NATURE 



September 3, 1914] 



accepted theories as to the character of the alluvial 

 depression south of the Himalayas — i.e., a wedge- 

 shaped mass with its thick end against the foot of 

 the Himalayas shallowing to zero against the older 

 rocks of the Peninsula — without discarding Dutton's 

 theor\- of isostasy. He therefore endeavoured to show 

 that by assuming other depths for complete isostatic 

 compensation for India than 113-7 km.^ — that which 

 Hayford had found to hold generally in the United 

 States, the geodetic anomalies could be more easily 

 explained, provided one was prepared to admit the 

 possibility of the depth of isostatic compensation not 

 being constant throughout the world. Reference is 

 made to a recent paper by Mr. R. D. Oldham claim- 

 ing to have proved by calculation that such a wedge- 

 shaped trough filled with alluvium would be capable 

 of producing just the observed anomalies, sn that 

 Col. Burrard's rift hypothesis becomes superf xoiis.- — 

 Barun Chandra Dutt and Surya Narayan Sen : Action 

 of nitric oxide on metallic peroxides suspended in 

 water. Part i. The authors have studied the action 

 of nitric oxide on lead peroxide and barium peroxide 

 suspended in water. They conclude from their ex- 

 periments that in the case of lead peroxide both lead 

 nitrite and lead nitrate are formed, whilst in the 

 case of barium peroxide the only product of the 

 reaction is barium nitrite. Experimental evidence is 

 adduced to show that during the formation of the 

 nitrite and nitrate of lead part of the lead peroxide is 

 reduced to monoxide, and that lead nitrate is formed 

 by the oxidizing action of lead peroxide on lead 

 nitrate. — J. Sykes Gamble : Materials for a flora of 

 the Malayan Peninsula No. 25. This part contains 

 the families Nos. 96 {bis) Cytinaceae and 109 Balano- 

 phoraceae, both by Mr. H. N. Ridley; also N'os. 112 

 Juglandaceae, 113 Myricaceae, 114 Casuarinaceae, 115 

 Fagaceae, and 116 Salicaceae, all by Mr. Gambled 

 In these seven families there are eleven genera and 

 sixty-five species, of which one species in Balano- 

 phoraceae, and eight in Fagaceae are new. The new 

 species have been described, with the usual Latin 

 diagnoses, in the Kew Bulletin. — H. H. Mann and 

 N. V. Kanitkar : Notes on the fat of Garcinia indica, 

 the so-called Kokam butter. The present note sup- 

 plements the information contained in D. Hooper's 

 paper on the fats of Garcinia species (Journal, Asiatic 

 Society of Bengal, vol. iii., page 257, published in 

 1907), but confines itself to Kokam butter, which is 

 the fat of Garcinia indica. As already noted by Heise 

 and Hooper, the fat is mainly ole'o-distearin. The 

 volatile fatty acids are a mixture of acetic and pro- 

 pisnic acids in practically equal proportions; butvric 

 acid is absent. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



The Institute of Chemistry of Great Britain and 

 Ireland. History of the Institute, 1877-1914. Com- 

 piled by R. B. PUcher. Pp. iv-|- 5-307. (London: 

 Institute of Chemisfy.) 



Essays and Addresses by the late Prof. J. C. Brown. 

 Pp. vii + 208. (London: J. and A. Churchill.) 5s. 

 net. 



Records of the Western Australian Museum and 

 Art Gallerv. Vol. i. Part 3. Pp. 10:5-2 =2 and 

 plates. (Perth, VV.A.) 5s. 



Tasmania : Department of Mines. Geological 

 Survey Bulletin No. 15 :— The Stanley River Tin 

 Field. By L. L. Waterhouse. Pp. vi + 210; maps 

 and sections to accompany above. (Hobart : J. Vail.) 



The Royal Technical College, Glasgow. Calendar 

 for the 119th Session, 1914-15. Pp. 508. (Glasgow: 

 R. Anderson.) 



Our Knowledge of the External World as a Field 

 NO. 2340, VOL. 94] 



I for Scientific Method in Philosophy. By B. Russell. 

 ' Pp. vii-l-245. (Chicago and London: The Open 

 I Court Publishing Co.) 7s. 6d. net. 



Matriculation Mechanics. By Drs. W. Biggs and 



G. H. Bryan. Ninth impression. (Third edition.) 



j Pp. viii-l-3t)3. (London: Universitv Tutorial Press» 



Ltd.) 3s. bd. 



Guide to the Materials for American History, tO' 

 1783, in the Public Record Office of Great Britain^ 

 Vol. ii., Departmental and Miscellaneous Papers. By 

 Prof. C. M. Andrews. Pp. viii + 427. (Washington: 

 Carnegie Institution.) 



List of Prime Numbers from i to 10,006,721. By. 

 D. N. Lehmer. Pp. xv+133. (Washington: Car-- 

 negie Institution.) 



Edinburgh and East of Scotland College of Agri- 

 culture. Calendar for 1914-15. Pp 148. (Edin- 

 burgh : Edinburgh and East of Scotland College of 

 Agriculture.) 



Seventh Annual Report of the American Bison 

 Society. Pp. 72. (Groton, Mass. : American Bison 

 Society.) 



Metropolitan Water Board. Eighth Annual Report 

 on the Results of the Chemical and Bacteriological 

 Examination of the London Waters for the Twelve 

 Months ended 31st March, 1914. Pp. 62. (London : 

 C. Straker and Sons, Ltd.) 2s. 6d. 



Metropolitan Water Board. Tenth Report on Re- 

 search ^\'ork. Pp. 49. (London : C. Straker and; 

 Sons, Ltd.) 2s. 6d. 



CONTENTS. PAGttH 



Our Rarer Birds n 



Science and the Farmer. By Dr. E. J. Russell i 



Our Bookshelf j 



The Type-Reading Optophone. {With Diagram.) By 



Dr. E. E. Fournier d'Albe 4, 



Notes 5 



Our Astronomical Column :— 



The Recent Perseid Shower of Meleors 7 



Comet i9i3/'(Delavan). {With Chart) 7, 



Radial Motion in Sunspots . .' 8 



The Australian Meeting of the British Association — 



Section C. — Geology. — Opening Address by Prof. Sir 



Thomas H. Holland, K.C.I.E., D.Sc, F.R.S., 



President of the Section 8 



Section D. — Zoology. — Opening Address by Prof. 

 Arthur Dendy, D.Sc, F. R.S., President of the 



Section 17 



University and Educational Intelligence 26 



Societies and Academies 27 



Books Received 28 



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