November 19, 19 14] 



NATURE 



329 



^hallow water. (iij A confijjuration of 21 points 

 and 21 lines which arises from the complete quadri- 

 lateral and determines the group of 168 plane collinea* 

 tions. — Prof. Tadahiko Kubota : Convex closed sur- 

 faces. — Prof. W. H. Young : Integrals and deri- 

 vates with regard to a function. 



Mineralogical Society, November 10. — Anniversary- 

 meeting. ^ — Dr. A. E. H. Tutton, president, in the 

 chair. ^Prof. W. J. Lewis : Albite; its crystal el^nents, 

 etc. New values of the elements were obtained based 

 upon measurements made on well-developed twinned 

 crystals from Alp Rischuna. Chemical analvsis 

 -bowed them to be very pure albite. — H. Collingridge : 

 The determination of the maximum extinction angle, 

 optic axial angle, and birefringence of monoclinic 

 pyroxenes in thin sections. The method depends on 

 the presence of well-defined twins about 100, and the 

 visibility of an optic axis through one individual. 

 From observations in this individual of the positions 

 <.>f the trace of the optic axial plane and the twin 

 plane, the extinction angle, and the position of the 

 visible optic axis, and in the other the extinction angle 

 and the birefringence, and, if possible, the positions of 

 iin optic axis and the trace of the optic axial plane, the 

 requisite determinations may be made. — Prof. H. L. 

 Bowman : Note on calcite from the Chalk at Corfe 

 Castle, Dorset. Good crystals, which occur in veins 

 in the Upper Chalk, are of the pointed habit, the forms 

 being / (iii) and x (212). Interpenetrant rhombo- 

 hedra twinned about the c axis, as in cinnabar, are 

 not uncommon. — A. Scott : Barkevikite from Lugar, 

 Ayrshire, and litharge from Persia. The former 

 occurs in lugarite in prismatic crystals up to 7^ mm. 

 in length, with mean refractivity 1-690, and ver\- 

 intense pleochromism, c very dark brown, h reddish- 

 brown, a light yellow ; in chemical composition it is 

 fairly close to the type mineral from Barkevik. The 

 latter was found at Larshuran, Persia, as a red mica- 

 like crystalline mass ; it is biaxial with mean refrac- 

 tivity I 735, the double refraction being very weak, 

 and contains more than 97 per cent, of lead oxide, the 

 remainder being copper oxide with a little antimony 

 o.xide. — Dr. G. T. Prior : The meteorites of Uwet, 

 Kota Kota, and Angela ; the identity of Angela and 

 La Primitive. The meteoric iron of Uwet, Southern 

 Nigeria, said by natives to have fallen about ninety 

 years ago, is a hexahedrite of the Braunau type, con- 

 taining about 6 per cent, of nickel. The meteoric 

 stone of Kota Kota, Marimba district, British Central 

 Africa, said by natives to have been seen to fall some ; 

 years ago, is a chondrite, probably belonging to the 

 crystalline spherulitic group. The meteoritic iron of ; 

 Angela, .near Iquique, Chili, was found in the nitrate 

 beds. -It is an ataxite, containing about 45 per cent, j 

 of jiickel, and enclosing large nodules of schreibersite, [ 

 and is probably identical with La Primitive. - . ■ 



Edinburgh. , 



Royal Society, -November 2.— Prof. James Geikie. 

 president, in the chair. — Sir William Turner : | 

 The Baleen whales of the -South Atlantic. The paper 

 was essentially a comparison of certain anatomical ; 

 characteristics of specimens of whales recently found ; 

 in the South Atlantic with those of the better known 

 whales of the North Atlantic. The conclusion was 

 that of the Balaenopteridze, five species were common 

 to the north and south Atlantic oceans, namely, 

 Megaptera boops (longimaua), and the four species of 

 Balaetioptera, sibbaldi, borealis, rosiraia, mtiscultis. 

