June 9, 1898] 



NATURE 



143 



Maclaurin.— On the interpretation of divergent solutions of the 

 hypergeometric equation, by.;!Mr, W. McF. Orr. The author 

 I ibtains divergent series satisfying a general hypergeometric 

 equation, and estimates the error involved in choosing a finite 

 number of terms of such a series as a solution of the equation. 



Edinburgh. 

 Royal Society, May i6. — Lord Maclaren in the chair. — 

 Prof. Crum Brown read a paper on the origin of certain of the 

 I'hcenician alphabet characters. The idea was to ascertain 

 whether any of them can plausibly be regarded as modifications 

 f others. It was suggested, for example, that Aleph was de- 

 luced from Argin by the addition of a central vertical stroke, 

 Helh from He and Tsade from Zain by the addition of a vertical 

 stroke at the left side, Caph horn Gimel and Saviesh from Zain 

 by the addition of a horizontal stroke, Pe from Beth by opening 

 the loop (or x^ice versd), Daleth from Tau by the addition of a 

 diagonal stroke, &c. Attention was called to the risks of being 

 misled by accidental resemblances and to the bearing of such 

 ^'uesses on de Rouge's hypothesis. — Mr. T. C. Baillie read a paper 

 n the thermal conductivity of nickel. The value he obtained 

 by use of Forbes' method was •117. . What was believed to be 

 a better value, namely "103, was obtained by a new method, 

 which had the great merit of giving an experimental value of the 

 thermal conductivity directly without requiring the specific heat 

 to be known. A short bar had its one end kept at a steady high 

 temperature as in the Forbes' experiment. To the other end a 

 -mall cap was attached, through which a steady stream of water 

 -\ as passed. The temperature of the water was taken just as it 

 entered the cap, and just as it left it. The quantity of water 

 passed in a given time being known, the amount of heat lost 

 from the end of the bar to the water was calculated in terms of 

 the specific heat of water. By means of thermometers set at 

 intervals along the bar, the gradient of temperature was indicated, 

 and a good approximation to the value of the gradient at the 

 position occupied by the cap could be calculated. These 

 measured quantities, the gradient and the heat lost, give at once 

 the conductivity. The paper also contained an account of a 

 simple method for determining the thermometer corrections. — 

 Prof. D'Arcy Thompson, in a paper on the crab in mythology, 

 drew attention to the fact that in old coins the crab is always 

 found associated with those deities which are astrologically con- 

 nected with the zodiac sign Cancer, and with animals that give 

 names to constellations which are astronomically related to the 

 constellation Cancer. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, May 31. — M. Wolf in the chair. 

 — Photographic studies on some parts of the surface of the moon, 

 by MM. Loevvy and Puiseux.— Remarks on the third part of the 

 photographic atlas of the moon, published by the Paris Observ- 

 atory, — On the preparation and properties of the dialkylamido- 

 anthraquinones, by MM. A. Haller and A. Guyot. Dimethyl- 

 amido-benzoylbenzoic acid heated at 180° with strong sulphuric 

 acid gives about one-third of the theoretical yield of dimethyl- 

 amido-anthraquinone. The yield is more than doubled by 

 starting with the reduction product, dimethylamidobenzoyl- 

 benzoic acid, condensing this with sulphuric acidj and oxidising 

 the product with ferric chloride. The corresponding ethyl 

 lerivatives were prepared in a similar manner. — On the creation 

 if new articulations between bones normally independent, in the 

 case where the old articulations cannot be reconstituted owing 

 to their having been completely destroyed, by M. Oilier. — 

 Formation in blood serum, under the action of chemical sub- 

 stances, of a material capable of coagulating the bacilli of true 

 tuberculosis, by M. S. Arloing. It has been shown in a 

 previous paper that the blood serum of tuberculised goats con- 

 tains a substance which is capable of coagulating the tubercle 

 bacilli from a homogeneous culture. It is now shown under 

 that prolonged treatment, by injection of such substances as 

 eucalyptol, guiacol, creosote, and solution of corrosive sub- 

 limate, the blood serum acquires the same property, the last- 

 named substance giving the most active serum. The author 

 points out that all these chemical substances have been proposed 

 for the treatment of tuberculosis in man. — On a flying appa- 

 ratus, by M. Ader. The apparatus described does not belong 

 ; < ) the class of aeroplanes, but attempts to reproduce the curves 

 f the wings of birds in flying.— On surfaces of total constant 

 curvature, by M. C. Guichard.— On the form which by the 

 suppression of certain terms becomes a development in com- 

 plete series, by M. Riquier. — On a method of determining the 



NO. 1493, VOL. 58] 



order of a fringe of high order, 'by MM. Ch. Fabry and A. 

