4 8 



NATURE 



[May 10, 1888 



.'1888. From this summary it appears that the phenomena of 

 spots and faculae still continue to decrease, while the pro- 

 tuberances have increased. This confirms the remark already 

 made that there is no close relation between these two orders of 

 phenomena. — Determination of the heats of combustion of the 

 isomerous acids corresponding to the formulas C 4 H 4 4 and 

 C 3 H 6 04, by M. W. Louguinine. The constituent formulas of 

 the fumaric and pyromalic, as well as of the mesaconic, citra- 

 conic, and itaconic acids have been the subject of frequent 

 discussions amongst chemists. In order to throw some light on 

 these obscure questions, the author here determines the heats of 

 combustion of the acids in question. He concludes generally that 

 fumaric differs greatly from pyromalic acid, the former being the 

 lower homologue of one of the three acids with formula C 5 H 6 04. 

 The formulas corresponding to these three acids are evidently 

 closely related, the difference here being of quite another order 

 from that which exists between the formulas corresponding to 

 the fumaric and pyromalic acids. — On the slow combustion of 

 certain organic substances, by M. Th. Schlcesing. The author's 

 experiments with tobacco seem to show that the combustion 

 arising in heaps of foliage, hay, and the like is in the first 

 instance due to the action of micro-organisms, but with the 

 increase of temperature it gradually assumes a purely chemical 

 character. The influence of living organisms appears to cease 

 between 40 and 50 C, after which the chemical action rapidly 

 increases. 



Berlin. 



Meteorological Society, April 10. — Dr. Vettin, President, 

 in the chair. — Dr. Zenker communicated the second part of his 

 research on the distribution of heat over the earth's surface. In 

 the first part, of which he had spoken at the last meeting of the 

 Society, he had shown that the distribution of heat depends not 

 only upon the radiation from the sun and absorption by the atmo- 

 sphere, but additionally upon the nature of the earth's surface, 

 whether it is land or water. In previous researches on the 

 distribution of heat, the mean values were determined from and 

 based upon empirical observations ; Dr. Zenker, on the other 

 hand, has calcula'ed the distribution of heat over the surface of 

 the sea with the help of Hann's isothermal charts, starting with 

 the temperature of a point on its surface which was quite unin- 

 fluenced by the neighbouring continents, and was consequently 

 equally unaffected by any warm or cold currents. Using this 

 factor, and the formulae deduced in the theoretical part of his 

 paper, he has calculated the distribution of heat from the pole to 

 the equator for each successive parallel, and compared it with the 

 distribution of solar radiation. As a basis for the distribution 

 of heat over the surface of the land, it was first necessary to 

 determine the conditions under which the influence of the neigh- 

 bouring sea is either nothing or minimal in amount. The 

 starting-point for this was the fact that the temperatures on 

 continents exhibit very great variations, and from these was 

 determined for each area, as a percentage, the relative influences 

 of the sea and continent upon its temperature. The region 

 where the influence of the sea was proved to be nil (or where, 

 as the speaker said, the " continentality " was 100 per cent.) was 

 in the neighbourhood of the east coast of Asia, whereas all other 

 points were found to be affected by the neighbouring sea to a 

 gt eater extent ; the observed temperature on the land was there- 

 fore only partly dependent upon the position of the place on any 

 given parallel, other influences making themselves more or less 

 felt. Hence it was possible to calculate for each parallel the 

 real and " accessory " temperature. The amount of heat radiated 

 down from the sun was compared with these temperatures, and 

 was found to be about the same for each io° C. of difference 

 in temperature; from o°-io°C, however, quite considerable 

 differences of radiation were necessary. In conclusion, Dr. 

 Zenker compared the temperatures which really exist on the 

 earth's surface with those which he had deduced, and found that 

 in reality the climate on the sea of the southern hemisphere is 

 colder than it should be according to calculation — a result which 

 must be attributed to the oceanic currents of cold water. The 

 continental climate in the northern hemisphere is slightly to:> 

 warm, in consequence of the disturbance introduced by the Gulf 

 Stream. — Lieutenant Moedebeck gave an account of a balloon 

 journey which he made on March 31. The marked pheno- 

 menon during the same was the influence of rivers ; thus, after 

 the balloon had risen to a height of 300-500 metres, and was 

 passing away over Berlin, it sank so rapidly over the Spree that 

 when it was about 50 metres above the earth a large quantity of 

 ballast had to be thrown out. At an elevation of 1200 metres 



he met with a long narrow rain-cloud, in passing through which 

 the dry-bulb thermometer registered i°'5 C, the wet-bulb 1° C. ; at 

 an elevation of 1300- 1400 metres, both thermometers recorded 

 the same temperature of 2°'5 C. At this height, and in circum- 

 scribed areas, a few very small semi-soft hailstones were observed. 

