136 



NATURE 



[pec. 13, 18^7 



F.R.S., containing an account of a collection of birds made by 

 Mr. A. H. Everetc in the I4ini of Mindanao, Pnilippines. 

 Eight nejif species were found in this collection, and were named 

 Tanygnathus everetti, MuUeripicus fuliginosus, Penelopides affinis, 

 Criniger evere'.ti, Orthotomus ni^riceps, ^tkopyga bella, Antho- 

 threptus griseigularis- zxi6. Ftilopus incognitus. 



Geological Society, November 21. — ^John Evans, F.R.S., 

 vice-president, in the chair. —Oswald Fitch, John Hadkinson, 



B. Holgate, H. F, Parsons, M.D., and Edgar P. Rathbone, 

 were elected Fellows of the Society. — The following communica- 

 tions were read :— On the glacial deposits of West Cheshire, 

 together with lis's of the fauna found in the drift of Cheshire and 

 adjoiding counties, by W. Shone, F.G.S. — The chair was then 

 taken by Warington W. Smyth, F.R, S. — The Moffat series, by 



C. Lap worth, F.G.S. 



Victoria (Philosophical) Institute, Decemlier 3. — Mr. C, 

 Brooke, M. D., F.R. S., in the chair. The paper of the evening 

 was read by Mr. J. E. Howard, F.R.S., and referred to the 

 advances that modern science had made in regard to nature, 

 and the value of " a slow but sure path of induction." 



Paris 



Academy of Sciences, December 3. — M. Peligot in the 

 chair : — The following papers were read : — On artificial pro- 

 duction of corundum, ruby, and different crystallised silicates, 

 by MM. Fremy and Feil. In a crucible of refractory earth is 

 put a mixture of equal weights of alumina and minium, and 

 calcined for some time at a bright red heat ; after cooling there 

 are found two layers, one vitreous, formed chiefly of silicate of 

 lead, the other crystalline and often presenting geodes full of 

 beautiful crystals of alumina. To obtain the red colour of ruby, 

 about 2 to 3 per cent, of bichromate of potash is added to the 

 mixture of alumina and minium. The silicate of lead on the 

 ruby crystals is removed by the action of fused oxide of lead, 

 hydrofluoric acid, or otherwise. A silicate of alumina (appa- 

 rently dysthene) is produced by heating for some time a mixture 

 of equal weights of silicon and fluoride of aluminium (fluoride of 

 silicon is disengaged). Other reactions with fluoride5 giving 

 crystalline bodies are described. — On invariants, by Prof. 

 Sylvester. — On various means of accelerating the service in 

 navigation-locks, by M. de Caligny. — Sir William Thomson 

 was elected foreign associate, in room of the late von 

 Baer, receiving twenty-seven votes against twenty-five for M. 

 Van Beneden. — Report on a memoir of M. Hautefeuille, on 

 reproduction of albite and orthose, M. Hautefeuilie's process 

 consists in keeping the elements of these minerals (free or com- 

 bined), in presence of certain fused salts, such as tungstic acid and 

 the alkaline tungstates. Thus a mixture of silica and alumina, 

 in presence of an acid tungstate of potash at a temperature 

 between 900° and 1,00.0° produces tridymite, orthose, and 

 triclinic felspars. If the elements have been exactly propor- 

 tioned, the tridymite and felspar disappear, and their elements 

 go to increase the crystals of orthose. — On the law of absorption 

 of radiations through bodies, and its use in quantitative spectrum 

 analysis (first part), by M. Govi. This relates to a comparison of the 

 curves of abiorpiion given by wedge-shaped forms of the absorbent 

 sub>tance. — Practical tracing of the circle which has to be substi- 

 tuted for a given curve of finite extent, by M. Lecomte. — Batteiy in 

 which carbon is the electrode attacked, by M. Jablochkoff. 

 Into fused nitrate of potash or nitrate of soda is placed, as the 

 attackable electrode, ordinary coke, and as the unattackable, 

 plaiina. Tne electromotive force varies between two and three 

 units, and thus exceeds that of the Bunsen and Grenct batteries. 

 The coke may be lit and put in the nitrate in a powdered state. 

 The gases developed by the battery are utilised. The containing 

 vessels are of iron (that for the carbon, of iron wire). — Action 

 of oxa.ic acid on silicate of soda, hydrated quartz, by M. 

