February 24, 19 16] 



NATURE 



725 



|).riodic phenomena (see p, 715). — F. Jadin and 

 A. Astruc : Manganese in some alpine springs. 

 The quantities of manganese found vary from 

 001 mgr. per litre (Aix-les-Bains) to 0-46 

 Saint Gervais). Ferruginous springs contain 

 lore manganese than those in the same region free 

 rom iron. — H. Devaux : The presence of a coating 

 . sisting wetting at the surface of particles of sand 

 ind of arable soil. If particles of sand, dry or con- 

 lining up to 05 per cent, of water, are dusted on to 

 he surface of water, the greater part of the grains 

 "oat. If the moisture in the sand amounts to i per 

 ' nt., all the grains immediately sink. The non- 

 wetting of the surface of the sand grain is probably 

 due to the presence of a thin layer of organic matter, 

 .IS this phenomenon is not shown by calcined sand. 

 Soils behave similarly, and the capillary effects pro- 

 duced by this coating must have an important influence 

 on plant growth.— Henri Grosheintz : An "installation 

 permitting the javellisation of the whole of the muni- 

 cipal water supply of the town of Thann. The special 

 arrangement for mixing the solution of calcium hypo- 

 i hlorite with the water consists of a small pump con- 

 nected with the large water lift pump, so that the two 

 make stroke for stroke. In this manner 50 c.c. of the 

 hypochlorite solution is injected per cubic metre of 

 water. The bacteriological examination of the water 

 l^roved the efficiency of the treatment. 



February 7.— M. Camille Jordan in the chair.— L. 

 Maquenne : The estimation of reducing substances in 

 the presence of an excess of saccharose. Studies on 

 the choice of temperature of reduction and time of 

 lieating, and. on the quantity of sugar to be used in 

 the analysis. Details of the titration method recom- 

 mended are given. — Georges Fontene : An extension of 

 Poncelet's theorem relating to polygons inscribed in, or 

 circumscribed about, conies. — M! Darboux : Remarks 

 on the preceding communication. ^S. Stoilow : The 

 integration of linear equations by equations of suc- 

 cessive approximation. — J. Dejust': The trace of the 

 blades of a hydraulic turbine in which the pressure 

 decreases linearly along trajectories relative to the 

 stream lines.— .Mbert Colson : The irrational character 

 of solubility formulae and heats of moistening. A 

 reply to a criticism by M. Le Chatelier.— J. L. 

 Hamonet : True homologues of glycerol, heptanetriol. 

 The author gives as the definition of a true homo- 

 logue of glycerol a substance possessing the formula 

 <:iL(OH)-(CH,)„-CH(OH)-(CH,)„-CH,(OH), and 

 describes the preparation of heptanetriol, in which 

 n= I. —Henry de Varigny : The erosion of the French 

 Cretaceous cliffs on the Channel. Several streeets in 

 Bourg d'Ault are perpendicular to the line of the 

 coast and lead to the edge of the cliff. The changes 

 in length of these streets during the period 1825-1912 

 have been exactly determined, and show an annual 

 loss of rather more than 26 cm. per annum. ^Louis 

 Gentil : The existence of recent volcanoes in central 

 Morocco. — Le Marechal and M? Morin : A new appa- 

 ratus for the radioscopic localisation of projectiles in 

 the wounded. It is claimed for the instrument de- 

 scribed and illustrated that its indications are at least 

 equal to those of the best instruments utilising radio- 

 graphs, and that no calculation or geometric con- 

 struction is required.— .\. Lecaillon : Non-impregnated 

 eggs and parthenogenesis of the silkworm (Bomhyx 

 mori). 



\V.\siiiNc;iON, D.C. 

 National Academy of Sciences (Proceedings, No. i, 

 vol. ii.).— G. F. Becker: A possible origin for some 

 spiral nebulae. It is suggested that nebulae may be 

 developed from nebulous streamers or " bacula." Com- 

 parison of the theoretical shape of the nebula) at certain 

 NO. 2417, VOL. 96] 



stages of their development with the whirlpool nebula 

 is not unfavourable to the hypothesis. — E. W. Hllgard : 

 A peculiar clay from near the city of Mexico. The 

 analysis shows that the predominant base is magnesia. 

