6oo 



NA TURE 



[April 18, 1889 



fluid-surface thus exposed no inert layer was to be seen. 

 Similarly he had been able to show, by observations under the 

 microscpe, that the phenomenon cannot be explained by any 

 vortex movements in the fluid. Further, the asnimption that it 

 is due to a solution of alkali from the glass, which then prevents 

 the precipitation of the chloroform, had been excluded by using 

 a vessel made of quartz crystal. Prof. Liebreich inclined to the 

 view, on the basis of his past experiments, which, however, must 

 be further followed and extended, that the suppression or slowing 

 of the chemical reaction at the surface of the fluid, which gives 

 rise to the inert layer, is determined by the greater solidity and 

 resistance of this part of the liquid. 



Meteorological Society, April 2. — Prof, von Bezold, 

 President, in the chair. — Prof. Bornstein spoke on the ebb and 

 flow of the tide. After explaining the nature of the moon's 

 action on the fluid part of the earth's surface, and showing that 

 the flood is essentially due to a diminution of gravity and the ebb 

 to its increase, he passed on to the consideration of the moon's 

 attraction as it affects the atmosphere. Many experiments have 

 been made with a view to proving the influence of the moon on 

 the atmosphere, and at various places observers have succeeded 

 in establi>hing a daily variation in the pre.-sure of the air depend- 

 ent upon the moon, and shewing two maxima and two minima ; 

 these places are Singapore, St. Helena, Melbourne, and Batavia. 

 The amplitude of the variation amounted to fron o'oyg to o'2 mm. 

 But opposed to these are the observations of Laplace on the 

 variations of the barometer in Paris, as also of Kreil in Prague, 

 and further, Bc'-sel's observations on atmospheric refraction. All 

 these last-named observers found that the action of the moon on 

 the earth's atmospheric envelope was either nil or else the 

 reverse of that described above. Prof. Bornstein then discussed 

 the question whether any ebb and flow of the atmosphere could 

 possibly be detected wiih the means now at our disposal, and 

 showed that the mercurial barometer can never be able to give 

 indications of any such action, since it is itself affected by the 

 alterations of gravity which are due to the varying position of the 

 moon. He explained the phenomena observed at the four 

 stations mentioned above as due to the fact that they are situated 

 either on the sea-coast or on islands, at places on the earth's sur- 

 face at which the ebb and flow of the sea is very considerable. 

 The ebb and flow of the sea acts secondarily on atmospheric 

 pressure, especially by means of the alteration of surface, and 

 give rise to corresponding increases and diminutions in that 

 pressure. Paris, Prague, and Konigsberg are, on the other 

 hand, inland stations, at which the Vjarometer cannot be affected 

 by any variations in the level of the sea's surface. 

 Stockholm. 



Royal Academy of Sciences, March 14. —On the essential 

 results of the mathematical paper for which M. Poincare received 

 the mathematical prize of the King of Sweden, by Prof. Mittag- 

 Leffler. — Derivation of some independent expressions of the 

 Bernouillian numbers, by Dr. A. Berger. — On the plane curves 

 which may be rectified through Abel's integrals of the first 

 kind, by Dr. J. Broden. — On the conform delineation of a 

 ])araboloid on a plane, by Herr H. von Koch. — On some re- 

 markable minerals formed at a later period in the primordial 

 strata of Sweden, by Baron Nordenskiold.— Sur la chaleur 

 latente de vaporisation de I'eau et la chaleur specifique de I'eau 

 liquide, par Dr. N. Ekholm. — New observations on the varia- 

 tion of the shape of the first abdominal appendices of the female 

 crawfish, by Dr. Bergendahl. — Contributions to the anatomy of 

 the Trematode genus ^/^(^/^wa Dujxrdin, by Herr H. Juel. — 

 Ascomycetaj from the Isle of Oland and from -tergotland, by 

 Herr C. Starbiick. — On some t ia^.ol derivatives, by Dr. J. A. 

 Bladin. — On bisphenyl-methyl-triazol, by the same author. — 

 On the molecular weight of maltose and some inulinoid carbo- 

 hydrates, by Dr. Ekstrand and Herr R. Manzelius. — Annota- 

 tions on some European Orthotricha, i., by Lector Gronvall. — 

 Determinations Hes elements magnetiques dans la Suede 

 meridionale, by Herr W. Carlheim-Gyllenskiold. — Formulas 

 and tables for calculation of the absolute perturbations of the 

 planets, by Herr Masai. 



Amsterdam. 



Royal Academy of Sciences, March 30. — Dr. Van den 

 Sanden in the chair. — M. Forster stated the results of some ex- 

 periments made in his laboratory, by Mr. Hunder Stuart and 

 Mr. Fraser Evvman, on the presence of bacteria in the intestines. 

