January i, 1920] 



NATURE 



459 



Sobral, Brazil, were exhibited, and the method' of 

 measurement and agreement obtained were explained. 

 It was pointed out that the first success of Einstein's 

 theory was to explain completely a long-outstanding 

 discrepancy in connection with the orbit of Mercury. 

 Of the two other tests, which were in the form of 

 predictionsj one, that gravity would modify the solar 

 spectrum, had not been verified, while the second, 

 that light from a star passing near the sun would be 

 deviated, had been verified. The general processes bv 

 which Einstein' derived this formula carried no assur- 

 ance that the results would describe Nature, and the 

 theory must rest upon such tests as he himself has 

 proposed for it. From this point of view, though it 

 shows its changes only in minute remote phenomena, 

 its claims are too vast to be settled in a short time. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, December i, iqig. — M. Leon 

 (juignard in the chair. — P. A. Dangeard : The dis- 

 tinction of the chondriome into vacuome, plastidome, 

 and spherome. — The Prince of Monaco : The oceano- 

 graphic study of the Mediterranean. An account of 

 an international conference held at Madrid on Novem- 

 ber 17 last, at which France, Italy, Spain, Greece, 

 Monaco, Egvpt, and Tunis were represented. — G. A. 

 Boulenger : The distribution in Africa of the barbel, 

 sub-genus Labeobarbus. — G. Bouligand : The problem 

 of Dirichlet for an infinite domain.- R. Soreau : Ex- 

 perimental laws of the variations of barometric pres- 

 sure and of the specific gravity of air with altitude. 

 From forty series of observations with sounding bal- 

 loons, carried out in 19 12 at Trappes, Uccle, Stras- 

 burg, Hamburg, Munich, Pavia, and Vienna at 

 heights up to 23 km., formulae are deduced giving the 

 pressure and density as functions of the altitude.--- 

 H. Godard : Observation of Finlay's periodic comet 

 (iqiije) made at the Bordeaux Observatorv with the 

 38-cm. equatorial. Position of comet and comparison 

 star given for November 25. — M. Auric : The cvcle 

 of eclipses. The ratio Ijd is expressed in continued 

 fractions, the fifth of which, rA%, was known to the 

 Chaldeans as the Saros cycle ; its error is 0036 dav 

 in 18 years. The fraction J^?^ is in error by onlv 

 o<)<)03 day in 3654 years. — G. Sagnac : The direct 

 comparison of the two simultaneous mechanical 

 .systems of radiation. Method of showing the transla- 

 tion of the earth.— S. Procopin : Layers of metal, of 

 minimum thickness, measured bv. their electromotive 

 force.— H. Abraham, E. Bloch. and L. Bloch : The 

 ultra-rapid kinematograph. The film is moved con- 

 tinuously and the object illuminated bv electric sparks. 

 With the arrangement described and figured, upwards 

 of twenty thousand photographs per second can be 

 taken on the film. — G. \. Hemsalech : The Sf)ectra 

 emitted by the red fringe and luminous vapour in the 

 neighbourhood of a plate of incandescent graphite. — 

 C. Staehling : The radio-activity of uranium. An 

 account of some experiments undertaken in an attempt 

 to split up uranium into uranium I. and uranium 11. 

 The attempt at separation was unsuccessful, but some 

 of the phenomena described do not appear to be simplv 

 explained by the current theories of radio-activitv. — 

 G. Claude : The synthesis of ammonia at verv high 

 pressures. The results of a ^series of experiments on 

 the formation of ammonia from its elements in 

 presence of a catalyst at pressures varving between 

 200 and 1000 atmospheres and at temperatures be- 

 tween 536° C. and 740° C. are given graphicallv. At 

 1000 atmospheres and 536° C. the percentage of 

 ammonia in the mixture amounts to 41 per cent. 

