38o 



NATURE 



[July ii, 191 8 



learners to fruitful activity. Prof. Sarton would have 

 history taught as a story not of the vicissitudes of 

 kings and their wars, but of the growth and organisa- 

 tion of positive knowledge and of its application to 

 the material advancement of the peoples. Such 

 descriptions would be completed by the history of 

 civilisation, including law, religion, fine arts, social 

 economy, and politics. History taught in this way 

 is called "the new humanities." To supply teachers 

 it is proposed to found in the United States an insti- 

 tute for the history of science and civilisation. An 

 account of the proposed institute will be found in 

 Science for March 23 and October 26, 1917. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 London. 

 Challenger Society, June 26.— Dr. G. H. Fowler in 

 the chair. — S. F. Harmer : Whaling in the Far South. 

 The species hunted and the methods of capture were 

 described ; attention was directed to the large numbers 

 killed annually and to the necessity for protective 

 measures ; statistical evidence was given to show that 

 the fin whale, the blue whale, and the humpback have 

 •definite breeding periods. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, June 24. — M. Leon Guignard 

 in the chair.^ — A. Lacroix : The constitution of a salt 

 from plants grown in the Cameroons. The salt is 

 •extracted by the natives from the ashes of a plant, 

 probably Panicum cms Galli. It is rich in potash 

 salts, containing 83-5 per cent, of potassium chloride, 

 7-1 per cent, of calcium potassium sulphate (syn- 

 ^ehite), 39 per cent, of potassium sulphate, with some 

 common salt, magnesium chloride, and silica. The 

 absence of carbonates is remarkable.— J. Boussinesq : 

 General equations governing the slow flow of semi- 

 fluid materials, either plastic or pulverulent. — G. 

 Bigourdan : The observatories at Paris known as "de 

 la rue des Postes." There were two early observa- 

 tories bearing this name, which are sometimes con- 

 fused : that of Picard (1673), and that of Godin, de 

 Fouchy, and Bouguer (173 1). The positions of these 

 two observatories are deduced from data in various 

 •documents. — C. Richet : General anaesthesia by 

 chloralose in cases of traumatic shock and haemor- 

 rhage. The advantages and inconveniences of 

 chloralose as an anaesthetic are summarised. The 

 main advantage is the absence of toxic action on the 

 heart, as there is no lowering of the arterial pressure. 

 — P. Sabatier and G. Gaudion : The decomposition of 

 glycerol in presence of various catalysts : the forma- 

 tion of ethyl and allyl alcohols. The catalysts studied 

 were alumina, copper powder, and uranous oxide. 

 Alumina gave carbon monoxide, methane, acrolein, 

 and higher aldehydes. With copper the gases evolved 

 contained a high proportion of hydrogen; the liquid 

 products included ethyl and allyl alcohols, propalde- 

 hyde and other aldehydes. — M. Balland : . Bread- 

 making from wheat without previous grinding. An 

 account of various attempts from 1789 to 1916 to 

 miake bread from unground wheat. No satisfactory 

 bread has hitherto been made by this method.— 

 T. Hosier : The spectrum of the new star in Aquila.— 

 F. de Roy : Discovery and observations of Nova 

 Aquilae.— P. Bruck andP. Chofardet : Observations of 

 the new star. — J. A. Le Bel : Catathermic phenomena 

 at 1000° C- — M. Guerbet : Bornylenecamphor and a 

 new dicamphor isodicamphor. By the action of 

 sodium methylate upon camphor at temperatures 

 l)etween 100° C. and 180° C, the main product of 

 the reaction is a new isodicamphor, Co^H^qO^ ; a small 

 quantity of bornylenecamphor is also obtained.— 

 NO. 2541, VOL. lOl] 



J. Amar : Psychographic observations. — H. Bierry and 

 P. Portier : The action of symbiotes upon the con- 

 stituents of fats. It is shown that symbiotes can 

 convert glycerol into dioxyacetone, /3-oxybutyric acid 

 into acetone and acetaldehyde, and butyric acid into 

 acetone. — A. Gauduchcau : Food preparations from 

 blood and meat by the aid of yeast. — MM. Folley and 

 Leprat : The blood in exophthalmic goitre. The white 

 and red blood corpuscles in this disease are normal 

 as regards number and shape. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



Rural Water Supplies and their Purification. By 

 Dr. A. C. Houston. Pp. xv+136. (London: John 

 Bale, Ltd.) ys. 6d. net. 



A Complete Qourse of Volumetric Analysis for 

 Middle and Higher Forms of Schools. By W. T. 

 Boone. Pp. viii+ 164. (London: Blackie and Son, 

 Ltd.) 35. 6d. net. 



A Memoir on British Resources of Sands and Rocks 

 used in Glass-making, with Notes on Certain Crushed 

 Rocks and Refractory Materials. By Prof. P. G. H. 

 Boswell. With Chemical Analysis by Dr. H. F. 

 Harwood and A. A. Eldridge. Second edition com- 

 plete in one volume. Pp. xi+183. (London: Long- 

 mans and Co.) 



High Explosives. By Capt. E. de W. S. Colver. 

 Pp. xxix + 830. (London: Crosby Lockwood and 

 Son.) 3/. 35. net. 



56th Annual Report of the Secretary of the State 

 Board of Agriculture of the State of Michigan, and 

 30th i^nnual Report of the Experiment Station. 

 Pp. 749. (Lansing, Mich.) 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Sir William Ramsay. By Sir T. E. Thorpe, C.B., 



F.R.S 361 



Artificial Seasoning of Wood. By P. G 362 



Two Catalogues of Scientific Publications .... 363 



Our Bookshelf .... 364 



Letters to the Editor: — 



Weeping Forms of Elm.— W. H.' Shrubsole . . 365 

 " Habitat Groups" in Amerxan Museums. {Illtis- 



trated.) By Dr. S. F. Harmer, F.R.S 365 



The Cereal Balance . 370 



Dr. G. K. Gilbert. By Prof. Grenville A. J. Cole, 



F.R.S 370 



Notes 371 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



The New Star in Aquila . . 375 



Ephemetis of Wolf's Periodic Comet , 375 



The New System of Time at Sea 375 



Conference of Corresponding Societies of the 



British Association 375 



The Future of the Engineering Trades ,-376 



Genetics and Evolution. By G. H. C '. 376 



The Future of Pure and Applied Chemistry. By 



Prof. W.J. Pope, F.R.S 377 



University and Educational Intelligence ... 379 



Societies and Academies .... 380 



Books Received 380 



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