20 



NATURE 



\Nov. I, 1877 



Bristol. — A well-printed and well- arranged Calendar of 

 University College has been published. It extends to upwards 

 of sixty pages, and contains all the information usually found in 

 such publications, including full details as to the Medical 

 School. 



Dean Stanley's address on Education, at University College, 

 on Saturday, attracted an audience of about 1,700 people, who 

 listened with the closest attention. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS 



Kosmos, Part 2 (May) opens with an article by L. Overzier, 

 on " Heredity" (Part i), aiming at the discovery of the real 

 cause of inheritance. — Prof. Jiiger, commencing a series of 

 articles on " The Origin of Organs," deals with the development 

 of the eye, showing bow the laws of optics and the properties of 

 living substance mutually influence one another. — Hermann 

 Miiller, treating on " The Origin of Flowers," considers the first 

 metasperm (or angiosperm) to have been diclinous and fertilised 

 by the vi^ind, that is, supposing the meta-.perms to have origi- 

 nated from a single stock. — W. O. P'ocke deals with "The 

 Conception of Species in the Vegetable Kingdom," especially in 

 relation to the genus Rubus. He shows how far the different 

 species are from being of equivalent value and that the term 

 variety has no definite significance. He exposes the futility of 

 much botanical "research," owing to imperfection of methods 

 and lack of comparative study ; Darwin has few imitators. Such 

 work requires an entire devotion of time and complete botanical 

 gardens, for the multiplication of which the author calls. — A.. 

 Lang, on Lamarck and Darwin (I.), expoimds Lamarck's con- 

 ceptions of natural history. 



Kosmos, Part 3 (June). — L. Overzier continues his discussion 

 of heredity, reviewing Darwin's theory of pangmesis, Haeckel's 

 perigenesis, and Jager's chemical theory ; he considers the latter 

 to be of great value. — Carl du Prel, on the needed remodelling 

 of the nebula hypothesis. — Prof. Jiiger treats of the origin of the 

 organ of hearing, tracing it from the simplest condition where 

 spicules diffused through the entire protoplasmic body of an 

 animal serve to gather up and conduct vibrations of sound. He 

 brings forward the remarkable theory that in animals possessing 

 nerve fibres, the organs of hearing is but a specialisation from 

 the general tactile sense. — W. von Reichenau, on the colours of 

 bird's eggs, makes tbe generalisation that birds having open 

 nests have coloured eggs, while those with covered or concealed 

 nests have white ones ; further, that in open and ground nests 

 the colour of the eggs has a protective object. — A. Dodel-Port, 

 on the lower limit of sexuality in plants, gives an account of the 

 sexual processes in Ulothrix zonata, but appears not to have 

 heard ot the researches of Dallinger and Drysdale on the monads. 

 — A. Lang, on Lamarck and Darwin, expounds Lamarck's 

 "hydro-geology." 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 



Paris 

 Academy of Sciences, October 22. — M. Peligotin the chair. 

 — The following papers were read : — M. Leverrier's tables of 

 Uranus and Neptune, by M. Tresca. — On some applications of 

 elliptic functions (continued), by M. Hermite. — Resume of a 

 history of matter (first article), by M. Chevreul. This is an 

 extract from a work commenced about the end of last year, and 

 occupying 418 pages of the Memoires de I' Acadimie, t. xxxix. A 

 sketch ot the principles of alchemy is given. — On one of the 

 causes of red coloration of the leaves of Cis^us quinquefolia, by 

 M. Chevreul. This cause is sunlight. The green colour is 

 retained in the leaves that are shaded by others. — On the order 

 of appearance of the first vessels in the shoots of some Legumi- 

 nosae, by M. Trecul. — Modifications in the conditions of maxima 

 of electro-magnets by the state of mo'e or less complete satura- 

 tion of their magnetic core, by M. Du Moncel. The law of 

 proportionality of the attractive forces to the squares of the 

 intensities of the current is true only within certain limits, and 

 under certain conditions ; and electro-magnets through which the 

 current is interrupted at very short intervals, are (more or less) not 

 subject to it. When the forces are proportional to (say) the 

 cubes of the electric intensities, the helices must always be less 

 resistant than the exterior circuit. In the case of multiplied 

 interruptions, the resistance of electro-magnets must always be 

 less the shorter the duration of closures of the current ; and for 

 this reason (also because of defective insulation and extra 

 currents; telegraph electricians reduce considerably the resistance 

 of electro-magnets applied to Jong circuits. Reverting to the 



question in the title, the thickness of the magnetising spiral may 

 be increased in case of defective saturation of the magnetic core ; 

 becoming double the diameter of this if the force increises as 

 the cube of the intensities. — Preparations of sulp'iide of carbon 

 brought to the silid state by m-ans of gelatine, by M. Cassius. 

