October 27, 1898] 



NA TURE 



635 



in slight excess, and barium chloride, and filter through a double 

 filter. To the filtrate add iodine until the solution takes on 

 a permanent yellow tinge, and then bleach with stannous chloride. 

 A precipitate indicates the sulphite. Filter, add bromide water 

 in faint excess to the filtrate, bleaching again with stannous 

 chloride. A precipitate on adding bromine indicates a thio- 

 sulphate originally present. — The origin and significance of 

 spines, by C. E. Beecher (concluded). Spinose forms were 

 simple and inornate during their young stages, and were all 

 derived from non-spinose ancestors. Spines represent an 

 extreme of superficial differentiation which may become fixed in 

 ontogeny. Spinosity represents a limit to morphological and 

 physiological variation. After attaining the limit of spine 

 differentiation, spinose organisms have no descendants, and out 

 of spinose types no new types are developed. 



The following are the titles of the more important papers in 

 systematic and geographical botany contained in the [ournal 

 oj Botany for August- October : — Two new genera of Com- 

 positoe, Psedfwlrichia and Adenogonium, from Africa, by W. P. 

 Hiern ; the Mosses of Cheshire, by J. A. Wheldon ; a new 

 genus of Ericacea? from Angola, Ficalhoa, by W. P. Hiern ; 

 critical notes on some species of CerasHuvi, by F. N. Williams ; 

 new species of Crassnla, by S. Schonland and E. G. Baker ; 

 the Flowering Plants of Novaya Zemlya, by Colonel H. W. 

 Feilden. — Mr. W. Whitwell establishes the occurrence of 

 Botrychiutn matricaricefolium, and of its subspecies (or distinct 

 species) lanceolaliun, as British plants. In their Notes on 

 Freshwater Alg.-e, Messrs. W. and G. S. West propose the 

 establishment of a new genus Stipitococcus, near to Perionella. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



Manchester. 

 Literary and Philosophical Society, October 4. — J. 

 Cosmo Melvill, President, in the chair. — The President referred 

 to the loss sustained by the Society through the deaths of Mr. 

 H. M. Ormerod, Dr. R. M. Pankhurst, Dr. James Rhodes, and 

 Mr. John Wright, ordmary members ; and of Prof. Ferdinand 

 Cohn, Lord Playfair, and Mr. Osbert Salvin, F.R.S., honorary 

 members. — Mr. H. W. Freston exhibited a male specimen of 

 Asagena phakrata, an extremely rare species of spider which by 

 itself represents the genus Asagena, whose nearest congener is 

 the genus Steatoda. The present individual is the only male 

 that has been found, at all events in recent years. The habitat 

 of this species has hitherto been unknown, but it would seem 

 now that it is a simple Theridion snare in grass amongst rocks. 

 The most striking features of the genus are a denticulated edge 

 to the cephalothorax, and a denticulated socket in the front of 

 the abdomen, forming a stridulating apparatus which would 

 produce a squeaking noise when rubbed against the rough hinder 

 edge of the thorax. — Mr. John Butterworth read a paper on the 

 structure of some fragmentary specimens of a new Psaronitis, 

 which he concluded to be the roots of Heterangium tilioides. 

 The special feature of these roots was the presence of a distinct 

 secondary thickening, which is unknown in the other species of 

 Psaronius. — In a second paper, Mr. Butterworth dealt with the 

 presence of a leaf-sheath surrounding the nodes of some of the 

 Calamites of the Lancashire Coal-measures. Such a sheath has 

 not been described before from British Calamites. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, October 17.— M. van Tieghem in 

 the chair. — On an old alloy, by M. Berthelot. The alloy con- 

 tains copper, lead, and small quantities of tin and zinc. The 

 oxidation has taken place in such a manner, that removal of 

 the external coating of rust shows an apparently reddish metal 

 I underneath, probably cuprous oxide. From its external appear- 

 ance the metal might have been taken for pure copper. — Physio- 

 logical researches on the contraction of the sphincter ani, by 

 MM. S. Arloing and Edouard Chantre. Experimental results 

 confirming the conclusions arrived at in a previous paper with 

 regard to the existence of a number of sensitive fibres in the 

 two symmetrical nerves of the sphincter. — On the resultant of 

 two equations, by M- P. Gordan. — On differential equations of 

 the second order with fixed critical points, by M. Painleve. — 

 On the variation of dielectric constants with temperature, by 

 MM. H. Pellat and P. Sacerdote. Measurements were carried 

 out with paraffin and ebonite at temperatures varying between 

 11° and 33°. The dielectric constant of parafiin diminishes 

 with rise of temperature, that of ebonite, on the other hand, 



NO. I 



513, VOL. 58] 



