September i6, 1920] 



NATURE 



99 



to discuss subjects of mutual interest when it was 

 timt; to part. It was all too short for any lover of 

 Pari», for no lover of brightness and beauty leaves 

 Paris without regret. Some departed for the shell- 

 scarred battlefields of the greatest war in history ; 

 'others, ere they returned to the routine of their lives, 

 gav«.- one more glance at the gardens of the Tuileries 

 lying in the golden sunshine of the perfect July after- 

 noon as it brought out all the vivid colours of the 

 flowers grouped with such unerring taste. 



Memories of the past had been crowding in all that 

 week ; did not tlie word " Sorbonne " at one time 

 import everything that strove aji^ainst scientific en- 

 lightenment, and connote everything that stood for 

 tlve obscurantism of the Middle Ages? 



The historically minded could not but recall that 

 it was in the gardens of the Tuileries one day in 

 iSi<) that Laennec devised the first stethoscope. ' He 

 had been watching some children place their ears 

 on logs of wood to hoar sounds conveved through 

 them, and, seizing on the principle underlying the 

 children's play, he .soon invented the stethoscope, one 

 of the earliest instruments of modern medicine. 



.As we strolled across the gardens we gave a parting 

 glance at the sun-bathed roofs of the Louvre, the most 

 magnificent palace in Europe, a building the historv 

 of which is .nn epitome of the wonderful storv of 

 France herself- of her glories, her triumphs, ' her 

 crimes, and her sorrows. I>. Frasbr Harris. 



University and Educational IntelHgence. 



The Patent Office Library is open to the public 

 daily except on Sunda\s, GixkI Friday, Christmas 

 Day, Whitsun Eve, and Hank Holidays. On and 

 after October i the hours of opening will be from 

 10 a.m. to f) p.m., except on Christmas Eve and 

 Kaster Eve, when the library is closed at 4 p.m. 

 Dr. R. M. C"aves has been appointed to the chair 

 ! inorganic and analytical chenjistry in the. Roval 

 i •ihnical College, Glasgow. This vacancv was caused 

 ■'<\ the transfer of Dr. F. J. Wilson to the chair of 

 • rganic chemistry in succession to Dr. L .M. Heilbron, 

 ho was recently appointed professor of organic 

 li>mistry in the Cniversity of Liverpool. Dr. Caven 

 IS for man\ vears lecturer in chemistry at I'niver- 

 V ColUge, Nottingham, a position he resigned to 

 (ome Principal of the Darlington Technic^il College. 

 The new session of the Battersea Polytechnic o|Hns 

 •1 Tuesday, September 21. \ general introductory 

 ursc has tn-en arranged for students desiring either 

 qualify for the scholarship or entrance examina- 

 ns of any of ihc diploma courses, or to take the 

 . l.itriculation Ex^imination of London Cniversitv 

 before taking up a science or engineering degree 

 roursi-. Day anil evening courses are nroviiled for 

 those desirous of taking the Intermediate and Final 

 Examinations of London L'niversity in sci<!nce (pure 

 and applied) and in music. Dav' courses are also 

 available in engineering and other technical subjects, 

 iniluding leach<rs' courses in sjinitarv and domestic 

 science. Evening courses are wider' in scone; cn- 

 gint-ering. physics, photography, languages," music 

 and domestic science are among the subjects with 

 which the lectures will deal. Full oartirulars of all 

 th.- courses will !>.■ found in the Polytechnic Calendar, 

 which can be obtained from the secretary. 



A rOHBINKD effort is nt oresent Ixing m.nde by 

 »tu«lents and friends of the Citv and Guilds Engineer- 

 ing College, the Roval School ^^ Mines, and the Roviil 

 College of Science in supoort of the Imp<-rial College 

 W ar Memorial scheme. The first object in view is the 



. ro6] 



erection in the college buildings of simple memorial 

 tablets bearing the names of the old students — some 

 three hundred in .ill — who fell in the war. Closely 

 connected with this purpose, and arising out of the 

 desire of ex-Service men and relatives of the fiillen to 

 do something of permanent practical value for the 

 students of the college, is the scheme for the acquisi- 

 tion of a sports field. This particular provision for 

 physical development has hitherto been lacking at the 

 Imperial College, and the enterprise now on foot aims 

 at supplying what is generallv admitted to be an 

 essential part of the equipment of an educational 

 institution. In response to an appeal issued in Mav 

 last for i2,oooL to enable the scheme to be carried out 

 in its entirety, a sum of more than (Sooo/. has alreadv 

 been subscribed or promised. This has been con- 

 sidered sufficientlv encouraging to warrant the acquisi- 

 tion of a suitable ground over which an option had 

 been secured, and the committee is now appealing to 

 all old students and other friends of the Imperial 

 College who have not so far .subscribed to take their 

 share in providing the balance of the purchase price 

 and the cost of equipment. 



Societies and Academies. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, .\ugust 17.— .M. Henri Deslandres 

 in the chair. — G. Humbert : The expression of a non- 

 Euclidean area of the fundamental domain related to 

 an indefinite Hermite form. -'!". Carleman : Singular 

 integral equations with a real and svmmetrical 

 nucleus.- .M. Galbrun : The deformation of a helical 

 spring the extremities of which are constrained. — 

 L. Barbillion and M. DugH : A new class of measur- 

 ing apparatus for the direct evaluation of magnitudes 

 which are functions of two variables. Forms of 

 apparatus now in use, ba.sed on the determination of 

 the position of intersection of two rectilinear needles 

 with reference to a curve, are liable to errors of 

 parallax which are difficult to reduce. The type now- 

 described is based on the use of a rectilinear needle 

 and a curved needle rotating on a common axis. Two 

 examples of application of the method are suggested : 

 speed indicators for aeroplanes and control of car- 

 burettor in internal-combustion motors. — C. Nord- 

 mann : The absorbing powers of the atmospheres of 

 stars. .\ method of comp;iring them and "of deter- 

 mining the minimum numerical values.— H. Gaalt 

 and R. Welck : .\ case of isomerism in the series of 

 the aromatic a-keto-acids. In .iddition to the two iso. 

 mers of phenylpyruvic acid described by the authors in 

 a recent paper, a third isomer has now been isolated, 

 and the c-onditions under which these isomers can be 

 transformed into the other forms have been worked out. 

 .'\ study of the reactions of these three conipoun<ls leads 

 to the conclusion that two arc stereo-isomers possess- 

 ing the «'nolic form, and the third is the ketone. — 

 R. Fosse : The synthesis of a second diamide, oxamide, 

 by the oxidation of sugar and ammonia. Oxamide 

 has Ix'en isolated as one of the products of oxidation 

 of cane-sugar in presence of ammonia bv calcium 

 permanganate. — MM. TIBeneaa and "Orikh'oll : The 

 hydrol)enzoin transforni.ition. TIh' influence of the 

 nature of the reagent. With the exception of the 

 case of trinhenvlglyrol. which reacts in the same 

 manner with different <lehy<lratinjj agents, according 

 as strong or dilute sulnhuric acid is emploved, the 

 dehydration of the alkvlhvdrobenzoins may lake place 

 in various way.s.— H. A. Bronwer : The nature of the 

 diamond-bearing conglomerate of Diamantina. Brazil. — 

 P. \V. Sinart-Mcnlealh ; The tectonic of the VVrstern 

 Pyrenees.— J. Kunstlcr : .A treatment preventive of 



