24 



NATURE 



{Nov. 3. 1887 



M. Hall, Colonel C. A. M'Mahon, J. Stuart Thomson. Trea- 

 su;e" Rev. Prof. T. G. Bonney, F. R. S. General Secretary: 

 R H Scott FR.S. Foreign Secretary : T. Davies. Auditors: 

 B* Kitto f! W. Rudler.— The following papers were read :— 

 On a meteoric iron, containing crystallized chromite found m 

 Greenbrier Co., West Virginia, about the year 1880, by i.. 

 Fletcher, President.— On'the nature and origm of clays, by J. 

 H Collins.— Note on the occurrence of what may prove to be 

 a new mineral resin, by J. Stuart Thomson.-On a variety of 

 elaucophane from the Val Chivone (Cottian Alps), by Rev. 

 Prof T G Bonney, F.R.S.— On the discovery of leucite in 

 Australia, by Prof. J. W. judd, F.R.S.-On proiistite contain- 

 ^g antimony, by H. A. Miers and G. T. Prior.-Descript.on of 

 a new studenl's goniometer, by H. A. Miers.-On rutile needles 

 in clays, by J. J. H. Teall. 



PARIS. 

 Academy of Sciences, October 24.— M. Janssen in the 

 chair. -On naphthol as an antiseptic, by M. Ch. Bouchard. 

 From the experiments here described it is shown that naphthol, 

 hitherto limited to the local treatment of certam cutaneous 

 diseases, may with perfect safety be applied inwardly. _ Its 

 antiseptic and toxic properties have been accurately determmed, 

 with the result that, owing to its slight solubility, it is to be 

 preferred in certain cases to all known antiseptic medicmes.— 

 Remarks on the physical principle on which is based M. 

 Clausius's new theory of steam-motors, by M. G. A. llim. 

 The view here contested is that the cylinder may be regarded as 

 impermeable to heat, and consequently that the exchange of heat 

 between its walls and the steam at each stroke of the piston is a 

 factor which may be neglected by the practical mechanician M. 

 Hirn claims that most English and American engineers have 

 adopted his views in the " Hirn-Zeuner controversy. —On the 

 congelation of ciders, by M. G. Lechartier. The authors 

 experiments make it evident that the fermentation of ciders is 

 not destroyed but only diminished even after being kept for nine 

 days at a temperature of 18° C. below freezin?-pomt.— Remarks 

 accompanying the presentation of the " Statistique de la Super- 

 ficie et de la Population des Contrees de la Terre, by M. K. 

 Levasseur. This work, which appeared originally in the 

 Bulletin de rinstitut international de Statistique for 1886-87, 

 comprises 103 tables, in three parts— the first devoted to Europe, 

 the second to the other divisions of the globe, the third to 

 general conclusions and comparative details for the whole earth. 

 In this part the area and population of the various divisions of 

 the world are thus tabulated for the year 1886 :— 



Population. 



because it expresses no certain theoretic principle, nor any 

 rigorously observed theoretic fact. Nevertheless it may 

 still yield approximately correct useful results when it is 

 required to express the complex sensations experienced by the 

 organ of sight.— Positions of Brooks's Comet (January 22, 1887) 

 measured with the 8-inch equatorial of the Observatory of 

 Besancon, by M. Gruey. The positions are calculated for the 

 period ranging from February 24 to April 29.— On magnetizing 

 by influence, by M. P. Duhem. The author communicates the 

 chief results of some studies based on the principles of thermo- 

 dynamics, and undertaken for the purpose of removing some of 

 the difficulties presented by Poisson's theory.— Action of sul- 

 phureted hydrogen on the salts of cobalt, by M. H. Baubigny. 

 Some years ago the author showed that all the salts of nickel ai e 

 transformed to sulphides when their solutions are treated with 

 hydrosulphuric acid at the ordinary temperature. He now shows 

 that a like treatment of the salts of cobalt yields very similar 

 results.— On the quantitative analysis of titanic acid, by M . 

 Lucien Levy. A new method of analysis is described, which 

 is more rapid and yields more accurate results than that hitherto 

 in use.— On certain processes capable of increasing the resist- 

 ance of the organism to the action of microbes, by M. Charrin. 

 It is shown, by experiments carried out on rabbits, that under 

 specified conditions the resisting power of the animal may be 

 greatly increased and rendered more or less complete and lasting 

 by inoculating or injecting the soluble products of the cultivated 

 virus of certain microbes. 



Area in millions j^ 



of square millions. 



Kilometres. 



347 



197 



789 



38 



80 



32 



_, .. Ratio to 



Density per the whole 



square 

 kilometre. 



136-1 



1483 



34 • 

 6 . 



