Oct. ii, 1888] 



NATURE 



575 



that ocean. Gales of varying force, however, occurred about 

 once a week over the steam-ship routes. On the 13th and 

 14th a depression moved along the coast of New England, and 

 reached Newfoundland on the 15th ; from this position it moved 

 to the eastward, and appears to have reached this country. No 

 other storm crossed the ocean entirely. Less fog was en- 

 countered than is usual during August, and with the exception 

 of a tew bergs in the Straits of Belleisle no ice was reported 

 during the month. 



M. G. Rollin, of the French Meteorological Office, has 

 published in the Annales of that institution a valuable article 

 entitled " Remarks on Synoptic Charts." He has carefully 

 examined clay by day the movements of the atmosphere, with 

 the view of determining the possibility of predicting the arrival 

 of storms coming from the Atlantic. His experience of the 

 American telegrams coincides with that arrived at in this country, 

 that they cannot at present be turned to practical use in weather 

 prediction. But he has made a serious attempt to render them 

 useful in the future, by the establishment of certain types which 

 connect the weather of the Atlantic with that of the adjacent 

 continents, and he finds that many conditions, without being 

 actually identical, are sufficiently alike to be classified together. 

 His concluding remarks, however, show that much further in- 

 vestigation is necessary before any definite rules can be laid 

 down, and that the atmospheric changes are often so rapid that 

 the difficulties of weather prediction on the exposed coasts of 

 Europe are likely to remain very great for a long time to come. 



A beautiful crystalline substance of much theoretic interest 

 was exhibited at the recent Bath meeting by its discoverer, 

 Prof. Emerson Reynolds, F. R. S., of Dublin University. Its 

 mode of formation and analysis prove that it is Si(NHC 6 H 5 ) 4 , 

 or silicotetraphenylamide. It is the first well-defined compound 

 in which silicon is exclusively united with the nitrogen of 

 amidic groups, and is formed by the action of excess of phenyl- 

 amine on silicon tetrabromide. The new compound crystallizes 

 from carbon disulphide in fine transparent, colourless prisms, 

 which melt sharply at 132 . When heated in vacuo, aniline 

 distils over, and a residue is obtained which appears to be the 

 silicon analogue of carbodiphenylimide. Considering the im- 

 portant part which silicon plays in Nature, and its close resem- 

 blance to carbon — which affords a large number of important 

 nitrogen compounds — it is surprising that little is yet known of 

 the relations of silicon'and nitrogen. The investigation of the 

 new substance is likely to throw much light on this general 

 question. 



At the same meeting Prof. Emerson Reynolds also exhibited 

 a number of new silicon compounds of a different type from that 

 above noticed. They were obtained by the action of silicon 

 tetrabromide on the primary thiocarbamide and some of its 

 derivatives. The products are addition compounds : that ob- 

 tained with the primary thiocarbamide has the formula 

 (H 4 N 2 CS) 8 SiBr 4 , and analogous compounds were formed with 

 allyl, phenyl, and diphenyl-thiocarbamides. The allyl product is 

 a colourless and very viscous liquid, the others are vitreous 

 solids at ordinary temperature. When the primary thiocarbamide 

 compound is dissolved by ethylic alcohol, it is decomposed, and 

 affords tetra- and tri-thiocarbamide derivatives free from silicon. 

 The first of these products is a fine crystalline substance, whose 

 formula is (H 5 N 2 CS) 4 NBr ; the second is a sulphinic compound, 

 (II 5 N 2 CS) 3 Br. C 2 H 5 Br. Prof. Reynolds succeeded in effecting 

 the synthesis of the first compound by the direct union of 

 thiocarbamide with ammonium bromide, and subsequently pro- 

 duced a series of similar bodies by substituting for ammonium 

 bromide the bromides, iodides, and chlorides of ammonium 

 bases. Although the derivatives of thiocarbamide are very 

 numerous, only those were known which result from one or two 



molecules of the amide ; but the existence of the new compounds 

 exhibited by Prof. E. Reynolds proves that thiocarbamide can 

 afford much more highly-condensed products. 



