January 22, 1920] 



NATURE 



555 



Weddell Sea, Ross Sea, Elephant Island, and South 

 Georgia. The scientific results especially described 

 included the mapping of two hundred miles of new 

 coast-line, soundings in the Weddell Sea, and the study 

 of the natural history of pack-ice. 



■ Dublin. 

 Royal Dublin Society, December i6, 1919.— Prof. 

 H. J. Seymour in the chair. — Prof. H. H. DLxon and 

 T. G. Mason : A cryoscopic method for the estimation 

 of sucrose. The depression of freezing point of a 

 solution of sucrosfe is approximately doubled by inver- 

 sion. It is evident then that the sucrose content 

 may be estimated by determining the freezing point 

 of a solution before and after inversion. This may 

 be conveniently done by the thermo-electric method 

 of cryoscopy. It is convenient to add the invertase 

 to the fluid to be examined in the cold. Without 

 allowing the temperature to rise above 0°, the freez- 

 ing point is determined. The mixture is then in- 

 cubated for forty-eight hours at 30°, and the freezing 

 point again observed. The difference between the 

 two observations is a measure of the amount of 

 sucrose originally present. The method has the 

 advantages that only small quantities 0/ the fluid 

 are required (2-5 c.c), and treatment to remove pro- 

 teins and other colloids is unnecessary. Using thermo- 

 couples of easily attained sensibility, amounts of 

 about I mgr. of sucrose may be detected. — Prof. S. 

 Young : Brown's formula for distillation. Evidence, 

 based on the theoretical work of Rosanoff, Bacon, 

 and Schulze, is brought forward in support of the 

 conclusion that Brown's formulef is applicable to 

 mixtures of chemically closely related liquids, and 

 that the constant in the formula is equal to the ratio 

 of the vapour pressures of the two pure substances 

 at the boiling point of the mixture. — Miss Anne L. 

 Massy : The Holothurioidea of the coasts of Ireland. 

 Twenty-five species are enumerated, belonging to 

 thirteen genera. No new species are described, but the 

 following are added to the British-and-Irish area : — 

 Stichoi>us regalis, Cuvier, Mesothtiria Verrilli, Th^el, 

 and Benthogone rosea, Koehler, and the belief is 

 expressed that the previous records of Bathyplotes 

 natans, Sars, and Holothuria aspera, Bell, are refer- 

 able to Bathyplotes Tizardi, Theel, and Mesothtiria 

 lactea, Th^el. Ten of the species dealt with are 

 restricted in the area to the Irish Atlantic slope. 



Melbolrne. 

 Royal Society of Victoria, November 6, igiq. — Mr. 

 J. A. Kershaw, president, in the chair. — F. Taylor : 

 .\ustralian phlebotomic Diptera, new Culicidae and 

 Tabanidae, and synonymy. Descriptions are given of 

 a new mosquito, Uranotaenia albofasciata, and two 

 new species of Tabanidae, Sylvius distinctus and 

 Tabanus Geraldi; whilst a new genus, Phibalomyia, 

 is suggested for Elaphromyia, previously occupied. — 

 A. J. Ewart : The synthesis of sugar from formaldehyde 

 and its polymers, its quantitative relations, and its 

 exothermic character. The author's experiments, 

 conducted over a long period, point to the con- 

 clusion that sugar in plants is formed directly, and 

 not bv the intervention of formaldehyde. — H. B. 

 Williamson : A revision of the genus Pultenaea. The 

 members of this genus present some difficulties as to 

 specific limitations, and the work, of which this is a 

 first instalment, dealing with about thirty species, 

 has been undertaken to place it on a more practical 

 basis. It is expected that few species will be erected, 

 and that there mav be a reduction of one or two 

 that have been recently described. The conclusions 

 have been based on an exhaustive examination of 

 specimens from all the .'Australian States. 



NO. 2621, VOL. 104] 



Sydney. 



Linnean Society ol New South Wales, October 29, 

 1919.— Mr. J. J. Fletcher, president, in the chair. — 

 Prof. C. Cliilton : A new Isopodan genus (fam. 

 Oniscidae) from Lake Corangamite, Victoria. Halonis- 

 cus Searli, n.g. et sp., described from a number of 

 specimens obtained from the waters of Lake Coranga- 

 mite, is assigned to the family Oniscidae, one of the 

 most strictly terrestrial families of Isopoda. The 

 author suggests that Haloniscus is the descendant of 

 a form that was terrestrial in habits, and that, owing 

 to special circumstances arising from its habitat, it 

 has become re-adapted to aquatic life. — J. H. Maiden : 

 Notes on the coloration of the young foliage of 

 Eucalyptus. A series of observations is recorded of 

 the colour of the young foliage in a number of species 

 of Eucalyptus growing wild or cultivated in the 

 Sydney district. The interesting suggestion is put 

 forward that the observations justify the belief that 

 a number of species and some groups can be 

 diagnosed by this means. — E. F. Hallmann : New 

 genera of Monaxonid sponges related to the genus 

 Clathria. Ten genera are proposed as new. — A. M. 

 Lea : Description of new species of Australian 

 Coleoptera. Part xv. Thirty-one species, belonging 

 to fourteen genera in the groups Scarabaeidae, Melan- 

 drvidae, and Cerambycidae, are described as new. 



Royal Society of New South Wales, November 5, 

 1919. — Dr. R. Greig-Smith, vice-president, in the 

 chair. — R. H. Cambage : Acacia seedlings. Part v. 

 The author describes ten species of Acacia seedlings. 

 He records various species having flowered in 5-in. 

 and 6-in. pots. One seedling of A. montana, three 

 years old and 4 ft. high, bore about 3000 flowers. A 

 seedling of A. diffusa and another of A. cardiophylla 

 had flowered when only .seventeen and nineteen 

 months old respectively. Seeds of A. melanoxylon and 

 A. penninervis had readily germinated after having 

 been immersed in sea-water for 889 days. — Prof. C. E. 

 Fawsitt and C. H. Fischer: The miscibility of liquids. 

 The authors have examined a considerable number of 

 liquids in regard to their mutual solubility or misci- 

 bilitv. The mutual solubility of two liquids depends 

 greatlv on the molecular volume of these liquids, and 

 the molecular volume again def>ends on the chemical 

 composition. The knowledge of the chemical com- 

 position of a liquid gives some indication of its 

 behaviour in regard to solubility in other liquids. — 

 J. G. Stephens : A new method of measuring mole- 

 cular weights. The author employs the fact that 

 isotonic solutions have equal vapour pressures as a 

 means of determining molecular weights. Two tubes 

 each containing a solution of different substances in 

 the same solvent are placed in communication. Dis- 

 tillation occurs from one tube to the other until the 

 solutions become isotonic, when the molecular weight 

 of one of the substances may be calculated in terms 

 of that of the other. 



BOOKS RECEIVEO. 



The Romantic Roussillor) : In the French Pyrenees. 

 By I. Savory. Pp. xii-l-214-l-plates. (London: 

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The Foundations of Music. By Dr. H. J. Watt. 

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The .^dventive Flora of Tweedside. By I. M. 

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The New Hazell .Annual and Almanack for the 

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