February 12, 1920] 



NATURE 



651 



Palais-Royal and at the College de France. — L. 

 iMaquenne ' and E. Demoussy : The distribution and 

 mif^ration of copper in the tissues of green plants. 

 Twenty-Seven species of plants were examined, and 

 copper was found in all parts of the plants, this metal 

 tending to accumulate at points where the percentage 

 of water is at a maximum. The increase of copper 

 is not the consequence of a physico-chemical pheno- 

 menon, as is the case with silica and calcium car- 

 bonate, but follows a process analogous with that 

 governing the nutrition of the plant. — A. Blondel : A 

 method for the measurement of atmospheric trans- 

 parency. — L. Pomey : Fermat's numbers. — M. Pau- 

 thenier : The absolute retardations in Kerr's pheno- 

 menon. — P. Braesco : The expansion of copper- 

 antimony alloys. There is a sharp maximum in the 

 increase of length for the alloy containing 38-6 per 

 cent, of antimony, a composition corresponding with 

 the compound Cu,Sb ; no indication of the existence 

 of any other definite compound is given by the expan- 

 sion curves. — N. H. Dhar and G. Urbain : The 

 polarisation e.m.f. and the constitution of complex 

 cobaltic compounds. — E. Wourtzel : The existence of 

 nitrous anhydride in the gaseous state. The con- 

 traction produced on mixing known quantities of NO 

 and O, was measured, keeping the NO in excess. 

 Two experiments gave a contraction corresponding 

 with the presence of about 25 per cent, of NjO,, in 

 the gas mixture. This is sufficient to explain the 

 known production of nitrite when the gas is ab.sorbed 

 bv alkaline solutions. — h. Kling, D. Florentin, and 

 E. Jacob : The preparation of chlorinated methyl car- 

 bonates. — F. Canac : Determination of the orientation 

 of the rows and reticular planes of a crystal. — P. de 

 Souza : The Lower and Middle Carboniferous in 

 Portugal. — J. Savornin : The geologv of Djurdjura 

 and Biban (Algeria). — P. Russo : The phosphatic 

 Eocene and Turritelles lavers of Tadla (Western 

 Morocco). — L. Besson : Diminution of the trans- 

 parency of the air at Paris. Systematic observations 

 from the summit of the Tour Saint-Jacques in the 

 centre of the city, initiated in i8g_:; by J. Joubert and 

 carried on continuously under identical conditions for 

 twenty-five years, lead to the conclusion that for the 

 first twenty years the clearness of the atmosphere was 

 slowing decreasing; during the period of the war this 

 diminution became much more marked. — G. Andre : 

 The inversion of cane-sugar during the preservation 

 of oranges. — E. Saillard : The nitrogen balance in 

 sugar manufacture. Precipitation of the albuminoid 

 materials of the beetroot by sulphurous acid, bisul- 

 phites, and hydrosulphites. Sulphurous acid and its 

 compounds precipitate the same polarising materials 

 ■•IS basic lead acetate, working with normal beets ; 

 they also precipitate the same albuminoid materials 

 from the beet-juice as copper hydrate. — M. Lemoigne : 

 \ specific reaction of 2 : 3-butyleneglycol and of acetvl- 

 methylcarbinol, products of the butyleneglvcollic fer- 

 mentation. As the production of acetylmethylcarbinol 

 serves to differentiate certain closely related groups of 

 micro-organisms, a delicate and specific test is desir- 

 able. The culture is oxidised with a little ferric 

 chloride and distilled ; diacetyl passes into the dis- 

 tillate. This is treated with ammonia, hydroxylamine 

 chloride, and a nickel salt, when the scarlet nickel 

 dimethvlglyoxim is produced. .Acetylmethylcarbinol at 

 ■,\ dilution of i in 1,000,000 can be readilv recognised 

 bv this test. — W. Kopaczewski and Mme. Z. Gruzewska : 

 .Seric toxicitv and the physical properties of colloidal 

 gels. A relation has been established between the 

 toxic power of gels and the sign of their electric 

 charge. Gels with a positive electrical charge 

 (alumina, barium carbonate, ferric arsenate, calcium 

 phosphate, ferric oxide) have no toxic power, but an 

 electro-negative silica gel is toxic. — h. Krempf : The 



NO. 2624, VOL. 104.1 



development and relations of the orthosept and 

 sterigmatosept in the Anthozoa. — E. Grynfeitt and 

 L. Carrire : The muscles of the iris of the crocodile. — 

 L. Chopard ; Observations on the praying mantis and 

 its parasites. — AL Lagrange : The compressive and 

 decompressive operation of the eyeball. — M. Fouassier : 

 The decomposition of hydrogen peroxide by micro- 

 organisms extracted from pasteurised milk. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



Practical Science for Girls : As Applied to Domestic 

 Subjects. By E. E. Jardine. Pp. xiii+112. (London: 

 Methuen and Co., Ltd.) 3^. 



