March 28, 1901] 



NA TURE 



531 



dove-colour, and it was also noteworthy that the wings had a 

 comparatively much greater area of black scaling than the eastern 

 forms. — On the motion of Mr. H. J. Elwes, seconded by Mr. H. 

 Goss, it was resolved that a committee be appointed to consider 

 the question of uniformity in nomenclature for the guidance of 

 specialists contributing to the Victoria County Histories. — 

 The following papers were read : Centoniidre collected by 

 Messrs. H. E. Andrewes and T. R. D. Bell in the Bombay 

 Presidency, with descriptions of the new species, by Mr. O. E. 

 Janson, and a supplementary catalogue of British Ichneumonidte, 

 by Mr. Claude Morley. 



Mathematical Society, March 14.— Dr. Hobson, F.R.S., 

 president, in the chair. — Prof. Elliott, F.R.S., gave an 

 account of some algebraical identities of simple arithmetical 

 application. — Prof. Love, F.R.S., hon. sec,, gave a pre- 

 liminary notice concerning the theory of stability of motion. 

 — Papers by Prof. Burnside, F.R.S., on the composition of 

 group characteristics, and by Mr. G. H. Hardy, on the use 

 of Cauchy's principal values in the double limit problems of the 

 integral calculus, were taken as read. 

 Cambridge. 



Philosophical Society, February 18.— Sir G. G. Stokes 

 in the chair. — On the most volatile gases of atmospheric air, by 

 Profs. Liveing and Dewar (see p. 189, December 20, 1900, for 

 paper on same subject read before the Royal Society). —On a 

 method of comparing affinity-values of acids, by H. J. H. Fenton 

 and H. O. Jones, When the hydrazone of oxalacetic acid is 

 heated with pure water, it yields the hydrazone of pyruvic aci^ 

 with evolution of carbon dioxide, but in presence of dilute acids 

 of sufficient concentration a totally different change occurs ; in 

 this case no gas is evolved and pyrazolone carboxylic acid results. 

 Based upon these changes, a very simple method has been de- 

 vised for comparing the affinity-values of acids, and the results 

 agree remarkably well with those obtained by the well-known 

 methods. In order to explain the nature of the changes in- 

 volved, the authors attribute the evolution of carbon dioxide to 

 the instability of the negative ion, and they have now made 

 further experiments in order to test this hypothesis, the results 

 being in all cases favourable. It is further shown that it is 

 possible by this method to compare the ionising capabilities of 

 various solvents, and experiments have now been made with 

 pyridine in order to throw light upon the disputed question of 

 its behaviour in this respect. — On isomeric esters of dioxymaleic 

 acid, by H. J. H. Fenton and J. H. Ryffel. It was shown 

 by one of the authors on a previous occasion that the ethyl ester 

 of dioxymaleic acid exhibits the remarkable property of becoming 

 liquid when kept in a desiccator in presence of air, although it 

 is relatively stable in presence of moisture or in absence of 

 oxygen. This property has now been further investigated, and 

 it is shown that oxidation and loss of water take place with the 

 formation of the liquid ester of dioxytartaric acid which has 

 the anhydrous form, i.e. dioxysuccinic ester. Another modi- 

 fication of the dioxymaleic ester has also been pre- 

 pared vvhich appears to be quite stable under the cir- 

 cumstances above mentioned, and it is considered probable 

 that they represent the maleic and fumaric forms respectively. — 

 Note on the constitution of cellulose, by H. J. H. Fenton and Miss 

 Mildred Gostling. Certain carbohydrates, when acted upon by 

 dry hydrogen bromide in ethereal solutionat the ordinary tempera- 

 ture, yield an intense purple colour which was shown to be due to 

 brom-methylpurpural. This substance has been isolated in the 

 crystalline state, and it was further demonstrated that its produc- 

 tion is characteristic of ketohexoses or of substances which give 

 rise to these on hydrolysis. Carbohydrates of the aldose type 

 yield none of this product. Exactly similar results have been 

 obtained by operating in other solvents at 100°, and under the 

 latter condition it is found that all forms of cellulose give large 

 yields of brom-methylpurpural, and it is concluded that the 

 results definitely indicate the existence of a ketonic nucleus in 

 cellulose. — Some substituted ammonium compounds of the type 

 NR'R'R^"X, by H. O. Jones. This note describes some of the 

 compounds which have been prepared in the course of the 

 author's work on substituted ammonium compounds in which 

 two radicles are the same. — On the molecular weight of glycogen, 

 by H. Jackson. The important part which glycogen plays in 

 animal metabolism renders any experiments on its constitution 

 interesting. The only previous attempt to determine its mole- 

 cular weight was by Kiilz a. Borntrager, who, noting the eleva- 

 tion of the boiling point of water when a weighed quantity of 

 glycogen had been dissolved in it, concluded that it had the 



.NO. 1639, VOL. 63] 



