February 28, 1901] 



NATURE 



435 



be remarkably similar to that of Lepidosiren. The floating 

 nests and the development of Gymnarchus niloticus, Cuv. , were 

 described and also the very large nests and the larvae of 

 Heterotis ntloticus, Cuv. The larvae of both these forms 

 possess externally produced gill-filaments, while the develop- 

 ment of Gymnarchus is in some respects shark-like. Two 

 other forms, Sarcodaces odoe, Bl , and Hyperopistis bebe, Lacep., 

 were shown to possess in the larval condition well-developed 

 cement organs on the front of the head.— On a new form of 

 microtome, by Mr. H. M. Leake (communicated by Mr. A. E. 

 Shipley.) — The ignoration of coordinates, by Mr. T. J. I'A. 

 Bromwich. — A theorem on curves belonging to a linear 

 complex, by Mr. J, H. Grace. 



Dublin. 

 Royal Dublin Society, December 19, 1900. — Prof. W. N. 

 Hartley, F.R.S., in the chair.— Prof. E. A. Letts and Mr. R. F. 

 Blake read a paper (communicated by Dr. W. E. Adeney) 

 on a simple and accurate method of estimating the dissolved 

 oxygen in fresh water, sea water and sewage effluents. — Mr. 'E. 

 St. John Lyburn read a paper (communicated by Prof. W. N. 

 Hartley) on prospecting for gold in the county of Wicklow, 

 with an examination of Irish rocks for gold and silver. The 

 author deals with the history of the discovery of gold in Ire- 

 land, and more especially with the results of a six months' 

 prospecting tour in the county of Wicklow. One hundred and 

 ten samples were taken and subjected to assay, the highest 

 assay giving 4 dwts. pure gold per ton (2240 lbs.) ; this sample 

 was obtained from a quartz vein, about eight inches wide, on ^,he 

 Croghan Kinshelagh mountain, and in the immediate vicinity of 

 the Government workings of 1798. The author expressed the 

 view that the locality he explored was worthy of further atten- 

 tion. 



January 16, 1901. — Dr. W. E. Adeney in the chair. — Prof. 

 Hugh Ryan read a paper on the preparation of amidoketones ; 

 and Prof. E. A. Letts and Mr. R. F. Blake communicated a paper 

 on some problems connected with atmospheric carbonic acid, and 

 on a new and accurate method of determining its amount, suit- 

 able for scientific expeditions. 



Paris. 



Academy of Sciences, February 18. — M. Fouque in the 

 chair. — On a new form of the equations of mechanics, by M. H. 

 Poincare. — On the secondary radio-activity of metals, by M. Henri 

 Becquerel. Metals receiving the direct rays from a radio-active 

 substance appear to give off a secondary radiation. The pene- 

 trating power of this secondary radiation is more feeble than 

 that of the primary rays, and is analogous to the same pro- 

 perty of the secondary Rontgen rays discovered by M. Sagnac. 

 The effect of this is that a metallic plate, placed upon a photo- 

 graphic plate, instead of acting as a screen to arrest the radiation 

 from the source, gives, on the contrary, a stronger impression. 

 — On a new gaseous compound, sulphuryl fluoride, SOgF^, by 

 MM. Moissan and P. Lebeau (see p. 426). — On the alkyl 

 cyanomalonic esters and the alkylcyanacetic acids derived 

 from them, by MM. A. Haller and G. Blanc. It is shown 

 that cyanomalonic ester contains the group CH, and that the sub- 

 stitution of alkyl radicles takes place on this atom of hydrogen, 

 since in all the derivatives obtained from it the radicles are united 

 to the carbon atom of the group CH. — Note on a congenital lacry- 

 mopharyngo-facial fistula, open below the left nostril, by M. 

 Lannelongue. A description of a congenital fistula represent- 

 ing, in the form of an anomaly, a transition state in develop- 

 ment. The case has an important bearing upon the theory of 

 the development of the human embryo, and would appear to be 

 in direct contradiction to the views of Albrecht on the develop- 

 ment of the nose and upper lip. The operation described 

 effected a complete cure. — On the discovery of a sea urchin of 

 the Cretacean age in the eastern Sahara, by M. de Lapparent. 

 The fossil described, which was found accidentally by Colonel 

 Monteil at Zau Saghair, near Bilma, has been recognised by M. 

 Victor Gautier as belonging to the same genus as an echinoderm 

 discovered in the upper layers of the Cretacean in Baluchistan. 

 It is thus proved that towards the end of the Cretacean epoch, 

 about the time when in Europe the sea underwent such a marked 

 retrogression, not only did it persist in the Lybian Desert, but 

 it advanced to the neighbourhood of Tchad, manifesting by its 

 fauna affinities with the Indian region. — On the propagation of 

 waves in viscous fluids, by M. P. Duhem. — Observations on 

 the variability of the planet 433 Eros, made at the Observatory of 



NO. 1635, VOL. 63] 



Toulouse with'the 23-cm. Brunner equatorial, by M. F. Rossard. 

