94 



NATURE 



[January 19, 1922 



the mean volumetric heats from ioo° C. to 2000° C. 

 are given. The values are, where comparable, about 

 7^ per cent, higher than those of Holborn and 

 Henning. The difificulty in estimating the heat 

 liberated in a closed-vessel explosion is due probably 

 to a spontaneous time reaction between the corn- 

 bustible gas and oxygen when the two are mixed, in 

 which about 10 per cent, of the gas is consumed. 

 The combustion of carbon monoxide is considerably 

 slower than that of hydrogen. This makes the esti- 

 mation of the heat liberated in the carbon monoxide 

 experiments very uncertain. — J. W. Giflord : Atmo- 

 spheric pressure and refractive indices, with a corre- 

 sponding table of indices of optical glass. The 

 modulus of rigidity for glass precludes its being 

 sensibly affected by pressure, and therefore any pres- 

 sure effect must be due to air alone. Two measurements 

 of refractive index of the same wave-length, at dif- 

 ferent temperatures, are made, and by means of a 

 new formula the refraction temperature-coefficient at 

 standard pressure for 1° C. is determined. Using this 

 as a final correction, indices for other wave-lengths 

 at standard pressure and observed temperature may 

 be brought to standard pressure and temperature 

 (15° C). — H. P. Waran : A new form of interfero- 

 meter. A thin layer of transparent liquid floating over 

 mercury is employed as a parallel plate interfero- 

 meter — a substitute for Lummer and Ghercke's glass 

 plate. Viscous castor-oil was successfully used, but 

 its poor transparency stood in the way of securing 

 high resolving power. The disturbing influence of the 

 tremors of the ground was overcome by mounting the 

 trough on a float suspended from the ceiling in a 

 tank of water carried on a massive brick pillar with 

 deep-laid foundations. — H. Harle : The viscosities of 

 the hydrogen halides. An experimental determination 

 of the coefficients of viscosity of the gaseous hydrogen 

 halides was undertaken with the view of affording a 

 cheeky upon the theoretical investigation by A. O. 

 Rankine on the diameters of unsymmetrical mole- 

 cules. The method of continuous transpiration 

 through a capillary tube was employed, using the known 

 data for air. The gases were liquefied, and, by con- 

 trolling the evaporation, established their own steady 

 pressure while transpiring through the tube. The 

 volumes of gas passing in a given time were found by 

 absorbing in water and titrating with standard alkali 

 solutions. Values of r\ were obtained at two tempera- 

 tures, round about 15° C. and 100° C, and from 

 them Sutherland's constant of temperature variation 

 is calculated for each of the gases. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, January 3.— M. E. Bertin in the 

 chair. — J. Effront : The distinctive properties of 

 amylases of different origins. Specimens of amylase 

 of different origins can be distinguished by the ratio 

 between their liquefying power and sugar formed, 

 by the optimum temperature when acted upon by 

 diastase, and by their resistance to temperatures of 

 70°, 95°, and 100° C— P. Montel : Quasi-normal 

 families. — M. Auric : The generalisation of continued 

 fractions. — MM. Gossot and Liouville : The principles 

 of interior ballistics. — G. Sagnac : Newtonian in- 

 variants of matter and of radiant energy and the 

 mechanical ether of variable waves. — H. Chaumat : 

 The ballistic galvanometer.- — R. Jouaust : The recep- 

 tion of waves maintained by modulation. In wire- 

 less telegraphy the detectors utilised at the receiving 

 end give a very low yield. In the modification sug- 

 gested the intensity of the current circulating normally 

 in the receiving apparatus is modulated periodicallv 

 with a given frequency. A current audible in a tele- 

 phone is thus obtained the amplitude of which Is half 

 NO. 2725, VOL. 109] 



that circulating in the receiving apparatus. The 

 method has been applied practically in transmission 

 between Lyons and Paris, and proved to give in- 

 creased sensibility.— JM. TafiBn : The annealing of 

 glass. The formula given by Kundt in 1881 has been 

 recently shown by Adams and Williamson not to 

 apply rigorously to glass. The author has extended 

 the experiments of Adams and Williamson, and pro- 

 poses two modifications of their formula. The experi- 

 mental results are compared with the three formulae. 