 Mr. Stuart found that ordinary, and Mr. Ewman that typhoid, 

 bacteria, introduced into the stomach along with the food, are 

 discovered ter only in the lowest part of the smaller intestins. 



and further in the large intestine. Ordinary bacteria have, there- 

 fore, no influence on the digestive process. — By means of known 

 properties of polar systems and of elementary reasoning about 

 reality, M. Schoute proved geometrically that the c i-variant of 

 Hesse, belonging to a binary equation with real co-efficients, 

 is negative for the values of the variable that correspond to the 

 real roots of the equation, independently of the number of its 

 real roots ; this is an extension of Dr. F. Geibaldi's theorem 

 (comY>a.re A'endtcon^i di Palermo, tome iii. p. 22). — M'. J. A. C. 

 Oudemans read a paper on the present state of the methods for 

 determining the parallaxes of fixed .stars. 

 Vienna. 

 Imperial Academy of Sciences, February 21. — The follow- 

 ing papers were read : — On the specific brightness of colours, a 

 contribution to the physiology of visual sensations, by F. 

 Hillebrand. — On the law of tiie dec: easing of the power of 

 absorption at increasing thickness of absorbent layers, by W. 

 Miiller-Erzbach. 



BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, and SERIALS RECKIVED. 



E. Museo Lundii, Part i (Copenhagen, Hagerups). — The Bacteria in 

 Asiatic Cholera : E. Klein (Macmillan). — Systematic Account of the Geology 

 of Tasmania: R. M. Johnston (Tasmania). — Life; what it is sustained by, 

 and Cognate Subjects : W. Boggett (Triibner). — Proceedings of the London 

 Mathematical Society, vol. xix. (Hodgson). — Flora Orientalis, Siipplemen- 

 tum : R. Buser (Geneva, Georg). — Jahrbuch der Meteorolofijchen Beobach- 

 tungen der Wetterwarte der Magdeburgischen Zeitung, i888(.Vla3deburg). — 

 Wild Life in a Southern County : new ed., R. Jeffenes (Smith, Elder) — The 

 Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs, 3rd edition, with an Appendix by 

 Prof. Bonney ; C. Darwin (Smith, Elder). — Statics for Begiiiners : J. Greaves 

 (Macmillan). — The Anatomy of Astrangia danae, six lithographs from draw- 

 ings by A. Sonrel ; explanation of plates by J. W. Fewkes (Washington). — 

 New Zealand Meteorological Report, 1885 (Wellington). — Proceedings of 

 the Geologists' Association, February (Stanfjrd). — Journal of the Institu- 

 tion of El-ctrical Engineers, No. 78 (Spon). — Quarterly Journal of Micro- 

 scopical Science, April (Churchill). — Brain, No. 44 (Macmillan). — Botan- 

 ische Jahrbiicher fiir Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengec- 

 graphie, Zehnter Band, v. Heft, Elfter Band, i. Heft (Leipzig, Engelmann\ 

 — bulletin of the American Geographical Society, vol. xxi. No. i (N.Y.). — 

 Bulletin from the Laboratories 01 Natural History of the State University of 

 Iowa, vol. i. No. i (Iowa). — Journal ot the Royal Statistical Society, March 

 (Stanford). — Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society, April (Williams 

 and Norgatr). 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



A Chemical "Wrecker" 577 



The Best Forage Crops. By Prof. John Wrightson 578 



The Zoological Results of the Challenger Expedition 579 

 Our Book Shelf:— 



Aveling : " Magnetism and Electricity " 5^0 



Aveling : " Heat and Light " 581 



" The Encyclopi^dia Britannica " 581 



"Blackie's Modern Cyclopaedia of Universal In- 

 formation" 581 



Letters to the Editor:— 



Spherical Eggs, illustrated.)— Vxoi. W. Steadman 



Aldis 581 



Temperatures in Lake Huron.— A. T. Drummond . 582 

 Will Fluctuations in the Volume of the Sea account 

 for Horizontal Marine Beds at High Levels ? — T. 



Mellard Reade 582 



The Meteorological Conditions of the Aruwhimi 



Forest Tract.— Henry F. Blanford, F.R.S. . . 582 



" Les Tremblements de Terre."— The Reviewer . . 583 



Hertz's Equations.— Prof. Oliver J. Lodge, F.R.S. 583 

 The Compressibility of Hydrogen. {Illustrated.) By 



H. Crompton 583 



The Manatee. {Illustrated.) 585 



The Royal Society Selected Candidates 586 



The Shooting-Stars of April. By W. F. Denning . 588 



Notes 589 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Melbourne Observatory 592 



Comet 1889 ^(Barnard, March 31) 592 



Astronomical Phenomena for the Week 1889 



April 21-27 593 



Geographical Notes 593 



Afforestation in China 593 



Superstition and Sorcery in New Guinea 594 



The Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard 



College 595 



Results ofExperiments upon the Growth of Potatoes 



at Rothamsted 595 



Societies and Academies 59^ 



Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received 6oo 



