December 6, 191 7] 



NATURE 



279 



performing the office of pioneer builder and the Spini- 

 fex retaining the sand collected by its hardier asso- 

 ciate, which ventures out on the beach be\'ond the 

 limit of other vegetation. The fruits of the b<»ach 

 plants are specially equipped for sea voyaging. — Edna 

 D. Sayce : Some determinations of the heat conductivity 

 of selenium. The heat conductivity of selenium has 

 been measured under different conditions, and shows 

 variations similar to, but less marked than, those 

 occurring in the electrical conductivity. In the crystal- 

 line (conducting) form the conductivity depends on the 

 temperature of preparation, the age, and the tempera- 

 ture at the time of testing; the conductivity of vitreous 

 selenium varies with the temperature of testing, being 

 independent of the age of the specimen. — Dr. J. B. 

 Cleland and E. Cheel : Early stage of development of 

 "Dead Man's Finger" {Lysurtis gardneri). These in- 

 teresting fungi are developed under the surface of the 

 soil, and only emerge when they are fully matured. 

 The specimens brought under notice were dug out of 

 the ground, and the peculiar structure of certain parts 

 was noted when the egg-like volva burst open to 

 liberate the column or receptacle. 



Melbourne. 

 Royal Society of Victoria, August 9.— Mr. F. Wise- 

 would in the chair. — Ellinor Arclier : An abnormal 

 venous circulation in the frog. The anterior abdo- 

 minal vein, instead of entering the liver, opened 

 directly into the inferior vena cava. In spite of the 

 absence of any hepatic portal system, the liver was 

 well developed, and the frog' healthy and well 

 nourished. Apparently the hepatic portal system is not 

 of primary importance, as in this case all the blood 

 reaching the liver was arterial. 



Washington-, D.C. 

 National Academy of Sciences (Proceedings, vol. iii., 

 No. 7, July). — Teresa Cohen : The Cayleyan curve of 

 the quartic. — C. E. St. John : A search for an Einstein 

 relativity-gravitational effect in the sun. A series of 

 observations stretching over several years indicates that 

 the Einstein effect does not exist. — L. P. Eisenhart : 

 Triads of transformations of conjugate systems of 

 curves.— M. Gomberg and C. S. Schoepfle : The mole- 

 cular weights of the triarylmethyls. After discussing 

 factors influencing dissociation and the relation be- 

 tween dissociation and the nature of the aryl groups, 

 seven triphenylmethyls are investigated in detail and 

 various inferences are drawn from the graphs of their 

 dissociations against their concentrations. — F. R. 

 Lillie : Sex-determination and sex-differentiation in 

 mammals. Discussion of the results of studies of the 

 anatomy of twenty-two fcEtal free-martins, ranging in 

 size from 7-5 to 28 cm. Sex-determination in mam- 

 mals is not irreversible predestination ; with known 

 methods and principles of physiology we can investi- 

 gate the possible range of reversibility. — A. W. Hull : 

 The crystal structure of magnesium. 'The structure is 

 analysed by means of X-rays. — W. M. Davis; The struc- 

 ture of high-standing atolls. Attention is directed to 

 the relation of atoll limestones to their supposed foun- 

 dation of volcanic rocks. The relative merits of the 

 Glacial-control theory and of Darwin's theorv are dis- 

 cussed.— H. Shapley : Studies of magnitude in star 

 clusters. VII.— A method for the determination of the 

 relative distances of globular clusters. The median 

 magnitude of short-period variables is constant m each 

 cluster and may be used to determine the distance of the 

 cluster which, with one or two exceptions, is found 

 to be greater than 30,000 light-years." — H. Raymond : 

 The principal axes of stellar motion. Three principal 

 axes are determined along which the various groups 

 of stars show markedly unequal motion. — C. D. 

