September 30, 19 15] 



NATURE 



m 



Curves are given showing the change in the dis- 

 solved oxygen and in the allcahnity with the time of 

 clay, and one curve is the exact inverse of the other. 

 These results are attributed to the development of the 

 chlorophyll activity of algae. — J. Tissot : The most 

 favourable conditions for the rapid cicatrisation of 

 wounds. Recent work by Dakin and Carrel aims 

 at the production of a slightly toxic, strongly anti- 

 septic, and non-irritant solution for treating wounds. 

 The author holds that the irritating action of such 

 ^t)lutions is essential to their curative action, and 

 hows that various accepted methods of treatme|it, 

 ither physical or chemical, are based on their irrita- 

 ing action. Although the antiseptic properties of 

 alkaline hypochlorites are very high, their favourable 

 action is regarded as being less the result of their 

 bactericidal effects than to their stimulating or irrita- 

 ting effects on the tissues. — M. Marage : The treat- 

 ment of deafness resulting from wounds in war. An 

 account of the results achieved by the application of 

 the methods proposed in* an earlier communication. 

 Two-thirds of the cases were able to return to the 

 front as cured.— J. Rodhain : The biology of Stasisia 

 rodhaini.—E. Roubaud : The production and auto- 

 destruction of domestic flies by horse manure. 



September 20.— M. Ed. Perrier in the chair.— J. 

 Boussinesq : Remarks and calculations showing that 

 the complication of the formulae for large displace- 

 ments of deformable bodies is due, not to the deforma- 

 tions, but to the rotations.— Wilfrid and Conrad 

 Kilian : A reef formation containing stromatospores In 

 the Urgonian of Chamechaude (massif of the Grande 

 Chartreuse).— Edouard Heckel ; The transmission by 

 seeds of the effects of castration in maize stems. It 

 has been shown that one effect of male castration in 

 maize is to Increase the amount of sugar in the stems. 

 This has been carried out for four successive years, 

 and it has now been proved that this Increased pro- 

 portion of sugar in the stems can be transmitted by 

 the seeds.— Pierre Humbert : The bifurcations of 

 Jacob! 's ellipsoids. — C. Camichel : Hammering in 

 pipes; oscillations in mass. — Jules Andrade : Chrono- 

 metric methods for the measurement of the terrestrial 

 magnetic field. A magnetised needle is connected 

 with the balance wheel of a non-magnetisable chrono- 

 meter In such a manner as not to Interfere with the 

 equilibrium with respect to the axis of rotation of the 

 balance wheel. The theory of thi determination of 

 the magnetic field from the rate of the chronometer 

 is developed, and it is shown that a high accuracy 

 can be obtained.— Jean Pougnet : The action of ultra- 

 violet light upon solutions of mercuric chloride and 

 upon some mercury salts. Solutions of mercuric 

 chloride are rapidly decomposed by light from a mer- 

 cury vapour quartz lamp, calomel being deposited. 

 The reaction is to a certain extent reversible, since 

 calomel suspended In water and submitted to the ultra- 

 violet rays gives some mercuric chloride. Many slats 

 of mercury are also shewn to be affected by the same 

 treatment.— R. Chudtau : Atmospherir pressure In 

 western and equatorial Africa.— Jean Mascart : De- 

 scription of a localised storm. — B. Baillaud : Remarks 

 on the preceding paper.— A. Moutier : The troubles of 

 arterial circulation under war conditions. All the 

 subjects returning from the battlefield present a 

 radial hypotension. Other circulatory troubles are 

 frequently observed locally in the neighbourhood of 

 wounds. Treatment having for Its aim the regular- 

 isation of the arterial circulation will aid conservative 

 surgery and will sometimes remove the necessity for 

 amputations.— A. P. Dustin : The method of experi- 

 mental parthenogenesis of Delage and its mode of 

 application.— A. Brachet : Tlie cyclic evolution of the 

 cytoplasm of the fertilised egg.— Mile. A. Raphael 

 and V. Frasey : The toxin of the septic vibrion and 

 NO. 2396, VOL. 96] 



