440 



NATURE 



{_March 28, 1878 



bilities of distilled water, sea- water, solution of chloride of 

 sodium, and mercury. They were determined by instruments 

 resembling piezometers immersed in the sea when free from 

 currents, the approximate pressure being ascertained by the 

 sounding-line. The compressibilities at various temperatures 

 relative to that of distilled water were ascertained by compres- 

 sion in a powerful Bramah press. The compressibilities being 

 found, these same instruments were used for measuring depths 

 of the sea accurately when currents, &c., affected the indications 

 of the sounding-line. A water piezometer was found to be 

 much more sensitive to pressure than to temperature, a mer- 

 cury one very sensitive to temperature and not so to pressure. 

 The approximate depth was ascertained by the sounding-line, to 

 which were attached the two piezometers. From the indications 

 of the line and of the mercurial instrument the temperature of 

 the bottom was approximately determined. This, applied to 

 the indication of the water instrument, gave the depth accurately, 

 and hence the true temperature was found from the mercurial. 

 He described a new method of getting the compressibility of 

 glass. — Prof. Crum Brown and Mr. A. Blaikie gave a paper on 

 the decomposition of the salts of trimethyl sulphine by heat — 

 Sir Wm. Thomson communicated extracts from letters of Prof. 

 Quincke, who has found that the surfaces of glass and quartz 

 which have been for some time cut, change very much in their 

 indices of refraction. — Prof. Jenkin mentioned some experiments 

 by Mr. Gott on the telephone, which, he maintained, completely 

 confirm Prof. Graham Bell's theory of the telephone. 



Scottish Meteorological Society, February i. — It was 

 stated in the report from the Council that the Government had 

 paid 1,000/. to the Society for past services rendered by it to a 

 public department ; that the Society has 102 regularly observing 

 stations, in addition to the sixty lighthouse stations on the 

 Scottish coast, and a large number of rain-observing stations ; 

 and that during the past four months seventy-five new members 

 had been added to the Society. — Mr. Buchan read a paper on 

 the weather of 1877, more special attention being given to the 

 rainfall, the paper being illustrated by thirteen maps coloured 

 according to the quantity of rain which fell in each month in 

 different parts of the country. The maps represented in a strong 

 light the influence of the physical configuration of the land on the 

 rainfall in relation to different winds, both as regards their 

 direction and their height in the atmosphere. 



Paris 



Academy of Sciences, March 18. — M. Fizeau in the chair. 

 — The following papers were read :— Motion of translation of 

 cyclones; theory of a "rain motor," by M. Faye. He cites 

 with satisfaction Prof. Loomis's recent conclusion from observa- 

 tions of the U.S Signal Office, that "rainfall is not essential to 

 the formation of areas of low barometer, and is not the principal 

 cause of their formation or of their progressive motion " ; and he 

 regrets that the theory to which the " rain motor " belongs dies 

 so hard. — On a trombe observed at sea, in December last, in the 

 Straits of Malacca, by M. Faye. This was seen to descend from 

 the clouds and penetrate the sea ; the water rose round and ex- 

 teriorly to the trombe. — M. Tisserand was elected member for 

 the section of astronomy in place of the late M. Leverrier. — On 

 the measurement of the mean density of the earth, by MM. 

 Comu and Bailie. They have improved their apparatus by using 

 four (instead of two) attracting spheres of mercury, and dimi- 

 nishing the distance of attraction. From an analysis of Baily's 

 experiments, and with regard to resistance of the air, they show 

 that the result was to assign too high a value for the mean density 

 of the earth. — On the marine moUusca of Stewart Island (New 

 Zealand), by M. Filhol. The number of these is 179.— Influence 

 of rest and of motion on the phenomena of life, by M. Horvath. 