 Perot. The fringes produced by the interference of the reflections ■ 

 from two parallel silvered plates some three or four centimetres 

 apart are of a very high order. By throwing simultaneously rays 

 of two different known wave-lengths (say red and green), 

 and noting the positions of exact coincidence of a red and 

 green ring, the order can be determined.— On the kathode 

 rays, by M. P. Villard. If the antikathodic wall of a Crookes' 

 tube is covered with cupric oxide glass, cuprous oxide is 

 formed by the action of the rays. This reduction is attri- 

 buted to hydrogen, furnished by the traces of water given up 

 by the glass. In a tube with mercury electrodes, in which 

 the vacuum was formed by boiling out with mercury, no 

 kathode rays could be formed. — Action of some carbonates 

 upon chromous acetate, by M. G. Bauge. — On the states of 

 equilibrium of a ternary system, lead -tin-bismuth, by M. 

 Georges Charpy. The results are expressed in the form of a 

 curve, Thurston's triangular diagram. — On dimethylpiperazine 

 and some phenolic combinations of this base, by MM. P. 

 Cazeneuve and Moreau. — Heats of neutralisation of phenyl- 

 phosphoric acid, by M. G. Belugou. — On some halogen de- 

 rivatives of ethyl-phenyl-ketone, by M. A. Collet. The 

 ketones described were prepared from propionyl and bromo- 

 propionyl chlorides, and the halogen benzene derivative 

 by Friedel and Craft's reaction, and include ethyl-/-chlor- 

 phenyl - ketone, ethyl -/ - bromophenyl - ketone, bromoethyl-/ - 

 chlorophenyl - ketone and bromoethyl -/-bromophenyl-ketone, 

 together with their oximes, and phenylhydrazones. — 

 On the solipedisation of the Equidce during recent 

 times, by M. G. Joly. A comparison of the osteology of the 

 horse of the quaternary period with that of the present day 

 shows that the alterations of structure corresponding to increased 

 speed can be readily traced, and are probably still going on. — 

 On Acineiospora pusilla and the sexuality of the Tilopteridre, 

 by M. C. Sauvageau. — On the growth of a green plant, in 

 absolute darkness, by M. R. Bouilhac. The algae nostoch can 

 be grown in complete absence of light, and has a green colour, 

 although less intense than when grown in sunlight. It is 

 essential that glucose be present in the culture fluid. — On 

 polymorphism, by M. Fred. Wallerant. — Examination of a 

 combustible material by means of the X-rays, by M. H. Couriot. 

 The method affords a ready means of determining the amount 

 ot mineral impurity present in a coal. — The artesian basin of 

 the " Oued Rir," and the best means of utilising its irrigation 

 waters, by M. Georges Rolland. — On the distribution of gluten 

 and its immediate principles in the farinaceous nucleus of the 

 wheat grain, by M. E. Fleurent.— Influence of asphyxia upon 

 the amount of carbonic oxide in the blood. — Production of 

 carbon monoxide in the organism, by M. Maurice Nicloux. 

 The carbonic oxide found in the blood would appear not to be 

 derived from the air, but to be a substance formed normally by 

 the organism.— Researches on the ostioles of the cerebro-spinal 

 system, by M. J. J. Andeer. 



Amsterdam. 



Royal Academy of Sciences, April 23.— Prof, van de 

 Sande Bakhuyzen in the chair. — Mr. Hamburger on the result 

 of experiments showing that venous propulsive pressure pro- 

 motes in a high degree the destruction of bacilli anthraces 

 and their spores, which have been introduced under the skin. 

 — Prof. Pekelharing presented a paper by Dr. G. C. J. 

 Vosmaer and himself, entitled "Observations on Sponges," 

 which will be published in the Transactions of the Academy. — 

 Prof. Franchimont presented on behajf of Dr. P. van Romburgh 

 a paper for publication in the report of the meeting, entitled 

 •'On the occurrence of cinnamic methyl ether in Alpinia 

 Malaccensis, Rose." On distillation with water the rootstocks of 

 this plant yielded about 0-2 per cent, of ethereal oil, si>jcific 

 gravity I "039 at 27°, exerting a right-handed rotation of i^'S in 

 a tube 200 mm. in length. On the temperature being lowered, 

 cinnamic methyl ether crystallised out— the liquid residue seemed 

 to contain terpenes — which substance was not only detected by 

 vapour density and analysis, its melting-point, 36°, and its 

 boiling-point, 159°, but it also saponified, after which the two 

 components, into which it was split up, were detected, cinnamic 

 acid by its melting-point, 133°, and its other properties ; methy' 

 alcohol e.g. by the formation of the addition product with nitro- 

 trimethylphenylenediamine, which crystallised in orange-coloured 

 needles. Cinnamic methyl ether in chloroform, on being treated 

 with bromine, yielded a dibromic addition product, melting at 



