448 



NATURE 



{Sept. i6, 1875 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS 



The American Journal of Science and Arts, August. — The 

 article on the observation of the corona and red prominences of 

 the sun, by E. S. Holden, we have already reprinted. The 

 other original articles are : — A note on Walker's Statistical Atlas 

 of the United States, prepared by order of Congress. This is 

 based on the census of 1870. Form£rly the results of a census 

 have been given in numerical form only ; now much information 

 is set forth in ingeniously contrived maps, of which there are 

 sixty-five. Ten of the maps are prepared from data not derived 

 from census returns, but which are of especial interest in such a 

 work. The work is divided into three parts, the first relating to 

 physical features of the United States. The relations of some of 

 these maps 10 each other are very instructive. For instance, the 

 relation between woodlands and rainfall and other climatic con- 

 ditions has of late been the subject of much dogmatic theorising. 

 A comparison of these maps shows that the forests of Washing- 

 ton Territory are in regions having an annual rainfall of sixty 

 inches and upward. The magnificent forests found from Minne- 

 sota to Maine are in regions of twenty-eight to forty inches, a 

 rainfall precisely identical with that of the nearly treeless prairies 

 which extend westward from Chicago. The northern part of the 

 Michigan peninsula with its heavy timber is marked with precisely 

 the same rainfall as large portions of Southern Minnesota lying 

 in the same latitude and nearly treeless. In the second section the 

 interesting question of the "centre of population " is discussed. 

 In 1790 it was about twenty- three miles east of Baltimore. It 

 has travelled westward, keeping curiously to the 39th degree 

 of latitude, never getting more than twenty miles north nor two 

 miles south of it. In the eighty years it has travelled only 400 miles, 

 and is still found nearly fifty miles eastward of Cincinnati. — On 

 the chondrodite from the TiUy-Foster Iron Mine, by E. G. Dana. 

 The chondrodite forms the gangue of the magnetite, being every- 

 where disi-eminated through it in varying proportions ; it is 

 identical with humite in chemical composition, and alike in cry- 

 stalline form. The humite crystals are of three types, but until 

 now the correspondence of the minerals has been known only 

 for the second type. The Tilly- Foster mine affords crystals of 

 all three types, and the comparisons between humite and chon- 

 drodite form the subject of this long article. —On an easy method 

 of producing di- and tri-nitrophenetol, by P. T. Austen. — On a 

 foetal Manatee and Cetacean, with remarks on the affinities and 

 ancestry of the Sirenia, by Prof. B. G. Wdder. There is added 

 a list of writers on the subject. — On tidal waves and currents 

 along portions of the Atlantic coast of the United States, by 

 J. E. Hilgard. — On ancient glaciers of the Sierra Nevada, by 

 Prof. Joseph Le Conte. The paper consists of a description of 

 Fallen Leaf Lake Glacier, Cascade Lake Glacier, and Emerald Bay 

 Glacier, a map of which district is given. Among the questions 

 of a general nature discussed are : — Evidences of the existence of 

 the great Lake Valley Glacier ; Origin ol Lake Tahoe ; Passage 

 of Slate into Granite ; Glacial Deltas ; Parallel Moraines j and 

 Glacial Erosion. — Certain methyl and benzyl compounds con- 

 taining selenium, by C. Loring Jackson. — Description of the 

 Ps'ash County meteorite which icU in May 1874, by J. Lawrance 

 Smith. 



Reale Istituto Lomlardo, Rendiconti (vol. 8, fasc. xv.) — From 

 this pait we note the following papers : — On a supposed reform 

 ot the 'heory of electrostatic induction (second paper), by G. 

 Cantoni. — On preventative measures against Phylloxera, by V. 

 Trevisan. — On the intersections of a cone by a plane curve of 

 the fourth order, by G. Jung. — On the central nucleus, and on 

 the curves of resistance to rotation, through the flexion of 

 transversal sections of prisms, by Antonio Sayno. 



The Archives da Sciences Physiques et Naiurelles (No. 210, 

 June 15) contains an elaborate review of M. Becquerel's work 

 just published, '* Des Furcts physico-chimiques et de leur inter- 

 pretation dans la production des phenomenes naturels." — A 

 note by M. Hermann Fol, on the first origin of sexual products. 

