8oo 



NATURE 



[June 17, 1922 



results are shown graphically in four curves. — MM. 

 Clement and Riviere : Attempts at the synthetic 

 manufacture of mother-of-pearl by the production 

 of chemical systems. — -A. A. Guntz : Phosphorescent 

 zinc sulphide. The crystalline structure of sulphide 

 of zinc appears to play an important part in the 

 phenomena of phosphorescence, as shown by the 

 different duration of the luminosity of the two 

 varieties and by the known fact that their pulverisa- 

 tion suppresses almost entirely the luminous emission. 

 — A. Job and R. Reich : An attempt at the systematic 

 extension of the preparation of organo-metallic 

 compounds. Apphcation to iron ethyl iodide. 

 Organo-zinc compounds possess the advantage over 

 the corresponding magnesium compounds that a 

 large range of solvents can be used. The iron 

 derivative, CgHjFel, is made by the interaction of 

 an ether solution of ferrous iodide with zinc ethyl 

 iodide also in ethereal solution. The new iron 

 compound was not isolated, but its existence in the 

 solution was proved by its reactions with water and 

 alcohol. — M. Flajolet : The perturbations of the 

 magnetic declination at Lyons during the year 

 1920-1921. — A. Petit : The harmful action of farm- 

 yard manure. — A. Policard and Mile. J. Tritchkovitch : 

 The direct fixation of fats by the sebaceous glands. 

 The fat absorptions were followed by the addition of 

 Soudan red (Daddi) to the food. The mechanism of 

 the sebaceous glands appears to act in two waves. 

 In the first, the classical theory, the fat is elaborated 

 by the cell, but side by side with this there is a 

 direct fixation of the fat brought by the blood. — 

 P. Portier and M. Duval : The variation of the 

 osmotic pressure of the blood of the freshwater 

 teleostean fishes under the influence of the increased 

 salinity of the surrounding water. The fish is 

 incapable of maintaining a constant osmotic pressure 

 Uke a mammal or a bird, but there is a clear tendency 

 towards regulation in the carp, in which the osmotic 

 pressure of the blood increases with an increase in 

 the proportion of salts in the water in which it is 

 placed. — H. Cardot and H. Laugier : The linguo- 

 maxillary reflex. — G. Bidou : An orientation compass 

 for the foot. — C. Vaney and J. Pelosse : Relations 

 between the blood and the coloration of the cocoon 

 in Bombyx mori. — E. Faure-Fremiet and Mile. H. 

 Garrault : Constitution of the egg of the trout, 

 Trutta fario. — A. Helbronner and W. Rudolfs : The 

 attack of minerals by bacteria. The oxidation of 

 blende. Certain bacteria are capable of converting 

 blende into zinc sulphate : in minerals containing 

 the sulphides of both zinc and lead, the lead is not 

 attacked and only the zinc is rendered soluble. — L. 

 Fournier, C. Levaditi, A. Navarro-Martin, and A. 

 Schwartz : The preventive action in syphihs of the 

 acetyl derivative of oxyaminophenylarsinic acid 

 (sodium salt). Proofs of the prophylactic and 

 preventive action of this salt against syphilis are given. 

 The experiments were made both on animals and on 

 man. 



Official Publications Received. 



"Madras Fisheries Department. The Common Molluscs of South 

 India. By James Hornell. (Report No. 6 of 1921. Madras Fisheries 

 Bulletin, Vol. 14.) Pp. 97-215. (Madras: Government Press) 

 1 rupee. '' 



Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa. Bulletin No. 125 • The 

 Weevil Fauna of South India, with special reference to Species of 

 Economic Importance. By T. V. Ramakrishna Ayyar. Pp 21 + 20 

 plates. (Calcutta : Government Printing Office.) 1.4 rupees 



Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa. Bulletin No. 126 • Cawn- 

 pore-American Cotton, II. Further Field Trials (1918-1920), Spinning 

 Trials and Market Organization. By B. C. Burt. Pp. 13. (Calcutta • 

 Government Printing Office.) 4 annas. 



Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa. Bulletin No. 127 • The 

 Coconut-Bleeding Disease. By S. Sundararaman. Pp. 8 + 6 plates 

 (Calcutta : Government Printing Office.) 8 annas. 



Department of the Interior : Canada. Publications of the Domin\«»>?«« 

 Astrophysical Observatory, Victoria, B.C. Vol. 2, No. 1 : The Radii' 

 Velocities of 594 Stars. By J. S. Plaskett and others. Pp. 127. 

 (Ottawa : Government Printing Bureau.) 



Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources : Weather 

 Bureau. Annual Report of the Weather Bureau for the Year 1918. 

 Part 3 : Meteorological Observations made at the Secondary Stations 

 during the Calendar Year 191*. Pp. 353. (Manila: Bureau of 

 Printing.) 



Diary of Societies. 



FRIDAY, June 16. 

 Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, at 8.— A. C. 

 Braham : The Final Support in Carbon Printing. 



TUESDAY, June 20. 



