March 9, 1922] 



NATURE 



327 



phenomenon appears to be general and the presence 

 of pyrites is not indispensable, similar eflFects being 

 raced to the presence of galena, mispickel, sulphides 

 uf copper, pyrolusite, and other minerals. The effect 

 be reproduced in the laboratory. — Paul Gu^rin : 

 le mucilage of the Urticaceae. Mucilage is widely 

 itributed in this order, and its presence in the 

 ious organs of these plants constitutes a character 

 real value, and should be taken into account along 

 ith other anatomical peculiarities. — H. Jumelle : 

 le Neophloga, ]\Iadagascan palm trees. — A. Guillier- 

 )nd and G. Mangenot : The signification of Holm- 

 jn's canals. — Eugdne Bonnet : The action of soluble 

 Its of lead on plants. The plants studied included 

 rheat, peas, and beans, and the lead solution sur- 

 )unding the rootlet between one-thousandth normal 

 id half that amount of lead. Lead arrests the 

 )wth of the stem and diminishes the length of the 

 )ts. — Gabriel Bertrand and Mme. M. Rosenblatt : 

 'he variations in the proportions of manganese in 

 leaves with age. — Gustave Riviere and Georges 

 Pichard : The partial sterilisation of the soil. Ex- 

 periments on the use of sodium arsenate for the 

 partial sterilisation of the soil. Used in the propor- 

 tion of between 21 and 42 kilograms per hectare 

 the protozoa are destroyed and the useful bacteria 

 multiply. This indirect fertilising action is shown by 

 increased yields, which on the large scale have been 

 shown to be 20 per cent, to 50 per cent. — Auguste 

 Lumiere and Henri Couturier : The resistance of 

 females during pregnancy to anaphylactic and anaphy- 

 lactoid shock. Female guinea-pigs during pregnancy 

 are immune from shock caused either by the injection 

 of serum or of fiocculent inert material. The cause 

 of the immunity has been traced to the increase in 

 the volume of the blood : the immunity could be 

 destroyed in females by bleeding* and conferred on 

 males by injecting physiological serum. — M. Champy : 

 The conditions of the genesis of the sexual harmozone 

 in Batrachians. — Henri Jean Frossard : Respiratory 

 gymnastics and the tests of Valsalva and of Muller. — 

 Foveau de Courmelles : Combined radiotherapy of the 

 breast and the ovaries against tumours of the breast. 



Official Publications Received. 



Meddelanden frin Statens Skogsforsoksanstalt. Halfte 18, Nr. 4 : 

 ruimforms-Undersokningar en Sammanfattande Analys av Norr- 

 liindskt Tallmaterial med Avseende pA de Faktorer som Bestiimma 

 Noggrannheten vid Aptering pa Rot. (Stem Form Investigations : 

 Accuracy of Yield Estimation of Standing Trees.) By Sven Petrini. 

 Pp. 165-220. Halfte 18, Nr. 5 : Till Kannedomen om ForhallAndet 

 mellan Solbladens och Skuggbladens Kolhydratsproduktion. By 

 M. G. Stilfelt. Pp. 221-280. Halfte 18, Nr. 6-9 : Skogsinsekternas 

 Skadegorelse under 1918, die Beschiidigungen der Forstinsekten ira 

 Jahre 1918. By Ivar TragArdh. Bidrag Till Kannedomen om Spllnt- 

 Dorrarnas Naringsgnag: Beitrag ziir Kenntnis des Ernahrungsfrasses 

 bei den europaischen Splintkafem. By Paul Spessivtseff. Arsber- 

 atteiser 1920. Arsberattelser 1921. Pp. 281-352. (Stockholm.) 



1—1922. Ceylon. Report of the Industries Commission. Pp. 

 91. (Colombo : Government Record Office.) 2.75 rupees. 



Nigeria. Annual Report on the Forest Administration for the 

 Year 1920 and period 1st January to 31st March 1921. Pp. 24. 

 (Ibadan : Forestry Department.) 



Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. Vol. 45. 

 I. : On the Distribution of the Ants of the Ethiopian and Malagasy 

 Regions. By Wm. M. Wheeler. II. : The Ants collected by the 

 Amencan Museum Congo Expedition. By Wm. M. Wheeler. Pp. 

 13-269 +plat€s 2-23. (New York.) 



U.S. Department of Agriculture : Bureau of Biological Survey. 

 North American Fauna, No. 45 : A Biological Survey of Alabama. 

 By Arthur H. Howell. 1 : Physiography and Life Zones. 2 : The 

 Mammals. Pp. 88 + 11 plates. (Washington: Government Printing 

 Office.) 



The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Si.x- 

 teenth Annual Report of the President and of the Treasurer. Pp. 

 vi+205. (New York City.) 



Hydro-Electric Survey of India. Vol. 3 : Triennial Report, with 

 a Preliminary Forecast of the Water Power Resources of India, 1919 

 to 1921. By J. W. Meares. Pp. ix+199. (Calcutta: Government 

 Printing Office.) 4 rupees. 



Ministry of Agriculture, Egypt. Report on the Motor Tractor 

 Trials organized by the Ministry of Agriculture. Part A : At Kafr 

 Bata— December 1920. Part B : At Damanhur— April 1921. Pp. 

 IV + o5-f plates. (Cairo: Government Press.) P.T. 15. 



Department of Agriculture, Mysore. Mysore Agricultural Calendar 

 1922. Pp. ill +56. (Bangalore: Government Press.) 1 anna. 



Imperial Department of Agriculture for the West Indies. Report 

 on the Agricultural Department, St. Lucia, 1920. Pp. lv+28. 