An important quantitative reaction between iodine and 

 arseniuretted hydrogen has recently been investigated by Dr. 

 Otto Brunn. During a series of attempts to completely eliminate 

 arseniuretted hydrogen from sulphuretted hydrogen prepared 

 from materials containing arsenic, it was found that this could 

 be completely effected by passing the mixture over a layer of 

 iodine. The mixed gases were first dried by passage through a 

 calcKim chloride tube, and were then led through a tube 12 mm. 

 wide, containing the layer of powdered iodine ; a plug of glass 

 wool moistened with potassium iodide to remove vapour of 

 iodine was placed at the end of the layer, and attached to the 

 extremity of the tube were a couple of flasks containing lead 

 acetate solution to absorb the sulphuretted hydrogen. On re- 

 moving the iodine tube and heating the issuing gas in the usual 

 drawn out form of hard glass tube, a fine mirror of metallic 

 arsenic was deposited, but after insertion of the iodine tube not 

 a trace of deposit was obtained, while a yellow coating of iodide 

 of arsenic was formed upon the surface of the iodine. This led 

 Dr. Brunn to experimentally determine whether the reaction 

 was quantitative or not. Equal volumes of a mixture of 

 hydrogen and arseniuretted hydrogen were passed in two suc- 

 cessive experiments through a solution of silver nitrate in the 

 one case, and over a layer of iodine 25 cm. long in the other. 

 As is well known, silver nitrate is quantitatively reduced by the 

 hydride of arsenic to metallic silver, the arsenic being oxidized 

 to arsenious acid. It was found that the amount of arsenic 

 absorbed by the iodine was exactly equal to that absorbed by 

 the silver nitrate, and hence the iodine reaction is happily found 

 to be also a quantitative one. Chemists have therefore a ready 

 means of freeing both hydrogen and sulphuretted hydrogen from 

 the last traces of this most objectionable hydride of arsenic. 

 It was finally shown that hydride of antimony behaves in a 

 precisely similar manner with iodine. 



The Trustees of the Australian Museum have issued their 

 Report for 1887. The total number of visitors was 122,799, as 

 against 127,231 in 1886. This Museum is open on Sundays 

 from 2 o'clock to 5, and the privilege seems to be much ap- 

 preciated. The average daily attendance throughout the year 

 was 330 on week-days and 709 on Sundays. The collections of 

 the Museum are being steadily increased, mainly by purchases, 

 exchanges, and donations, but also by collecting and dredging 

 expeditions sent out by the authorities of the institution. An 

 expedition, under the charge of Messrs. Cairn and Grant, to 

 the Bellenden Ker Ranges, in Northern Queensland, resulted in 

 obtaining for the Museum about sixty-eight species (198 speci- 

 mens) of birds, and eleven species (thirty-five specimens) of 

 mammals, seven of which are new to the Museum, and three 

 are new to science ; besides a number of insects and other In- 

 vertebrates. The Trustees were enabled also during the year to 

 send an Expedition to Lord Howe Island, in company with the 

 Visiting Magistrate, Mr. H. T. Wilkinson. The Ethnological 

 Hall referred to in last year's Report has been fitted up with 

 cases, and the valuable ethnological collections, mostly acquired 

 during recent years, are arranged there. The Trustees anticipate 

 that this will prove to be " not the least interesting portion of 

 the Museum." 



An interesting " Hand-book of Sydney " has been published 

 for the use of the members of the Australasian Association for the 

 Advancement of Science. The editor is Mr. W. M. Hamlet, 

 Government Analyst, Sydney. His object is to give an epitome 

 of the history, meteorology, geology, flora, and fauna of Sydney 

 and the surrounding neighbourhood, together with a brief 

 account of the commerce and industries which have grown up 

 in the mother country of Australia during the first half-century. 



