730 



NATURE 



[June 3, 1922 



Societies and Academies. 



London. 



Royal Society, May i8. — Sir Charles Sherrington, 

 president, in the chair. — T. B. Wood and J. W. 

 Capstick : The progress of metabolism after food in 

 swine. Using a calorimeter recording electrically 

 the main loss of heat, the resting metaboUsm of a 

 hog has been recorded at intervals after feeding, 

 varying from a few hours to six days. The excess 

 of the resting metabolism above the basal, at any 

 moment, is independent of temperature, weight, 

 and age of animal. This excess falls off according 

 to the equation logy ^M^Q, y being the excess, 

 t time since meal, and A and' C constants. This 

 equation is identical with Guldberg and Waage's 

 Law of Mass Action, that the rate of decomposition 

 of a substance at any time depends on amount 

 remaining undecomposed. Analysis shows that the 

 excess depends on the pressure in the body of sub- 

 stances resulting from digestion and affecting the 

 rate of metabolism, which are themselves metabolised 

 according to the mass-action law. — J. A. Gardner and 

 F. W. Fox : The origin and destiny of cholesterol in 

 the animal organism. Pt. XIII. — On the autolysis 

 of liver and spleen. The autolysis of pulped spleen 

 and liver, during periods varying from one day to 

 a month, shows that the cholesterol content remains 

 constant, within the limit of experimental error, 

 and the addition of pure cholalic acid has no effect. 

 Autolytic experiments afford no evidence that these 

 organs are concerned with the synthesis or destruction 

 of cholesterol in the organism. — C. G. Lamb : The 

 geometry of insect pairing. Cases of asymmetrical 

 hypopygium found in certain dipterous families, and 

 in other insects would necessarily result if the usual 

 vertical position of pairing was adopted subsequent 

 to a primitive linear position. — G. E. Briggs : Ex- 

 perimental researches on vegetable assimilation and 

 respiration. Pt. XV. — The development of photo- 

 synthetic activity during germination of different 

 types of seeds. The seedling leaves of Hehanthus 

 showed practically full activity immediately after 

 germination, both when light and when temperature 

 were hmiting. Other plants showed practically 

 none. In the type showing the lag between germina- 

 tion and development of photosynthetic activity, 

 the seedling possesses a specialised photosynthetic 

 organ separate from the storage organ, while in 

 the other type the same organ serves the dual 

 purpose. Pt. XVL— The characteristics of sub- 

 normal photosynthetic activity resulting from 

 deficiency of nutrient salts. Phaseolus vuloaris was 

 grown in a complete culture solution, and in culture 

 solutions devoid of potassium, magnesium, iron, and 

 phosphorus, respectively. The assimilation of leaves 

 from the plants was measured by determining their 

 output of oxygen. Two types of determinations 

 were made : in one the intensity of illumination was 

 so small that hght was limiting ; in the other, the 

 intensity was increased until assimilation was hmited 

 by temperature. Plants grown in normal solution 

 showed greater photosynthetic activity, and in the 

 others the depression was the same when light was 

 limiting as when temperature was limiting. Probably 

 the factor inside the plant involved is the amount 

 of ' ' re-active chloroplast surface. ' ' Therefore activity 

 should be sub-normal when carbon dioxide is limiting, 

 a condition for which some evidence exists. 



Geological Society, May lo. — Prof. A. C. Seward, 

 president, in the chair. — E. Garwood and Miss E. 

 Goodyear : The lower Carboniferous succession in the 

 Settle District and along the line of the Craven 



NO. 2744, VOL. 109] 



Faults. Detailed mapping of definite faunal horizons 

 was employed. Two distinct facies can be recognised, 

 the North Country and the South Country types. 

 The whole of the country north of the North Craven 

 Fault belongs to the North Country type. The 

 beds show a deeper water origin than those of corre- 

 sponding horizons in Westmorland. There is no 

 Bryozoa band, but the Porcellanous Bed which also 

 occurs at that horizon is taken as the base of Dj. 

 The Main Limestone is less fossiliferous than is the 

 case in Wensleydale, while both the Cyrtina-sepiosa 

 band and the Girvanella nodular band are well 

 developed, and constitute admirable horizons for 

 mapping. A second nodular band occurs in the 

 Lower Lonsdalia Bed. The strip of country between 

 the faults belongs, as a whole, to the North Country 

 type, -and marks the southern margin of the North- 

 western Province. The Orionastroea band forms 

 an important horizon here, and represents the summit 

 of the Hardraw-Scar Limestone round Ingleborough ; 

 below it occurs a Bryozoa band. The area is 

 traversed by numerous normal faults trending usually 

 north-westwards and south-eastwards ; but, near 

 Ingleton, the beds are repeated on themselves by 

 thrusts. At three places, between the faults, patches 

 of rock belonging to the South Country type occur. 

 The change in the faunas is everywhere accompanied 

 by an abrupt lithological change, which usually takes 

 place along the line of the Middle Craven Fault. 

 There is no evidence that the change was influenced 

 by faulting during Lower Carboniferous times. The 

 " knoll-reef " limestone represents a special type of 

 deposit. The two facies were probably laid down 

 some distance apart, and brought together by 

 thrusting ; the patches of rock of the southern type 

 lying between the faults are portions of an overthrust 

 mass from the south which have escaped denudation. 

 The Middle Craven Fault is a normal fault which 

 took place subsequent to the thrusting. — E. J. 

 Wayland, and A. M. Davies : The Miocene of Ceylon. 

 Arenaceous and calcareous strata of Miocene age 

 are found over an extensive area in the north and 

 north-west of Ceylon, and in a small part of the 

 southern coast, at Minihagalkanda. At the latter 

 place the beds rest upon Archaean rocks. The whole 

 series appears to constitute a cycle of sedimentation, 

 beginning and ending with areno-argillaceous deposits, 

 and consisting mainly of fossiliferous limestones. 

 The fossils consist of Foraminifera, corals, echinoids, 

 and molluscs. The lower horizon of Minihagal- 

 kanda is characterised by Ostrea virleli, Deshayes, and 

 is dated as Vindobonian (probably Tortonian), while 

 the higher horizon of the northern area contains 

 Orbiculina malabarica, Carter, and may possibly be 

 Pontian. The transgression of the sea on the 

 continental area of Southern India and Ceylon is 

 thus contemporaneous with its recession from the 

 Himalayan geosyncline, in accordance with Haug's 

 principle. 



Physical Society, May 12. — Dr. Alexander Russell, 

 president, in the chair. — S. O. Pearson and H. St. G. 

 Anson : Some electrical properties of neon-filled 

 lamps. The lanfp is shunted by a condenser and 

 connected in series with a high resistance to a D.C, 

 voltage supply. When cold no current passes 

 through the lamp until the E.M.F. reaches about 

 171 volts. If the voltage be reduced when the 

 lamp is glowing, current continues to pass until 

 about 140 volts is reached. When, therefore, an 

 E.M.F. of 200 volts is applied, some time elapses 

 while the condenser is charging up to the necessary 

 0:71 volts. Then the lamp begins to take current, 

 the current increases, and the voltage across the lamp 

 falls to the limit of 140 volts, when the lamp goes out. 