 Monier. — On M. Allaire's new method of puriiication of fatty 

 water of surface-condensers, by M. Hetet. — On the respiration 

 of submerged aquatic plants, by M. Barttielemy. These plants, 

 observed in the normal state, do not liberate gas, even in sun- 

 light, any more than aquatic animals (the liberation ob-erved 

 hitherto has been caused by experiment). The true respiratory 

 act ot these plants consists in absorption of air in solu- 

 tion in the water, probably by the roots. — A new one-liquid 

 battery, by M. Jourdan. The electrodes are zinc and black- 

 lead, the liquid an aqueous solution of sal alkali. — Occu.ta- 

 tions ; graphic prediction, by M. Baills. — Observations of the 



spots and the rotation of Mars during the opposition of 1877, at 

 the Rio de Janeiro Observatory, by M. Cruls. The time of 

 rotation obtained from three values is 24h. 37m. 34.S. — On a 

 fundamental problem of geodesy ; application of a general 

 method of transformation of integrals depending on square roots 

 (continued), by M. Callandeau. — On the rational integrals of 

 the problem of geodesic lines, by M. Levy. — On the superficial 

 tensions of aqueous solutions of alcohol and fatty acid^, by M. 

 Duclaux. — On some properties of boric acid, by M. Ditte. A 

 lecture experiment *is recommended, which demonstrates the 

 liberation of heat in chemical actions. It is to add 125 grammes 

 of water to loo grammes of boric acid. The heat is such that 

 an ingot of Darcet's alloy put into the mixture is fused in a few 

 seconds. — On the formation of ultramarines and their coloration, 

 by M. Guinet. — On the alterations of eggs, a propos of note by 

 MM. Bechamp and Eustache, by M. Gayon. — On the mechanism 

 of death produced by inoculation of anthrax in the rabbit, by 

 M. Toussaint. — On some new mammalia of New Guinea, by M. 

 Milne Edwards. — On compound machines, their economic pro- 

 duce, and the general conditions of their action, by M. de Fre- 

 minviUe. — Process of registration and reproduction of pheno- 

 mena perceived by hearing, by M. Cros (sealed packet). 



Geneva 

 Society of Physics and Natural History, October 4. — M. 

 Alphonse Favre has found on the Allelin Mountain, dominating the 

 upper part of the Saas Valley near Mont Rosa, a bed of euphotide. 

 This name is applied to a rock formed of two element'^, viz., saus- 

 surite, a leaden gray mineral, and diallage, a bright green mineral, 

 classed among amphibolites. This bed explains the origin of 

 the erratic blocks of that substance, which are seen in numbers 

 in the plain occupied formerly by the Rhone glacier. — Prof. 

 Wartmann showed two apparatus based upon the properties 

 recently recognised by him among derived currents. One is 

 intended to determine immediately the fraction of an electrij 

 current which traverses a given conductor. The other is a 

 current-inverser, in which the production of the extra-current is 

 avoided, because the current always finds its passage. 



CONTENTS Pace 



Hydrophobia • . • < 117 



Ancient History FROM THE Monuments . 119 



French Popular Science 120 



Our Book Shelf : — 



Eden's " Fifth Continent, with the Adjacent Islands; being an 

 Account of Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea, with Statisti- 

 cal Information up to the Latent Date" ■ izi 



Higgins's " Notes by a Field Naturalist in the Western Tropics " 121 

 Letters to the Editor : — 



The Radiometer and its Lessons. — Prof. Osbornb Reynolds, 



FR.S i-'i 



Mr. Crookes and Eva Fay.— Dr. Wilhaii B. Carpenter, 



FR.S 122 



The Glacial Geology of Orkney and Shetland. — S. Laing, MP.. 133 



Explosions. — A. Mackennah 123 



Means of Dispersal.— W. L. Distant 124 



Supplementary Eyebrows. — W. Ainslik Hollis 114. 



Diffusion or Cohesion Figures in Liquids.— F.R.S 124 



Meteor.— W. M. F. P 124 



On the Causation of Sleep 124 



The Modern Telescope, II. By J. Norman Lockyer, F.R.S. 



{IVith. {llustrations) 125 



Biological Notes : 



Classification of Decapod Crustaceans 127 



The American Bison 127 



Products of Assimilation in Musicese 727 



Fe tiiisation in Thyme and Marjoram 127 



A Fossil Fungus 127 



The Laws of Digital Reduction 128 



The Birds of Guarfaloupe Island 128 



The Distribution of Freshwater Fishes 128 



Earwigs (Forficulidae) 128 



Hungarian Sjiders 128 



Hungarian Rotifers or Wheel-Animalcules 128 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



The Satellites 129 



Tycho Brahe's Star of 1572 129 



The Au>,trian Comet-medal 129 



Geological Work of the U.S. Survey under Prof. Hayden 



during THE Summer OF 1877 129 



Notes 13' 



University and Educational Intelligence 134 



Societies and Academies ■ • - 134 



