May 13, 1920] 



'NATURE 



^47 



jdes. Reply to some criticisms of M. Rateau on an 

 jrlier communication. — E. Brylinski : The transport 



)f electrical energy to great distances. A mathe- 

 latical discussion of the properties of a half-wave 



inc. — S. Posternak : The variations of the composition 

 ^bf ammonium phosphomolybdate. An account of the 



variations in the composition of the precipitate pro- 

 duced by the presence of ammonium nitrate or sul- 

 phate in the liquid in which the precipitate is formed. 

 — F. fiourion : The analysis of commercial chloro- 

 benzenes by distillation. The substances present in 

 the commercial product are benzene, monochloro- 

 benzene, and higher chlorination products boiling at 

 So° C, 130° C, and 172° C. or above. A scheme for 

 systematic fractional distillation is given, with results 

 for synthetic mixtures. The method is a lengthy 

 one, a single sample requiring three and a hajf days 

 for analysis.— G. Mignonac : The ketimines. Forma- 

 tion by the catalytic reduction of the oximes. The 

 reaction was carried out with nickel (reduced from its 

 oxide at 300° C.) in absolute alcohol at ordinary atmo- 

 spheric pressure at a temperature of about 16° C. 

 The oxime of cycZohexanone gave N-cydohexyl- 

 ketimine, a. substance not previously isolated, and the 

 corresponding ketimines were isolated from the reduc- 

 tion products of the oximes of acetophenone, propio- 

 phenone, benzophenone, and phenyl-a-naphthyl ketone. 

 —Mile. S. Veil : Alloys of oxides. Mixtures of the 

 oxides of chromium and cerium were compressed and 

 heated, and measurements made of the electrical con- 

 ductivity and magnetisation coefficient of the products. 

 Diagrams are given showing the results for varying 

 proportions of the two oxides. — -C. Matignon and J. A. 

 Lecanu : The reversible oxidation of arsenious acid. 

 From the thermochemical data it should be possible 

 directly to oxidise arsenic trioxide to the pentoxide, and 

 experiments were carried out at temperatures between 

 400° C. and 450° C, the pressures of the oxygen being 

 130, 127, and 138 atmospheres. The production of 

 the pentoxide was proved, but the oxidation of the 

 arsenic trioxide was not complete. — Ch. Gorceix : The 

 formation of the first ocean. ^R. Souiges : The 

 embryogeny of the Olnotheraceae. Development of the 

 embryo in Oenothera biennis. — M. Moilliard : The 

 influence of a small quantity of potassium on the 

 physiological characters of Sterigmatocystis nigra. 

 Potassium has a marked specific action on the develop- 

 ment of this mould. Deficiency of potassium causes 

 the glucose in the culture fluid to disappear more 

 rapidly than the laevulose ; conidia and black pigment 

 do not appear as usual ; a golden-yellow pigment 

 appears in the fluid, and a soluble substance stained 

 blue by iodine is formed. — G. Bertrand : The condi- 

 tions which may modify the activity of chloropicrin 

 towards the higher plants. The effects of chloropicrin 

 are nearly proportional to the concentration of the 

 vapour and the time of action. Moisture and light, 

 except direct sunlight, are without influence. — M. 

 Baudouin : An anatomical measurement permitting the 

 diagnosis of sex in the human skull. — L. Boutan : 

 Comparative yields of pelagic apparatus. — P. Wintre- 

 bert : The propagation of the undulating movement of 

 the muscles of the skeleton in advanced embryos of 

 Scylliorhinus canicula after section or partial re- 

 section of the spinal cord. — P. Portler : The rabbit 

 deprived of its caecal appendix regenerates this organ 

 by differentiation of the extremity of the caecum. 

 When the rabbit's appendix is removed the terminal 

 portion of the. caecum is modified, becomes infiltrated 

 with lymphocytes, and regenerates a new appendix 

 possessing the essential histological and physiological 

 characters of the normal appendix. This is a proof of 

 the important function of this or£?an in the rabbit. — 

 Ch. Porcher : Lacteal retention.— M. Doyon : The anti- 



NO. 26^7. VOL. 10^1 



coagulating and haemolysing action of sodium 

 nucleinate.— P. Conrmont and A. Rochain : The action 

 of the micro-organisms of sewage effluents purified 

 by the activated-sludge method on albuminoid 

 materials, urea, and nitrates.— E. Aubel : The 

 sterilising power of acids. 