the corresponding antitoxin. The septic vibrion give 

 in twenty-four hours a very active toxin, which can 

 be easily and rapidly titrated on the rabbit. The 

 immunisation of the horse against the poison can be 

 made rapidly and without danger. The serum thus 

 obtained shows antitoxic and anti-infective properties 

 when used on laboratory animals both against the 

 septic vibrion and Bacterium chauvoei. — Em. Bour- 

 quelot and A. Aubry : The biochemical synthesis of 

 the a-monoglucoslde of ordinary propylene glycol with 

 the aid of a-glucosidase. 



Washington, D.C. 

 National Academy ol Sciences (Proceedings No. 9, 

 vol. I.).- Alice C. Fletcher : The Indian and Nature. 

 Glimpses are given of the line the Indian pursues in 

 his endeavour to express his view of Nature and of 

 the relation he believes to exist between its various 

 forms and forces and himself. — Jacques Loeb : The 

 mechanism of antagonistic salt action. The author 

 studies the effect of the concentration C of the salt 

 at the external surface of membranes in addition to 

 the concentrations C, and C,, of the salt outside and 

 inside the membrane, and finds that C,,, is serviceable 

 in explaining the mechanism of antagonistic salt 

 action in certain cases. — Chas. B. Lipman : The 

 nitrogen problem in arid soils. A summary of some 

 recent Investigations and field manifestations with 

 reference to their bearing on problems of soil fertility 

 in California. — F. H. Scares : A notation for use in 

 the discussion of star colours. The extension of abso- 

 lute scales of photographic and photovlsual magni- 

 tudes to the fainter stars provides a method of deter- 

 mining the colours of objects at present beyond the 

 reach of spectroscopic investigation, and it Is con- 

 venient in the statistical discussion of such colour 

 results to Introduce a notation similar to that used fcr 

 spectral classification. The letters b, a, f, g, etc., are 

 used to correspond to B, A, F, G, etc. — F. H. 

 Seares and H. Shapley : Condensation, colour, and mag- 

 nitude in star clusters. Neither N.G.C. 1647 nor M 67 

 show any dependence of condensation upon colour 

 which cannot be explained on the basis of included 

 background stars; there seems to be little, if any, 

 dependence of condensation upon magnitude, but 

 there is a marked relation between colour and magni- 

 tude In N.G.C. 1647, and a less pronounced relation 

 in M67. — H. S. Uhler : Thiele's "phase" in band 

 spectra. The author outlines an interpolation method 

 for determining c in the formula A = /[(n + c)^], which 

 is much simpler than using Thiele's complicated 

 formula. — E. G. Conklin : Why polar bodies do not 

 develop. The second or internal factor in normal 

 fertilisation is a non-diffusible substance which is 

 introduced by the spermatozoon, and it Is strongly 

 suggested that this factor is the sperm centrosome, a 

 position which Boveri has long maintained, and 

 which the author has hitherto contested. Giant polar 

 bodies do not develop because they are not fertilised, 

 and they are not fertilised because they are gener- 

 ally formed after a spermatozoon has entered the eg^ 

 and has rendered it impervious to other spermatozoa. 

 — W. W. Campbell and J. H. Moore : Radial velocities 

 of the planetary and irregular nebulae. The fact that 

 the gaseous nebulae have motions which are charac- 

 teristic of the stars, and their concentration in the 

 Milky Way, Indicate that these nebulae are members 

 of our stellar system. The great velocities of the 

 nebulae in the Magellanic Clouds and other considera- 

 tions lead to the hypothesis that the Magellanic 

 Clouds are isolated cosmic units with no apparent 

 connection to our own stellar system. 



Calcutta. 

 Asiatic Society ol Bengal, September i.— Rai Mob- 

 mohan Chaliravarti Bahadur : Notes on the geo- 



