May 6, 1922] 



NATURE 



599 



values commonly remain for about three months close 

 to the mean value for the year. — S. Chapman and 

 -Miss E. Falshaw : The lunar atmospheric tide at 

 Aberdeen, 1869-1919. Methods similar to those 

 tormerly employed for the Greenwich records were 

 used. The phases of the tide at the two stations 

 agree as well as can be expected considering that 

 Aberdeen is more disturbed, and the amplitude appears 

 to be slightly greater at Aberdeen than at Greenwich. 



I Paris. 



: Academy of Sciences, April 3. — M. Emile Bertin in 



the chair. — The president announced the death of 

 Prof. Ph. A. Guye, correspondent of the Academy for 

 the section of chemistry. — A. Lacroix : A syenite 

 containing corundum and sillimanite formed by endo- 

 morphism of granite. — M. Hamy : The determination 

 of the diameter of stars by the interference method. 

 The telescope objective is covered by a screen carry- 

 ing two narrow slits, and if the latter are sufficiently 

 near. Young's fringes are seen. When the distance 

 between the slits increases, the fringes diminish in 

 clearness and vanish at a distance which is a function 

 of the diameter of the star. The formulae for the 

 determination of the star diameter are given, and the 

 numerical constants worked out. — C. Moureu and A. 

 Lepape : The estimation of krypton and xenon in 

 absolute value by spectrophotometry. A simplifica- 

 tion of the method described in 191 1. Standard 

 mixtures of pure krypton and xenon in argon have 

 been prepared and the pressure determined, in the 

 PliicKer tube, at which the intensity of a given 

 kry^pton (or xenon) line is equal to that of a fixed 

 argon line. These pressures and proportions are given 

 in two tables. — F. Mesnil and M. Caullery : The 

 maxillary apparatus of Histriobdella homari ; the 

 affinities of the Histriobdella^ with the Eunicians. — 

 M. Ren6 Baire was elected correspondent for the 

 section of geometry in the place of the late M. Noether. 

 — N. E. Nbrlund : The interpolation formula of Stir- 

 ling. — B. Gambler : Isothermal surfaces with spherical 

 isothermal representation. — J. Le Roux : The curva- 

 ture of space. — S. Millot : Calculating balances. A 

 ])late oscillating on two knife edges and having various 

 scales ruled on it perpendicular to the axis of oscilla- 



Ition can be used as a generalised calculating machine. 

 A practical example of its use in a complicated cal- 

 culation is given. — G. Remoundos : Plane deforma- 

 tions and the problem of the thrust of earth. — M. 

 Frontard : Law of the dangerous height of clay 

 cuttings. — A. Perot : The measurement of pressure 

 in the atmosphere of the sun. The method is based 

 on the variation with pressure of the ratio of the 

 wave lengths of two lines of the spectrum, the co- 

 efficients of . variation with pressure of which are 

 , different. The present data are based on five iron 

 lines and give a mean pressure of 34 cm. of mercury, 

 ' or just under half an atmosphere. — J. Mascart : 

 • Observations of the partial eclipse of the sun of 

 y; March 28, 1922, made at the Lyons Observatory 

 (Saint-Genis-Laval). Observations of the times of 

 contacts by six observers are given, and these differ 

 appreciably from the calculated times given in the 

 Connaissance des Temps. — E. Esclangon : Observa- 

 tions of the eclipse of the sun of March 28, 1922, 

 made at the Observatory of Strasbourg. — T. Moreux : 

 Observations of the eclipse of the sun of March 28, 

 1922. Observations made at Bourges under un- 

 favourable conditions. — G. Bruhat and A. Delaygue : 

 Determination of the upper point of inversion of the 

 specific heat of the saturated vapour of benzine. — M. 

 de Broglie : The corpuscular spectra of the elements. 

 A continuation of previous researches carried out with | 



larger apparatus. Reproductions are given of the 

 spectra obtained with silver, tin, gold, and uranium. 

