8i8 



NATURE 



[FEBRUAIiV i"], 1921 



Societies and Academies. 



Paris. 



Academy of Sciences, January 24. — M. Georgies 

 Lemoine in the chair.— The president announced the 

 death of M. Georges Humbert, member of the 

 Academy.— P. Termier and L. Joleaud : The age of 

 the phe'nomena of transport in the mountains of 

 Gigondas (Vaucluse).— G. Gouy : A theorem of geo- 

 metrical optics and its application to systems of 

 prisms.— M. Pierre Bazy was elected a member of 

 the section of medicine and surgery in succession to 

 M. Guvon. — J. Andrade : The transverse elastic dis- 

 placements of the centre of gravity of a cylindrical 

 spiral and its doublets.— C. Fery : A mechanical clock 

 with free escapement.— A. Liinard : The electro- 

 magnetic energy and thermodynamic potential of a 

 system of currents.— G. Reboui : A new property of 

 bodies poor conductors of electricity. An attempt 

 to discover the causes of phenomena described in an 

 earlier communication.— M. Collignon : The propaga- 

 tion of the sound of guns to great distances. Ihe 

 annual periodicity. Confirmation of results given in 

 a previous communication : the law of annual 

 periodicity has been verified up to November 18, 1918. 

 L. Forsin : The systematic nomenclature and con- 

 stitution of the derivatives of molybdic acid. Repre- 

 senting molytxlic acid by the formula 

 HeMo36.,.(3H,MoO,), 

 the composition of the complex salts of molybdates 

 can be satisfactorily represented.— E. Rengade : Ihe 

 isothermal concentration of a solution prepared start- 

 ing with two salts with different ions. A study of 

 the compositions of the solution and deposited salts 

 produced by the isothermal evaporation at 25° C. of a 

 solution of ammonium nitrate and sodium chloride.— 

 Mile. J. Bonnefoy and J. Martinet : 6-Methylisatin. 

 Two new methods are given for the preparation of 

 this compound, the first starting with metatoluidine 

 and methvl mesoxalate, and the second with meta- 

 toluidine, 'carbon bisulphide, and hydrogen peroxide. 



E. E. Blaise : Derivatives of i : 4-diketones find 



sem'icarbazide. The primary product of the reaction 

 between the diketone and semicarbazide is a disemi- 

 carbazone; this is readily converted in formic acid 

 solution into an N-ureo-pyrrol.— G. Mignonac : A new 

 general method for the preparation of amines, starting 

 with aldehvdes or ketones. The aldehyde or ketone 

 is dissolved in an alcoholic solution of ammonia, 

 finelv divided nickel added, and the mixture kept 

 viole'ntlv shaken, treated with hydrogen at atmo- 

 spheric' pressure. Examples of the application of the 

 method are given. — P. Olangeaud : The mountains of 

 Margeride : their porphvric eruptions, cycles of 

 erosion, and glaciers.— J^ Savomin : The distribu- 

 tion and direction of the phosphate basins in 

 western Morocco. The deposits of Beni Meskine and 

 Oulad Delim are rich, very extensive, and of great 

 commercial importance. The other basins described 

 are only of theoretical interest.- A. LumiJre : The 

 harmful action of dead leaves on germination. A 

 study of the substances extracted from dead leaves 

 by water showed the presence of reducing substances 

 capable of preventing the germination of seeds. 

 Numerous successive. extractions were required before 

 these substances were completely removed. From 

 these observations it is supposed that after the fall 

 of the leaves rain-water extracts these harmful sub- 

 stances during the winter, thus partially sterilising 

 the soil and removing oxygen, and it is only after the 

 lapse of a certain period of time that sufficient oxygen 

 is present in the soil to permit the germination of 

 seeds. — G. Tanret : The presence of quinic acid in 



NO. 2677, VOL. 106] 



the leaves of some conifers. The leaves of the cedar 

 collected in July contain 5 gm. of quinic acid per kg. 

 of dried leaves. Similar results were obtained witii 

 larch leaves, but the examination of other conifers 

 gave no quinic acid. — A. Magnan : The action of the 

 water on the body and head of diving birds. — C. 

 Dekhuyson ; The biological semi-permeability of the 

 external walls of the Sipunculidese. Experirhents are 

 described which show that the external walls of 

 Phascolosoma vulgare and Sipunculus nudus are semi. , 

 permeable in so far as pure water, carbon dioxide, 

 and oxygen pass through with much greater velocity 

 than salts in solution. — P. Goy : The lower plants 

 and the accessory factors of their growth. From 

 studies of the growth under varying conditions of 

 several species of yeasts, moulds, and bacilli., the 

 conclusion is drawn that vitamines are not indis- 

 pensable to the lower plants, but that their evolution is 

 considerablv influenced by the presence of an organic 

 body which has been isolated in a pure crystallisable 

 state from cultures of Miicor mucedo. This substance 

 is not an amino-acid. and contains neither nitrogen 

 nor phosphorus.— H. Bierry and F. Rathery : Diabetes 

 and glvcemia. 



Books Received. 



Klimatographie von Osterreich. VII. : Klimato- 



graphie der Bukowina. By Dr. V. Conrad. Pp. 42. 



Vm. : Klimatographie von Mahren und Schlesien. 



By H. Schindler. Pp. 125. IX. : Klimatographie 



von Oberosterreich. Bv P. T. Schwarz. Pp. 133. 



(Wien : Ceroid & Co.) 



Annuaire de I'Observatoire Royal de Belgique, 1922. 



Pp. vi-t-316. (Bruxelles.) 

 The Flowering Plants of South Africa. Edited by 



Dr. I. B. Pole Evans. Vol. i., No. 2, February. 



Plates 11-20. (London: L. Reeve and Co., Ltd.; 



Johannesburg and Cape Town : Speciality Press, 



Ltd.) Coloured, 155. ; plain, los. 

 The Theory of Relat'ivity. By Prof. R. D. Car- 



michael. Second edition. Pp. 112. (New York: 



J. Wilev and Sons, Inc. ; London : Chapman and Hall, 



Ltd.) 8s. 6d. net. 

 .\ir Ministry, Meteorological Office. International 



Meteorological Conference. Report of Proceedings of 

 the Fourth International Conference of Directors of 

 Meteorological Institutes and Observatories and of 

 the International Meteorological Committee, Paris, 

 iqig. (M.O. 239.) Pp. 84. (London : Meteorological 

 Office.) 



Report of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion for the Year ending June 30, 1920. (Publication 

 2586.) Pp. lio + i plate. (Washington: Government 

 Printing Office.) 



Department of the Interior. Bureau of Education. 

 Bulletin No. 65, 1919 : The Eyesight of School 

 Children : Defective Vision as Related to School En- 

 vironment, and Methods of Prevention and Correc- 

 tion. By J. H. Berkowitz. Pp. v-t-i284-xvi plates. 

 Bulletin No. 7, 1920 : Requirements for the Bachelor's 

 Degree. By W. C. John'. Pp. v-l-313. Bulletin No. 

 29 : The National Crisis in Education : An .'\ppeal to 

 the People. Edited by W. T. Bawden. Pp. 191. 

 (Washington : Government Printing Office.) 



Smithsonian Institution. Bureau of American 

 Ethnology. Bulletin 67 : Alsea Texts and Myths. 

 By L. j. Frachtenberg-. Pp. 304. (Washington : 

 Government Printing Office.) 



Truth about Venereal Disease. Bv Dr. Marie C. 

 Stopes. Pp. vli+52. (London : G. P. Putnam's 

 Sons.) rs. 6d. net. 