 — R. Fosse and A. HieuUe : The synthesis of hydro- 

 cyanic acid by oxidation, In ammonio-silver solution, 

 of alcohols, phenols, and amines. In presence of 

 ammonia and silver nitrate, hydrocyanic acid is one 

 of the products of oxidation of various alcohols, 

 phenols, and amines by permanganate. Quantitative 

 figures are given for forty compounds, methylamine 

 giving the highest proportion. — L. Gentil : The age 

 of the phosphates of Morocco. A study of the fossils 

 in the phosphate deposits of Morocco leads to the 

 conclusion that they are mainly Cretaceous. ^P. 

 Viennot : The abnormal contact of the north Pyrenean 

 Flysch at the north of Salnt-Jean-PIed-de-Port. — P. 

 N6gris : Atlantis and the quaternary regression. A 

 summary of facts proving a lowering of the level of 

 the Atlantic by the subsidence of the sea-floor, and a 

 discussion of the bearing of these facts on the legends 

 of the submerged continent Atlantis. The facts cited 

 include the form of the submarine floor of the Hudson 

 River, the markings on the Island of SIphnos (Greece) 

 up to a level of 700 metres, and the levels of the wood 

 ddhrh deposited by the Gulf Stream on Iceland.- — 

 A. Allemand-Martin : The lignites of Cap-Bon (Tunis). 

 These lignites are comprised between the levels con- 

 taining Turritella fimbriata, Cerithium lignitarum, 

 and that of Oistrea crassissima ; they are nearer the 

 Tortonian period than the Helvetian, — L. Moret : The 

 presence of limestones containing Alveolina, probably 

 of Auversian age, at the base of the Nummulitic of 

 the Arache plateau (Massif de PlatI, Haute-Savole).-- 

 J. Savornin : The watershed of the Oum er Rebia 

 (Morocco) and the general hydrography of the 

 Moroccan middle Atlas. — P. Lesage : Study of saline 

 plants during the period in which anomalies are pro- 

 duced. — R. Combes : The detection of the pseudo- 

 bases of anthocyanidines In plant tissues. The 

 results obtained by Noack on the extraction of the 

 pseudo-bases of anthocyanidines from plant tissues 

 are shown to be untrustworthy ; the colour reactions 

 obtained were probably due to the presence of phloba- 

 tannlns. — M. Martin-Zede : The Influence of orienta- 

 tion on the success of the transplantation of trees. 

 In trees transplanted without reference to their 

 original orientation the loss In the following winter 

 was 50 p>er cent., but taking care that the sides of the 

 trees facing north were transplanted with the same 

 orientation the loss was reduced to about 7 per cent. — 

 M. and Mme. A. Chauchard : The measurement of 

 the excitability of a secretory nerve : tympanic chord 

 and the sub-maxillary gland. — R. Stumper : The 

 poison of ants, and in particular formic acid. A proof 

 that no other volatile acid than formic acid is present 

 In ant pK>Ison.^ — A. Lecaillon : The characters of a 

 hybrid issuing from the union of Cairina moschata 

 and Chenalopes aegypticus. — R. Courtier : The in- 

 dependence of the seminal gland and the secondary 

 sexual characters In fishes. Experimental study. — 

 R. Hovasse : The regulation of the number of chromo- 

 somes in the parthenogenetic embryos of the reddish- 

 brown frog. Its mechanism. — L. L6ger and E. Hesse : 

 The coccldia of marsh birds. The genus Jarrina. — 

 A. Sartory and L. Moinson : A case of bronchial 

 moniliasis. The fungus Monilia Pinoyi was isolated 

 from the sputum of a patient suspected of tuberculosis. — 



