November i8, 1915] 



NATURE 



111 



effect of a very dilute solution of chlorine on litmus 

 was shown. The litmus is at once turned a bright 

 red colour, which rapidly changes back to purple, and 

 then slowly bleaches. The author concludes that the 

 usual explanation of the bleaching action of chlorine 

 (in the case of litmus, at any rate) is not correct, but 

 that the chlorine .acts by directly chlorinating the 

 colouring- matter. Reference was made to the 

 recent use of hypochlorous acid as the " ideal 

 antiseptic." Prof. Lorrain Smith uses either 

 a powder ("Eupad"), made by intimately mixing 

 bleaching powder and boric acid, or a solution 

 (■' Eusol "), obtained by treating the powder with 

 \\ ater. Both these mixtures will contain a considerable 

 amount of hypochlorous acid, but also, inevitably, a cer- 

 i.iin amount of free chlorine. Dr. A. Carrell and !Slr. H. 

 Dakin recommend the use of bleaching powder mixed 

 with boric acid and carbonate of lime ; the last-named 

 \\ ould have the effect of getting rid of most, if not all, 

 of the free chlorine referred to above. 



Paris. 



Academy of Sciences, November 8.— M. Ed. Perrier 

 in the chair. — G. Bigourdan : The astronomical works 

 of Peiresc. Details of work between 1635 and 1637.- — ■ 

 A. Blondel and F. Carbenay : Oscillating systems with 

 discontinuous damping. Application to galvanometers. 



M. de Seguier : The transitive constituents of certain 

 Liroups with bilinear or quadratic invariant in a Galois 

 iield. — M. d'Ocagne : The rectification and the quad- 

 rature of epi- and hypo-cycloids. — Nicolas Krylofl : A 

 method o{ .M. Boussinesq. — A. Guillet : Harmonic 

 string siren. The measurement of Young's modulus. 



L. Tschugaeff and W. Lebedinski : Two series of com- 

 plex compounds derived from bivalent platinum and 

 <-orresponding to the index of co-ordination 6. — Emile 

 Haug : The tectonic of the Brignoles region. — A. 

 (iuilliermond : The origin of the anthocyanic pigments. 



A. Marie and Leon MacAulifle : General morpho- 

 logical characters of the insane. A statistical study 

 of 100 cases shows that the insane present a morpho- 

 logy very different from the normal. The average 

 height is low, but the limbs, especially the lower limbs, 

 show a disproportional growth. — M. Bonnefor : The 

 j)hysiological trembling of the iris. — R. Ledoux-Lebord 

 and M. Dauvillier : A new certain radioscopic method 

 for detecting foreign bodies during surgical operations. 

 — A. Ch. Hollande : Vital coloration by " soluble car- 

 mine" in insects. 



New South Wales. 

 Linnean Society, September 29.— Mr. A. G. Hamilton, 

 president, in the chair. — H. J. Carter : The Australian 

 Strongyliinse, and other Tenebrionidae, with descrip- 

 tions of new genera and species. Representatives of 

 the Australian Strongyliinae are rare in collections, and 

 are sometimes confused with those of the Cistelidae. 

 Three genera have been recognised hitherto. Two 

 additional genera and six species are described as 

 new, as well as five species referable to other groups 

 of the Tenebrionidae. — A. M. Lea : Descriptions of new 

 s|j€cies of Australian Coleoptera. Part xi. One genus 

 and thirty species are described as new.— W. N. 

 Benson : The geology and petrology of the great Ser- 

 jjentine-Belt of New South Wales. Part v. : The geo- 

 logy of the Tamworth district. This paper continues 

 the mapping of the Serpentine-Belt into the district 

 made classic by the work of Prof. David and Mr. Pitt- 

 man, and is chiefly occupied with the stratigraphy of 

 the Devonian rocks. About eighty square miles have 

 been mapped in some detail. The lower, middle, and 

 Mf»per divisions of the Devonian rocks are represented, 



NO. 2403, VOL. 96] 



but the base and the upper limit of the series are not 

 visible in the area studied. The interest centres in the 

 middle Devonian beds. Three horizons of fossiliferous 

 limestone have been recognised, and the known fauna 

 has been greatly enlarged. In particular, the forms 

 Penti\merus and Tryplasma, usually of Silurian age, 

 have been found in these rocks. A definite horizon for 

 maximum development of igneous material has been 

 determined in the middle and upper Devonian series, 

 and the origin of the peculiar intrusive tuffs is dis- 

 cussed. The effects of contact-metamorphism, pro- 

 duced by the Moonbi-granite on the basic igneous, 

 resemble those seen at Dartmoor, and in the Harz 

 mountains. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



The Student's System. By V. Russell. Pp. 



13- 



(London : J. M. Dent and Sons, Ltd.) is. 6iL net. 



Science and War. By Sir W. Osier. Pp. 39. (Ox- 

 ford : At the Clarendon Press.) is, 6d. net. 



Radium, X-Rays, and the Living Cell, with Physical 

 Introduction. By H. A. Colwell and Dr. S. Russ. 

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 12s. 6d. net. 



Energy Transformations during Horizontal Walk- 

 ing. By F. G. Benedict and H. Murschhauser. Pp. 

 100. (Washington : Carnegie Institution.) 



Conductivities and Viscosities in Pure and in Mixed 

 Solvents. Radiometric Measurements of the Ioniza- 

 tion Constants of Indicators. By H. C. Jones and 

 others. Pp. vii-l-175. (Washington: Carnegie Insti- 

 tution.) 



A Comparison of Methods for determining the 

 Respiratory Exchange of Man. By T. M. Carpenter. 

 Pp. 265. (Washington : Carnegie Institution.) 



The Establishment of Varieties in Coleus by the 

 Selection of Souratic Variations. By A. B. Stout. 

 Pp. 80-l-plates 4. (Washington: Carnegie Institu- 

 tion.) 



The Mosquitoes of North and Central America and 

 the West Indies. By L. O. Howard, H. G. Dyar, 

 and F. Knab. Vol. iii. : Systematic Description (in 

 two parts). Part i. Pp. 'vi-l-523. (Washington: 

 Carnegie Institution.) 



Contributions to Embryology. Vol. iii. Nos. 7, 8, 

 9. Pp. 90 + plates. (Washington : Carnegie Institu- 

 tion.) 



A Laboratorv Manual for Work in General Science. 

 By O. W. Caldwell, W. L. Eikenberry, and C. J. 

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 and Co.) 2s. 6rf. 



Laboratory Manual of Horticulture, with Illustra- 

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 Prof. G. W. Hood. Pp. vi-f234. (Boston and Lon- 

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Laboratorv Manual, Arranged to Accompany "A 

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 son and Prof. W. E. Henderson. Pp. V-H41. (Bos- 

 ton and London : Ginn and Co.) 3s. 



A Course in Invertebrate Zoology. By Prof. H. S. 

 Pratt. Revised edition. Pp. xii-t-228. (Boston and 

 London : Ginn and Co.) 6s. 



An Introduction to the Study of Prehistoric Art. 

 By E. A. Parkyn. Pp. xviii-f-349. (London: Long- 

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The Theory of Machines. By R. F. McKay. Pp. 

 viii-f-440. (London : E. Arnold.) 15s. net. 



