2l8 



NATURE 



[April 15, 1920 



External characters of the South American monkeys. 

 The paper showed the variations in the range of 

 structure of the ears, nose, hands, feet, and external 

 genitalia. — Dr. C. F. Sonntag : The comparative 

 anatomy of the tongues of the mammalia. Having 

 first outlined the plan which would be followed in his 

 series of comparative studies, the author proceeded to 

 describe the different divisions of the tongue and the 

 physical characters of each. He demonstrated by 

 diagrams and lantern-slides the different forms which 

 the papillge and openings of Wharton's ducts can 

 assume among the mammalia, and exhibited speci- 

 mens illustrating the shapes and colours of the tongue 

 and the arrangements for cleaning the teeth. 



March 30.— Dr. A. Smith Woodward, vice-president, 

 in the chair. — Dr. C. F. Sonntag : Abnormalities of 

 the abdominal arteries of a young panda. — A. 

 Loveridge : East African lizards collected in 1915-19, 

 with description of a new genus and species of 

 skink and a new sub-species of gecko. 



Royal Meteorological Society, March 17.— Mr. R. H. 

 Hooker, president, in the chair.- — Capt. C. K. M. 

 Douglas : .Clouds as seen from an aeroplane. A large 

 number of photographs of clouds taken from an aero- 

 plane were shown, nearly all of which were taken by 

 the lecturer while flying in co-operation with the 

 Meteorological Section, R.E., in France in 1918-19. 

 The primary object of the flights was to obtain the 

 temperature in the upper air tor the artillery and for 

 forecasting, and advantage was taken of the oppor- 

 tunity to study cloud-structure and its relation to the 

 upper-air temperature and humidity and to the general 

 meteorological conditions. The observations were 

 made at Berck, on the French coast, twenty miles 

 south of Boulogne, which lies close to the most 

 important aerial routes. The photographs showed a 

 large variety of c'oud-forms, and also some changes 

 which took place in short periods. A number of the 

 photographs showed" thunderclouds. Thunderstorms 

 are caused by powerful ascending currents, and the 

 tops of the clouds grow up to a great height, fre- 

 quently exceeding 20,000 ft. Often when the weather 

 is overcast and gloomy there is brilliant sunshine 

 within one or two miles of the ground, and the clouds 

 viewed from above present a splendid spectacle. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, March 8.— M. Henri Deslandres 

 in the chair. — G. Humbert : An extension of the 

 modular group in an imaginary quadratic body.— 

 F. E. Fournier : Forms of hull of least resistance to 

 their translation in free air at all velocities.— 

 C. Guichard : A characteristic property of congruences 

 belonging to a linear complex. ^ — P. Vui'Uemin : Remarks 

 on a fungus attributed by M. Loubiere to the genus 

 Trichosporium. — Sir James Dewar was elected a cor- 

 respondant for the section of general physics in suc- 

 cession to the late Prof. Blaserna. — J. "Villey : The 

 adaptation of internal-combustion motors to high 

 altitudes. — B. Gambier : Surfaces of translation ap- 

 plicable to each other. — M. Frechet : A complete familv 

 derived from the family of ensembles " hien ddfinis."- — • 

 P. Humbert : Functions of the parabolic hvpercylinder. 

 — M. Renaux : A problem of iteration!— J. ' K. de 

 Feriet : An application of generalised differentials to 

 the formation and integration of certain linear 

 differential equations.- — L. de Pesloiian : The extension 

 of the rule of L'Honital to certain arithmetical quanti- 

 ties. — J. Chazy : The impossible singularities of the 

 problem of n bodies. — H. Blondel : Application of the 

 method of Lagrange to the orbit of the planet dis- 

 covered by M. Comas Sol^, January 13, 1920.- — E. 

