300 



NATURE 



[June 13, 1918 



of leaves would give 200 kilograms of pure charcoal, 

 30 kilograms of tar, i kilogram of crude acetic acid, 

 and 600 grams of acetone.— C. Galaine and C. Houl- 

 bert : The carbonisation and distillation of peat, saw- 

 dust, house refuse, and other light organic products. 

 A continuous process of distillation i§ described vyith 

 rotary retorts, securing uniformity of carbonisation, 

 with recovery of gas and by-products. — H. Colin and 

 Mile. Y. Trouard Riolle : The graft of the sunflower 

 on the Jerusalem artichoke.— F. Morvillez : The leaf- 

 trace of the Chrysobalanae.— A. Guilliermond : Mito- 

 chondria and vacuolar system. 

 Melbourne. 

 Royal Society of Victoria, April 11. — Mr. J. A. Ker- 

 shaw, president, in the chair. — Miss A. Osborne : An 

 abnormality of the frog, Uyla aurea. Although 

 abnormalities in the arrangement of the anterior 

 veins are fairly common in this genus, a departure 

 from type is more rare in the case of the posterior 

 vessels. In the specimen described there were two 

 right renal portal veins, one connecting with the iliac 

 in the ordinary way, the other — apparently due to 

 longitudinal splitting of the original single vessel — 

 draining the posterior pelvic region, from which there 

 was a rather more developed venous system than is 

 usual. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



Stoichiometry. By Prof. S. Young. Second edi- 

 tion. Pp. xiv + 363. (London : Longmans and Co.) 

 125. 6d. net. 



Cookery under Rations. By M. M. Mitchell. 

 Pp. 65. (London : Longmans and Co.) 25. net. 



A Medical Dictionary. By W. B. Drummond. 

 Pp. ix + 625. (London: J. M. Dent and Sons, Ltd.) 

 los, 6d. net. 



British Museum (Natural History). British Ant- 

 arctic (Terra Nova) Expedition, 1910, Natural His- 

 tory Report. Zoology. Vol. v., No. i. Coelenterata. 

 Part i., Actiniaria. By T. A. Stephenson. Pp. 1-68. 

 (London : British Museum (Natural History).) los. 



Essentials of Practical Geography. By B. C. 

 Wallis. Pp. xv + 213. (London: Macmillan and Co., 

 Ltd.) 4s. 6d. 



Field Book of Insects. By Prof. F. E. Lutz. Pp. 

 ix + 509. (New York and London: G. P. Putnam's 

 Sons.) 12S. 6d. 



The Dispensatory of the United States of America, 

 by Prof. J. P. Remington and others. 20th edition. 

 Pp. cxxii + 2010. (Philadelphia and London: J. B 

 Lippincott Co.) 2I. 15. net. 



Studies in Electro-Physiologv (Animal and Vege- 

 table). By A. E. Baines. Pp.' xxix+291. (London : 

 G. Routledge and Sons, Ltd.) 12s. 6d. net. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



THURSDAY, June 13. 



*^c!f*'' I'^'fJ-'^' ^} 4-Jo.-?:xperiments on the Effect of the Vibration of a 

 Stretched Wire form-ng part of a CloseH Electric Circuit : Admiral Sir 

 Henry Jackson -The Effect of Wind Pressure on the Pitch of Organ 

 .v,'''m' ,^'''^"°ck -The Dmmagnetism of Hydrogen and the Value of 

 the Magneton • Dr. A. E. Oxley. 



Optical Society, at y.-The Prevention of Filming in Enclosed Optical 

 Instruments: H. S Rvland.-A Chart for Finding the Number of Lenses 

 in, and S,ze of, a Block : Horace Lee.-Cban= for Assisting in the Selec- 

 tion of Suitable Glasses for Cemented Doublets : T. Smith 



Mathematical Society at s--Hellinger's Integrals: ' Prof. E. W. 

 Hptson.— An Assumption in the Theo-v of Singular Solutions of Ordinary 

 Differential Kquations of the First Order: Prof. M. J. M. Hill.-0„artic 

 and Cubic ResKluacity Tables : Col. A. J. Cunningham and Th. Cosset. 

 — Lncass Process apphed to Composite Mersenne Numbers : Col. A. J. 

 Cunn.ngham.^The Gaussian Period Vumbersand the Conditions that 2 

 should be a Residue of a i6th or a ^and Power : Dr. A. E. Western.— 

 he Aberrations of a Symmetrical Optical System : T. W. Chaundy.— 

 I he Rotation-groups of the Regular Figures in Four or more Dimensions : 

 1. i-.inasay I nee. 



NO. 2537, VOL. lOl] 



FRIDAY, June 14. 



