May 6, 1875] 



NATURE 



17 



transparent, brilliant, and of a beautiful pale blue tint. A strong 

 solution of the salt is deep green, a dilute solution blue. When 

 the crystals are moist, they may be considered wetted with the 

 dark green solution, and so their true colour is masked. — On the 

 purification and boiling point of methyl-hexyl carbinol, by E. 

 Neison. — This is followed by a note on the same subject from 

 the pen of Prof. C. Schorlemmer. The two gentlemen agree 

 pretty well with regard to the boiling point, which Mr. Neison 

 finds to be at iSi"-i82'' C, and Prof. Schorlemmer at lyg^'S ; 

 llie difference may probably rest upon the difference of thermo- 

 meters. — The last paper is on the oxidation of the essential oils, 

 by Chas. T. Kingzett. 



Zeitschrift tier Ocsfn-reir/iisc/ien Geselhchaft fiit Meteorologif, 

 Feb. I. — Dr. Julius Ucke, of Samara, contributes an abstract of 

 his work, undertaken chiefly from a medical point of view, on the 

 quantitative proportions of atmospheric oxygen in different cli- 

 mates, in relation to temperature, moisture, and density of air. 

 The public have chosen certain localities as health-resorts long 

 before science pointed them out as eligible, and although we can- 

 not doubt that oxygen is a great healing power in these, the part 

 it really plays remains to be determined by physiologists and 

 pathologists. The present work merely opens the way to in- 

 quirj', and does not claim to go beyond the evidence of statistics. 

 Samara is a health-resort remarkable for the rarity of diseases of 

 respiration, but its climate is windy and not mild, and the changes 

 of temperature are great, both daily and seasonal. The conditions 

 of temperature, moisture, pressure, and wind, do not account for 

 i's healthiness. Two factors remain : oxygen and ozone. Oxy- 

 gen only concerns us at present. In order to find the relative 

 quantity of oxygen at any place, thermometric, barometric, and 

 hygrometric data are indispensable. Thirteen European and 

 three Indian towTis and one American station were chosen. 

 Data for Nice, Algiers, and Madeira were wanting. ]5earing in 

 mind the hygienic object of his task. Dr. Ucke takes as a measure 

 of the quantities of oxygen the number of inspirations of a grown 

 man in the course of a month of 30"42 days. In the absence of 

 a normal standard, the mean of the results for the seventeen 

 stations is used for comparison. He finds that in the whole year 

 most oxygen is inspired at Samara, least at Seringapatam ; that, 

 taking all stations, the quantities are largest in winter, least in 

 summer, except at Seringapatam, where spring gives the lowest 

 figure. Also, that generally the quantities decrease from E. to 

 W. These differences of course depend on the three factors, tem- 

 perature, density, and moisture. The first two have by far the 

 most considerable effect. The article is illustrated by various 

 tables. 



The American Joufnal of Science and Arts, March. — The 

 principal papers in this number are : On some phenomena of 

 binocular vision, by Prof. J. Le Conte. The article has refer- 

 ence to the direction of the optic axes in .sleep. Arguing from 

 "double sight "in drowsiness. Prof. Le Conti concludes that 

 the axes diverge. — The gigantic cephalopods of the North 

 Atlantic, by A. E. Verrill. This is a continuation of a former 

 article in which he records the dimensions of specimens cap- 

 tured within the last few years. — The trap rocks of the Con- 

 necticut Valley, by G. W. Hawes. This contains many 

 analyses of dolerites and diabare. — On the comparison of certain 

 theories of .solar structure with observation, by Mr. S. P. Langley. 

 (See following article.)— Notes on Costa Rica Geology, by W. M. 

 Gabb. The area described — the district of TaK-imanca, consists 

 of granite rocks on which rest beds of Miocene age, the granite 

 being pushed up after the deposition of the Miocene. — Under the 

 head of Scientific Intelligence is a description of a new order of 

 Eocene Mammals, Tillodovtia, by Prof. O. C. Marsh. — Report 

 of progress of Geological Survey of Pennsylvania for 1874. — 

 Notes on the transit of Venus. 



