6o8 



NATURE 



\Oct. 1 8, 1888 



following species : Eupacilia Degreyana, Stigmonota palli- 

 frontana, Cacacia decretana, andGelcc/iia peliella. — Lord Walsing- 

 ham, F.R.S., exhibited specimens of several species of the genus 

 Cryptopkasa of the Tineina, some of the most remarkable being 

 males and females of Zitua balteata, Walker, bred by Mr. Sidney 

 Olliff from pupae found in January last, at Newcastle, New 

 South Wales, in burrows in branches of a species of Acacia. — 

 Mr. F. D. Godman, F.R.S., exhibited a larva of a Cicada, 

 from Mexico, having a fungoid growth on the head. — Captain 

 Elwes exhibited a large number of butterflies, representing about 

 180 species, recently collected by himself and Mr. Godman in 

 California and Yellowstone Park. The collection included 

 many species of great interest, amongst others a Ccenonympha 

 described by Edwards as an Erebia, a very rare species of 

 Thecla, and a remarkable series of species of the genus Colias. — ■ 

 Mr. H. Goss exhibited, for Mr. W. J. Cross, an extraordinary 

 variety of Agrotis segetum, caught by the latter near Ely in July 

 last. — Mr. W. L. Distant read a paper entitled "An enumera- 

 tion of the Khynchota received from Baron von Miiller, F. R. S., 

 and collected by Mr. Sayer in New Guinea during Mr. Cuthbert- 

 son's expedition." — Mr. Poulton read a paper entitled "Notes 

 in 1887 upon Lepidopterous larvse, including a complete account 

 of the life-history of Sphinx conzolvuli and Aglia tau " ; and 

 Mr. White exhibited specimens of preserved larvse of S. con- 

 volvuli, A. tau, and other species referred to in Mr. Poulton's 

 paper. Mr. Jenner Weir, Mr. Kirby, Mr. White, and Dr. 

 Sharp took part in the discussion which ensued. 



Paris. 



Academy of Sciences, October 8. — M. Des Cloizeaux in 

 the chair. — Order of appearance of the first vessels in the leaves 

 of Stimulus Lupulus and japonicus, by M. A. Trecul. These 

 researches show that, as already announced by the author so far 

 back as 1853, the stipuli may sprout long before any of the leaf- 

 lobes make their appearance. The verification of the phenomenon 

 is easy either in the Humulus here studied or in the Cannabis 

 saliva previously described. — On the molecular weight and on 

 the valency of perseite, by M. Maquenne. In a recent communica- 

 tion {Comptes rendus, cvi. p. 1235) the author showed that 

 perseite possesses the function of a polyvalent alcohol, and that 

 its ethers present the same centesimal composition as those of 

 mannite and dulcite. It was also shown that the analysis of 

 perseite yields the same results as mannite, and that these bodies 

 at equal weight equally lower the freezing-point of their solvents. 

 Hence perseite might be supposed isomerous with the mannites, 

 C 6 H ]4 6 . But further researches, and the study of some new 

 derivatives of perseite, clearly show the inaccuracy of the formula 

 of this substance as determined in the former note, and as pre- 

 viously accepted by MM. Miintz and Marcano. It is now shown 

 to be the immediate superior homologue to ordinary mannite 

 with corrected formula C 7 H ]6 7 . It is at once the first hepta- 

 valent alcohol and the first sugar in C 7 that has yet been deter- 

 mined. — On the orbit of Winnecke's periodical comet, and on 

 a new determination of the mass of Jupiter, by M. E. de Haertl. 

 The results are given of the author's protracted observations, 

 undertaken for the purpose of ascertaining whether any change 

 due to a resisting medium has taken place in the revolutions of 

 this short-period comet, whose return was carefully recorded in 

 1858, 1869, 1875, and 1886. A fresh calculation is made of 

 Jupiter's mass, based on its disturbing effect on the comet's 

 orbit. The value of the mass that best satisfies all the obser- 

 vations is m — 1 : 1047*1752 ± 0-0136. — Reflected image of 

 the sun on the marine horizon, by M. Ricco. The observations 

 here recorded have been taken since 1886, on the east terrace of 

 the Observatory of Palermo, 2 kilometres from the shore and 

 72 metres above sea-level. They were interrupted this year by 

 the foggy horizons, probably caused by the eruptions of Vulcano, 

 which began on August 2, and have continued at intervals down 

 to the present time. The observations will be renewed next 

 s P r i n g> with the return of the sun to the marine horizon. 

