548 



NATURE 



\Oct. 21, 1875 



Paris 



Academy of Sciences, Oct. 4— M. Fremy in the chair. 

 The following papers were read :— On the Observatory of the 

 Office of Longitudes at Montsouris, by M. Mouchez. — On the 

 dredging of the roadstead of Port Said, second note by M. de 

 Lesseps. — New researches on beats of the heart in the abnormal 

 state, and on the registration of these beats and of those of the 

 arteries, by M. Bouillaud. — On disordered variation of hybrid 

 plants, and deductions which may be made from it, by M. Nau- 

 din. — On the carpellary theory, according to the Irideae, by M. 

 Trecul. — Results of observations of solar protuberances and 

 spots, from 23rd April to 28lh June, 1875 (fifty-five rotations), 

 by P. Secchi. Four tables are given; deductions to follow. — 

 On the Hemisepius, nev/ genus of the family of Sepians, with 

 some remarks on species of the genus Sepia in general, by M. 

 Steenstrup. — Results obtained from attempts at industrial appli- 

 cations of solar heat, by M. Mouchot. The apparatus (in 

 work at Tours) consists of a silver plate mirror, in form of 

 a truncated cone, turning with the sun ; a cylindrical annular 

 boiler at focus, with blackened surface ; and a glass envelope 

 admitting the sun's rays, but preventing their exit when trans- 

 formed into obscure rays. One very hot day, five litres of 

 water were vaporised in the hour, representing 140 litres of 

 steam per minute. — On the mechanical properties of different 

 vapours at saturation in a vacuum, by M. Antoine. — On the dif- 

 ferent quantities of heat produced by the mixture of olive oil 

 with concentrated sulphuric acid, according as the boiling of the 

 acid is more or less recent, by M. Maumene.— On the existence 

 of ferruginous and magnetic corpuscles in atmospheric dust, by 

 M. Tissandier. Drawings are given. — On the formation of 

 clouds, by M. Hureau de Villeneuve. — On sexualised Phyllox- 

 era and the winter egg, by M, Balbiani, — MM. Chablaix, Cor- 

 teggiani, and Pourcherol, also presented notes on Phylloxera.- — 

 M. Marsanne submitted a memoir on " Process and apparatus 

 for production of signals, fires, and electric lights." — M. Males- 

 sart presented a second note on the problem of aviation. — M. 

 Tellicr called attention to an experimental voyage about to be 

 made to La Plata for transport of meat preserved by cold. 

 — M. Petit presented a note relative to the transformation of 

 starch by diastase, and the production of a new saccharine 

 matter. — The Secretary notified a brochure by M. Cossa, on the 

 syenite of Biellese. — On the eclipse of the sun of 28-29 Sept. 

 1875, by M. Angot. — On the reduction of a ternary cubic form 

 to its canonic form, by M. Brioschi. — On the value of the co- 

 efficient of expansion of steam from superheated water, by M. 

 CrouUebois. — Influence of stripping off the leaves on the vege- 

 tation of the beet, by M. Violette. It diminishes the root's 

 weight and yield of sugar, increasing the proportion of other 

 matters. — On two new meteorites of the desert of Atacama, and 

 on the meteorites found hitherto in this region of South America, 

 by M. Domeyko. — On clouds of ribbon-form, by M. de Fon- 

 vielle. — Observations of a bolide at Couiza (Aude) on the night 

 of 30th Sept. 1875, by M. Amigues.— The thunderstorms of 

 1S75, by M. d'Arbaud-Blonzac. 



Oct. II. — The following papers were read : — Results of obser- 

 vations of solar protuberances and spots from April 23 to June 

 28, 1875 (55 rotations) concluded, by P. Secchi. I'he daily 

 number of protuberances and surface of spots steadily diminished. 

 The great metallic eruptions ceased when the large spots dis- 

 appeared. Two maxima of protubeiances in each hemisphere 

 disappeared, leaving only the minima of the equatorial zones. 