 A peculiarity of the clay is its exceptionally high 

 absorptive power for water. — Harlow Shapley : Studies 

 of magnitude in star clusters. 1. — The absorjuion of 

 light in space. The examination of the Hercules 

 cluster indicates the conclusion that the selective ex- 

 tinction of light in space is entirely inappreciable, and 

 that probably the non-selective absorption in space is 

 also negligible. — Harlow Shapley: Studies of magni- 

 tudes in stars clusters. II. — The sequence of spectral 

 types in stellar evolution. The giant second-type .stars 

 are present in large numbers in the globular clusters. 

 The results offer difficulties for the conventional 

 scheme of evolution of spectral types, but the difficul- 

 ties are not so severe for Russell's hypothesis.- R. A. 

 Miliikan and W. H. Souder -. Experimental evidence for 

 the essential identity of the selective and normal photo- 

 electric effects. Photo-electric phenomena are not in 

 general conditioned by the presence of a gas. All dis- 

 tinctions between the normal and selective effects in 

 lithium have disappeared. — L. A. Bauer : Concomitant 

 changes in terrestrial magnetism and solar radiation. 

 Changes in the earth's magnetism of appreciable 

 amount are found associated with changes in solar 

 radiation. Decreased solar constant is accompanied 

 by increased magnetic constant. Various minor but 

 important correlations are established. — ^.\. (i. Mayer : 

 Submarine solution of limestone in relation to the 

 Murray-Agassiz theory of coral atolls. By (exposing 

 pieces of shell of the mollusc Cassis to solution in 

 sea-water for a year under various conditions, it is 

 shown that the rate of solution is too slow to be 

 favourable to the theory that the solvent action of sea- 

 water for limestone is a primary factor in deepening 

 and widening the lagoons of coral atolls. — D. H. 

 Campbell : The Archegonium and Sporophyte of 

 Trcubia insif^nis, (iotibel. Treubia is probably on the 

 whole nearer the leafy liverworts than is any other 

 anacrogynous genus.— ^.Ale§ HrdliCka : Brief notes on 

 recent anthropological explorations under the auspices 

 of the Smithsonian Institution and the LIS. National 

 Museum. The topics treated are : search for Neolithic 

 human remains in south-western Russia ; explorations 

 in the Birusa caves and rock .shelters on the Yenisei 

 River, Siberia ; development of the child among the 

 Negrito, the African negro, the Eskimo, an<l native 

 Siberians. — A. G. Mayer : A theory of nerve-conduction. 

 The theory of nerve-conduction is based upon the 

 phenomena of adsorption. The results lend no support 

 to the theory that the velocity of propagation of nerv<' 

 impulse is that of a shear in the substance of tin 

 nerve. — A. L. Kroeber : Zufii culture sequences. Th« 

 author gathered a large number of potsherds in and 

 near Zufii, and is able to make a tentative chrono- 

 logical classification of the objects. — H. S. Jennings : 

 The numerical results of diverse systems of breeding. 

 The proportions of the population which are found 

 after n generations arising from continued breeding 

 in various ways are tabulated for twenty-four different 

 methods of mating. — Raymond Pearl : The eff(.H:ts of 

 feeding pituitary body (anterior lobe) substance and 

 corpus luteum substance to growing chicks. The com- 

 mencement of the laying period in pullets is neither 

 retarded nor accelerated by feeding pituitary and corpus 

 substance, but the body growth is retarded. — R. tiold- 

 schmidt : A preliminary report on further experiments in 

 inheritance and determination of sex. The article 

 states a number of new results found by the author in 

 continuing his earlier work on the interbreeding of 

 gipsy moths. Every gradation of intersexualism from 

 a normal female to a normal male, and from a male 