 Under clear skies and in calm weather the' elliptical form of 

 the image of the sun is very evident, so that it seems strange 

 the ancient astronomers did not perceive in this phenomenon 

 an indication of the rotundity of the globe. — A study of the 

 heats of combustion of some acids connected with the series of 

 the oxalic and lactic acids, by M. Louguinine. The results of 

 the researches communicated in this memoir have reference to 

 the malonic, succinic, pyrotartaric, suberic, sebacylic, and oxy- 

 isobutyric acids. The first five present homologous relations 

 between themselves and with oxalic acid ; the last is similarly 



connected with lactic acid. — On the freezing-points of the 

 solutions of the organic compounds of aluminium, by MM. E. 

 Louise and L. Roux. The determination of the vapour densities 

 of these substances has led the authors to give them the general 

 formula A1 2 X 6 . Their further investigations, here described, 

 have been carried out with a view to determining the value of 

 the molecular weights of the organic compounds of aluminium 

 by Raoult's method based on the lowering of the freezing-points 

 of the solutions. Their new determinations confirm their previous 

 conclusions on the vapour densities, and show that these sub- 

 stances can in no case be represented by the simple formula 

 A1X 3 . — M. E. Picard contributes a paper on Laplace's trans- 

 formation and linear equations with partial derivatives ; and the 

 Perpetual Secretary gives the analysis of a note presented by M. 

 G. Govi on a new method for constructing and calculating the 

 place, position, and size of images given by complex optical 

 systems. 



BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, and SERIALS RECEIVED. 



Elementary Commercial Geography : H. R. Mill (Cambridge University 

 Press).— Star Atlas: Dr. H. J. Klein, translated byE. McClure (S.P.CK.). 

 — Reports on the Mining Industries of New Zealand (Wellington, N.Z.). 

 — The Illustrated Optical Manual, 4th edition : Sir T. Longmore (Long- 

 mans). — British Birds, August, September, and October : H. Saunders 

 (Gurney and Jackson). — British Dogs, No. 24: H. Dalziel (U. Gill). — The 

 Speaking Parrots, Part 6: Dr. K. Russ (U. Gill)-— Elementary Statics : Rev. 

 J. B. Lock (Macmillan). — Chemical Noies and Equations, 3rd edition : R. 

 M. Murray (Maclachlan and Stewart, Edinburgh). — Catalogue of the Fishes 

 in the Collection of the Australian Museum, Part 1; Recent Palceichthyan 

 Fishes: J. D. Ogilby (Sydney).— Three Formations of the Middle Atlantic 

 Slope: J. M. McGree. — Zeitschrift fiir Wissenschaftliche Zoologie, xlvii. 

 Band, 2 Heft (Williams and Norgate). — Bulletin de l'Academie Royale des 

 Sciences de Belgique, No. 8 (Bruxelles). 



CONTENTS. page 



Applications of Dynamics to Physics and Chemistry 585 

 Recent Works on Ornithology. By Prof. R. Bowdler 



Sharpe 587 



Our Book Shelf :— 



Aveling : "Mechanics" 5^7 



Smith : " Solutions of the Examples in an Elementary 



Treatise on Conic Sections " 5^8 



" The Beginner's Guide to Photography " 588 



Letters to the Editor: — 



Prophetic Germs. — Prof. E. Ray Lankester, 



F.R.S 588 



A New Australian Mammal. — E. C. Stirling . . . 588 

 Nomenclature of Determinants. — Dr. Thomas Muir 589 



A Shadow and a Halo.— B. W. S. ; A. S. Eve . . 589 



Nesting Habit of the Home Sparrow. — G. L. Grant 590 



Sonorous Sands. — D. Pidgeon 590 



A Shell-Collector's Difficulty. — D. Pidgeon .... 590 

 Yorkshire Geological and Polytechnic Society. — 



James W. Davis 590 



Modern Views of Electricity. XI. {Illustrated.) 



By Prof. Oliver J. Lodge, F.R.S 590 



Present Position of the Manufacture of Aluminium 592 

 The Queen's Jubilee Prize Essay of the Royal 



Botanic Society of London 594 



The Zodiacal Light. {Illustrated.) By O. T. Sher- 



mai : 594 



Chemistry at the British Association 595 



Geology at the British Association 596 



Notes 597 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



The Solar Parallax from Photographs of the Last 



Transit of Venus 600 



The Markings on Mars 6or 



Astronomical Phenomena for the Week 1888 



October 21-27 601 



Geographical Notes 601 



Notes on Meteorites. V. {Illustrated.) By J. 



Norman Lockyer, F.R.S 602 



Dr. Janssen on the Spectrum of Oxygen 605 



The Growth of Root-Crops 605 



Fletcher's Compressed Oxygen Furnace. {Illus- 

 trated.) 606 



Forest Conservancy in Ceylon 606 



University and Educational Intelligence 607 



Scientific Serials 607 



Societies and Academies 607 



Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received 608 



