Nov. I, 1888] 



NATURE 



17 



Lion of specialists," says our American contemporary, "of 

 men who have pursued their investigations, each in his own 

 department, far beyond the point reached by the ordinary 

 practising physician, even though his professional equipment be 

 of the best. The papers that were read, therefore, presented 

 the results of the most advanced scientific researches in the 

 several departments, and the organization of the Congress is such 

 as to insure in the future the maintenance of this high scientific 

 standard. AH opportunity for scheming medical politicians to 

 gain prominence or office is carefully guarded against, and the 

 only chance that any physician has to gain distinction through 

 membership of the Congress is by presenting papers of such high 

 order of excellence as to command the attention and secure the 

 approval of the learned members of the medical profession to 

 whom, as to the most competent critics, he submits his work." 



At one of the meetings of the Anatomical Society, during the 

 session of the Medical Congress in Washington, Dr. Lamb, 

 of the United States Army Medical Museum, spoke briefly 

 of a singular phenomenon he had observed in his examina- 

 tion of human breast-banes. It was the occurrence, in a 

 number of specimens, of an eighth rib, the cartilage that is 

 usually found below the seventh rib being fully developed into a 

 rib. Dr. Lamb first saw a specimen of this kind about ten 

 years ago. While teaching, he had occasion to observe the 

 subject he had before the class with great care, and was sur- 

 prised on one occasion, on counting the ribs, to find that there 

 were eight. He made no further investigation at the time, but 

 recently he has given the subject more attention, and now he 

 has in his own collection four specimens, while in the Army 

 Medical Museum there are eight more. In all these cases the 

 phenomenon occurs in Negroes, but one additional specimen is 

 that of an Indian. Science says that Dr. Lamb has made a 

 thorough search of anatomical literature for references to this 

 peculiarity. In the English books there is only a single inci- 

 dental reference to it, and in that case the author does not say 

 that be has ever seen a specimen. In German books there are 

 two references, one of them being the one already mentioned by 

 the English authority. The French anatomists do not mention 

 it at all ; and only one American, Allen, makes any reference 

 to it. Among the anatomists attending the Medical Congress, 

 only two or three had seen specimens. Dr. Billings, in a 

 circular he has sent out to anatomists and others, has requested 

 that information on the subject be sent to the Army Medical 

 Museum. 



Part 4 of the Synchronous Weather Charts of the North 

 Atlantic and the Adjacent Continents has been published 

 by the Meteorological Council. It deals with the weather of 

 each day from May 25 to September 3, 1883, and is the com- 

 pletion of the discussion undertaken for the thirteen months 

 from August 1882, in connection with the international system 

 of circumpolar meteorological observations. This last volume 

 of the Atlantic Weather Charts is in every way equal in value 

 to the previous parts issued, notices of which have been given 

 in Nature. Part 4 represents the weather of the summer 

 season when the conditions over the Atlantic are necessarily 

 quieter than they are in the winter. There is, however, much 

 that is of general interest, and the broken weather s) com- 

 monly experienced during an English summer is v/ell pictured. 

 Considerable play is shown in the behaviour of the high-pressure 

 area usually situated in Mid- Atlantic, and the direct influence of 

 its movement upon the weather over a very large area of both 

 sea and land is very evident. J At the beginning of June 

 the high b-irometer holds a very central position, and extends 

 across the Atlantic from coast to coast, the barometer reading 

 as high as 30'6 inches. Several low-pressure areas are skirting 

 to the northward, but they are pushed to a higher latitude than 

 usual, and too far to the north to cause any serious disturbance 



of the weather in the neighbourhood of the British Islands. The 

 high-pressure area, however, soon breaks up, and by June 7 

 there is no isobar over the Atlantic with a higher value than 

 30'2 inches, whilst the depressions embrace the whole area to the 

 north of 40°N., and are more serious in character. These unsettled 

 conditions continue till about June 20, when the high-pressure 

 area regains its normal position ; but there is somewhat similar 

 play in the high-pressure system shown in July and August, 

 although to a much less extent. The charts show a good 

 instance of storm development in Mid-Atlantic on August li, 

 which ultimately caused a heavy gale in England on the 14th. A 

 low-pressure area was also formed in 28° N. and 65° W. on 

 August 20, which developed to a hurricane by the 22nd, 

 and apparently reached our islands in a modified form on 

 August 28. Good instances of the movement of depressions 

 are also shown, some disturbances being traced across the 

 Atlantic. An additional sheet is given containing the charts for 

 September l to 3, in order to show the passage across the 

 British Islands of a steep cyclonic system which was accompanied 

 by severe gales. The depression apparently originated in 20° N. 

 and 55° W. on August 21, and, after crossing the British 

 Islands at the commencement of September, it passed over the 

 North Sea, and subsequently disappeared. 



The First Annual Report of the Meteorological Society of 

 Australasia, which was established chiefly by the labours of Mr. 

 C. L. Wragge, shows that the Society is making good progress, 

 and now numbers upwards of eighty subscribing members. There 

 are twelve observing-scations established under the auspices of 

 the Society, and it is proposed to establish others in Fiji and 

 Norfolk Islands. The Council also propose to collect observa- 

 tions from ships, with the view of carrying out investigations 

 similar to those undertaken by Dr. Meldrum at the Mauritius. 

 Several papers of interest have been read by members during 

 the past year, and an abstract of the climatological observations 

 is published in the Proceedings of the Society. 



Two remarkable new polymers of methyl and ethyl cyanides, 

 forming well-developed crystals, have been obtained in the 

 laboratory of Prof. E. von Meyer at Leipzig. They possess 

 percentage compositions precisely the same as those of CH^CN 

 and CoHsCN, but twice the molecular weight, and are therefore 

 represented by the formulx C4H6N2 and C,jHjoN2. The latter 

 compound was obtained as follows. Metallic sodium, in small 

 pieces, was rapidly added to a solution of ethyl cyanide in abso- 

 lute ether. A brisk action very soon commenced with formation 

 of a white pulverulent precipitate, and escape of gaseous ethane 

 CoH,;. After the cessation of frothing, the mixture was warmed 

 upon a water-bath, and the precipitate afterwards separated by 

 decantation, washed with ether, and thrown into water. De- 

 composition at once occurred, accompanied by the separation 

 of an oil, which on standing solidified in magnificent tabular 

 crystals. These were readily obtained pure by washing with 

 cold water, in which they are but sparingly soluble, pressing 

 between filter-paper, and drying in a desiccator. On analysis 

 they were found to give the same numbers as ethyl cyanide. 

 The latter compound, however, is a liquid boiling at 98° C, 

 while the new substance is a solid melting at 47''-48°. It may 

 be distilled without change, boiling at 257°-258°, 160° higher 

 than ethyl cyanide. Vapour-density determinations show that 

 it possesses twice the molecular weight of the latter compound, 

 a result which was confirmed by determinations according to the 

 new method of Raoult, described in these columns a short time 

 ago. The cycle of chemical changes resulting in the production 

 of this curious polymer have been fully worked out, and are 

 briefly as follows. One atom of sodium appears to replace an 

 atom of hydrogen in one molecule of C.,HbCN, forming sodium 

 cyan-ethyl, C._,H4NaCN ; a second atom of sodium at the same 