 — On the viscosity of saline solutions, by M. Ad. Sprung; the 

 author first considers the influence of temperature, and then 

 describes the relation existing between the velocity of effluence of 

 a salt and its chemical composition. — A letter from M. E. Liais, 

 dated Rio Janeiro, May ist, 1875, and relating to the next 

 oppositions of Mars with regard to the determination of the 

 sun's parallax ; and on the remarkable coincidence of the parallax 

 obtained in i860, with the new measurement of the velocity of 



light by M. Comu.— On the determination of the sun's parallax 

 by observations of the planet Flora, by M. Galle. 



Po^gendorff'' s Annalender Physik und Chemie, No. 7 (1875). 

 — This part contains the following papers : — On friction and 

 conducting of heat in rarefied gases, by A. Kundt and E. War- 

 burg. — Spectral analytical researches, by R. Bunsen (second 

 paper.) This paper treats of spark spectra, flame spectra, and 

 absorption spectra of elements, and is accompanied by several 

 tables.— O n the diathermancy of moist air, by J. L. Hoorweg. 

 —On the experimental determination of the dielectricity constant 

 of some gases, by L. Boltzmann. — On crystallisation products in 

 ordinary glass, by Dr. Otto Schott. — On the penetration of gases 

 through thin layers of liquids, by Dr. Franz Exner. — On a simple 

 method to compare two sounding columns of air by means of 

 sensitive flames, by Dr. Bresina.— An experiment on the electro- 

 dynamical effect of the current of polarisation, by N. Schiller 

 and R. Colley, of Moscow.— On a peculiar case of magnetisation, 

 by J. Jannin (translated from the Com/>/es J?endus).— On the mag- 

 netic properties of iron prepared by electrolysis, by W, Beetz. 

 — Spectro-electric tube or fulgurator, an apparatus serving for 

 the observation of spectra of metallic solutions, by MM. B. 

 Delachanal and A. Memet.— A reply by Dr. K. Heumann to 

 Herr R. Schneider's remarks on the decomposition of cuprous 

 sulphide by nitrate of silver. — On the sudden breaking of glasses, 

 by Ed. Hagenbach. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 

 Paris 

 Academy of ScienceE, Sept. 6. — M. Fremy in the chair. — 

 The following papers were read : — On the application of a new 

 theorem of the calculus of probability, by M. Bienayme. — Re- 

 searches on the cold bands in dark spectra, by MM. P. Desains 

 and Aymonet.— Eleventh note on the electric conductibility of 

 bodies which are known to be only indifferent conductors, by 

 M. Th. du Moncel. — Results from palseontological researches 

 at Durfort (Gard), by M. P. Cazalis de Fondouce, made for the 

 Museum of Natural History, by M. P. Gervais. — New nautical 

 charts of meteorology, giving both direction and intensity of 

 probable winds, by M. Brault. — On the superficial radiations of 

 the sun, by Mr. S. P. Langley— Observations of the August 

 meteors in 1875 by M. C. Wolf. — A note on Bernouilli's num- 

 bers, by M, E. Catalan. — On the larva forms of Bryozoa, by 

 M. J. Barrois. — On two thunderstorms with hail observed on 

 July 7 and 8, in some parts of Switzerland and the South of 

 France, by M. CoUadon. 



CONTENTS Pagb 



The Science Commission Report on the Advancement of 



Science 4^9 



The Iron and Steel Institute 432 



Rutherford's " Practical Histology" 433 



<JUR Book Shhlf : — 



A Yachting Cruise in tlie South Seas 434. 



Letters to the Epitor : — 



LivinR Birds of Pitradise in Europe. — Dr. A. B. Meyer . . . . 434 



Source of Volcanic Energy.— Rev. O. Kisher 434 



Important Discovery of Remains of Cervus megaceros in Ireland. 



— Prof A. Leith Adams 435 



Magnus's "Elementary Mechanics."— Philii> Magnus .... 435 



Sanitary State of Bristol and Portsmouth.— E. J. E 435 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Binary Stars 43s 



The Zodiacal Light 43s 



The next Return of Encke's Comet 436 



Comet 1874(111.), Coggia 436 



The late Prof Argelander 436 



Notes on a Supposed 'Carriage Emblem of American Indian 



Origin. By Dr. Charles C Abbott (W'zM ///«.r/'?-rt^w«j) ... 436 



The British Association 437 



Reports 437 



Sectional Proceedings , 438 



Section B —Opening Address 438 



Section D.— Biology 441 



The American A.ssociation for the Advancement of Science.— 



Detroit Meeting 443 



Report on the Progress and Condition of the Royal Gardens 



at Kew during the Year 1874 445 



Notes 44t> 



Scientific Serials 448 



Societies and Academies 44? 



Erratum— P. 404, Col. 2, delete line 55. 