.-\ Class-Book of Organic Chemistry. By Prof. 

 J. B. Cohen. Vol. ii. Pp. vii-l-156. (London: Mac- 

 millan and Co., Ltd.) 4i-. 6d. 



A Manual of Practical Anatomy. By Prof. T. 

 Walmslev. In 3 parts. Part i. : The Upper and 

 Lower Limbs. Pp. viii+176. (London: Longmans 

 and Co.) 9.V. net. 



Employment Psychology. By Dr. H. C. Link. 

 Pp. xii-i-440. (New York: Ihe Macmillan Co.; 

 London : Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 10s. 6d. net. 



The Birds of the British Isles and their Eggs. By 

 T. A. Coward. First series. Pp. vii + 376+159 plates. 

 (London : F. Warne and Co., Ltd.) 12s. 6d. net. 



Mathematics for Engineers. By W. N. Rose. 

 Part ii. Pp. xiv-t-419. (London : Chapman and 

 Hall, Ltd.) 13X. 6d. net. 



Phvsiologv and National Needs. Edited by Prof. 

 W. D. Halliburton. Pp. vii+162. (London: Con- 

 stable and Co., Ltd.) 8s. 6d. net. 



Scientific Method : Its Philosophy and its Practice. 

 Bv F. W. Westaway. New edition. Pp. xxi + 426. 

 (London : Blackie and Son, Ltd.) los. 6d. net. 



Phvsiologv of Farm .\nimals. Bv T. B. Wood and 

 Dr. F. H. .\. Marshall. Part i.:' General. By Dr. 

 F. H. A. Marshall. Pp. xii + 204. (Cambridge: .At 

 the Universitv Press.) i6s. net. 



The Universities and the Training of Teachers. Bv 

 F. J. R. Hendy. Pp. 28. (Oxford : At the Clarendon 

 Press.) IS. 6d, net. 



Food Supolies in Peace and War. By Sir R. H. 

 Rew. Pp. vii-l-183. (London: Longmans and Co.> 

 6.T. 6d. net. 



Telephonic Transmission : Theoretical and .Applied. 

 Bv J. G. Hill. Pp. xvi-l-398. (London : Longmans 

 and Co.) 2 is. net. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



THURSDAY^ Ferruary 12. 



RovAL Institution of Grkat Britain, at 3.— Prof. A. E. Conrady 

 Recen' Progress in Applied Optics. 



RovAL SoC!Kiv. at 4..^o.— J. W. McBain and C. S. Salmon: Collo'dar 

 ElectroIyte<!. Soap Solutions and their Coir^titution. — C. f. Farr and 

 D. B. Macleod : 'I he Viscosity of Sulphur.— C. V. Raman and B. Banerji : 

 Kaufmann's Theorv of the Impact of the Pianoforte Hanmer.— 

 Commander T. Y. Baker, R.N., and Prof. I,. N. T.. Filon : A Theory 

 of the Second Order Lonsiturlinal Spherical Aberration for a Sym- 

 metrical Opt'cal System.— Prof J. W. Nicholson : The Lateral Vibrations 

 of Sharply Pointed Bars.— R. K Slade : A New Method of Spectro- 

 photomelry in the Visible and Ultra-violet and the Absorption of Light 

 bv Silver Bromide.— Dr. S. Chapman : A Note on Dr. Chree's Discussion 

 of Two Magnetic Storms (Title only).— Dr. C. Chree : An Explana- 

 tion of the Criticisms on Dr. Chapman's Recent Paper :*' An Outline 

 of a Theory of Magnetic Storms " (Title only). 



LoNPON Mathkmatical Sociktv (at Burlington 'Hou=c), at 5.— 

 O. S. Le Beau : A Property of Polynomials whose Roots are Real. —The 

 la»e E. K. Wakeford : Canonical Forms.— E. T^ndauandA. Ostrowski : A 

 Problem of Diophantine Analys-s — O, H. Hardy and J. E. Littlewood 

 The Zeros of Riemann's Zeta-functiun. 



Roval Institute of Public Health, at 5. — Dr. D. P. Sutherland: 

 The Work of a Tubt-rculosis I'epariment. 



RovAL Society of Medicine (Balneology and Climatology Section), at 

 .S.30.— Dr. F. O. Thomson, Dr. J. C. McC'ure, and W. P. Kennedv : 

 Resumed Discussion or. The Merits and Defects of the British Health 

 Resorts. 



British Psvcholocical Sociktv ^Education Section) (at London Day 

 Training College), at 6.— Dr. C. W. Kimmins : The Dreams of Children 

 ill Blind, Deaf, and Industrial Schools. 



