6oo 



NA TURE 



{April 19, 1888 



made :— Continuation of a former paper on simplicissima, by 

 W. J. C. Sharp — Synthetical solutions in the conduction of 

 heat, by E. W. Hobson. — Symmetric functions, partii., by R. 

 Lachlan.— On a law of attraction which might include both 

 gravitation and cohesion, by G. S. Carr. — Messrs. Buchheim, 

 Larmor, and Greenhill spoke upon the various papers. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, April 9. — M. Janssen, President, in 

 the chair. — Observations of the minor planets made with the 

 great meridian instrument of the Paris Observatory during the 

 third and fourth quarters of the year 1887, by M. Mouchez. 

 The right ascension, polar distance, and cirrection of ephemer- 

 ides are tabulated for thirteen of the minor planets. — On Gom- 

 pertz and Makeham"s laws of mortality, by M. J. Bertrand. 

 Some arguments are advanced to show that, although he does 

 not mention them, Thomas Simpson must have been acquainted 

 with one or both of these laws. — Observations on the fixation 

 of nitrogen by certain vegetable soils, by M. Berthelot. Some 

 remarks are made in connection with the author's previous com- 

 munications and M. Schloesing's recent notes on this subject. It 

 is pointed out that M. Schloesing has not taken sufficient account 

 of the experimental conditions which M. Berthelot has shown 

 to be necessary in dealing with the question of nitrification. — 

 On a new gas-thermometer, by M. L. Caillctet. This instru- 

 ment, which has been for some time employed by the author, 

 especially in connection with his researches, jointly made with 

 M. Bouty, on the measurement of electric resistances at low 

 temperatures, is described as of an extremely sensitive character, 

 indicating differences of height of 2 "36 millimetres for i° of 

 temperature. Being intended for measuring extremely low 

 temperatures, it is charged with hydrogen as the expanding 

 body. — Report on M. Delauney's astronomical communications, 

 by the Commissioners, MM. Daubree, Tisserand, and Faye. 

 These communications, which were addressed to the Academy 

 during M. Delauney's residence in Cochin-China, are now re- 

 sumed in one volume, and are of an extremely varied character. 

 They deal with the distances of the planets from the sun ; the 

 distances of the satellites from their respective planets ; the 

 distances of certain stellar groups from the central orbs of their 

 systems ; the distance of aerolites from the sun, their action on 

 the sob.r spots, on our volcanoes, on the meteorological pheno- 

 mena of our atmosphere, and on terrestrial magnetism ; forma- 

 tion of the stellar systems, and especially that of Sirius, of 

 which the sun itself, with Procyon, a Centauri, Vega, Arcturus, 

 and others, would appear to be members. These, and other 

 even bolder speculations, seem based on the three laws of dis- 

 tances here formulated by the author. —Observations of Sawer- 

 thal's Comet 1888 a made at the Paris Observatory (equatorial 

 of the West Tower), by M. G. Bigourdan, and at the Bordeaux 

 Observatory (o"38m. equatorial), by MM. G. Rayet and Courty. 

 The Paris observations cover the period from March 25 to April 6 ; 

 those of Bordeaux from April 4-6. — Observations of Palisa's 

 new planet, discovered April 3, 1888, made at the Observatory 

 of Algiers with the 050 m. telescope, by MM. Trepied and 

 Sy. These observations, made on April 4, give an estimated 

 magnitude of I2'5 for this planet. — On M. Bertrand's geo- 

 metrical curves, by M. G. Demartres. These curves are here 

 considered as geodetic lines of ringed surfaces; and the follow- 

 ing problem is proposed and discussed : To find the surfaces 

 whose circular generator is inclined at the same angle, i, on the 

 same family of geodetic lines, this angle, however, being capable 

 of varying from one generator to the next. — Action of the tetra- 

 chloride of carbon on oxygenated mineral compounds free of 

 hydrogen, by M. H. Quantin. It was long ago shown by 

 Geuther that potassa and baryta raised to a red heat in the 

 vapour of the tetrachloride of carbon are transformed to chlorides 

 and carbonates. More recently the experiments of Demarjay 

 and Quantin, since confirmed by Lothar Meyer, have shown that 

 oxides which cannot be attacked by chlorine alone are under the 

 same conditions also transformed to chlorides. In the present 

 paper the author deals more fully with these phenomena, and 

 generalizes the results already obtained. — On the sesquichloride 

 of rhodium, by M. E. Leidie. After examining the processes 

 hitherto employed in the preparation of the anhydrous sesqui- 

 chloride, the author describes a new method in which the 

 chlorine acts on the alloy of rhodium and tin, RhSng, described 

 by Debray. He then gives the processes of preparation of some 

 double chlorides formed by the hydrated sesquichloride, — On 

 the passive property of nickel, by M. Ernest Saint-Edme. 



Having already described the results of his researches on the 

 passivity of steel and iron, the author here deals with some of 

 the conclusions he has obtained from the analogous study of 

 nickel. — Action of the cyanide of zinc on some chlorides, by M. 