 — C. Gutton : The simultaneous maintenance of an 

 oscillating circuit and harmonic circuits. — P. Job : 

 The hydrolysis of the roseocobaltic salts. — A. Wahl, 

 G. Normand, and G. Vermeylen : The monochlor- 

 toluenes. Pure ortho- and para-monochlortoluenes 

 were prepared and the melting point curve for mixtures 

 of the two constructed. This curve can be used in 

 the analysis of mixtures. In the chlorination of 

 toluene, a new catalytic effect of lead chloride is 

 noted, which has a bea:ring on the industrial prepara- 

 tion of benzyl chloride. — Mile. G. Cousin : Tectonic 

 observations of the secondary strata of the southern 

 border of the Vosges. — L. Dangeard and Y. Milon : 

 Contribution to the study of the Tertiary basin to 

 the south of Rennes. Discovery of beds containing 

 fishes and plants in the black clays at the summit of 

 the Chattian. — P. Bugnon : The hypocotyl of the 

 Mercurialis. — H. Jumelle : A great pahn tree from 

 the centre of Madagascar. — A. Policard and Juliana 

 Tritchkoyitch : The mechanism intervening in the 

 fixation of fats by the cortico-suprarenal gland. — P. 

 Lecompte du Noiiy : The superficial equilibrium of 

 the serum and of some colloidal solutions. A de- 

 scription of a new apparatus for studying the con- 

 tinuous variation of the surface tension of a liquid. 

 With this it has been shown that, at constant tem- 

 perature, the surface tension of solutions of sodium 

 oleate, glycocholate and taurocholate, of saponin and 

 of blood serum diminishes spontaneously with time, 

 rapidly during the first ten minutes then more slowly, 

 the results being expressed by an exponential curve. 

 — E. Roubaud : The winter hibernation in the larva^ 

 and nymphs of the flies.- — E. Grynfeltt : The per- 

 forating fibres of the bone of mammals. — P. Bouin : 

 The parallel conjugation of the chromosomes and the 

 mechanism of the chromatic reduction. — H. Bierry, 

 F. Rathery, and F. Bordet : Experimental azotemia 

 and hyperproteidoglycemia. — E. Burnet : A type of 

 arthritis frequently observed in guinea-pigs infected 

 with Micrococcus melitensis. 



Cape Town. 

 Royal Society of South Africa, March 15. — Dr. 

 J. D. F. Gilchrist, president, in the chair. — B. de C. 

 Marchand and B. J. Smit : The soils of the Harte- 

 beestpoort irrigation area (Pretoria and Rustenburg 

 districts). — H. E. Penrose : The trend of radio- 

 development. The various methods adopted for wire- 

 less transmission were described and compared with 

 the three electrode thermionic valve method. The 

 possibilities of transmitting a beam of wireless waves 

 in any given direction and direction finding were also 

 discussed. — W. S. H. Cleghorne : A study in charcoal : 

 being a research on charcoals made from exotic woods 

 grown in the Union of South Africa. Charcoals were 

 classified by the following methods : (a) proximate 

 analysis ; (b) measurement of the fuel consumption 

 per brake horse-power on suction gas engine trial at 

 constant given load for six hours' run : (c) analysis 

 of the gas from the gas producer while the engine was 

 on the trial ; (d) measurement of the weight of a 

 given volume of charcoal. Charcoal from Acacia 

 saligna, the common Port Jackson Wattle of the Cape 

 Flats, gave excellent results. — F. G. Cawston : Some 

 notes on the differentiation of closely-alhed Schisto- 

 somes. Fresh-water snails are infested occasionalh" 

 with the cercariae of more than one species of trema- 

 tode. There are conditions under which schistosomes 

 may develop in other than their common intermediary 

 host. A determination of the number of pairs of 

 mucin glands is one of the best means of determining 

 the species to which a cercaria belongs. 



NO. 2740, VOL. 109] 