 Having regard to the reaction velocitv as well as 

 yield, the zone of utilisable temperature is between 

 500° C. and 700" C. The yield per gram of catalvst 

 NO. 2618, VOL. 104] 



per hour is much higher than that obtained in German 

 works. — L. Guillet : The transformation undergone by 

 certain aluminium alloys. It was shown about twenty 

 years ago that certain alloys of aluminium with iron, 

 manganese, and nickel rapidly fell to powder on ex- 

 posure to air. This phenomenon has been further 

 investigated, and it is found that the change in the 

 aluminium-manganese alloy is due to an allotropic 

 modification, whilst the aluminium-antim,onv alloy 

 oxidises in moist air. The iron and nickel alloys did 

 not change, and it is probable that some unknown 

 impurity was the cause of the falling to powder 

 observed in the earlier experiments. — P. Dejean ; The 

 critical points of self-tempering- steels. — A. Kllng, 

 D. Fiorentin, A. Lassieur, and R. Schmutz : The pre- 

 paration of chloromethvlchloroformates. The exist- 

 ence of monochloromethyl- and dichloromethyl-chloro- 

 formates is proved and methods for their preparation 

 are described. — L. Moret : The discoverv of lacustral 

 Eocene beds at the Roc de Chfere (I^ke of .Annecy). — 

 L. Mercier and C. Lebailly : Primitive cancer of the 

 pancreas and giant cells in mice. — P. Bugnon : The 

 use of commercial inks in plant histology. Some 

 commercial inks of French manufacture can be em- 

 ployed with advantage as histological stains. Two 

 formulae for triple stains are given in which ink is 

 one of the constituent dyes. — J. Offner : Phvta- 

 geographical remarks on the massifs of Vercors and 

 b^voluy.-- M. Baudouin : The fibula of a newly born 

 infant of the Polished Stone period, and consequences 

 in anatomical ohilosophv. The faces of the bone are 

 smooth and free from the grooving found in the 

 Neolithic adult. The grooves are therefore acquired, 

 being due to special muscular actions depending 

 on the mode of walking of these prehistoric me".- 

 MM. G. Bertrand, Brocq-Roussen, and Daggonville : 

 The influence of temperature and other physical 

 agents on the insecticidal power of chloropicrin. 

 When using chloropicrin against insects the intensity 

 of the light and the hvgrometric state of the air need 

 not be taken into account; the temperature, however, 

 is of importance; the higher the temperature, (l^e 

 more raoid is the destruction of the insects. --T. 

 Kabishima : Experimental researches on preventive 

 vaccination against the dysentery bacillus of .Shiga. 



Calcutta. 

 Asiatic Society of Bengal, December 3, 19 19. — Dr. N. 

 Annandale : .A loom used bv the Gaod.ir herdsmen of 

 Seistan. The loom, though of ver}- simple structure, 

 seems to be degenerate rather than primitive, its 

 peculiarities depending not so much on lack of skill 

 in its makers as on lack of proper materials, notably 

 wood. — V. H. JacJtson and A. T. Mukerjee : Improve- 

 ments in measurements with quadrant electrometers. 

 Part ii. Simplified arrangements for accurate and 

 continuous work. During most months in the year 

 accurate mea.surements with sensitive quadrant electro- 

 meters cannot be made in India without special pre- 

 cautions, owing to the high temperature and humidity. 

 In continuation of earlier work the authors have now 

 considerably simplified the arrangements for accurate 

 .ind continuous work. — V. H. Jackson and .\. T. 

 Mukerjee : The utility of desiccants in electrostatic 

 measurements. The authors have tested the relative 

 efficiency of the various desiccants used in electrostatic 

 measurements under strictly uniform conditions, using 

 Dolezalek electrometers with the arrangements 

 described in the previous paper. Calcium chloride has 

 been found quite unsatisfactory, metallic sodium (ex- 

 tensively used in Germany) and phosphorus pentoxide 

 worse than useless, and quicklime only temporary in 

 its effect. Strong sulphuric acid is the only satisfac- 

 tory desiccant for this purpose. 