 Raoul Varet. The results are described of experiments with 

 the chlorides of mercury and copper, as well as with the alkaline 

 chlorides. The general conclusion is arrived at that the cyanide 

 of zinc does not enter into molecular combination with the 

 chloride^. — Syntheses by means of cyanacetic ether (continued), 

 by M. Alb. Haller. In the present paper the author deals with 

 the higher homologues of acetylcyanacetic ether. — Heat of 

 formation of aniline, by M. P. Petit. The heat of formation of 

 aniline is here determined, both by the wet and dry processes, 

 with fairly uniform results. 



BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, and SERIALS RECEIVED. 



A Key to the Mysteries of Water, Electricity, and Heat : W. 

 Boggett (Triibnsr). — Die Catastrophe von Zug, 5 Juli, 1887 (Hofer and 

 Burger, Ziir'ch). — Zrani Opiozeni a Ryhovani Vajica : Fr. Vejdovsk^f 

 (Prag). — Zeitschrift fiir Wissenschaftliche Zoo'ogie, 46 Band, 2 Heft 

 (Leipzig). — Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Phila- 

 delphia, Part 3, 1887 (Philadelphia). — Journal of Physiology, vol. ix. 

 No. I ((Cambridge) — Bulletin de la Societe Imperiale des Naturalistes de 

 Moscou, 18H8, No. I (Moscou). — Proceedings of the Geologists' Associa- 

 tion, No. 87 (Stanford). — Botanische Jahrbiicher fur Systematik, Pflanzen- 

 geschichte, und Pflanzengeographie, Neunter Band, 4 Heft (Williams and 

 Norgate). — Annalen des k. k. Naturhistorischen Hofmuseums, 1887 (Wien). 

 — Journal of Comparative Pathology and Therapeutics, Part i (Johnston). — 

 Journal of the Society of Telegraph-Engineers and Electricians, No. 71 

 (Spon). — Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, vol. xvi. Part 2, Nos. 2 

 and 3 (Calcutta). — Journal of Anatomy and Physiology, April (Williams and 

 Norgate). — Sitzungsberichte der k. b. Geseilschaft der Wissenschaften. 

 Math. Naturw. Classe. 1886 (Prag.) — Bericht iiber die Math, und Naturw. 

 Pubn. ii. Heft (Prag). — Geschichte der k. b. Geseilschaft der Wissenschaften, 

 Zweites Heft (Prag). — K Higher Arithmetic and Elementary Mensuration : 

 P. Goyen (Macmillan) — Next of Km Marriage 1 in Old Iran: D. P. 

 Sunjana (Trubner). — Mechanics and Experimental Science : Chemisti;y, 

 C Aveling (Chapman and Hall). — The Minerals of New South Wales, 

 &c. : A. Liversidge (Trubner). — Dissolution and Evolution and the 

 Science of Medicine : C. P. Mitchell (Longmans). — Notes from the Leyden 

 Museum, vol. 9, Nos. 1 and 2 (Leyden). — Journal of the Royal Statistical 

 Society, March (Stanford). — Journal of the Chemical Society, April (Gumey 

 and Jackson). — Bulletin d^ I'Academie Royale des Sciences de Belgique, < 

 No. 2 (Bruxelles). — Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society, April 

 (Williams and Norgate. — The Auk, April (New York). — Mittheilungen der 

 Naturforschenden Geseilschaft in Bern, 1887 (Bern). — Verhandlungen der 

 Schweizerischen Naturforschenden Geseilschaft in Frauenfeld, 1886-87 

 (Frauenfeld). — Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 

 January (Stanford). 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Scientific Progress in Elementary Schools .... 577 



The Nervous System and the Mind 578 



Popular Meteorology 580 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Carles : " Life in Corea " 581 



Martin: " Navigation and Nautical Astronomy " . . 582 



" A. Johnston's Botanical Plates" 582 



Letters to the Editor : — 



Injuries caused by Lightning in Africa. — Dr. Emin 



Pasha 582 



An "Instructive" Bibliography of the Foraminifera. 



— Chas. Davies Sherborn 583 



Density and Specific Gravity. — L. Gumming . . . 584 



"Coral Formations." — ^James G. Ross 584 



Bernicle Geese on Coniston Lake. — William R. 



Melly 585 



The Muzzling of Oysters. — W. Mattieu Williams , 585 

 Suggestions on the Classification of the Various 

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



J. Norman Lockyer, F.R.S 585 



The Hittites, with Special Reference to very Recent 



Discoveries. IV. {Illustrated.) By Thomas Tyler . 590 



Asa Gray 594 



Notes 594 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Harvard College Observatory 596 



Comet 18S8 a (Sawerthal) 597 



Astronomical Phenomena for the Week 1888 



April 22-28 597 



Geographical Notes 597 



Forestry in the Cape Colony 598 



Societies and Academies 598 



Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received 600 