 He placed in glass tubes a liquid favourable to multiplication of 

 bacteria, and containing some alive. Some of the tubes were 

 then continually agitated, while others, with the same quantity 

 and at the same temperature, were left at rest. There was 

 abundant multiplication in the latter, none in the former. — On 

 interstitial fibromas of the uterus, by M. Abeille.— On improve- 

 ments in the telephone, by M. Navez. He claims priority in 

 use of the Ruhmkorff coil (which use, however, M. du Moncel 

 carries back to Gray). For transmitter in Edison's system, he uses 

 a battery of ten or twelve rundles of carbon. In the transmitter he 

 uses a vibrating plate of copper covered with silver ; in the receiver 

 one of iron doubled on one of brass, and the two soldered 

 together. Two magnets are employed in the receiver, with core 

 and bobbin between, &c. — M. Vulpian presented M. Bernard's 



last volume, " Le9ons sur les Phenomenes de la Vie commune 

 aux Animaux et aux Vegetaux, faites aux Museum d'Histoire 

 Naturelle." — Researches on absorption of ultra-violet rays by 

 various substances, by M. Soret. Inter alia, distilled water, with 

 a thickness of 10 mm., is considerably less transparent than 

 quartz, and stops the last line of aluminium, but with greater 

 thickness it takes the first rank, and it may be considered a 

 solvent of almost perfect transparence. Absorption in the ultra- 

 violet is subject to the same general laws as in the visible 

 spectrum. Several substances are mentioned which give absorp- 

 tion bands in the ultra-violet. — On a new telephone called the 

 mercury telephone, by M. Breguet. This is on the principle of a 

 Lippmann electrometer. Suppose two vessels containing mercury 

 with acidulated water above, and, dipping in the latter in each 

 a tube partly filled with mercury and ending below in a capillary 

 point. The mercury in the two vessels is connected by wire ; 

 likewise that in the two tubes. On speaking over one tube the 

 air vibra»ions in it are communicated to the mercury, which 

 translates them into variations of electromotive force, and these 

 variations generate corresponding vibrations in the air-mass of 

 the receiver. The practical form of the instrument is an improve- 

 ment on this. — On the daily oscillation of the barometer, by M. 

 Renon. — Investigation of oxide of lead in the hyponitrate of 

 bismuth of druggists, by M. Carnot. The hyponitrate is some- 

 times given to the extent of 10 to 20 grammes per day, and 

 this might include one or two decigrammes of oxide of 

 lead. — Researches on gallium, by M. Dupre. — Action of ozone 

 on iodine, by M. Ogier. — Researches on suspension of pheno- 

 mena of life in the embryo of the hen, by M. Dareste. An egg 

 taken from a hatching apparatus after two days and replaced 

 after two days (the heart beats having quite stopped) develops a 

 chick as usual. — Proofs of the parasitic nature of anthrax ; identity 

 of lesions in the rabbit, the guinea-pig, and the sheep, by M. 

 Toussaint. — On a new bioxide of manganese couple, by M. 

 Gaiffe. This consists of a carbon cylinder with holes parallel 

 to its axis filled with grains of bioxide of manganese; it is placed 

 in a glass containing water and about 20 per cent, of chloride of 

 zinc. — On three bolides observed in January and February at 

 Damblain (Vosges) and Chaumont (Haute Mame), by M. 

 Guyot. 



CONTENTS 



Page 



" Scientific Worthies," XII. — William Harvey. By Prof. T. H. 



Huxley, F.R.S 417 



Zollner's Scientific Papers. By Prof. P. G. Tait 420 



A Dictionary of Music. By Dr. W. H. Stone 4*2 



Our Book Shelf :— 



Biegs-Wither's " Pioneering in South Brazil Three Years of 



Forest and Prairie Life in the Province of ParanA " 423 



Letters to the Editor :— 



Ihe Phonograph — Prof. Fleeming Jbnkin, F.R.S ; J. A. 



EwiNG 423 



The Age of the Sun's Heat in Relation to Geological Evidence. — 



S. Tolver Preston 423 



English Lake- dwellings and Pile- structures — Prof. T, Rupert 



Jones, F.R.S 424 



Selective Discrimination of Insects. — V. T. C 424 



The Telephone as a Means of Measuring the Speed of High 



Breaks. — J. E. H. Gordon 424 



Meteor. — James Elliot. •■ . 425 



The Bermuda Lizard — G. Brown Goode 425 



Landslip near Cork. — C. J. Cooke 425 



Joachim John Monteiro 425 



Sound Colour-Figures. By Skdley Taylor . 426 



Reflection of Light. By Alfred M. Mayer and Charles 



Barnard { With Illustrations) 427 



American Geological Surveys— Missouri. By Prof. Arch. 



Geikie, F.R.S 43t- 



Our Astronomical Column :— 



Dun Echt Observatory Publications, Vol. II 432 



The Satellites of Mars 433 



The Date of Easter 433 



Biological Notes : 



The Agricultural Ants of Texas 433 



The First Stages of Development in Plants 433 



Rhizopods in an Apple Tree 433 



The Aeronautic Flight of Spiders 434 



Turcoman Greyhounds 43 + 



Geographical Notes: — 



China . . • ... 434 



Prjwalsky's Journey to Lob-Nor 434 



Mongolia and Siberia 435 



New Guinea 435 



Lake Nyassa Region 43'> 



Indo-China 435 



Mr. Stanley 435 



Notes 



435 



Mimicry in Birds 43" 



American Science 438 



Societies and Academies 439 



