve as a raw 

 material for the preparation of numerous derivatives 

 of tellurium.^ — A. Maiihe : The catalytic hydrogenation 

 of the phenylhydrazones. The phenylhydrazones of 

 aldehydes carried over nickel at 180° C. by a current 

 of hydrogen split up into aniline and nitriles ; the 

 reduction to fatty amine and aniline is secondary. 

 Phenylhydrazones of ketones behave differently, the 

 reduction with production of fatty amine being the 

 main reaction. — P. Palacios : Observations on a note 

 on the tectonic of the western Pyrenees. Remarks 

 on a recent communication bv P. Stuart-Menteath. — 

 F. Kerforne : The age of the oldest strata of the 

 Armorican massif.^ — P. Bonnet : Liassic volcanic erup- 

 tions and their relations with the distribution of the 

 facies in the Caucasian geosynclinals. — M. Dort : The 

 variations of the solar radiation during the eclipse of 

 the sun of .April 8, 192 1, at Bagnlres-de-Bigorre, 

 observatory station on the Pic du Midi. Observations 

 were made with an actinometer of the Violle type 

 and reduced to 15-minute intervals between 8 and 

 10.15 a.m. The figures are compared with the 

 mean of corresponding measurements made on April 7 

 and II. — M. Molliard : The influence of sodium 

 chloride on the development of Sterigmatocystis nigra. 

 The addition of salt to the culture medium above a 

 certain concentration reduces the velocity of the 

 chemical reactions of the mould ; it also indirectly 

 causes sterility of the mvcelium owing to the accumu- 

 lation of nitric acid.^ — G. Astre : Contribution to the 

 studv of the distribution of the biological zones on 

 the Mediterranean dunes of the Gulf of Lyons. — M. 

 Manquat : The phototropism of Leucotna phaeorrhoea. 

 The author's observations on the action of light on 

 the young caterpillars of L. •hhaeorrhoea do not con- 

 firm the conclusions of Loeb. — E. Couvreur and X. 

 Chahovitch : Microbial infections in the invertebrates. 

 Criticisms of a recent paper by M. Paillot on the same 

 subject. — F. VISs and T. Dragoiu : The osmotic pres- 

 sure of arrest of cell division. The cells studied were 

 those of the eggs of the sea-urchin, and these were 

 grown in sea-water containing sugar in solution. 

 With osmotic pressures between 21; atmospheres (sea- 

 water) and 30 atmospheres the effects were negligible. 

 Between 30 and i,o atmospheies the percentage of 

 eggs achieving division fell rapidlv to zero. Ten per 

 cent, of the eggs had their division stopped at 

 33 atmospheres and qo per cent, at 39 atmospheres. 

 - — M. Bridel : The action of emulsin on galactose in 

 solution in propvl alcohol of different concentrations. 

 — E. Kayser : The influence of uranium salts on 

 nitrogen fixation. A studv of the effect on addition 

 of uranium salts on the growth of Azobacter agile in 

 glucose and mannite culture media. — R. Anthony and 

 C. Champy : The reptilian form of the soermatozoid 

 of Manis javanica and its signification.- — R. Hovasse : 

 The parthenogenetic activation of the eggs of Rana 

 temhoraria in hypotonic and hypertonic media.- — C. 

 Lebailly : Bovine aphthous fever is not transmissible 

 to man ; human aphthous stomatitis is not trans- 

 missible to cattle. — M. Mirande : T>athvrism, or the 

 intoxication produced bv vetch-seeds. The seeds of 

 Lathvnis sativiis and L. ricera have been proved to 

 be poisonous to horses. The ground-up seeds, mois- 

 tened with water, undergo a spontaneous fermenta- 

 tion , and sulphuretted hvdrogen is evolved. The 

 poisonous action of the seeds is most probably due 

 to the evolution of this gas in the stomach. 