 NO. 2510, VOL. 100] 



Perrine : Relation of preferential motion and of the 

 spectral-class and magnitude velocity progressions to 

 proper motion. — D. H. Campbell : Growth of isolated 

 sporophytes of Anthoceros. The young sporophyte of 

 Anthoceros pcarsoni, separated from its association 

 with the gametophyte, is capable of limited growth in 

 length, and is able to mature normal spores and 

 elaters from the young sporogenous tissue. — J. W. 

 Fewkes : The Mesa Verde types of Pueblos. A morpho- 

 logical study of Far View House and other types of 

 prehistoric buildings. — Margaret C. Shields ; A deter- 

 mination of the ratio of the specific heats of hydrogen 

 at i8° and —190" C. The value 1-4012, closely in 

 accord with kinetic theory and different from previous 

 determinations at 18° C., is obtained; the value 1-592 

 is found at - 190° C.— W. W. Coblentz : Note on the 

 coefficient of total radiation of a uniformly heated en- 

 closure. The value 5-722x10-*- is found by direct 

 measurement, and agrees with that calculated by Milli- 

 kan on the basis of his values for h and e. — C. E. 

 St. John and H. D. Babcock r The development of a 

 source for standard wave-lengths and the importance 

 of their fundamental values. It is necessary to 

 examine for pole effect ; the problem of wave-length 

 i determination is not one of routine, but one for real 

 investigation.— J. J. Abel and M. C. Pincoffs : The pre- 

 sence of albumoses in extracts of the posterior lobe of 

 the hypophysis cerebri. Secondary albumoses, and 

 possibly peptones, were found to be present in all the 

 therapeutically used extracts of the posterior lobe of 

 the hypophysis cerebri that were examined. The 

 "hypophysin" of the Farbwerke-Hochst is not, as 

 claimed for it, a solution of the isolated active sub- 

 stances of the pituitary gland, but a mixture of albu- 

 moses with varying and unknown amounts of active 

 and inactive constituents of the gland. — E. Uhlenhuth : 

 The rSle of the thymus in the production of tetany. 

 It would seem that thymus contains the substances 

 which cause tetany and secretes them into the body, 

 from which they are removed by the parathyroids. 

 Extirpation of the latter would thus cause tetany. — 

 W. J. Crozier : Evidence of assortive mating in a nudi- 

 branch. Mating pairs of the nudibranch Chromodoris 

 zebra are found to exhibit a rather high degree of 

 correlation between the sizes of the two members. This 

 is due to assortive mating, which may constitute an 

 important influence tending to increase the numbers 

 of larvae. — A. G. Mayer ; Coral reefs of Tutuila, with 

 reference to the Murray- .Agassiz solution theory. 



Petrograd. 



Academy of Sciences, May 10. — J a. S. Bezikovit : Mag- 

 netic observations at fifty-four points of the Govern- 

 ment of Bessarabia in 1914. — V. N. Liubimenko : 

 Medicinal plants of the Government of Taurida. — V. I. 

 Iskiul : Investigation of the fire-resisting clays of the 

 Tichvinskij district of the Government of Novgorod. — 

 P. Eskol : Mineralogical observations in the Govern- 

 ment of Olonetz in, the summer of 19 16. — N. M. 

 Abramov and P. N. Cirvinskij : The puzzolanes of the 

 south of Russia. — P. A. Borisov : Crystals of silicates 

 from the dolomites of the Povenc district. — K. A. 

 Nenadkevic and V. I, Vernadskij -.The hydrogen sulphide 

 in limestones and dolomites. — V. M. Rylov : Heterocopc 

 soldatovi, a new species of fresh-water Crustacea 

 (Eucopcpoda, fam. Centropagidae). — V. I. Palladin and 

 Miss E. R. Hubbenet : The absorption of the ultra- 

 violet rays by plants.— O. A. Walther : The diastatic 

 splitting of arginine in the yellow lupin. 



Mav 24. — A. S. Famincyn :'A new method for the cul- 

 ture of micro-organisms. — A. S. Vasiljev : Proof of the 

 ellipsoidal form and of the tides of the terrestrial 

 atmosphere. Influence of these factors on the zenithal 

 distances of the stars.— N. A. Kulik : The Upper Creta- 



