;6o 



NATURE 



[July 4, 19 18 



Royal Irish .Acadenrj', June lo. -Prof. (i. H. Car- 

 penter, vice-president, in the chair. -T. A. Stephenson : 

 Certain Actiniaria collected in .Irish waters during the 

 vears 1899-1914. The paper dealt with part of the 

 collections of sea-anemones made by the scientific stafT 

 of the Irish Fisheries Branch. Twenty-one species are 

 enumerated, mostly from deep water off the west coast 

 of Ireland. Of these seven have not previously been 

 described, viz. Aci'inostola atrostoma, Cynibactis gossei, 

 Actinermis aurelia, Chondractis coccitvea, C. pulchra, 

 C. duplicata, and Carlgrenia desiderata. The last 

 species is the type of a very interesting new genus, 

 related to Halcurias, McMurrich. 

 Takis. 



Academy of Sciences, June 17. M. Leon (.uignard 

 in the chair. -J. Boussinesq : Uniformity of flow in 

 hour-glasses. The amount passed appears to be in- 

 dependent of the height of the sand. — ti. Neumann 

 was ( h ctcd ,1 correspondant for the section of rural 

 ticonuiny in succession to the late M. Meckel, and 

 A. Laiiuere a correspondant for the section of anatomy 

 and zoology in succession to the late Prof. Yung. — 

 H. Villat : Certain singular Fredholm equations of the 

 first species. — P. E. B. Jourdain : Demonstration of a 

 theorem of ensembles. — E. Cahen : The series of 

 Dirichlet.- M. Poincet : Theoretical and experimental 

 study of steani turbines. — C. Flammarion : Observa- 

 tions of the new star in Acjuila. — M. Luizet : First 

 observations of the new star. The nova was seen on 

 June 8 at 8.41 G.M.T. Measures of magnitude are 

 given to J^me 14.— R. Griveau : The heat of forma- 

 tion of the anhydrous calcium borates. — A. Maiihe : 

 The direct transformation of the secondary and ter- 

 tiary amines into nitriles. In a preceding communica- 

 tion it has been shown that it is possible to transform 

 <li-isoamylamme and tri-isoamylamine into isoamvl 

 nitrile by passing the vapours over finely divided nickel 

 at 350° to 380° r. The generality of the method is 

 mnv proved by the preparation of the corresponding 

 nitriles from dicaproylamine, tricaproylamine, diamvl- 

 amine, triamylamine, bibutylamine, tributylamine, 

 tlipropylamino, and tripropylamine. The general ro- 



C„Ho„ . i)._,N H =2H, + C,.H,,„ + C„H,„_',N. 

 J. Martinet vThe isatines which contain a quinolinc 

 nucleus. M. Francois : A method for the estimation 

 of the halogens, sulphur, and nitrogen in ])resence of 

 mercury. The mercury is removed as metal by the 

 action of zirtc, and the above-mentioned elements are 

 ,then determined in the usual manner. — L. Oentil : The 

 existence of large "nappes de recouvrement " in the 

 province of Cadiz, Spain. — H. Coupin : The harmful 

 action of magnesium carbonate on plants. The harm- 

 tu! .-iction of magnesium carbonate was proved for 

 eight species of plants.— F. Maignon : Comparative 

 study of the toxicity and nutritive power of food 

 proteins employed in' a pure state. Experiments on 

 white rats with diets of either white of egg, fibrin, 

 casein, or meat-powder. For the three last foods 

 ■the cause of death was exhaustion of the reserves, and 

 not chronic intoxication. The toxic action of albumen 

 has been described in an earlier paper. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



the Action of Muscles, including" Muscle Rest and 

 Muscle Re-education. I^v Dr. W. C. Mackenzie. 

 Pp. xvi + 267, (London: H. K. Lewis and Co., Ltd.) 

 Peru-Bolivia Boundarv Commission, iqii-13. Re- 

 ports of the British Officers of the Peruvian Commis- 

 -inn. Diplomatic Memoranda, and Maps of the 

 NO. 2540, VOL. lOl] 



Boundary Zone. Edited for the Grov«rnment of Peru 

 by the Royal Geographical Society of London. 

 Pp. xi + 242. (London-.- Cambridge University Press- 

 Printers.) 



British Museum (Natural History). A Map showinj,,^ 

 the known Distribution in Eng^land and Wales of the 

 Anopheline Mosquitoes, with Explanatory Text ana 

 Notes. Bv W. D. Lang-. Pp. 63. (London : British 

 Museum (Natural History), and others.) , 2*. 6d. 



The Statesman's Year-Book, 1918. Edited by Sir 

 J. Scott Keltic, assisted by Dr. M. Epstein." Pp, 

 xlviii+i48S. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd..") 

 185. net. 



Memoir of John Michell, M.A., B.D., F.R.S. By 

 Sir .\. Geikie. Pp. in8. (Cambridge : At the \Jn\- 

 versity Press.) 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



FRIDAY, July 5. 

 Aristotelian Society, at 9. — Space— Time : Prof. S. Alex.nnder. 



SATURDAY, July 6. 

 Aristotelian Society, at 10 a.m. — Syinposiuiii : Are Physical. Biologjcal/ 

 and Psychological Categories Irreducible'? Dr. J. S. Haldane,Prof. D'Arcy 

 W. Thompson, Dr. P. Chalmers Mitchell, and Prof. L. T. Hobhouse.— 

 At 2.30. — Symposium: Why is the " Uncon.scious'' UntoBscious ? Dr. E. 

 Jones, Dr. W. H. R. Rivers, .-ind Dr. M. Nicoll. 



SUNDAY, July 7. 

 Aristotelian Society, at 2.30. — Syniposivin : Do Finite Individuals 

 Possess a Substantive or an Adjectival Mode of Being? Dr. B. Bosanqnet. 

 Prof. A. S. Pringle-Pattison. Prof. G. F. Stout, and Lord Haldanc. 



MONDAY, July 8. 

 Aristotklian SfxiETY, at 2. 30. — Special Problems. — At 8. — The Philo 

 sophy.of Proclus : Prof. h. E. 'J'aylor. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Photography : Practical and Theoretical. By C. J. 341 



Text-books of Chemistry. ByJ. B. C 341 



The Function of the Spleen. By A. E. B 342 



Our Bookshelf 343 



Letters to the Editor: — 



The Profits of Research.— Prof. Frederick Soddy, 



F.R.S 34? 



The Sugar Industry after the War. By Sir T. E. 



Thorpe, C.B., F.R.S. . . , 344 



The Mineral Wealth of Germany. By Prof. H. 



Louis 346 



Anthrax and its Prevention 347 



Notes 348 



Our Astronomical Column: — 



A New Asteroid of the Trojan Group 351 



A Faint Star with Large Proper Motion ...... 352 



The Young Moon seen as a Circle 352 



Parallax of the Barnard Star 352 



A Japanese Meteorite 35 ^ 



The New Star in Aquila 352 



The Meteorological Unit of Pressure. By Prof. 



R. A. Sampson, F.R.S. 333 



Deep-sea Nemertines . . . ■.-■■• 353 



Cattle-poisoning by Water Dropwo.t ....... 354 



Aeronautical Inventions 354 



Food Conservation by Reduction of Rations. By 



Prof. Francis G. Benedict ... ■ • ■ ■ l^h 



University and Educational Intelligence 357 



Societies and Academies 35S 



Books Received 360 



Diary of Societies 360 



ST. 



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