 100 grammes of gelatine are dissolved in i,ooo grammes of water, 

 and sulphide of carbon (25,50, or 75 per cent.) is mixed at a tem- 

 perature of 15° to 20°, and the'mixture let coal. M. Cassius thinks 

 the preparation might be useful in viticulture. The sulphide is 

 liberated slowly, the time varying according to the proportion of 

 sulphide absorbed. — Experiments on the formation ot artificial 

 ultramarine, by M. Piicque. He finds (in opposition to soma 

 German authors) that ultramarine does not contain nitrogen. 

 Blue ultramarine, properly so called, is formed by an oxy- 

 genated conpound of sulphur, an! it is probable that this 

 compound is fixed both by sodium and by aluminium. — On 

 the catechines and their constitution, by M. Gautier. — On 

 acid acetates, by M. Villiers. The increase of weight of 

 some neutral acetates, dried and placed, in a summer month, 

 under a bell jar with crystallisable acetic acid, was, in the 

 case of acetate of soda, 404 per cent. , or nearly six equivalents of 

 acetic acid ; acetate of potash, 264 p;r cent ; of baryta, 179 per 

 cent. ; of lead, 134 per cent, &o. The solutions of neutral 

 acetates in crystallisable acetic acid have much less tension of 

 vapour than that of acetic acid. — Researches on butylene 

 and its derivative?, by M. Puchot. — Note 01 the cxuse of 

 anthrax, by M. Klebs. — On the structure of the blood corpuscle, 

 and the resistance of its envelope to the action of water, by MM. 

 J. Bechamp and Biltus. The demonstration of the membrane 

 (by action of soluble fecula) is here given in the cases of the 

 frog, the ox, the pig, and the sheep. Water does not destroy 

 the globules ; it merely renders them invisible, and they may 

 always be discovered with the aid of picrocarmin ite, even in 

 extremely dilute media, and after several weeks of contact. The 

 blood of sheep (like that of the hen in M, A. Bechamp's experi- 

 ments) contains globules of more delicate structure than those of 

 the other bloods examined. — Researches on the functions of 

 leaves of the vine, by M. Macagno. Glucose and tartaric acid 

 are formed preferably in the upper leaves of the fruit-bearing 

 vine- branch ; this production of sugar progresses with that of 

 the grape, and is much reduced (even to disappearance) after the 

 vintage. The green branches are conductors of glucose. These 

 facts explain the evil of "pinching" or remjving the tops of the 

 grape-bearing branches, with too great zeal. Where there is an 

 abundant product! m of grapes, a sufficient quantity of leaves 

 should be left for prep tration of the necessar/ glucose. — Reply 

 to a recent note of M. Bays Ballot, on the division into time and 

 into squares of maps of nautical meteorology, by M. Brault. 



CONTENTS Pack 



The Sun's Distance i 



Parker AND Bbttanv's "Morphology OF THE Skull" 3 



Thomson's " Sizing of Cotton Goods " 4 



Our booK Shblf : — 



Aveling's "Physiological Tables for the Use of StUQents."^A. G. 5 

 Letters to the Editor : — 



Indium in British Blendes.— Prof. Nevil Story Maskklvne, 



F.R.S 5 



The Radiometer and its Lessons. — Prof. G. Carey Foster, F.R.S. ; 



William Crookbs (The Ortho-Crookes?), F.R S 5 



Mr. Wallace and Reichenbach's Odyle.— Alfred R. Wallace ; 



Dr. William B. Carpenter, F.R.S 8 



Potential Energy. — E. G 9 



Hartlaubs "Birds of Madagasjar."— Prof. Alfred Newton, 



F.R.S 9 



Eucalyptus. — Prince Pierre Troubitzkoy ; Arthur Nicols . . lo 

 Meteor of October 19, 6.15 p.m.— W. F. Denning (With Illustra- 

 tions) 10 



Curious Phenomenon during the Late Gale. — A. W. B. J. . . . 10 



Singing Mice — Henry H Slater 11 



Sound-Producing Arthropods. —W. Savillk Kent 11 



Insects and Flowers. —A. J. H 11 



Francis VON Rosthorn. By Prof. E. Suess 11 



Spectrum of Aurora Australis. By Commander J. P. Maclear 



{With Illustration) " 



Absolute Pitch. By Lord Rayleigh, F.R.S 12 



A New Condensing Hygrometer. By M. Alluard {With Illtis- 



tration) ^4 



Our Astronomical Column :— 



Early Observations of the Solar Corona 14 



The Outer Satellite of Mars 15 



DeVico's Comet of Short Period iS 



Meteorological Notes 15 



Notes 10 



American Science ^ /-,•••'„ 



The Earthworm in Relation to the Fertility of the Ground t8 



University and Educational Intelligence 19 



Scientific Serials ^° 



SociBTiBS AND Academies "o 