Institution of Gas Engineers (Annual General Meeting) (at Institu- 

 tion of Electrical Engineers), at 10 a.m. and 3. — T. Hardie : Presi- 

 dential Address. — Gas Investigation Committee : Research on 

 Aeration in Atmospheric Burners. — Seventh Report of the Gas 

 Investigation Committee : Carbiu-etted Water Gas Plant with Waste- 

 heat Boiler. — Report of Institution Gas Research Fellowship : Dr. 

 A. C. Monkhouse and Prof. J. W. Cobb : The Liberation of Nitrogen 

 and Sulphur from Coal and Coke as Ammonia.— Report of the Life 

 of Gas Meters Committee. — Report of Refractory Materials Research 

 Committee. — A. T. Green : The Thermal Conductivity of Refrac- 

 tories at High Temperatures. — Miss D. A. Jones : The Standardisa- 

 tion of the After Contraction Test. 



Royal College of Physicians of London, at 5. — Dr. Gordon 

 Holmes : The Symptoms of Cerebellar Disease and their Interpreta- 

 tion (Croonian Lectures) (4). 



Royal Statistical Society, at 5.15. 



Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, at 7. — E. Peake : 

 The Norwich School of Painters. 



WEDNESDAY, June 21. 



Institution of Gas Engineers (at Institution of Electrical Engineers), 

 at 10 A.M. and 3. — -Dr. C. Carpenter : Some Gas Burners and a Moral. — 

 Dr. G. Weyman : Increasing the Rate of Carbonisation of Coal.— 

 W. B. Leech : Reconstruction Work at Beckton. 



Royal Institute of British Architects, at 5.— -W. H. Bidlake : The 

 Continuity of English Architecture. 



Royal Meteorological Society, at 5. — J. E. Clark, H. B. Adames, 

 and A. D. Margery : Report on the Phenological Observations for 

 1921. — L. S. Richardson, Dr. A. Wagner, and R. Dietzius : An 

 Observational Test of the Geostropic Approximation in the Strato- 

 sphere. 



Royal Microscopical Society, at 8.— A. Chaston Chapman : The 

 Use of the Microscope in the Brewing Industry. — A. B. Klugh : 

 The Plunger-Pipette.— E. A. Spaul : The Gametogenesis of Nepa 

 cinerea (Water Scorpion).- J. Strachan : The Microscope in Paper 

 Making. 



THURSDAY, JUNE 22. 



Institution of Gas Engineers (at Institution of Electrical Engineers), 

 at 10 A.M. — Prof. C. V. Boys : A Recording and Integrating Gas 

 Calorimeter. 



Royal Society, at 4.30. — Probable Papers. — G. I. Taylor : The 

 Motion of a Sphere in a Rotating Liquid. — Prof. T. R. Merton 

 and D. N. Harrison : Errors arising in the Measurement of Un- 

 symmetrical Spectrum Lines. — Dr. E. F. Armstrong and Dr. T. P. 

 Hilditch : A Study of Catalytic Actions at Solid Surfaces. Part 

 VIII. The Action of Sodium Carbonate in promoting the Hydro- 

 genation of Phenol. Part IX. The Action of Copper in promoting 

 the Activity of Nickel Catalyst. — E. A. Milne : Radiative Ectuili- 

 brium : The Relation between the Spectral Energy Curve of a 

 Star and the Law of Darkening of the Disc towards the Limb, 

 with Special Reference to the Effects of Scattering and the Solar 

 Spectrum. — C. W. Hinshelwood : The Structure and Chemical' 

 Activity of Copper Films and the Colour Changes accompanying 

 their Oxidation. — R. C. Ray : Heat of Crystallisation of Quartz. 



Malthusian League (at Kensington Town Hall), at 8. — Miss Cicely 

 Hamilton, Mrs. Seaton-Tiedeman, B. Dunlop, and Rev. G. Lang : 

 Birth Control the Workers' Charter. 



FRIDAY, June 23. 

 Physical Society of London (at Imperial College of Science and 

 Technology), at 5. — J. W. Fisher : An Experiment on Molecular 

 Gyrostatic Action. — Prof. A. O. Rankine and C. J. Smith : The 

 Viscous Properties and Molecular Dimensions of Silicane. — W. N. 

 Bond : The Pressure-Gradient in Liciuids flowing through Cones. — 

 Dr. E. E. Fournier d'Albe : Demonstration of a Mercury-Drop 

 Method of producing Visual Effects by Means of Sound. 



PUBLIC LECTURES. 



(A number in brackets indicates the number of a lecture in a series.) 



TUESDAY, June 20. 

 King's College, at 5.30. — Miss Hilda D. Oakeley : The Idea of Value 

 in the History of Philosophy (1). 



WEDNESDAY, June 21. - 

 Royal SocrETY of Medicine, at 5. — Prof. A. A. Hijmans van den 

 Bergh : The Pathology of Haemoglobin. (In English.) 



NO. 2746, VOL. 109] 