formula (CgHjoOj^i There are many objections to the boiling 

 point method in the case of complex carbohydrates, and so it 

 appeared important to apply Raoult's method of the depression 

 of the freezing point, and this is easy owing to the great solubi- 

 lity of glycogen in cold water. The results of a number of 

 experiments point to glycogen having a formula between 

 (C6Hiq05)4q and (C6Hjo03)42. The results are somewhat similar 

 to those obtained by Brown and Morris {J. C. S. 1899) for the 

 stable dextrin obtained by the hydrolysis of starch, and it would 

 seem to hint that glycogen is more closely related to the dextrin 

 than the natural starches which have much higher molecular 

 weights. — On the condensation of formaldehyde and the forma- 

 tion of ;8-acrose, by H. Jackson. An aqueous solution of form- 

 aldehyde, obtained by boiling paraformaldehyde, was treated 

 with basic lead carbonate and heated on a water bath for one 

 hour. After filtering it was evaporated in vacuo at 50° and the 

 syrup treated with a mixture of methyl and ethyl alcohols. The 

 insoluble lead salt was separated and the alcohol distilled off 

 from the sugar. A two per cent, aqueous solution of the sugar 

 was heated with phenyl hydrazine acetate on the water bath for 

 four hours. The crude osazone was boiled with water ; and 

 acrosazone (Fischer and Passmore, Ber. 1899) remained undis- 

 solved. The filtrate from this on cooling deposited a mass of 

 fine yellow crystals. These were recrystallised twice again 

 from hot water. This was found to be a mixture of osazones 

 which have been separated by a long series of fractional 

 precipitations. 



Paris. 



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

 chair. — On the determination of latitude at sea by circum- 

 meridian observations, by M. E. Guyou. — On the propaga- 

 tion of discontinuities in a viscous fluid, by M. P. Duhem. 

 — M. Humbert was elected a member in the section of geo- 

 metry, in the place of the late M. Hermite. — On the law of 

 universal attraction, by M. H. Duport. By applying to a 

 system of atoms the principle of least action there is obtained 

 a generalisatiqn of the formulze of Mayer. — Remarks by M. 

 Bouquet de la Grye on a work by M. P. Chevalier on the hydro- 

 graphy of the Upper Yang-Tse Valley. — The true value of the 

 period of luminous variation of- the planet Eros, by MM. Ch. 

 Andre and M. Luizet. Two views have been put forward by 

 astronomers who have studied this question : one representing 

 it as a simple oscillation, always identical and reproducing itself 

 at intervals of about 2h. 5m., the other representing the curve 

 as being formed of two different branches, the whole of which is 

 reproduced at intervals of about 5h. 3m. A discussion of the 

 whole of the observed values tends to show that this latter view 

 is the correct one, the true period being about 5h. i6m. — On 

 the zeros of entire functions of n variables, by M. P. Cousin. 

 — On the vibrations of beams supported at the ends, by M. 

 Ribiere. — On the entropy diagram, by M. L. Marchis. In 

 recent years the entropy diagram has been applied by engineers 

 to the representation of the quantities of heat given out or 

 absorbed by the working fluid in the steam engine. In the pre- 

 sent paper the conclusion is drawn that this application is not 

 legitimate, and that similar difficulties arise in dealing with the 

 gas engine. — On the propagation of discontinuities in fluids, by 

 M. E. Jouguet.^ — On the action of acids upon the carbonates of 

 the alkaline earths in presence of alcohol, by M. C. Vallee. The 

 action of dilute sulphuric acid upon calcium carbonate is very 

 slow in the presence of absolute alcohol, but the reaction is not 

 a limited one, the neutralisation being complete if sufficient time 

 is allowed. — On some caesium compounds, by M. E. Chabrie. A 

 description of the preparation and properties of caesium bromide, 

 iodide, fluoride, chromate and bichromate. — On the constituents 

 of commercial ferrosilicons, by M. P. Lebeau. In commercial 

 ferrosilicons three silicides are clearly made out, SiFe^, SiFe 

 and SisFe, and methods are described for obtaining each of 

 these in a pure state. — Action of the acid chlorides and 

 anhydrides upon the organo-metallic compounds of magnesium, 

 by MM. Tissier and G«<gnard. With acetyl chloride, magnesium 

 methyl iodide gives trimethyl-carbinol, and with benzoyl 

 chloride dimethyl-phenyl-carbinol is obtained. The anhydrides 

 give similar products. — The action of caprylic alcohol upon its 

 sodium derivative : synthesis of dicaprylic and tricaprylic 

 alcohols, by M. Marcel Guerbet. — Vaporisation and hydration 

 of ethylene-glycol, by M. de Forcrand. — Dissociation and 

 thermal study of the compound AlgClg, 18NH3, by M. E. Baud. 

 — On direct nitration in the fatty series, by M. A. Wahl. An 

 attempt was made to directly nitrate ethyl crotonate and tiglate, 



