96 



NATURE 



\_Nov. 



1888 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, November 12. — M. Janssen in the 

 chair. — On the cultivation of the square-eared variety of wheat 

 in 1887 and 1888, by MM. E. Porion and P. P. Deherain. The 

 results of two years' experience in various parts of France show 

 that this variety of red wheat yields under favourable conditions 

 crops which till lately would have been thought fabulous. It 

 succeeds best on well-drained heavy clay soils in the central and 

 northern provinces, and if well manured and sown in regular 

 furrows gives splendid returns ; it also shows more power of 

 resisting the destructive action of wind and rain than any 

 other kind. — On the mture of milk, by M. A. Bechamp. This 

 is a reply to the question. Does milk contain any anatomical 

 elements of the system, and if so, do the lacteous globules re- 

 present any of these elements ? The author's studies lead to the 

 conclusion that milk is not an emulsion ; that the lacteous 

 globules are real adipose vesicles in a free state, and that cows' 

 milk contains, besides caseine, other albuminoid substances, not 

 in a free state, but combined in solution with alkalies. — Calcula- 

 tion of the tensions of sundry vapours, by M. Ch. Antoine. 



Here the general formula log/ = A ( D J is applied to 



a number of vapours such as benzene, chloroform, alcohol, 

 carbon chloride, ether, acetone, and carbonic acid, and the 

 comparative results are given for the five temperatures that 

 served as the base for the calculation of Regnault's new formula. 

 The final formulas thus obtained, which had never been worked 

 out by Regnault, mu^t henceforth be adopted in studying the 

 properties of the vapour of acetone. — A new method of improv- 

 ing the capacity of very long telegraphic lines, by M. Fernand 

 Godfroy. This method consists in establishing at each ex- 

 tremity of the line a connection with earth, having a coefficient 

 of self-induction powerful enough, if not to compensate the usual 

 waste, at least greatly to diminish it by the inverse effects which 

 the self-induction tends to produce. The method has already 

 been tried with marked success, on several underground lines, 

 amongst others that between the Paris central station and 

 Angouleme, a distance of 300 miles. Here it was found 

 possible to signal at the rate of twenty words per minute with 

 an ordinary Morse apparatus, without any intermediate or local 

 translator, and utilizing one direction only of the current. — On 

 the silicated combinations of glucine, by MM. P. Hautefeuille 

 and A. Perrey. The elements of a leucite or volcanic schorl with 

 aluminia or glucine base (4Si02, AUOs.KO, or 4Si0.2,Gl203, 

 KO), heated between 600° and 800^ C. with an excess of neutral 

 vanadate of potassa, are rapidly mineralized. But the nature of 

 the resulting crystals varies in the course of the same operation 

 according as the mineralizing agent yields to the product by 

 which an increasing portion of its alkali is crystallized. Thus 

 this product is homogeneous only under exceptional conditions, 

 and as a rule is a mixture nf several chemical species, whose 

 separation is here studied. — Presence of glycolic acid and of 

 normal propylenedicarbonic acid in the grease of sheep's wool, 

 by MM. A. and F. Buisne. In the process of analyzing sheep- 

 washings, the authors have succeeded in isolating these two acids, 

 which are here described. The latter, with formula COOH — 

 CH2 — CHo — CH„ — COOH, is shown to be a higher homologue 

 of succinic acid. — On the Hersiliidse, a new family of parasitic 

 Copepods, , by M. Eugene Canu. Thanks to his discovery at 

 Wimereux of two new genera closely allied to the Hersilia, and 

 parasites of various invertebrates, the author has come to the 

 conclusion that the Hersilia should constitute a new family as 

 distinct from the Siphonostoms as they are from the Peltidians. 

 A full anatomical description is given of this family of Her- 

 siliidae. — On a new geological map of France, by MM. Jacquot 

 and Michel Levy. This map, which is on the scale of 

 I : 1,000,000, will be issued by the French Geological Service 

 before the close of the year, and will embody the latest re- 

 searches, including the unpublished reports for 1884-86. — M. 

 <lu Chatellier has a note on the continued subsidence of the 

 Finistere coast, Brittany ; and M. V. Galtier describes some 

 fresh experiments tending to show the efficacy of intra- venous 

 injections of the virus of rabies as a prophylactic against the bite 

 of mad dogs. 



Astronomical Society, November 3. — M. C. Flammarion, 

 President, in the chair. — M. Ricco sent a description of a sun- 

 spot observed from November 12 to 25, 1882. This spot, the 

 largest ever observed, had an area over fifty times that of a 

 great circle of the earth. It exhibited rose-coloured veils in 

 some parts, and the nuclei were crossed by large yellow arcs. — 



M. Gaudlbert sent a drawing of Eratosthenes, showing twelve 

 hills within the ring, and a multitude of small craters on the 

 east.— M. Blot, of Clermont (Oise), seit an elementary demon 



stration of the formula zr = ^f--_-^ which gives the velocity 



of a planet in terms of the major axis and of the radius-vector. 