 Shortly after this the balloon began to sink, and while still above 

 the cloud, but at a lower level, somewhat larger but similar hail- 

 stones were observed for the second time. As soon as the 

 balloon had passed through the cloud, rain fell for a short time, 

 as the result of which the balloon was so weighted that it de- 

 scended rapidly to the earth. The atmosphere above the cloud 

 was not clear but rather misty. 



BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, and SERIALS RECEIVED 

 FOR REVIEW. 



Land and Fresh-water Mollusca of India, Parts 1 to 6, and plates : Lieut - 

 Col. H. H. Godwin Austen (Taylor and Francis). — Botany for Beginners, 

 4th edition : Rev. Prof. G. Henslow (Stanford). — Botany of the Afghan 

 Delimitation Commission (Linnean Society) : J. E. T. Aitchison (Long- 

 mans). — Report on the Meteorology of India in 1886 : J. Eliot (Calcutta). — 

 Indian Meteorological Memoirs, vol. iv. part 4 (Calcutta). — Memoirs 

 on the Winds and Monsoons of the Arabian Sea and North Indian 

 Ocean : W. L. Dallas (Calcutta). — A Short Text-book of Electricity 

 and Magnetism : T. Dunman (Ward, Lock, and Co.). — A Short Text- 

 book of Sound, Light, and Heat : T. Dunman (Ward, Lock, and Co.). 

 — A Life of Matthew Fontaine Maury : D. F. M. Corbin (Low).— 

 An Illustrated Manual of British Birds, part 2 : H. Saunders (Gurney 

 and Jackson*. — Bibliothek der Gesellschaft fur Erdkunde zu Berlin 

 (Berlin). — Essai de Definition et de Nomenclature ; Les Dislocations de 

 l'ecorce Terrestre : E. de Margerie and Dr. A. Heim (Zurich). — Nature's 

 Fairy Land: H. W. S. Worsley-Benison (Stock). — Evolution and its Rela- 

 tion to Religious Thought : J. Le Conte (Appleton, New York). — Record of 

 Experiments conducted by the Commissioner of Agriculture in the Manufac- 

 ture of Sugar from Sorghum and Sugar Canes, 1887-88 (Washington). — The 

 Constants of Nature, 1st Supplement to Part 1 : F. W. Clarke (Washington). 

 — The Vegetable Resources of the West Indies : D. Morris (Silver). — Fruit : 

 Dr. Crespi (Hey wood). — Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, April 

 (Murray). — Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science, April (Churchill). — 

 Geological Magazine, May (Triibner). — Journal of the Society of Telegraph 

 Engineers and Electricians, vol. xvii. No. 72 (Spon). — Schriften der Natur- 

 forschenden Gesellschaft in Danzig, Siebenter Band, Erstes Heft (Danzig). 

 — Bulletin of the California Academy of Sciences, vol. ii. No. 8. 



CONTENTS. page 



Forms of Animal Life 25 



The Cardinal Numbers 27 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Hampson : " The Romance of Mathematics " .... 28 

 "Wanderer" : "Antipodean Notes" ; and Freeman : 



" Lights and Shadows of Melbourne Life " .... 29 

 Letters to the Editor : — 



The Salt Industry in the United States. — Thomas 



Ward 29 



Prof. Rosenbusch's Work on Petrology. — A. B. . . . 30 

 History of the Contraction Theory of Mountain Forma- 

 tion. — Charles Davison 30 



Lightning and Milk. — F. A. Bather 30 



The Duplex Pendulum Seismograph. — Prof. J. A. 



Ewing 30 



Self-induction. — W. E. Sumpner 30 



Suggestions on the Classification of the Various 

 Species of Heavenly Bodies. IV. {Illustrated.) By 



J. Norman Lockyer, F. R.S 31 



Three Days on the Summit of Mont Blanc. (Illus- 

 trated.) 35 



The Photographic Chart of the Heavens 38 



The Forth Bridge. {Illustrated.) 39 



Flora of the Antarctic Islands. By W. T. Thiselton 



Dyer, C.M.G., F.R.S. ; Dr. H. B. Guppy .... 40 



Lord Hartington on Technical Education 40 



Notes 41 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



New Minor Planets 43 



Comet 1888 a (Sawerthal) 43 



Cincinnati Zone Catalogue 43 



Publications of Lick Observatory 43 



Astronomical Phenomena for the Week 1888 



May 13-19 43 



The Pygmy Races of Men. I. By Prof. Flower, 



C.B., F.R.S 44 



The Institution of Mechanical Engineers 46 



University and Educational Intelligence 46 



Societies and Academies 46 



Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received for Review 48 