 Belot : A new form of the law of distances of planets 

 and satellites resulting from the spiral formation of 

 NO. 2633, VOL. 105] 



the planetary system, and the cause of rotation of 

 the planets. — J. Guillaume : Observations of the sun 

 made at the Observatory of Lyons during the third 

 quarter of 19 19. Observations taken on eighty-nine 

 days are summarised in three tables showing the- 

 number of spots, their distribution in latitude, and 

 the distribution of the faculae in latitude. — L. de 

 Broglie : The calculation of the limiting frequencies of 

 K and L absorption of the heavy elements. A com- 

 parison of the numbers deduced from Bohr's theory 

 and from Vegard's formula with the average experi- 

 mental data derived from the experiments of Vegard, 

 Siegbahn, and de Broglie. The results for the 

 L bands for tungsten, platinum, gold, lead, bismuth, 

 thorium, and uranium are clearly in favour of 

 Vegard's formula. — M. Rennesson : The loss of energy 

 in the dielectric of commercial cables. Two sets of 

 experiments are described : in the first the frequency 

 and temperature were maintained constant, and the 

 voltage varied; and in the second the temperature 

 was the variable, voltage and frequency being con- 

 stant. In the latter case the energy losses in the 

 dielectric showed a minimum at 30° C. ; the 

 losses at 30° C. were about half those found at 

 12° C. or at 55° C— A. Caillas : The search for inver- 

 tin in pure honey. The presence of invertin in pure 

 honey was definitely proved, and this explains whv 

 tw^o analyses of a sample of honey made at different 

 times may give different results for the sugars present. 

 — J. Martinet and O. Dornier : The azo-compounds of 

 indoxyl. — Ch. Boulin and L. J. Simon : The prepara- 

 tion of methyl chloride and bromide starting from 

 dimethyl sulphate. The interaction of concentrated 

 hydrochloric acid and methyl sulphate gives pure 

 methyl chloride ; methyl bromide is obtained in a 

 similar manner by substituting a solution of an 

 alkaline bromide acidified with dilute sulphuric acid 

 for the hydrochloric acid.^ — M. Zeil : The ascensional 

 movements of the earth's crust and the anomalies of 

 gravity.— G. Denizot : The lower peneplain of the 

 Paris basin. — R. Abrard : A layer of eruptive rocks 

 at Souk el Arbaa du R'Arb (Western Morocco).— 

 V. Bjerknes : The relation between the movements 

 and temperatures of the upper layers of the atmo- 

 sphere. — L. Besson : The primitive form of atmospheric 

 ice.— C. E. Brazier : The variation of the indications 

 of the Robinson and Richard anemometers as a func- 

 tion of the inclination of the wind. — A. Guilliermond : 

 The figured elements of the cytoplasm. — J. D. 

 d'Oliveira : The transmission of fasciation and 

 dichotomy as a result of the grafting of two Portu- 

 guese vines. — J. Magrou : The immunity of annual 

 plants towards symbiotic fungi. — J. E. Abelous and 

 L. C. Soula : The cholesterinogenic function of the 

 spleen. — J. L. Dantan : Oyster beds : their develop- 

 ment,, classification, and exploitation. 



March i;. — M. Henri Deslandres in the chair. — G. 

 Humbert: The groups of M. Bianchi.— Em. Bourquelot 

 and M. Bridel : The detection and characterisation of 

 glucose in plants bv a new biochemical method. The 

 production of methyl glucoside by the action of 

 emulsin forms the basis of the new method proposed. 

 — MM. d'Arsonval, Bordas, and Touplain : The electrical 

 Purification of air. — G. Gouv : Gaseous currents in the 

 interior of the sun.— Ch. N'^oUe. A. Cu6nod, and G. 

 Blanc : The experimental reproduction of trachoma 

 (■rfranular coniunctivitis) in the rabbit. — M. L^on 

 Lindet was elected a member of the section of rural 

 economy in succession to the late Th. Schloesing, 

 and Sir Joseph Larmor a correspondant for the 

 section of geometry in succession to the late M. 

 T.iapounoff. — B. Gambler: Applicable surfaces.^ 

 Ch. Rabut : The group of plane transformations in 

 which all right lines remain right. — A. Chatelet : 



