400 



NATURE 



[August 25, 1887 



there was a certain amount of excess in the Delhi division, but 

 in all other parts of the province there was a deficiency, and the 

 following months were practically rainless. The monsoon rains 

 (June to September) were generally good, notwithstanding their 

 early cessation. The Report of the Sanitary Administration for 

 the calendar year 1886, which has arrived simultaneously with 

 that above mentioned, shows that the greatest annual rainfall 

 was^ 53"3 inches at Abbottabad (Peshawar), and the least 

 4-3 inches at Muzaffargarh (Derajat). We omit the exceptional 

 amount of 127-5 inches at Dharmsala (Jullundur). The inclu- 

 sion of this excessive amount vitiates the general mean for the 

 stations for the year, viz. 29-1 inches, which is more than three 

 inches higher than it would be if this exceptional amount were 

 omitted from it. The Meteorological Reporter gives 183° as 

 the highest temperature in the sun's rays, being at Lahore on 

 April 28, and it ranged from 172° to 175" in the five succeeding 

 months. The maximum reading in the shade was 118" at two 

 stations on the 13th, and the lowest maximum was 79° at Sirsa 

 (Delhi), in January. The absolute minimum in the shade was 

 29'' at Rawalpindi, in February, giving a range of 89° in the 

 shade temperature for the whole province. During the early 

 part of this month of February a remarl<able wave of low 

 temperature passed over the Punjab ; on the 9th and loth 

 remarkably low temperatures were recorded. 



The results of a long series of experiments upon the nature Of 

 the chemical action between acids and the metal zinc have just 

 been published by MM. Spring and van Aubel in the August 

 number of the Annaks de Chimie et Physique. Although one 

 of the first chemical reactions which come under the notice of 

 students, it has hitherto been among the least understood. The 

 method of experiment was to plunge a quantity of zinc, which 

 contained a small quantity of lead, and whose surface was 

 known, into such a volume of the acid of known strength as 

 would suffice for the elimination of a volume of hydrogen - Q. 

 The hydrogen was collected in a vessel divided into aliquot part^, 

 ?. of Q ; with the aid of a chronograph the times /j, t^, &c., 

 necessary for the production of successive volumes = q were 

 noted, and from the data obtained the rapidity of the re- 



q q 

 action - . -, &c., at corresponding epochs was estimated, 



'1 '2 

 thus following the reaction step by step from beginning to end. 

 The results were eventually represented graphically, the abscissae 

 representing successive quantities (/, and the ordinates the 

 rapidity. The action of the acid upon the zinc is not most rapid 

 at the origin, but increases to a maximum when the acid is about 

 half its original strength, afterwards diminishing proportionally 

 to the concentration to the end of the reaction, so that the curve 

 after passing the maximum becomes a straight line. The early 

 stage previous to attaining the maximum is called the mise en 

 train of the reaction, or period of induction, and it is con- 

 elusively shown that during this period the acid, by a slow 

 action, prepares at the surface of the metal an infinity of little 

 electric couples by exposing the minute grains of lead contained 

 in the zinc. Hence, De la Rive's idea that the solution of a 

 metal by an acid is mainly due to electrolytic action is sub- 

 stantially correct. It will be remembered that De la Rive showed 

 that pure zinc is only attacked by acids with extreme slowness, 

 but that if traces of copper, iron, or lead be present the evolution 

 of hydrogen is much more rapid. One most interesting re- 

 sult emerges from the experiments of Spring and van Aubel : 

 the curves from all the experiments with hydrochloric acid 

 intersect about -70° C, showing that at this temperature 

 no action at all occurs between this acid, however con- 

 centrated', and zinc, and it is a known fact that zinc does 

 not dissolve in liquefied hydrochloric acid gas, whose tem- 

 perature of liquefaction is near -70°. Sulphuric acid acts 

 upon zinc twenty-seven times more feebly than hydrochloric, 

 and the electrolytic action appears to be the vastly preponderat- 



ing one, the sulphate of zinc resulting from the action of H2SO4 

 upon the ZnO first formed by electrolysis ; hence the true nature 

 of this every-day reaction is probably as follows : Zn -F H2SO4 

 = ZnO -f Ha -f SO3 ; SO3 -f H20-hAq = H2S04 + Aq ; H„SO, 

 + ZnO = ZnSO^ -f H^O. 



