March 21, 1918] 



NATURE 



5^ 



constancy of morphological characters, and particularly 

 of the size and shape of the mature reproductive bodies 

 II- spores. An exp<?rim€ntal study of the specificity of 

 ihese criteria is in process, the work being carried out 

 primarily upon the fungus Botrytis cinerea. This 

 >pecies is contained in the " Polyactis " group of the 

 yenus, and the species in this group aro separated partly 

 by reason of their difterent hosts, but more critically 

 by minute differences in the branching and septation of 

 the conidiophore and by the size and shape of the 

 spore. 



March 7. — Sir David Prain, president, in the chair. 

 —Prof. E. B. Poulton : The mimetic and Mendelian 

 relationships of the '"White Admirals" of North 

 America, The "White Admiral " hutterflies of the 

 Nymphaline genus Limcnitis or Basilarchia (the North 

 American subgenus) form an interesting group with 

 peculiar larvae and pupae. Their conspicuous patterns 

 are displayed in a floating flight, and the under surface 

 of the wings is not procryptically coloured like that of 

 the Vanessas — characteristics which are found in the 

 specially protected models for mimicry, and the Miil- 

 lerian mimics of other still more distasteful species; 

 and so it is with Limenitis. The English L. sibylla is 

 resembled by the female of <the "Purple Emperor" 

 (Apatura iris), which flies in the same woods, while the 

 tropical American representatives of Limenitis — the 

 powerful genus Adelpha — are beautifully mimicked by 

 the females of the representatives of Apatura— the 

 genus Chlorippe. The African representatives of 

 Limenitis — the genus Pseudacraea — ^are almost all of 

 them wonderful mimics of the Acraeas, and in one 

 instance of a Danaine 



Zoological Society, March 5.— Dr. A. Smith Wood- 

 ward, vice-president, in the chair. — R. L Pococlt : The 

 external characters of the lemurs and Tarsius. The 

 observations recorded were based, except in the case of 

 Tarsius, upon specimens that had lived in the society's 

 gardens. The author stated his opinion that Tarsius 

 should be removed from the lemuroid primates and 

 classified with the monkeys. He proposed to divide the 

 primates into two primary groups, the Strepsirhini for 

 the lemurs and the Haplorhini for Tarsius and the 

 rest, the Haplorhini being further divided into the 

 Tarsioidea for Tarsius and the Pithecoidea for 

 monkeys, apes, and man. — Sir G. ¥. Hampson : Classi- 

 fication of the Hypsotropinai. The author described 

 the Hypsotropinae as a rather obscure group of the 

 Pyralidt-E, of very uniform appearance and diflering 

 chiefly in structure. 



Matliematical Society, March 14.— Prof. E. W. Hob- 

 son, vice-president, in the chair. — G. H. Hardy : The 

 representation of a number as the sum of any number 

 of squares. — G. N. Watson : A problem in the 'theory of 

 numbers.— Prof. W. H. Young : Non-harmonic Fourier 

 series. 



Paris. 



Academy of Sciences, February 11.— M. L^on Guignard 

 in the chair. — M. Hamy : A particular case of diffrac- 

 tion of circular stars and its application to the sun. — 

 A. Carnot : New methods of estimation of copper, zinc, 

 cadmium, nickel, and cobalt. The method is based 

 on precipitation with sodium carbonate, solution of the 

 precipitate in ammonia, and reprecipitation of the 

 metallic hydroxide or carbonate by boiling. — -M. Cu^not 

 was elected a correspondant for the section of anatomy 

 and zoology in succession to the late M. Maupas. — 

 T. Lalesco : The classes of nuclei capable of symmetry. 

 — E. L^ger : The mechanism of the formation of cer- 

 tain isomers of cinchonine and their hydrohalides. — 

 P. Nicolardot and J. Boudet : The examination of mer- 

 cury fulminate, and the analysis of mixtures for de- 

 tonators. The methwls suggested are based on treat- 

 NO. 2525, VOL. lOl] 



ment with yellow ammonium sulphide to form mercury 

 sulphide, and precipitation of antimony sulphide from 

 the solution by ammonium sulphite. — J. Clarens ; The 

 precipitation of phosphoric acid as ammonium phospho- 

 molybdate. Practical estimation of phosphoric acid bv 

 a simple nitrometer measurement. \ method is de- 

 scribed for obtaining a phosphomolybdate precipitate in 

 which the ratio of ammonia to phosphorus is fixed, so 

 that the phosphorus is ultimately determined by a gaso- 

 metric measurement. — L. Diibreuil-Chambardel : An 

 anatomical variation of the second metacarpal. — E. 