RovAL Astronomical Society, at 5. — Literal Development of the Motion of 

 the Lunar Perigee : R. Moritz. — William Herschel's Observations of Vari- 

 able Stars and Stars suspected of Variability.— The Measurement of Time to 

 the Thousandth of a Second: R. A. Sampson. — The Motion in Longitude 

 of the Red Spot on Jupiter : Rev. T. E. R. Phillips.— The Slellar Magni- 

 tude Scales- of the Astrographic Catalogue. 12th Note; Hyderabad, 

 Perth, Edinburgh, and Cape Magnitudes : H. H. Turner.— An Example 

 of the Determination of a Minute Periodic Variation as Illustrative of the 

 Law of Errors: S. Chapman.— The Pulsation '1 heory of Cepheid Vari- 

 ables : F. A. Lindemann. -Probable Papets : The Proper Motions of the 

 B Stars : Sir F. W, Dyson.— Ob.servations of a New Star in .'Vquila. — 

 W. H. Stsavenson. — The Origin and Energy of Magnetic Storms : Dr. 

 S. Chapman. 



Physical Society, at ^.—Discussion : The Teaching of Physics in Schools : 

 Opener, Sir Oliver J. Lodge. 



Malacological Society, at 7. — Notes on Magilus and Allied Genera : 

 G. B. Sowerby. — Note on an Unpublished Reprint of a Paper by J. W. 

 Brazier, published in the Sydney Mail of December 2, 1871 : H. O. N. 

 Shaw. — On a Supposed New Genus of Pelecypoda from the Older 

 Tertiaries of Southern Nigeria : R. Bullen Newton. 



MONDAY, }\}V.^ 17. 



Victoria Institute, at 4.30.— Annual Address. The Future of ?;duca- 

 tion : Prof. D. S. jNIargoliouth. 



TUESDAY, June 18. 



RoVAL Statistical Society, at 5.15. — Annual General Meeting. — Recent 

 Economic Developments in Japan in their Relation to her Trade with 

 the United Kingdom : K. Vamasaki. 



Mineralogical Society, at 5.30. — The Origin of Septaria : W. A. 

 Richardson. — The Composition of the Nickeliferous Iron of the Meteorites 

 of Lodran, Powder Mill Creek, and Holbrook : Dr. G. T. Prior. 

 WEDNESDAY, June 19. 



Geological Society, at 5.30. 



Royal Meteorological Society, at 5. — The Lunar Atmospheric Tide 

 at Greenwich, 1854-1917 : S. Chapman. — The Audibility of the Gunfire 

 on the Continent at ChignalSt. James, near Chelmsford, during 1917: 

 Miller Christy.— Seasonal Variation in the Audibility of Distant Gunfire : 

 F. J. W. Whipple. 



Royal Microscopical Society, at 8. — Photo-synthetic Processes : Prof. 

 Benjamin Moore. — A New Type of Infusorian, Atachnidiopsis paradoxa : 

 E. Penard. — Diatom Ooze from Deep Antarctic Waters ; E. Heron-Allen 

 and A. Earland. — Gnats and Gnat Larvae : J. M. Offord. 

 THURSDAY, June 20. 



Royal Socif.tv, at 4.30. — Croonian Lecture : The Physiological Basis of 

 Thirst : Major W. B. Cannon. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Aluminium and Rare Earth Metals 281 



The Construction of Harbours. By E, R. M. ... 282 



Radio-therapy 283 



Our Bookshelf 283 



Letters to the Editor:— 



Propagation of Sound and Light in an Irregular 



. Atmosphere— Lord Rayleigh, O. M., F.R.S. 284 



The Drift of Meteor Trails.— Capt. C. J. P. Cave . 284 

 The New Star in Aquila. By Sir Frank Dypon, 



F.R.S. ; Prof. A. Fowler, F.R.S 285 



Insect Behaviour. [Ilhistrated) . : 286 



Prof. P. Blaserna. By G. H. B 287 



Notes 287 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Kodaikanal Observatory Report 292 



•Annuario of the Rio de Janeiro Observatory .... 292 

 Alexander the Great and his Celestial Journey. 



{Illustrated.) By Sir G. Greenhill, F.R.S. . . 292 



The Visit of Delegates from Italian Universities. 



By Prof. Piero Giacosa • .... 293 



Applied Science in the Cotton Industry 294 



The Co-ordination of Electric Power Supply . . 294 



The Education Bill . .... 295 



Light and Vision. By Prof. W. M. Bayliss, F.R.S. 295 



University and Educational Intelligence .... 297 



Societies and Academies 298 



Books Received 300 



Diary of Societies 300 



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Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the 

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Editorial Communications to the Editor. 

 Telegraphic 'Address : Piiusis, London. 

 Telephone Number: Gerrard 8830. 