Books Received. 



School Dynamics. By W. G. Borchardt. Part i. 

 (with Answers.) Pp. vii + 2864-xix. (London : Riving- 

 tons.) T,s. 6d. 



Space and Time in Contemporary Physics. By 

 Prof. M. Schlick. Rendered into English by H. L. 

 Brose. Pp. xi + 89. (Oxford: At the Clarendon 

 Press.) 65. 6d, net. 



Zoology : A Text-book for Colleges and Universi- 

 ties. By Prof. T. D. A. Cockerell. Pp. xi + f;58. 

 (Yonkers-on-Hudson, New York : World Book Co.) 

 3 dollars. 



An Introduction to Palaeontologv. By Dr. A. M. 

 Davies. Pp. xi + 414. (London: T. Murby and Co.) 

 I2S. 6d. net. 



Practical Plant Biochemistry. By M. W. Onslow. 

 Pp. vii-f-178. (Cambridge: At the University Press.) 

 155. net. 



Wild Fruits and How to Know Them. By Dr. 

 S. C. Johnson. Pp. xi + 132. (London: Holden and 

 Hardingham, Ltd.) is. net. 



Aluminium : Its Manufacture, Manipulation, and 

 Marketing. By G. Mortimer. (London : Sir Isaac 

 Pitman and Sons, Ltd.) 2s. 6d. net. 



Cotton Spinning. By W. Scott Taggart. Vol. iii. 

 Fifth edition. Pp. xxviii + 490. (London: Macmillan 

 and Co., Ltd.) zos. net. 



Diary of Societies. 



THURSDAY, May 13. 



RovAi. Instttution of Great Britain, at 3.— A. P. Graves: Welsh 



and Irish Folk Song. 

 RovAL SociKTY, at 4.— Eleciion of Fellows.— 4.30.— Dr. A. D. 



Waller: Demonstration of th"! Apparent "Growth" of Plants 



'and of Inanimate Materials) and of their Apparent "Contractility."— 



W. N. F. Woodland: The "Renal Portal" System (Renal Venous 



Meshwork) and Kidney F.xcretion in Vertebrata. 

 London Mathrmaticai. Socikty, at 5 — H. W. Richmond : (i) Historical 



Note on some C.inonical Forms quoted by Mr. Wakeford. (2) Historical 



Not' on Cayl'y's Theorems on the Intersections of Algebraic Curves.— 



T. Stuart : The Lowest Parametric Solutions of a Dimorph Sextan 



Kauation in the Rational, Irrational, and Complex Fields. — A. E. 



Jolliffe : The Pascal Lines of a Hexagon. 

 Institution of Buectiiical Engineers (at Institution of Civil 



Engineers) at 6. — S. Evershed : Permanent Magnets in Theory and 



Practi'-e. 

 Institute of Inventors (at Royal Society of Arts), at 7.30.— D. 



Leechman and Others: Discussion on The Relations of the Inventor to 



the State. 

 Ohticai, Society, at 7. to. 

 Institution of Automobile Enginekrs fGraduates' Section) (at 28 



Victoria Street), at 8.— W. E. Benbow : The Chemical and Physical 



Properties of Iron and Steel. 

 Royal Society of Mf.dicinf (Neurology Section), at 8.30.— Annual 



General Meeting.— Dr. S. A. K. Wilson: Decerebrate Rigidity in Man, 



and the Occurrence of Tonic Fits. 



FRIDAY, May 14. 



D«pa"tmknt ok Scientific and Industrial Research. Conference 

 of Research Organisations (at Institution of Civil Engineers), at 3.— 

 Marquess of Crewe : Introductory Address.— Dr. A. W. Crossley : The 

 Relation of Research .\ssociations to Existing Institutions for Research. 

 —J. W. Williamson : The Staffing of Research Associations : Salaries and 

 Superannuation. 



RovAL Astronomical Society, at 5. 



Physical Society of London, at 5— Dr. F. Lloyd Hopwood : Demon- 

 stration of Experiments on the Thermionic Properties o^ Hot 

 Filaments.- G. D. We«t : A Modified Theory of the Crookes Radiometer.— 

 A. Campbell : The Magnetic Properties of Silicon-Iron (Stallny) in 

 Alternating Fields of Low Value— T. Smith: Tracing Rays through 

 an Optical .System. 