Russian geological literature has been enriched during the 

 current year by a most valuable publication, which will be 

 especially welcome to West European geologists. We mean the 

 '' Bibliotheque geologique de la Russie," published in Russian and 

 in French by the Geological Committee, under the editorship of 

 M. Nikitin. The first volume contains an index, as nearly 

 complete as possible, of books, pamphlets, and articles published 

 in Russia on geology, mineralogy, and palaeontology during the 

 year 1885. During the last few years geology has made rapid 

 progress in Russia, and although all the chief works produced 

 recently have been published either in the Izvestia or Trudy of 

 the Geological Committee, or in the Zapiski of the Minera- 

 logical Society, a great number of important papers are scattered 

 in the Memoirs of the Academy and other scientific bodies, 

 and thus often escape the attention even of Russian geologists. 

 To West European geologists most of these papers have hitherto 

 remained quite unknown. The "Bibliotheque geologique" 

 mentions all of them, and gives short analyses, which sum up m 

 Russian and French all the chief facts mentioned, and the con- 

 clusions arrived at, in the works and papers enumerated. The 

 analyses are generally admirable, and most of them are due to 

 the pen of Miss Mary Tswetaev. 



M. Mainoff's work on the "Juridical Customs of the 

 Mordovians," published in the fourteenth volume of the Memoirs 

 of the Russian Geographical Society for Ethnography, is a 

 capital inquiry into the customs of this important branch of the 

 Volga Finns, as they have shaped themselves under the double 

 influence of the Russians and the Tatars. It is an important 

 addition to the work by the same author which contained his 

 anthropological measurements. M. MainofF has devoted atten- 

 tion chiefly to marriage customs, but his work, which is the 

 result of many years' acquaintance with the Mordovians, con- 

 tains plenty of useful information on other subjects. It is worthy 

 of notice that until quite recent times the Mordovians knew no 

 such word as " relations " (French, parents), and that they used 

 only the word tev, or tevx, which corresponds to the gens as 

 explained by Mr. Lewis Morgan, Only those were considered 

 as kinsfolk who had a common descent, and lived under a 

 common roof. The compound family continues to exist among 

 the Mordovians, but on a very limited scale. The remarks of 

 M. Mainoff on the kidnapping of brides are very interesting. 

 This form of marriage still survives among the Mordovians, but 

 it takes place with the consent of the bride, and very often with 

 the knowledge of her parents. 



Mr. Howard Grubb, telescope-maker, was one of a group 

 of gentlemen on whom the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland conferred 

 the honour of knighthood on Monday last. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Rhesus Monkey {Macacus rhesiis) from 

 India, presented by Mr. Thos. D. Wickenden ; a Macaque 

 Monkey {Macacus cynomolgtis) from India, presented by Mr. 

 Charles Crocker; four Black-eared Marmosets (ZTa/fl'^/^Mzay/rt/a) 

 from South-East Brazil, presented respectively, two each, by 

 Mr. George Best and Mr. J. Crick ; a Purple-faced Monkey 

 {Semnopitkecus leucoprymnus) from Ceylon, presented by Mr. 

 H. Hart ; a Ruffed Lemur [Lemur variusQ ) from Madagascar, 

 presented by Mrs. M. Kestell-Cornish ; a Moustache Monkey 

 [Cercopitfiecus cephus), two Lesser White-nosed Monkeys 

 [Cercopiihecus petaurista), two White-ci'owned Mangabeys 

 {Cercocebus cethiops), an African Civet Cat {Viverra civetta), 

 a Blotched Genet {Gcnctta tigrina), a Two-spotted Paradoxure 

 {Nandinia binotata), a White-crested Tiger- Bittern (Zi^^-wi'wa 