 Protuberances diminished in height. Faculse disappeared from 

 round the poles and were confined to the zone of spots and protu- 

 berances. — M . Girardin presented a new edition of his work, " On 

 Dung and other Animal Manures." — M. Favre gave an extract 

 from his memoirs "On the transformation and equivalence of 

 chemical forces." — On the rotatory polarisation of quartz, by 

 MM.Soret and Sarazin.— New note on the processes of magne- 

 tisation, by M. Gaugam. — On the formation of hail, by M. Plante. 

 Electricity suddenly brings the water of clouds to a state oi 

 extreme division, facilitating congelation in a medium of low 

 temperature. Terrestrial magnetism, or the permanent electric 

 current of the globe, causes the gyratory movement of electrified 

 cloud masses. — Researches on the ammonia contained in sea- 

 water, and in tliat of salt marshes in the neighbourhood of Mont- 

 pellier, by M. Andoynaud. — On commercial analysis of sugars, 

 and the influence of salts and glucose on crystallisation of sugar, 

 by M. Durin. —On the hypsometric distribution of living mol- 

 luscs in the Central Pyrenees, by M. Fischer.— On the necessity 

 of ?5urrounding the lower part of vine-stocks with coal-tarred 



powders, by M. Girard. — Five other communications relative to 

 Phylloxera. — M. Lehmann presented a further note on a system 

 of propulsion for steamships. — M. Le Breton submitted to the 

 judgment of the Academy various apparatuses for the ascension 

 of liquids. — M. Llolzner showed specimens of carrot-roots, bear- 

 ing pucerons apparently of a new species. — The Director-General 

 of Customs presented a general tableau of the commerce of France 

 with its colonies and foreign powers^during 1874. — The Secretary 

 called attention to a memoir by MM. Nobel and Abel on exj)lo- 

 sives, and one by M. Volpicelli, defending Mellom's electro- 

 statical theory. — Remarks on the use made, in antiquity, of solar 

 heat,'on occasion of M. Mouchot's recent note, by M. Buch- 

 walder. — On the electric conductivity, of pyrites, by M. Dufet. 

 This is true metallic conductivity very variable with the physical 

 structure of the specimen, but in a given crystal, depending 

 neither on the direction, the intensity, nor the duration of the 

 current.— On the toxical effects of alcohols of the series 



C "h'" "O, by M. Rubuteau.— On the new tellurised minerals 

 lately discovered in ^Chili, by M. Domeyko. — Perforation of a 

 quartzous grit by the roots of trees, by M. Meimier. 



BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS RECEIVED 



British. — Report of the Meteorological Commission of the Royal Society. 

 — Ganot's Elementary Treatise on Physics. Seventh Edition, Revised and 

 Enlarged. Translated by K. Atkinson, Ph.D., F.C.S. (Longmans).— 

 Ultima Thule ; or, a Summer in Iceland : R F. Burton (Nimmo). — Proceed- 

 ings of the Bath Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club. Vol. iii. 

 No. 2. — Elementary Lessons in Botanical Geography: J. G. Baker, F.L.S. 

 (Reeve). — Numerical Examples in Heat : R. E. Day, M.A. (Longmans]. — 

 /^oology for Students: C.Carter Blake, D.Sc, with Preface by Richard 

 Owen, C.B., F.R.S. (Daldy, Isbister).— Pollution of Rivers: Wm. Hope, 

 V,C. — Food Manufacture versus River Pollution: Wm. Hope, V.C.— The 

 Challenger' s Crucial Test of the Wind and Gravitation Theories of Oceanic 

 Circulation : Jas. CroU. — Notes on some Comparative Microscopic Rock- 

 Structure of some Ancient and Modern Volcanic Rocks : J. Clifton Ward, 

 Assoc. R.S.M., F.G..S. (Taylor and Francis). — A Series of Twelve Maps for 

 Drawing and Examination : Charles Bird, R. A., F.R A.S. (Stanford).— 

 Revised List of the Vertebrated Animals in the Zoological Society's Gardens. 