increasing on warming,— On the duration of emission of 

 Rcintgen rays, by M. Henri Morize. The rays from a Crookes' 

 tube were allowed to fall through a narrow slit upon a photo- 

 graphic plate, the latter being rapidly rotated at a constant 

 known velocity. The effect of rotation would be to widen the 

 photographic image of the slit if the time of emission were 

 appreciable. The results obtained were in general agreement 

 with those of M. Colordeau, several images of the slit being 

 formed, separated by equal intervals for each discharge in the 

 primary in the coil, corresponding to successive discharges in 

 the tube. The average duration of total emission was about 

 one-thousandth of a second. On a new action undergone by 

 light in traversing certain metallic vapours in a magnetic field, 

 by MM. D. Macaluso and O. M. Corbino. A ray of polarised 

 sunlight is passed through a sodium flame placed in an intense 

 magnetic field, then successively through a second nicol and a 

 cylindrical lens, is then received on a concave Rowland grating, 

 and the second diffraction spectrum observed through a micro- 

 meter eye-piece. Under these conditions, on completing the 

 circuit round the electromagnet parallel, bands appear on each 

 side of the two D lines, which are displaced on rotating the 

 analyser, the axis of each ray following the direction of the 

 current. A lithium flame exhibits similar phenomena, but 

 not so well marked as with sodium.— On a new hydrated 

 chromium oxide, by H. G. Bauge. The new hydrate, 

 which has the composition Cr304,3H,0, tfe obtained by the 

 action of boiling water upon the carbonate in the absence 

 of air.— Action of sodammonium upon arsenic, by M. C. 

 Hugot. The single product of the reaction is AsNa.^. — 

 Researches on double iodides and borates, by M. H. Allaire. 

 A mixture of a borate and a metal is heated in iodine vapour. 

 The double salts obtained in this way were of the type 

 6RO.8BO3RI2, where R = Mg, Zn, Cd, Mn, Ni, Co, or Fe.— 

 On the solubility of camphor, by MM. C. Istrati and A. 

 Zaharia. Camphor is appreciably soluble in water, the camphor 

 in solution affecting the density, and having a perceptible rota- 

 tion. The solubility is much greater in aqueous hydrochloric 

 acid, a chlorhydrin perhaps being formed. The solubility in the 

 latter case appears to diminish with rise of temperature. — Re- 

 searches on incandescent lamps charged with an explosive mix- 

 ture of methane and air, by MM. H. Couriot and J. Meunier. 

 The glowing filament of an incandescent lamp was allowed to 

 come in contact with an explosive mixture of marsh gas with 

 air, under varying conditions. In no case did an explosion 

 take place.— On the transformation of fat by direct oxidation, 

 by M. Hanriot. Fat, treated with ozonised oxygen, gained 

 considerably in weight ; in one case as much as 23 per cent. 

 No reducing substance appeared to be formed, tests for sugar, 

 starch, cellulose, formic and oxalic acids giving uniformly 

 negative results. The products of the oxidation appear to be 

 chiefly fatty acids. — On the cause of the spiral structure of the 

 roots of certain Chenopodiacere, by M. Georges Fron. The 

 asymmetrical structure, which gives the fibrovascular bundles in 

 a transverse section the appearance of a double spiral, is cau.'ied 

 by the mechanical compression of the cotyledons in the radicle. 

 — On Blepharopoda Janriana, by M. E. L. Bouvier.— Anatomy 

 and physiological functions of the arborescent organs or aquatic 

 lungs of some Holothuria. by M. L. Bordas. These organs 

 appear to have numerous functions, as they are concerned in 

 breathing, moving, in excretion, and in the production of 

 numerous amaebocysts. — The pegmatic and granulitic lodes of 

 the rock masses in contact with the granite of Ariege, by M. A. 

 Lacroix. —On the circulation of water in the Rhone glacier, by 

 M. F, A. Forel. Fluorescin was introduced at various points, 

 and the times which elapsed before its appearance in the main 

 torrent noted. The velocities found were of the same order as 

 those for the free stream, whence the conclusion is drawn that 

 in the interior of the glacier the water circulates without stopping 

 in basins, reservoirs, or lakes, and hence there is no sub-glacial 

 lake under the Rhone glacier.— Results obtained in an experi- 

 mental balloon ascent on August 23-, by MM. G. Hermite and 

 G. Besan^on. The curves obtained from the self-registering 

 baro-thermograph were unusually good, the greatest height 

 registered being 7300 metres, with a corresponding minimum 

 temperature of - 60° C. 



New South Wales. 

 Linnean Society, August 31, — Mr, E. G. W. Palmer in 

 the chair.— Contributions to a knowledge of the fauna of British 

 New Guinea. No. i. Communicated by T. Steel. This com- 