 (Barbados.) 6d. 



Trinidad and Tobago. Council Paper No. 100 of 1921. Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. Adraimstration Reports of the Director of 

 Agriculture for the Years 1919 and 1920. Pp. 84. (Port of Spain : 

 Government Printing Office.) 2«. M. 



Department of the Interior : Bureau of Education. Bulletin, 

 1920, No. 39 : Facilities for Foreign Students in American Colleges 

 and Universities. By Samuel P. Capen. Pp. 269. (Washington : 

 Government Printing Office.) 



Department of the Interior : U.S. Geological Survey. Water- 

 Supply Paper 459 : Surface Water Supply of the United States, 

 1917. Part IX. : Colorado River Basin. Pp. 192+xxxiii. Water- 

 Supply Paper 460 : Surface Water Supply of the United States, 1917. 

 Part X.: The Great Basin. Pp. 277 +xl. Water-Supply Paper 475 : 

 Surface WaterSupply of the United States, 1918. Part V. : Hudson 

 Bay and Upper Mississippi River Basins. Pp. 153 +xxx. (Washington : 

 Government Printing Office.) 



Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian In- 

 stitution, sliowing the Operations, Expenditures, and Condition of 

 the Institution for the Year ending June 30, 1919. (Publication 

 2590.) Pp. xU + 557. (Washington.) 



Diary of Societies. 



FBIDAY, March 10. 



Royal Astronomical Society, at 5. 



Physical Society of Loxdon (at Imperial College of Science and 

 Technology), at 5. — R. L. Smith-Rose : The Electromagnetic 

 Screening of a Triode Oscillator. — Dr. H. P. Waran : A New Form 

 of High Vacuum Automatic Mercury Pump. — W. N. Bond : Viscosity 

 Determination by means of Orifices and Short Tubes. 



Malacoloqical Society of London (at Linnean Society). 



Royal Society of Medicine (Clinical Section), at 5.30. — Prof. H. 

 Maclean and Dr. I. Jones : Some Observations on the Production 

 of Lactic Acid in Stomach Diseases. 



Junior Institution of Engineers, at 8. — C. H. Plant : Friction. 



Royal Society of Medicine (Ophthalmology Section), at 8.30. — 

 P. G. Doyne : Coloured Vision. — R. A. Greeves : A Series of 

 Sympathising Eyes examined Microscopically. 



Royal Institution of Great Britain, at 9. — Prof. T. R. Merton : 

 Problems in the Variability of Spectra. 



SATURDAY, March 11. 

 Royal Institution of Great Britain, at 3. — Sir Ernest Rutherford : 

 Radioactivity (2). 



MONDAY, March 13. 

 Royal Geographical Society (at Lowther Lodge, Kensington Gore, 



S.W.7), at 5. — C. C. Fagg : A Description of the Regional Survey 



of the Croydon Natural History and Scientific Society. 

 Royal Society of Medicine (War Section), at 5.30. — Squadron 



Leader H. E. Whittingham : Observations on Sandfly Fever in 



Malta. 

 Institute of Transport (at Institution of Civil Engineers), at 5.30. — 



T. R. Johnson : Railway Problems in China and Australia. 

 Medical Society of London (at 11 Chandos Street, W.l), at 8. — 



Dr. E. W. Goodall : The Differential Diagnosis of the Common 



Exanthemata. 



TUESDAY, MARCH 14. 

 Royal Institution of Great Britain, at 3. — Sir Arthur Keith : 



Anthropological Problems of the British Empire. Series I. Racial 



Problems in Asia and Australasia (4). 

 Royal Society of Medicine (Therapeutics and Pharmacology 



Section) (at University College), at 4.30. 

 Eugenics Education Society (at Royal Society), at 5. — H. Cox : 



The Reduction of the Birth Rate as a Necessary Instrument for the 



Improvement of the Race. 

 Royal College op Physicians of London, at 5. — Dr. M. Greenwood : 



The Influence of Industrial Employment on General Health 



(Mihoy Lectures) (2). 

 Royal Sanitary Institute (90 Buckingham Palace Road, S.W.I), 



at 5.30. — A. H. Barker, and others : Central Heating in Relation 



to Domestic and other Buildings. 

 Women's Engineering Society (at 26 George Street, W.l), at 6.15. — 



F. S. Button : Women's Place in Industry. 

 Institution of Petroleum Technologists (at Royal Society of 



Arts), at 6.30.— Prof. J. S. S. Brame : Presidential Address. 

 Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, at 7. — Annual 



General Meeting. 

 QuEKETT Microscopical Club, at 7.30.— B. S. Curwen : Mounting 



in Glycerine with Wax Seals, with Special Reference to Entomostraca. 

 royal Anthropological Institute, at 8.15.— J. P. Mills : The 



Lhota Nagas. 

 Royal Society op Medicine (Psychiatry Section), at 8.30. — Adjourned 



Discussion on the Ideal Clinic for Nervous and Borderland Cases. 



WEDNESDAY, March 15. 

 Royal Society of Medicine (History of Medicine Section), at 5. — 



F. Romer : A Short History of Bonesetting. 

 Institution of Civil Engineers (Students' Meeting), at 6. — G. 



FitzGibbon : The Great Ship-Canals of the World (Vernon Harcourt 



Lectures) (1). 

 Royal Meteorological Society, at 7.30.— Dr. E. M. Wedderburn : 



Seiches ; and the effect of Wind and Atmospheric Pressure on Inland 



Lakes. 



NO. 2732, VOL. 109] 