 Supplement,— Medicinal Plants: R. Bentley, F'.L.S., and Henry Trimen, 

 M. B., F.L.S. P,art L (Churchill).- Nebraska ; its Advantages, Resources, 

 and Drawbacks : Edwin A. Curley (Low, Marston and Co.)— The Dawn of 

 Life : J. W. Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S. (HoJder and Stoughton).— Elementary 

 Analytical Geometry: T. G. Vyvyan, M.A. (Geo. Bell and Sons). — The 

 Botanical Locality Record Club. Report for 1874 (E. Newman). — Ele- 

 mentary Biology : Prof T. H. Huxley, F.R.S., &c., and H.N. Martin 

 (Macmillan and Co.) 



Colonial.— Hybridity and Absorption : Daniel Wilson, LL.D., F.R.S.E. 

 (from the Canadiaji Journal). — Mineral Statistics of Victoria, Australia, for 

 1874. — Report of the Geology and Resources of the Region and Vicinity of 

 the Forty-ninth Parallel: G. M. Dawson, Assoc. R.S.M., F.G.S.— Trans- 

 actions of the Royal Society of New South Wales for 1874. — Report on 

 Deep-sea Dredging Operations in the Gulf of St. Lawrence : J. F. Whiteaves. 

 — Reasons suggestive of Mining on Physical Principles for Gold and Coal : 

 J. Wood Beilby (Melbourne : Walker, May and Co.)— Transactions of the 

 Literary and Historical Society of Quebec. New Series, Part II. 



American. — Tinnitus Aurium : S. Theobald, M.D. (B.iltimore, Innes and 

 Co.)— Bulletin of the Bussey Institution, Boston, U.S. Parts II., III.; IV. 

 — Iowa Weather Review, No. i : Dr. Gustavus Hinrichs. — Report of the 

 Director of the Menagerie, New York. 



Foreign. — Boletin de la Academia Nacionalde Ciencias Exactas existente 

 en la Universidad de Cordova. Part IV. (Buenos Aires). — De la Nature 

 des Elements de la Chimie, par J. A. Groshaus (Haarlem, Les Heritiers 

 Loosjes). — N. Sewerzow's Erforschung des Thian-Schan-Gebirgs-Systems, 

 1867, &c., von A. Petermann(Gotha, Justus Perthes). 



CONTENTS Page 



Bancroft's "Races OF THE Pacific States" 529 



Huxley AND Martin's "Elhmentarv Biology" 530 



Our Book Shelf :— 



Mundv's "Boiling Springs of New Zealand" 532 



Baker's " Botanical Geography " 532 



Letters to the Editor :— 



Ocean Circulation.— Dr. William B. Carpenter, F.R.S. . . , 533 

 'The Sliding Seat. —Dr. R. J. LHE(/^/V/j///?«/'ra/w«) . . . . 533 

 History of the Numerals.— W. M. Flinders Vktrik (IVit/i Illus- 

 tration) . . . . • ^3^ 



Scarcity of Birds.— Adrian Peacock 534 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



IX Cassiopeae and Vicinity 534 



The Double Star 2 2120 535 



The Minor Planets 535 



Transit of Comet 1826 (V.) over the Sun's Disc -535 



V A\Komiiv. 'Laws ov Storms {IViih Illusiration) 535 



The Large Reflector of the Paris Observatory 538 



Lieut. Wevprecht on Arctic Exploration 539 



Notes 53^ 



A City of Health, II. By Dr. B. W. Richardson, F.R.S. . . . 542 



"I'he Internal Heat OF the Earth. By Prof Mohr 545 



Scientific Serials 546 



Societies and Academies 547 



BooKS,AND Pamphlets Received ........ o ... 548 



