20 



NATURE 



[September 4, 1919 



in the orbit caused by the proximity of the comet to 

 Jupiter in 1913, new elements have been worked out. 

 It should be sought for in the beginning of September. 

 - — R. Baillaud : An impersonal photographic astrolabe. 

 — P. Nicolardot : The action of reagents upon glass- 

 powder. Eight kinds of glass were studied, and the 

 amounts dissolved by pure water and decinormal 

 hydrochloric acid determined for three grades of 

 powder, fine, medium, and coarse. — S. Posternak : 

 The saturated sodium salt of inosite hexaphosphate. 

 A correction of data given in an earlier paper. — Ch. 

 Boulin and L. J. Simon : The evolution of a mixture 

 of methyl sulphate and chlorosulphonic acid. — J. 

 Bougault and P. Robin : The oxidation of benz- 

 aldoxime. This oxime, on treatment with iodine and 

 sodium carbonate, gives benzoic acid, benzaldoxime 

 peroxide, benzoyl-benzaldoxime, and dibenzenyl- 

 oxoazo-oxime. 



Sydney. 



Linnean Society ol New South Wales, June 25. — Mr. 

 J. J. Fletcher, president, in the chair. — Dr. A. J. 

 Tnrner : Revision of Australian Lepidoptcra. Part vi. 

 (continued). Thirty-tWo genera and ninety-five species 

 of the subfamily Boarmianse are recorded cr described, 

 five genera and forty species being described as new. — 

 Dr. R. Greig-Smith : The germicidal activity of the 

 eucalyptus oils. Part ii. Eucalyptus oils are irregular 

 in their action upon B. colt communis, and duplicate 

 experiments may show a considerable amount of varia- 

 tion. Cineol begins to act in about a minute and a 

 half; phenol acts instantly. The curves of cineol and 

 phenol cross in 5 minutes with a dilution of i : 75 at 

 20°. The phenol coefficient of cineol in 15 minutes at 

 20° is 3-1; it rises to 34 in 30 minutes, and then 

 slowly declines to 28 in 4 hours. Aromadendral is 

 the most active of the constituents of the oils. The 

 phenol coefficient is 21-1 in 30 minutes. The next 

 most active is piperitone (41), and possibly phel- 

 landrene. . Pinene and sesquiterpene are low (o-8 to 

 0-5). The rectified oils of E. cinerea and E. Smithii 

 are more efficient than the crude oils. In the case of 

 the oil of E. cinerea, this appears to be due to the 

 hydrolysis of the esters and the subsequent oxidation 

 of the alcohols to aldehydes. Treatment with alkali 

 did not reduce the efficiency of the acid-rectified oil. 

 The addition of acetic acid to the crude oil doubled 

 the germicidal power in the course of 3J months. 

 The germiddal activity of the rectified and crude oils 

 of E. cinerea is proportional to the starch-iodide 

 reaction, and not to the acidity, but this does not hold 

 for tha oils as a class. The rectified oil of E. foly- 

 hractea is less efficient than the crude oil. This may 

 be due to the elimination of aromadendral during 

 rectification. The oil of the Braidwood variety of 

 E. australiana is the best and cheapest disinfecting 

 oil (phenol coefficient=5-8 in 30 minutes). The oil of 

 E. cinerifolia was the second best crude oil tested 

 (phenol coefficient = 48 in 30 minutes); its activity is 

 probablv due to its aromadendral content. As in the 

 case of phenol, the addition of acid to the water used 

 in emulsifving the oils greatly increases the germicidal 

 activity.— T. Steel : Water from the roots of the red 

 mallee. A chemical investigation of water from the 

 roots of this plant from Fowler's Bay, South Aus- 

 tralia.— Prof. E. D. Merrill : The identity of Poly, 

 podium spinulosum, Burm. f. The author, by com- 

 paring Burman's figure with Australian material, 

 concludes that the plant described as P. spinulosum 

 from Java represents the W. Australian plant, Syna- 

 fhka polymoTpha, R. Br., and that the locality record 



NO. 2601, VOL. 104] 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



Physiolog)- and Biochemistrv in Modern Medicine. 

 By Prof. J. J. R. Macleod. Assisted by Dr. Roy D. 

 Pearce and by others. Pp. xxxii+9o3.- (London: 

 Henry Kimpton, 1919.) -36^. net. 



The Conditions that Govern Staleness in Bread : 

 Changes of Moisture and Soluble Extract with Age. 

 Investigations and Researches made in the British 

 .Army Bakeries in France, 1917-18. By Capt. R. 

 Whymper. (Reprinted from the British Baker.) 

 Pp. 72. (London : Maclaren and Sons, Ltd., 1919.) 



IS. 



Board of Agriculture and Fisheries. Fishery 

 Investigations. Series iii. Hydrography. Vol. i. 

 The English Channel. Part i. : Start Point to ihe 

 Channel Islands. Review of the physical and 

 chemical properties of the surface waters, and the 

 variations of these properties during the thirteen years 

 from 1904 to 1917 inclusive. (London : H.M.S.O., 

 1919.) los. net. 



Some Questions of Phonetic Theory. By Wilfrid 

 Perrett. Chap. v. : The Perception of Sound. 

 Pp. 39. (Cambridge : W. Heffer and Sons, Ltd., 

 1919.) 2S. net. 



The Silk Industry and Trade : A Study in the 

 Economic Organisation of the Export Trade of 

 Kashmir and Indian Silks, with special reference- to 

 their Utilisation in the British and French Markets. 

 By Ratan C. Rawlley. Pp. xvi+172. (London: 

 P. S. King and Son, Ltd., 1919.) los. 6d. net. 



We Must Discover. Pp. viii+176. (London: 

 Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, and Co., Ltd., 

 1919.) 3s. 6d. net. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



An E'ghteenth-Century Physician i 



Physics in War ...... 2 



Experimental Researches on Glass. By M. W. T. . 2 



Physical Chemistry. By Prof. W. C. McC. Lewis . 3 



Our Bookshelf . . 3 



Letters to the Editor :— 



The Explosion at Bailleul.— Spencer Pickering, 



F.R.S. . . , 5 



British Well-worms. — Rev. Hilderic Friend .... 5 



The Protection of Our " Key " Industries 5 



The Organisation of Research 6 



The Bournemouth Meeting of the British Associa- 

 tion . . . .' 7 



The Protection of Wild Birds 7 



Notes . ... ..... 8 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Melcalf's Comet 12 



The Recent Shower of Peiseids 12 



International Standardisation. By R. T. G 12 



Some Indian Sugar-canes and their Origin .... 14 



General Physiology 15 

 iEther and Matter: Being Remarks on Inertia, and 

 on Radiation, and on the Possible Structure of 



Atoms. Part I. By Sir Olivtr J. Lodge, F.R.S. . 15 



University and Educational Intelligence 19 



Societies and Academies 19 



Books Received . 20 



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