 Roubaud : Disappearance of the infective power in 

 Anopheles maculipennis in the course of hibernation. — 

 M. Folley : The cross of the aorta in exophthalmic 

 goitre. 



February 18.— ^M. Leon Guignard in the chair. — G. 

 Bigourdan : Various French astronomical observatories 

 of the seventeenth century.— M. Vayssiere was elected 

 a correspondant for the section of anatomy and zoology 

 in succession to the. late M. Renaut. — P. E. Gau : The 

 integration of partial differential equations, of the 

 second order.— M. T. Beritch : The extension of RoUe's 

 theorem to the case of several variables. — B. de Font- 

 violant ; A new theory relating to the effects of the 

 wind on bridges supported on arches. — M. Maggini : A 

 new stellar photometer. A description of a modified 

 wedge photometer. — A. Vironnet : The contraction of a 

 gaseous mass and the evolution of the sun. — A. 

 Travers : The estimation of vanadium in presence of 

 molybdenum by titanous chloride. — L. Gentil, M. 

 Lugeon, and" L. Joleaud : Geology of the Sebou basin 

 (Morocco).— L. Dunoyer : The diurnal variation of the 

 wind in altitude and the influence of the 

 distribution of the cloud masses. — M. RebonI : 

 The diurnal variations of the wind in altitude. — L. 

 Daniel : Extension of the limits of culture of the vine 

 by means of certain hybrids. — L. Lapicquc and J. 

 Chaussin : The food value of whole wheat and of flour 

 of 85 per cent, extraction compared with white flour. 

 Medium wheat leaves 12 per cent, of indigestible resi- 

 due ; its nutritive value is equal to 90 per cent, of its 

 weight of white flour.— P. Brodin and Fr. Saint-Girons : 

 Contribution to the study of digestive leucocytosis. — H. 

 Colin : Transformations of inulin in the tuber of the 

 Jerusalem artichoke during the period of repose. — F. 

 Di^nert and A. Guillerd : The concentration of the 

 micro-organisms of water. .After trying and discard- 

 ing various types of filters, and removal by formation 

 of precipitates, a workable concentrating agent was 

 found in alumina cream. Prepared and used in the 

 manner laid down, from 80 per cent, to 100 per cent, 

 of added B. coll were recovered. — .\. Bouquet and L. 

 Ndgre : Culture of the parasite of epizootic lymph- 

 angitis and the experimental reproduction of the disease 

 in the horse. — M. Folley : The aortic cross in exoph- 

 thalmic goitre. Dilation of the aorta is a constant 

 symptom of Basedow's disease, and may be used as a 

 means of diagnosis in doubtful cases. — E. Le 

 Moignic and J. Gautrelet : Intravenous injections of oil. 

 Contribution to the physiological study of the T.A.B. 

 lipo-vaccine. From i c.c. to 1-5 c.c. of oil can be 

 safely injected into the circulation of a dog, and vac- 

 cines with an oil basis are proved to be. less toxic than 

 aqueous vaccines. 



February 21;. — M. Paul Painlev<^ in the chair. — G. 

 Bigourdan • The old astronomical stations of Nantes 

 and Pau. Historical notices of the work of Anastase, 

 Fontenay, and Leveque at Nantes, and of Richaud, 

 Tawzin. Pallu, Graindorge, and Jean de Bonn<5camp at 

 Pau. — A. Blondel : The graphical determination of total 

 inductances, direct and transversal, of alternators by 

 means of the partial characteristics calculated or ob- 

 served. — A. Carnot: Some new separations of the five 

 metals of the group soluble in ammonia. Examples of 



