140 



NATURE 



[October 18, 19 17 



at about 1250-130° C, are brittle, of a resinous nature, 

 and do not give the green coloration with ferric 

 chloride. 



Victoria. 

 Rpyal Society, July 12. — Prof. W. A. Osborne, presi- 

 dent, in the chair.— J. H. Gatliff and C. J. Gabriel: 

 Additions to, and alterations in, the catalogue of the 

 marine shells of Victoria. Ischnochiton proteus, 

 Keeve, I. atkinsoni, Iredale and May, and /. {Steno- 

 chiton) pollens, Ashby, were recorded as Victorian 

 species. Figures of Dosinea grata, Desh., from, speci- 

 mens compared with the British Museum type are 

 given. — F. Cliapman : New or little-known Victorian 

 tossils in the National Museum. Part xxi. : Some 

 Tertiary Cetacean remains. A fine example of the 

 cranial rostrum of the ziphoid, Mesoplodon compressus, 

 Huxley, sp., is described, together with another less 

 perfect, both tending to prove the specific identity of 

 the two examples described by Huxley and Owen re- 

 spectively. A new species of Scaldicetus (5. lodgei) 

 is described, which, as a Balcombian or Oligocene 

 form, is the oldest recorded example of the genus. 

 A well-preserved tooth referred to Stenochiton (S. cud- 

 morei) is apparently the first discovery of this genus 

 in the fossil state, from the Kalimnan, or Lower Plio- 

 cene, of Port Phillip. — H. J. Grayson : Description of a 

 new engine for ruling diffraction gratings. The ruling 

 engine differs from other machines in respect to the 

 following : — The screw and ways of the ruling car- 

 riage lie in one axial plane. The screw thrust occu- 

 pies a central position upon the machine bed, and the 

 screw is free from any stress other than that due to 

 a direct axial pull upon the nut which is connected 

 with the ruling carriage by means of two steel rods 

 lying parallel with the screw axis. All the bearing 

 surfaces or ways of the machine are ground circular 

 bars of steel or glass, the latter forming the ways. 

 of the diamond carriage. They are semi-polished and 

 require no lubrication ; the frictional resistance is there- 

 fore uniform and constant. The teeth of the ratchet 

 wheels are ground and finished with diamond-charged 

 cutters, by which means a high degree of accuracy is 

 obtained and compensating devices are dispensed with. 

 Gratings submitted to the Mount Wilson Observatory 

 have been pronounced practically free from periodicity 

 and diffused light. (This research was awarded the 

 1917 Syme prize for the most important work published 

 in Australia during the preceding biennium.) 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



Municipal Engineering Practice. By A. P. Folwell. 

 Pp. xi + 422. (New York: J. Wiley and Sons, Inc.; 

 London : Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) i6s. 6d. net. 



The Industrial and Artistic Technology of Paint and 

 Varnish. By A. H. Sabin. Second edition. Pp. x + 

 473. (New York: J. Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London: 

 Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) i6s. 6d. net. 



Elementary Mathematical Analysis. By Prof. J. W. 

 Young and F. M. Morgan. Pp. xii + 548. (New 

 York : The Macmillan Co. ; London : Macmillan and 

 Co., Ltd.) IIS. net. 



Mathematical Papers for Admission into the Royal 

 Military Academy and the Royal Military College, 

 February-July, 1917. Edited by R. M. Milne. Pp. 

 30. (London : Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) is. 3d. net. 



Memoirs of the Greological Survey, Scotland. The 

 Economic Geology of the Central Coalfield of Scotland. 

 Description of Area II. By L. W. •Hinxman and 

 others. Pp. iv + 92. (Edinburgh: H.M.S.O. ; Lon- 

 don : E. Stanford, Ltd., and others.) 4s. 6d. net. 



NO. 2503, VOL. 100] 



The Quest for Truth (Swarthmore Lecture). Bv 

 S. P. Thompson. Pp. 128. (London : Headley Bros.', 

 Ltd.) IS. 



Heat Drop Tables : H.P. Gauge Pressures. L.P. 

 Absolute Pressures. Calculated by H. Moss from the 

 Formulae and Steam Tables of Prof. H. L. Callendar. 

 Pp. 63. (London : E. Arnold.) 55. net. 



Education : Scientific and Humane. Edited by 

 F. G. Kenyon. Pp. 32. (London : J. Murray.) 6d. 

 net. 



Amusements in Mathematics. Bv H. E. Dudeney. 

 Pp. viii + 25S. (London: T. Nelson and Sons, Ltd'.) 

 3s. 6d. net. 



Letters concerning the War between an American 

 and a Relative in Germany. March-June, 1915. Pp. 

 82. (New York : Privately printed.) 



Greenhouses : Their Construction and Equipment. 

 By W. J. Wright. Pp. xvi + 269. (New York: 

 Orange Judd Co.) 1.60 dollars. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



FRIDAY, October 19. 



Institution of Mechanical Engineers, at 6.— A Comparison of the 



Working Costs of the Principal Prime Movers : O. Wans. 



TUESDAY, October 23. 



Zoological Society, at 5.30.— Present Knowledge of the Life-history of 



the Common Eel : C. Tate Regan.— A Hermaphrodite Dogfish : Miss 



Ruth C. Hamber.— Ant-like Spiders from Malaya : H. D. Badcock. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Research and the State 121 



Beetles and Dragonflies. By Prof. G. H. Carpenter 123 



The Individual in Society. By W. L. S 124 



Our Bookshelf 125 



Letters to the Editor:— 



Plated Teeth of Sheep.— Thos. Steel 126 



An Optical Phenomenon.— Capt. C. J. P. Cave . . 126 



The Fireball of October I.— W. F. Denning ... 126 



The Autumn Moon. — Alex. Macdonald 126 



Equatorial Africa To-day. {Illustrated.) By Sir 



H. H.Johnston, G. CM. G., K.C.B 127 



The Number and Distribution of the Stars. By 



S. C 128 



Alcohol Fuel and Engines 129 



Notes 129 



Our Astronomical Column :— 



The Nature of Sun-spots 134 



Solar Prominences in 191 5 134 



A Commercial Iron of Unusual Purity. By Piof. 



H. C. H. Carpenter 134 



Recent Researches at Vesuvius. By G. A. J. C. 135 



Fuel Research 135 



University and Educational Intelligence .... 138 



Societies and Academies 139 



Books Received 140 



Diary of Societies 140 



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