19 • 

 3-5- 

 3-4- 

 17- 



io*9 



population 

 of the world. 

 . 234 



. i3"3 



. 53'2 



2-6 



5-4 



2*1 

 lOO-C 



It is pointed out in the introduction that nearly two-thirds of 

 mankind are concentrated in a relatively small space, about 

 II millions of square kilometres, or one-twelfth of all the dry land, 

 divided into three great groups : West, Central, and South 

 Europe (245 millions of inhabitants, and 3*5 millions of kilo- 

 metres) ; the Anglo-Indian Empire (254 and 3-6) ; and China, 

 with Manchuria and Japan (430 and 4).— On the third scientific 

 voyage of the Hirondelle, by Prince Albert of Monaco. Besides 

 many hundreds of floats sent adrift between the Azores and 

 Newfoundland, several captures were made from great depths 

 with the sounding-gear, which worked easily down to 3000 

 metres from the surface. Amongst the prizes were several un- 

 described fishes, Gorgons, siliceous Sponges of the Hexactin- 

 ellid family, a soft Urchin {Phormosoifia), numerous Amphipod 

 and Isopod Crustaceans, Solasters, Ophiures, and Hyas of great 

 size, besides a moon-fish weighing nearly 300 kilogrammes, and 

 furnished with a true caudal appendage.— On Newton s chrom- 

 atic circle, by M. G. Govi. It is shown that this law, of which 

 Newton himself offered no demonstration, is often at fault, 



BOOKS. PAMPHLETS, and SERIALS RECEIVED. 



Philip's Handy Volume Atlas of the British Empire (Philip). -Practical 

 Chemistry : Muir and Carnegie (Clay).-Elementary Chemistry : Muir and 

 Slater (Clay).— Essays relating to Indo-China, and series 2 vols. (Jrubner). 

 -On a Surf-bound Coast : A. P. Crouch (Low). -Tne Mammoth and the 

 Flood : H. H. Howorth (Low).— The Natural History of Commerce, 3rd ed. , 

 The Technical History of Commerce, 3rd edition ; The Growth and Vicissi- 

 tudes of Commerce, 3rd edition ; Recent and Existing Commerce, 3rd edition ; 

 Dr T. Yeats (Philip).— Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and 

 Sciences, December 1886 to May 1887 (Boston). --Bulletin de la Sociea 

 Impe'rialedesNaturalistes deMoscou, 1887, No. 3 (Moscou).-Zeitschrift fur 

 Wissenschaftliche Zoologie, xlv. Band, 4 Heft (Williams and Norgate) - 

 Morphologisches Jahrbuch, Eine Zeitsch-ift fur Anatomie und Entwicke- 

 lungsgeschichte, xiii. Band, i Heft (Engelmann, Leipz.g).-Encyklop3Ed.e 

 der Naturwissen.'schaften. Zweite Abth. 44 und 45 L.ef. Handworterbuch 

 der Chemie ; Erste Abth. 52 ""d 53 Lief. Handworterbuch der Zoologie, 

 Anthropologie, und Ethnologic (Williams and Norgate).-Journal of the 

 Scottish Meteorological Society, 3rd series, No. iv. (Blackwood).— Animals 

 from the Life, edited by A. B. Buckley (Stanford). 



CONTENTS. PAGE 

 The Zoological Results of the "Challenger" Expe- 

 dition ' 



The Fern-Allies. By W. R. McNab 4 



Our Book Shelf :— 



Elson : " The Sailor's Sky Interpreter " 5 



Mackenzie: " Austral Africa " 5 



Letters to the Editor : — 



Medical Education at Oxford.— George I. Wilson . 5 

 Migration of Swallows along the Southern Coast. — W. 



Warde Fowler 6 



Swifts.— E. Brown • • » 



Hughes's Induction Balance.— Dr. Oliver J. Lodge, 



FR.S • 6 



TheFfynnon Beuno andCae Gwyn Caves.— Worthing- 



ton G. Smith 7 



Synthesis of Glucose. By A. E. Tutton 7 



Modern Views of Electricity. Part II.— IV. (Illus- 

 trated). By Dr. Oliver J. Lodge, F.R.S 8 



The Tweeddale Collection. By R. Bowdler Sharpe 13* 



The Storm of October 30 I4 



Robert Hunt, F.R.S H 



Notes ^5 



Astronomical Phenomena for the Week 1887 



November 6-12 '7 



Geographical Notes '7 



Meteorological Notes * * 



The Work of the International Congress of Geologists. )ii 



By G. K. Gilbert ^9 



University and Educational Intelligence 22 



Scientific Serials ^2 



Societies and Academies 23 



Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received 24 



