June 24, 1920] 



NATURE 



539 



from glucose by Bacterium coli by a mechanism which 

 is independent of that which gives rise to the other 

 products, it is clear there that glucose mav break down 

 under the influence of these bacterial enzvmes in thwee 

 independent ways, giving rise to the following three 

 g:roups of products :— (i) Formic acid, carbon dioxide, 

 and hydrogen. (2) Alcohol, acetic acid, and succinic 

 acid. (3) Lactic acid. These groups apparentlv repre- 

 sent three separ;ite lines of cleavage of the glucose 

 . molecule under the influence of the enzvmes of the 

 bacterium in question. The author is of "opinion that 

 this manner of cleavage is fundamental, the experi- 

 ments also show that alcohol is produced, in part at 

 least, by reduction, and prove for the first time that 

 such reduction does actually occur bv the action of 

 hydrogen liberated from the" glucose, as well as that, 

 in certain circumstances, the hydrogen derived from 

 the added calcium formate exerts a reducing action 

 and increases the yield of alcohol.— L. T. Hogben : ^ 

 Studies on synapsis, ii. : Parallel conjugation and 

 the prophase complex in Periolaneta, with special 

 reference to the premeiotic terophase. Synapsis in 

 the Orthoptera has been the subject of considerable 

 controversy. The earliest events of svnaosis in the 

 ovaries of the cockroach are traceable with much 

 greater facility than in the testes. They mvolve in 

 either case the parallel conjugation in pairs of the full 

 diploid number of leptotene looos. Morse's account of 

 the origin of the heterotype rings bv separation of the 

 diplotene threads along the line of cleavage is con- 

 firmed and amplified by a sequential analysis of the 

 metaohase complex. It' is seen that two chromosomes 

 at this stage (d and o') retain the looped condition of 

 the post-synaptic bouquet until the others have divided 

 —a fact which led earlier workers to interpret the 

 genesis of the heterotype annular chromosomes accord- 

 ing to the telosynaptic hypothesis. The accessories are 

 not distintruishable in oogenesis from the autosomes. 

 The vacuolation of the plasmosome durinif volk-forma- 

 tion in the oocyte is 'described in detail," and a re- 

 examination of material for a previous paper indicates 

 that the so-called '' chromatin" granules described by 

 so rnanv writers, as emitted during yolk-formation in 

 the insef~t esf^, are in reality products of the plasmo- 

 some. There is no evidence that in Periolaneta the 

 plasmosome is related in any way to the chromatin 

 organisation of the nucleus. 



Paris, 

 Academy of Sciences, June 7 M. Georges Lemoine 

 in the chajr,— C. Moureu and G. Mignonac : Acyl- 

 ketimines. Benzonitrile, magnesium, and an alkyl 

 bromide give the product C.H^.CR : N.MgBr, and 

 with an acid chloride acylketimines are obtained of the 

 type C.H^.CR^N.CO.CH,. Details of the general 

 method of preparation and the melting points of six 

 acylketimines are given.— G. Bonnier : The changes in 

 plant forms obtained experimentally. Full descriptions 

 of the changes brought about in seventeen species of 

 plants by change of altitude. The plants were grown 

 in similar soil in the plains and in the mountains, 

 and the observations extended for a period of from 

 six to thirty-four years. — A. Rateau : *The theory of 

 aerial and marine propulsive helices and of aeroplanes 

 in rectilinear flight.— M. Kamerlingh Onneswas elected 

 a correspondant for the section of physics in succes- 

 sion to the late Sir William Crookes.— G. Julia : 

 Functions of two complex variables and limiting 

 functions of analytical functions, uniform or multi- 

 form, of one variable.— R. Thiry : The conformal 

 representation of doubly connected with rectilinear 

 contours.— H. Vlllat : The conformal repn-esentation of 

 doubly connected areas. — B. Gambier : The surfaces of 

 translation of Sophus Lie. — L. Punoyer : Magnetic 

 induction in the soft iron comoass correctors under 



NO. 2643, VOL. 105] 



the influence of the needles. Modifications of a 

 formula given in an earlier communication required by 

 the discovery of an error in sign.— L. Bai'biilion and 

 M. Dugit : The rectilinear scale with equidistant 

 divisions applied to the measurement and division of 

 angles and measuring apparatus of constant sensibility. 