 .Similarly the smaller right whale, Balaena australis, { 

 which frequents the temperate waters of the South 

 Atlantic, is obviously the same species as the Balaena 

 biscayensis of the North Atlantic. On the other hand, 

 Balaena niysiicetus of the Arctic Ocean appears to 



XO. 2351, VOL. 94] 



have no representative in the Antarctic. — Dr. J. E. 

 Mackenzie and S. Ghosh : The optical rotation and 

 cryoscopic behaviour of sugars dissolved in (i) form- 

 amide, (2) water. The mutarotation of the sugars, 

 y8-/-arabinose, /-xylose, a-J-glucose, a-d-galactose, 

 ti-mannose, rf-fructose, a- and )8-lactose, dissolved in 

 the solvents named, was measured and found to be of 

 the same character. The molecular weights of the 

 same sugars dissolved in these solvents were also 

 determined, and each sugar was found to be in the 

 monomolecular state. The results of the optical rota- 

 tion measurements in formamide, like those obtained 

 in pyridine solution by Grossmann and Bloch, appear 

 to show that the presence of water is not essential to 

 explain the phenomenon of mutarotation of sugars. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, November 3. — M.P. .\ppell in 

 the chair. — A. Lacroix : The products of alteration of 

 aluminiuni silicate rocks, and, in particular, the 

 laterites of Madagascar. — G. Lippmann : The Hughes 

 electromagnetic balance and its application to medical 

 surgery (see p. 319). — D. Eginitis : Observation of 

 the solar eclipse of August 21, 1914, made at the 

 Athens Observatory with the Doridis equatorial 

 (Gautier, 40 cm.). Particulars are given of actino- 

 metric observations, and of measurements of air tem- 

 peratures, relative humidity, barometric pressure, and 

 wind velocitv. — M. Gueritot : An experimental method 

 of determining the metacentric cur\-es of an aeroplane. 

 Details of experiments made on a model fixed to a 

 float in water. — J. Bougault -. The dioxytriazines. The 

 reaction between the semicarbazides of a-ketonic acids 

 and aqueous soda solution takes place in the cold. 

 The vield is better than when the experiment is car- 

 ried out at the boiling point, but the reaction velocity 

 is verv slow. The dioxytriazines react with sodium 

 hvpobromite, giving substituted amides of the tvpe 

 R.CBr,.CO.NH,.— G. A. Le Roy : The waterproofing 

 of military- clothes. The whole garment is impreg- 

 nated with lanoline, by immersion in a solution in a 

 volatile solvent containing from 5 per cent, to 10 per 

 cent, of the wool fat. The cloth remains permeable 

 to air, but is impermeable to water. — Marcel Bandonin : 

 The ossification of the metacarpal and metatarsal 

 bones in men of the polished Stone age. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



College Physiography. By Prof. R. S. Tarr. Pub- 

 lished under the editorial direction of Prof.- L. Martin. 

 Pp. xxii + 837. (London : Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 

 15s. net. 



.\ Handbook of Vocational Education. By Dr. 

 J S. Taylor. Pp. xvi + 225. (London: Macmillan 

 and Co., Ltd.) +s. 6d. net. 



A Text-Book of Grasses. By A. S. Hitchcock. Pp. 

 xvii + 276- (London : Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 

 6s. 6d. net. 



The Royal Zoological and Acclimatisation Society of 

 Victoria. Fiftieth .-\nnual Report. Pp. 43. (Mel- 

 bourne.) 



New Zealand. Department' of Lands and Survey. 

 Report on the Survey Operations for the Year 1913-14. 

 By E. A- Wilmot. ' Pp. 55 + maps. (Wellington: J. 

 Mackay.) ' 



The Essex: Institute. Historical collections. Vol. i. 

 October. Pp. 289-404. (Salem, Mass. : Essex Insti- 

 tute.) 



Some South Indian Insects and other Animals of 

 Importance. By T. B. Fletcher. Pp. xxii + 565. 

 (Madras : Government Press.) qs. 



Vital Statistics Explained. By J. Burn. Pp. x + 

 140. (London : Constable and Co., Ltd.) 4s. net. 