 — Observations of meteors, by M. de Alcantara Penya at 

 Majorca, on June 23, at 7.20 p.m. ; by Baroness Ottenfels in 

 the Gulf of Juan, on July 17, at 9 p.m. ; by M. Henrionnet at 

 'I'royes, on September 9, at 9.30 p.m. — Observations of sun-spots, 

 by MM. Bruguiere, Henrionnet, and Loiseau ; and of Sawerthal's 

 comet, by MM. Guillaume and Kropp.— M. Guiot, of Soissons, 

 saw the companion to Sirius with a 3^ -inch refractor, and 

 observed Vesta with the naked eye from September 5 to 20. — 

 M. Ferret photographed the moon with a 3|-inch refractor. — -M. 

 Duprat .sent an obssrvation of the lunar eclipse of July 23 

 made at Constantine. — M. Lihou observed an occultation' of a 

 seventh magnitude star by Jupiter. — M. Foray observed Venu- 

 on the day of its conjunction, with a 4-inch refractor. — Th< 

 Societes Scientifiques Flammarion, of Marseilles, Argentan. 

 Bruxelles, Jaen, and Bogota, were elected Correspondinj; 

 Societies. 



BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, and SERIALS RECEIVED. 



The Orchids of the Cipe Peninsula: H. Bolus (Cape Town).— Mono- 

 graphs of the United States Geological Survey, vol. xii. (Washington).— 

 Atlas to accompany a Monograph on the Geology and Mining Industry of 

 Leadville, Colorado : S. F. Emmons (Washington). — Report of the Meteoro- 

 logical Service of the Dominion of Can.-idi for the year ending December 31, 

 1885 (Ottawa).— The Kingdom of Georg.a : O. Wardrjp (Low).— New Zea- 

 land of To-day: J. Bradshaw (Low). -Physical Realism: T. Case 

 (Longmans).— Cours de Thermodynamique: M. Lippmann (Paris, Georges 

 Carre) —Truth for its own Sake— the Story of Charles Darwin : W. Mawer 

 (Sonnenschein). — Travaux et Memoires du Bureau International des Poids 

 et Mesures, Tome vi. (Paris, Gauthier-Villars). — Birds in Nature : R. B. 

 Sharpe (Low). — Orient Line Guide, 3rd edition : edited by W. J. Loftie 

 (Low) —The Least of All Lands : W. Miller (Blackie).— Bulletin de la 

 Societe Astronomique de France, Premiere Annee, 1887 (Paris). — 'I'ransac- 

 tions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria, vol. xxiv. Part 2 

 (Williams and Norgate). — Bolletino della Societa di Naturalisti in Napoli, 

 Serie ii. , vol. ii., Anno 2, Fasc. 2 (Napoli). 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



The Opening of the Pasteur Institute 73 



Practical Botany 74 



The Senses, Instincts, and Intelligence of Animals. 



By Prof. George J. Romanes, F.R.S 76 



Massage 77 



Our Book Shelf :— 



Rutley : " Rock-forming Minerals " 7^ 



Hall and Stevens : " A Text-book of Euclid's Elements 



for the Use of Schools " 78 



Fisher: " A Class-book of Elementary Chemi.stry" . 78 

 Letters to the Editor: — 



Alpine Haze. {Illustrated.) — Antoine d'Abbadie . 79 

 Rankine's Modification of Newton's Investigation of 

 the Velocity of Sound in any Substance. — Prof. 



Oliver J. Lodge, F.R.S 79 



A Simple Dynamo. {Illustrated.) — Frederick J. 



Smith 80 



The Use of Rotifera.— C. L 81 



On the Mechanical Conditions of a Swarm of 



Meteorites. I. By Prof. G. H. Darwin, F.R.S. . 8r 

 Some Curious Properties of Metals and Alloys. By 



Prof. W. Chandler Roberts- Austen, F.R.S 83 



The Leonid Meteor-Shower, 1888. By W. F. Denning 84 



Notes 85 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



The Brazilian Transit of Venus Expeditions, 1882 . . 87 



The Tail of Comet 1887 « (Thome) 88 



Astronomical Phenomena for the Week 1888 



November 25 — December 1 88 



Geographical Notes ... .... 88 



The Foundation-Stones of the Earth's Crust. By 



Prof. T. G. Bonney, F.R.S 89 



Systematic Relations of Platypsyllus as determined 



by the Larva. By Prof. C. V. Riley 94 



Scientific Serials 94 



Societies and Academies 94 



Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received 96 