 —Mile. Paule Collet : The reproduction of speech by 

 galena and sustained waves.— L. and E. Bloch : Pro- 

 duction of the band spectra of nitrogen by electrons 

 of low velocity. Earlier experiments of this nature 

 have been made by the electrical method : the 

 examination of the angular points in the curve of the 

 current produced by the electrons. In the work here 

 described a quartz prism spectrograph was employed 

 and the nitrogen bands were directly observed. It was 

 found to be possible to get the nitrogen radiation at a 

 critical potential of about 10 volts. Hence band 

 spectra, like line spectra, can be excited by electron 

 shock with a voltage clearly lower than the'ionisation 

 potential (18 volts).— C. Benediclis : The electro- 

 thermic effect in a homogeneous conductor of constant 

 section.— C. Raveau : Variance and the means of pre- 

 suming the value of it without the aid of a formula. — 

 P. Bary : The viscosity of colloidal solutions. A study 

 of the swelling of colloids in suspension based on 

 Einstein's formula for the viscosity of liquids holding 

 solid matter in suspension. — M. Delepine and L. Ville : 

 The chloride of bromine : its combination with 

 ethylene. Forty years ago Maxwell, Simpson, 

 and James showed that ethylene chlorobromide, 

 ClCH^.CHjBr, was the product of the reaction of 

 ethylene on "chloride of bromine" in a solution of 

 hydrochloric acid. Recent physico-chemical work, on 

 the other hand, goes to prove that chloride of bromine 

 does not exist, and that the substance passing under 

 that name is merely a mechanical mixture of bromine 

 and chlorine. The"' authors have examined the action 

 of ethylene on dry "chloride of bromine," and find 

 that the compound C^HjClBr is undoubtedly the main 

 product. From this work the conclusion is drawn 

 that, in some cases at least, physico-chemical data 

 cannot be relied upon to prove the non-existence of 

 a chemical compound.— H. Gault and R. Weick : A 

 case of isomerism in the series of the aromatic 

 a-ketonic acids. The existence of two isomeric phenyl- 

 pyruvic ethers is proved, and the conditions under 

 which one can be converted into the other determined. 

 —J. Bongault and J. Perrier ; New researches relating 

 to the action of hydrocyanic acid on glucose. The fact 

 that in presence of an excess of potassium cyanide the 

 glucoses form cyanohydrins quantitatively suggested 

 that this reaction might be utilised for the exact 

 estimation of glucose, and the conditions for accurate 

 estimations are given. When the glucose is in excess 

 the cyanide' is rapidly converted into the non-poisorious 

 cyanohydrin, and an experiment is cited in wHich 

 o-2t; gram of potassium cyanide mixed with 6 grams 

 of "honey and 6 c.c. of water were given to a guinea- 

 oig after the mixture had been allowed to stand 

 fourteen hours to complete the reaction. The animal 

 showed no signs of poisoning. The consequences of 

 these results from a toxicological point of view are dis- 

 cussed.— G. Guilbert : The aoplication of cirrus clouds 

 to the prediction of the weather.— H. Rlcome : The 

 phenomenon of torsion comparable to the rolling-up 

 of tendrils produced experimentally.— F. Moreau : 

 The different aspects of lichen svmbiosis in RicasoUa 

 herbacea and R. ampKssima.—].' Stoklasa : The action 

 of hydrocyanic acid on the organism of plants. The 

 spores of B. stibtHis and B. mesentericus vulgaius 

 resist the toxic action of air containing 3 per cent, of 

 hydrocyanic acid by volume, but exposure of twenty- 

 four hours to 3-:; per cent, by volume arrests further 

 development. Mucor mucedo, M. stolonifer, and Peni- 

 cillium glaucum behave similarly, and Aspergillus 



