April 29, 1920] 



NATURE 



283 



I Zinc oxide is reduced by carbon in absence of oxygen 

 fetmosphere of nitrogen) at temperatures between 

 ■50 C. and 1100° C. The amounts of carbon used in 

 fte reduction of zinc oxide in ordinary metallurgical 

 fcractice are excessive.— P. Nicolardot, A. Rdglade, and 

 M. Geloso : The volumetric estimation of manganese. 

 A study of the errors of Knorr's method.— F. Gros : 

 Improvements relatingr to the commercial production 

 of oxides of nitrogen in arc furnaces. The improve- 

 ments described are the use of dried gases, increasing 

 the amount of oxygen to 50 per cent., and the replace- 

 ment of the alkaline absorption towers by a physical 

 method, the separation of the nitrogen peroxide by 

 cooling. The latter can be readilv converted into 

 nitnc acid of any strength.— A. Malihe : A new method 

 of formation of nitriles by catalysis. Methvl benzoate 

 and^ethylamine, passed over alumina heated to 480°- 

 500 C., gave benzonitrile. Paratoluic nitrile, isoamyl 

 nitrile, and i^obutyonitrile were prepared in a similar 

 manner.— L. Joleaud : The presence of a Tomistoma 

 in the fresh-water Pliocene of Ethiopia.— F. Baldet : 

 The diurnal variation of the atmospheric poteatial at 

 the Algiers Observatory. A discussion of five years' 

 observations. The diurnal variation is represented by 

 a simple oscillation having a constant minimum about 

 4 a.m. and a maximum variable with the season. 

 The observations confirm the law of M. Chauveau — 

 P. GIrard and V. Morax : Liquid exchanges bv elec- 

 trical osmosis through living- tissues.— J. Chaine': The 

 union of the paramastoid apoohvsis and of the tem- 

 poral in mammals.— A. Krempf : The oro-aboral meta- 

 merisation of the larva of Pocillopora cespitosa and 

 of Senatopora suhulata. 



April 6.— M. Gk^orges Lemoine in the chair.— G. 

 R^moundos : Tncreasinj^ functions and entire functions. 

 — P Humbert : A new application of the function 

 'Wt.ri" (x. y) — L. E. Z. Brouwer : Enumeration of 

 the classes of transformations of the projective plane. 

 —J. Andrade : Extension of conservative systems and 

 a generalisation of a theorem of M. Painlev^.— Ch. 

 Fremont : Cause of the undulatorv wear of rails.— 

 M. Lecornu : Observations on the preceding com- 

 munication.— J. Villey and A. Volmerange : Hovering 

 flight by a horizontal wind of invariable direction and 

 velocity.- M. Girousse : The distribution in the soil of 

 currents from electric traction lines.— P. Job and G, 

 Urbain : The detection of masked sulphuric ions in 

 complex compounds. The benzidine method of esti- 

 mating sulphate ions is shown experimentally to 

 possess advantagfes over the barium method. 

 Examples are given of analyses of cobaltammine sul- 

 phates.— Ch. Boulin and I.. J. Simon : The action of 

 water on dichloroethyl sulphide. Using an excess of 

 r water at its boiling point, dichloroethvl sulphide can 

 I be completely decomposed, giving hvdrochloric acid 

 I and thiodiglycol ; the reaction is reversible. — P. Fallot : 

 I An extension of the phenomena of drift in the Sierra 

 of Majorca.— G. Dubois : The Quaternary fauna of 

 the base of the Ergeron at Cambrai.— L. Besson : The 

 actinometers of Arago and Bellani. Details of the 

 precautions necessary in the accurate use of these 

 two instruments.— A". PiuttI : The action of chloro- 

 picrin on the parasites of wheat and on rats. Large- 

 scale experiments have proved the efficacy of chloro- 

 ' picrin in destroying: wheat parasites, and it has also 

 been demonstrated that the treated wheat is inoffensive 

 and preserves its nutritive power. Chloropicrin has 

 also been successfully employed in the destruction of 

 rats in ships.— V. Gallppe : Researches on the resist- 

 ance of the microzymas to the action of time and their 

 survival in amber.— G. Bertrand : The action of chloro- 

 picrin upon the higher plants. Under suitable condi- 

 tions it is possible to use chloropicrin to free a plant 

 from all its leaf parasites without killing the plant. 

