590 



NATURE 



{April 1 8, 1889 



Minister of Public Instruction, Louis Passy, President of the 

 Society of Agriculture, Cbaumeton, President of the Students' 

 Association, Des Cloizeaux, of the Academy of Sciences, 

 (^uatrefages, of the Academy of Sciences, Chautenps, Presi- 

 dent of the Municipal Council of Paris, and Roy, Manager of 

 the Society of Arts and Manufactures. Next came the mem- 

 bers of M. Chevreul's family, grandchildren and great-grand- 

 children ; and they were followed by the representatives of the 

 President of the Republic, by several of the Ministers, the 

 Presidents of the Senate and the Chamber, and representa- 

 tives of all the great educational and scientific bodies and 

 administrative departments. At Notre Dame there was an 

 impressive religious service. The interior of the church was 

 hung with black, and over the porch, which was also hung with 

 black, was a scroll bearing the dates •' 1786-1889." In the 

 centre of the choir was a catafalque resting on silver columns, 

 and surmounted by a canopy with bands of ermine. After the 

 religious ceremony, the body was removed to L'Hay, and in- 

 terred in the family vault. In compliance with M. Chevreul's 

 last wishes, no speech was made over his grave. 



Mr. Francis Arthur Heron, B.A., of New College, 

 Oxford, has been appointed, after competitive examination, to 

 the Assistantship in the Geological Department of the British 

 Museum, vacant by the resignation of Mr. Arthur Dendy, now 

 Demonstrator of Biology in the University of Melbourne. 



We are glad to see that female art students have now the 

 opportunity of studying the scientific basis of their profes- 

 sion, as Bedford College for Ladies has instituted a well- 

 arranged course of lectures to be given this spring by the Professor 

 of Ph)sics, Mr. Wornack, on light and colour. That an artist 

 should have, at least, an elementary knowledge of the physics 

 of light and colour there can be no doubt. 



The Liverpool Marine Biology Committee have arranged to 

 have a four days' dredging expedition at Easter in the Liverpool 

 Salvage Association's steamer Hycena. The ground expected to be 

 covered on this cruise is from the south end of the Isle of Man 

 southwards to Anglesey, and along the north coast of Anglesey 

 to Puffin Island. The submarine electric light will again be 

 used as an attraction in tow-nets let down to the bottom, and 

 this method of capturing some of the more active Crustacea 

 which appear to escape the dredge, will be tried in considerably 

 deeper water than in last year's Hyana Expedition. Mr. Hoyle's 

 new tow-net, which can be opened and closed at any required 

 depth, and Mr. W. S. McMillan's large bottom net, will also be 

 used. 



The extraordinary meeting of the Societe Geologique de 

 France, which will be held this year in Paris, beginning on 

 August 18, promises to be one of great interest. During the 

 week devoted to the meeting, the collections in Paris will be 

 visited, and there will be a series of excursions to places of 

 interest within easy reach of that city. In the week following 

 the meeting, excursions will be made to more distant localities— 

 among others to the Auvergne and Brittany, that to the former 

 district under the guidance of M. Michel-Levy, and that to 

 Brittany conducted by M. C. Barrois. Arrangements will be 

 made with the railway authorities for a reduction of 50 per cent, 

 upon the fares ; but in order to secure this advantage the names 

 of persons intending to attend must be sant to the secretaries of 

 the Society before July i. British geologists, and especially 

 Fellows of the Geological Society of London, are cordially 

 invited to be present. 



The April number of Iliinmel mid Enie, the magazine of the 

 Gesellschaft Urania (Berlin), contains an interesting article on 

 the Norwegian North Sea Expedition, by Prof. Mohn, Director 

 of the Norwegian Meteorol -glcal Institute, Christiania. There 



is also a good article on the famous hot springs of the Yellow- 

 stone Park, by Prof. Zittel, which is illustrated by a map of the 

 neighbourhood and a beautiful photogravure of the terraces. 

 The Copernican theory is discoursed upon by Dr. William Meyer, 

 and two drawings comparing the supposed paths of Mars on the 

 old and new theories very forcibly illustrate its beauty and 

 simplicity. Dr. Ernst Wagner contributes an article on the 

 eruption of Krakata"b, particularly referring to the work of the 

 Krakata~o Committee of the Royal Society. Besides these, there 

 are also particulars of the various astronomical phenomena for 

 the month. 



Prof. Kikuchi, of Tokio, Japan, has completed his work 

 (in Japanese) entitled "Elements of Plane Geometry" by a 

 second volume, which contains "Book iv., Ratio and Proportion ; 

 Book v.. Geometrical Applications." 



A SERIES of derivatives of the unknown tri-hydrocyanic acid, 

 H3C3N3, have been prepared by Prof. Krafft and Dr. von 

 Hansen, of Heidelberg. Tri-cyanogen chloride, C3N3CI3, and 

 the corresponding bromide have long been known, and the 

 radicle C3N3 is supposed to exist in the ferro- and ferri-cyanides. 

 Hence it has been expected that some day the hydride itself 

 would be obtained, and although this has not yet been accom- 

 plished, a very close approach has been effected by the Heidel- 

 berg chemists, who have succeeded in preparing derivatives 

 containing organic radicles instead of hjdrogen. Tri-cyanogen 

 hydride may be regarded as bearing the same relation to prussic 

 acid as benzene does to acetylene. On passing a current of 

 acetylene gas through a considerable length of platinum tubing 

 heated to redness, condensation occurs, and benzene, together 

 with other heavier hydrocarbons, is produced ; three molecules 

 of acetylene, CoH.„ become locked up together in the closed chain 

 H 

 C 

 /\- 

 HC CH 

 of CgH,., II I . In the same way three molecules of 

 HC CH 

 \^ 

 C 

 H 

 prussic acid, HCN', may be supposed to condense into the 

 H 

 C 



closed chain of H3C3N3, ■. , 

 HC CH 



N 



The first compound of the 



CfiH. 



C 



/\ 

 new series is methyl-diphenyl tri- cyanide, N N 



II ! 



CcHs • C C • CH3 



N 

 Two parts of aluminium chloride, AlgClg, were added to 

 a mixture of five parts of benzonitrile, CgHg . CN, and two 

 parts of acetyl chloride, CH3 . COCl, keeping the temperature 

 down to 0° C. The mixture was warmed upon a water-bath, 

 when the aluminium chloride gradually passed into solution, 

 and hydrochloric acid gas was copiously evolved. The yellow 

 liquid thus obtained was poured into iced water, upon which a 

 yellowish waxy substance separated endowed with a powerful 

 tear- producing odour. The dried wax was next dissolved in 

 ether, and after filtration of the solution and subsequent evapora- 

 tion of the ether, was subjected to fractional distillation under 

 reduced pressure. A quantity of benzonitrile passed over first ; 

 then benzoic acid, and finally, at a pressure of 15 millimetres 

 and temperature of 220°-230°, corresponding to 370° under 