Memorie della Societa degli Sfcttroscopisti Ilahani, January 

 1875. — M''- S. P. Langley, director of the Alleghany Observa- 

 tory, contributes a paper on the comparison of certain theories 

 of the structure of sun-spots with observation. He alludes to 

 the so-called "crystalline " forms seen at times in the umbras of 

 spots, and to their lending confirmation to the views of those 

 who regard the photosphere as a luminous covering of incan- 

 descent fluid, and the .spots cooling matter in it. The author 

 says that they are at first .sight so confirmatory of this view that 

 it was only after long study he had been led to think them 

 assimilable to certain cloud forms in our atmosphere. A beauti- 

 fully executed steel engraving accompanies the paper, showing 

 the forms alluded to over the umbra of a spot ; and they certainly 



put one in mind ot certain forms of cirrus cloud. All the 

 filaments of the penumbra are directed generally towards the 

 centre of the spot ; but while all are more or less curved, there 

 is no common direction of curvature. Mr. Langley also remarks 

 that the ends of the filaments are generally the brightest parts, 

 and that it is difficult to resist the impression that they turn 

 upwards at the extremities and appear as though lifting their 

 points through some obscuring medium. One of the crystalline 

 forms appears in great beauty on the spot. It is about 20" 

 long, and 10" wide, and has the appearance of a plume or of 

 finely carded wool : and the author asks if we are prepared to 

 admit the existence of a body analogous to a crystal covering 

 ten times the area of Europe. He also refers to sudden and 

 abrupt changes in the direction of the filaments, apparently 

 being due to the passage of one cloud stratum over another, and 

 he remarks this disposition elsewhere in the spot giving a 

 terraced appearance. He says : " It seems difficult to reconcile 

 the bright, sharply-defined inner edge and the regular structure 

 discerned in the umbra, with another view in which this umbra 

 is a sort of stagnant pool formed by cold vapours or clouds 

 which have settled there after depressing the general surface by 

 their weight until the penumbral slope is determined ; " and 

 " The theory which regards cyclonic or vertical action as a 

 prominent agent in determining the forms we have studied 

 appears to be in closer accordance with observation than the 

 former."— Father Secchi, in a note on the foregoing paper, 

 remarks that at the edge of the sun, where the spot in question 

 disappeared, there was seen an active prominence, and his further 

 remarks are to be continued in the next number.— P. Tacchini 

 contributes a paper on the condition of Italian and other 

 observatories, giving the staff at each and their salaries. We 

 extract the total payments to the staff and for instruments at the 

 following Observatories : — 



Lire. 



Paris 54,000 Rome 



Greenwich 75,000 Padua 



Pulkowa 220,000 Modena 



Palermo 7,800 Turin 



Naples 13,248 Bologna .. 



Florence 6,700 Parma 



Milan 14,802 



Lire. 



4,920 



6,200 



4,940 



4,700 



4,500 



1,300 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 



London 

 Royal Society, April 15. — "Researches upon the Specific 

 Volumes of Liquids," by T. E. Thorpe. Communicated by 

 Prof. Williamson, For. Sec. R.S, 



I. On the Atomic Value of Phosphorus. 



Hermann Kopp has shown that, as a rule, the specific volume 

 of an element is invariable when in combination. Exceptions 

 to the law occur, however, in the cases of oxygen and sulphur, 

 each of which bodies has two specific volumes dependent upon 

 the manner in which they are held in union. When contained 

 " within the radicle," as in acetyl, CjHjO, oxygen has the value 

 I2'2, but when existing " within the radicle," as in alcohol, it 

 has the smaller value, 7*8. Sulphur, when "within the radicle," 

 has the specific volume 28*6; when "without the radicle," it 

 has the specific volume 22 6. 



The causae of these variations may be thus stated in the lan- 

 guage of modern theory : — When dyad sulphur and oxygen are 

 united to an element by both their affinities, their specific 

 volumes becomes respectively 28*6 and 12-2; when they are 

 attached by only one combining unit, their specific volumes are 

 22-6 and 7-8. 



Phosphorus is regarded by certain chemists as invariably a 

 triad ; others maintain that it is sometimes a triad, at other times 

 a pentad. In the trichloride it is a triad, in the oxychloride and 

 thiochloride it is a pentad. According to this view the two 

 latter compounds possess the following constitution : — 

 CI 01 



CI— P=0 CI— PS 



I I 



CI ; CI 



If, however, phosphorus is invariably trivalent, the oxychloride 