 — On the luminous variability of Eros, by M. Ch. Andre (see 

 p. 426). From the photometric observations, it is concluded 

 that the planet is formed of a double system of two asteroids, 

 of which the diameters are very nearly in the ratio of three to 

 two, and whose orbital plane passes through the earth. — On 

 the deformation of the paraboloid, by M. C. Guichard. — 

 On the problem of the isoperimeters, by M. A. Hurwitz. — 

 On functions of two variables analogous to modular functions, 

 by M. R. Alexais. — On a new micrometer eye-piece, by 

 M. L. Malassez. — On the specific absorption of the 

 X-rays by metallic salts, by MM. Alexandre Hebert 

 and Georges Reynaud. Results are given for experiments on 

 the relative specific absorption of a series of metallic ni- 

 trates, from which it is shown that, in general, the absorp- 

 tion of the X-rays by the nitrates becomes greater with the in- 

 crease in the atomic weight of the combined metal. The curve 

 for the specific absorption plotted against the atomic weights 

 as abscissae is practically an equilateral hyperbola. — On hydro- 

 cinchonine, by MM. E. Jungfleisch and E. Leger. The sub- 

 stance previously obtained by the authors by the action of 

 dilute sulphuric acid upon cinchonine and described by them 

 as cinchonifine, is now shown to be identical with the hydro- 

 cinchonine of Caventou and Willm. — On diphenylcarbodiazine, 

 by M. P. Cazeneuve. — On a new alcohol derived from limonene, 

 by M. P. Cazeneuve. The new alcohol, named limoneol, 

 is prepared by the action of peroxide of nitrogen upon 

 limonene. It is a secondary alcohol, like pinenol, and gives 

 a ketone on oxidation with chromic acid mixture. — The 

 transformation of dimethylacrylic acid into dimethyl- 

 pyruvic acid, by MM. Bouveault and A. Wahl. If 

 the aminodimethylacrylate of ethyl, the preparation of 

 which is described in a previous paper, is heated 

 with aqueous hydrochloric acid, ethyl dimethylpyruvate is 

 produced, the oxime and semicarbazone of which were pre- 

 pared for the purpose of identification. —Action of the mono- 

 halogen acids of the fatty series upon pyridine and quinoline, 

 by MM. L. J. Simon and L. Dubreuil. — On the pyrogallol- 

 sulphonic acids, by M. Marcel Delage. — The reserve hydrocarbon 

 in the tubercles of Arrhenathererum bulbosuni, by M. V. 

 Harlay. The tubercles on extraction with dilute alcohol 

 yield 4*8 per cent, of a carbohydrate, which on hydrolysis 

 with dilute sulphuric acid gives pure laevulose. The original 

 substance differs from inulin in solubility and rotatory power. 

 — Nervous transmission of an instantaneous electric stimulus, 

 by M. Aug. Charpentier. From the researches described it 

 follows that an electrical stimulus may give rise to a double 

 transmission on the part of the nerve, one part being transmitted 

 nearly instantaneously, like an ordinary conductor, with a velo- 

 city too great to be measured in the usual way, the other part of 

 the stimulus is transmitted, always electrically, with the very 

 moderate velocity of about 20 to 30 metres per second. — 

 The physiological action of wine, by M. L. Roos. 

 From experiments on guinea-pigs the author concludes 

 that the daily use of wine with the food, even in rela- 

 tively large proportions, exerts no unfavourable effect. — The 

 luminescence obtained with certain organic compounds, by M. 

 Raphael Dubois. In presence of alcoholic potash a consider- 

 able number of organic substances become luminescent. The 

 reaction may be of some service in the qualitative analysis of 

 certain essential oils. — The nucleated red blood corpuscle 

 behaves like a vegetable cell, from the point of view of osmosis, 

 towards urea in solution, by M. R. Quinton. — On the absorp- 

 tion of monocalcium phosphate by arable earth and humus, by 

 M. J. Dumont. — Observations relating to the propagation in- 

 apple orchards of Nectria ditissima, by M. Descours-Desacres. 

 Nicotine, tannin and tannic acid have proved to be the most 

 efficacious remedies against this disease. — On the petrographical 

 province of the north-east of Madagascar, by M. A. Lacroix. — 

 On a mass of metallic iron which was said to have fallen from 

 the sky in the Soudan on June 15, 1900, by M. Stanislas 

 Meunier. — Concerning the mineral layers of oolitic iron of 

 Lorraine and their mode of formation, by M. Georges Roliand. 



St. Louis. 



Academy of Science, January 21. — Rev, M. S. Brennan 

 read a short sketch of the progress of astronomy in the United 

 States, in which the material equipment and the discoveries made 

 during the past century were passed in review. — A paper by Prof. 

 T. G. Poats, entitled *' Isogonic Projection," was presented in 