 NO. 2635, VOL. 105] 



Rome. 

 Accademia del Lincei, February i.— A R6iti vice- 

 president, in the chair.— G. Fubinl : Affine differential 

 invariants of a surface.— Q. Majorana : Gravitation. 

 Ihis is the seventh note on the author's experimental 

 attempts to detect the screening off of gravitation by 

 massive sheets of matter (see Nature for April 22, 

 p. 251). The whole note is devoted to the search 

 after, and the discussion of, "causes of error" or 

 disturbing effects. These troublesome effects are now 

 all estimated numerically, but, notwithstanding this» 

 the author closes the present note, postponing the com- 

 putation of the corrected value of the effect sought for 

 to the next (viii.) note. — V. Amato : Kronecker's 

 method for the decomposition of an integral rational 

 function in an amplifield field of rationality. — P. 

 ScatizzI : Abelian differential equations reducible to 

 quadratures.— L. Tonelli : Primitive functions (ii.).— 

 Clara dl Capua : Investigations on alloys of Au and 

 Si. — C. GorinI : A microbiological investigation of the 

 behaviour of Bacterium coli in milk. 



L. SiLBERSTEIN. 



Books Received. 



Life of Lord Kitchener. By Sir George Arthur. 

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 vol. iii., pp. xi+413. (London: Macmillan and Co., 

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Grain and Chaff from an English Manor. By A. H. 

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The Works of Aristotle. Translated into English. 

 CEconomica. By E. S. Forster. Atheniensium Res- 

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The Geography of Plants. By Dr. M. E. Hardy. 

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The Ways of Life : A Study in Ethics. By S. Ward. 

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Tungsten Ores. By R." H. Rastall and W. H. 

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Microscopy : The Construction, Theory, and Use 

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College Text-book of Chemistry. By W. A. Noyes. 

 Pp. viii + 370. (New York: H. Holt and Co.) 



Diary of Societies. 



THURSDAY, April 2q. 



Ophthai.moligical Society of the Unitko Kingdom (at Royal Society 

 of Medicine), at lo a.m. — J. H. Story: Presidential Address. — C. H. 

 Usher: Enlarged Corneae in Goldfish. — E. Treacher Collins: Megalo- 

 cornea and Micro-cornea. — J. Rowan: Are not some Cases of Glaucoma 

 Better Tre.ited without Operation, and, if so, what are the Indications? — 

 \. Zorab : Later Notes on Aqueoplasty. — T. Harrison Butler : Note< on 

 Infeciion after Operations for Cataract. — G. H. Pooley : Abnormalities 

 of the Lacrymal Apparatus and their Treatment. — G. Harvey Goldsmith : 

 A Case of Double-Traumatic Dislocation of the Lens.— G. F. Alexander : 

 (i) A Position of the Head Favourable to the Operation for Cataract ; 

 (2) An Operation for Advancement in Strabismus. 



Royal Institution of Gkeat Britain, at 3. — R. Campbell Thompson : 

 The Origins of the Dwellers in Mesopotamia. 



RovAi. Society, at 4.30.— Prof. ^. W. Gregory: The Irish Eskers.— 

 Miss K.M.Curtis: The Life-History and Cytoloay of Synchytrium 

 endnbot cutH (Schilb ) Perc, the Cause of Wart Disease in Potato.— 

 B. Sahni : The Structure and K^mM%oi AcmopyU pancheH, Pilger. 



Zoological Society of London, at 4. 30. — Annual General Meeting. 



Chemical Society, at 5.— Extraordinary General Meeting to consider the 

 Alterations in the By-laws proposed by ihe Council. 



Chii.i>-Sti;i^y Society (at Royal Sanitary Institute), at 6.— Sir A. E. 

 Shipley : Biting Insects and Children. 



Institution ok Elfctrical Engineers (at Institution of Civil Engineers), 

 at 6.— A E. McColI : Automatic Protective Devices for Alternating 

 Current Systems. 



Optical Society (at Imperial College of Science and Technology), at 7.30W 

 — Dr. C. E. Kenneth Mees : The Reaciion of the Eye to Light. 



