NATURE 



[July 22, 1897 



M. Paul Sabatier.— On'the reduction of molybdic anhydride by 

 hydrogen, and on the preparation of pure molybdenum, by M. 

 M, Guichard. The reduction maybe completed at 500° C. if the 

 reaction is sufficiently prolonged. The experiments afford no 

 evidence of the existence of any oxides of molybdenum, but 

 M0.O3 and M0.O2— Action of benzoyl chloride upon the mono- 

 substituted derivatives of the orthodiamines, by M. Fernand 

 Muttelet. In the cold, and in presence of a solvent, a benzoyl 

 derivative is obtained, but at 220°, in presence of an excess of 

 benzoyl chloride, ^n internal anhydride is formed.— On 

 the formation of mixed hydrates of acetylene and 

 some other gases, by MM. de Forcrand and .Sully Thomas. 

 A description of a crystallised compound of acetylene, 

 carbon tetrachloride and water. — Action of sulphuric acid 

 upon Isevorotatory terebenthene, by MM. G. Bouchardat 

 and J. Lafont. — Development of aromatic principles by alco- 

 holic fermentation in presence of certain leaves, by M. Georges 

 Jacquemin. — On a new hydrolytic enzyme, caroubinase, by M. 

 J. Effront. — The optical analysis of urine, by M. Frederic Lan- 

 dolph. — Composition of haricots, lentils, and peas, by M. 

 Balland. — Physiological action of the venom of the Japanese 

 salamander {Sieboldia maxima). Attenuation by heat, and 

 vaccination of the frog against the poison, by M. C. Phisalix. — 

 Trophic troubles, resulting from the section of the cervical 

 sympathetic, by MM. J. P. Morat and M. Doyon. — The centri- 

 fugal elements of the posterior medullary roots, by MM. J. P. 

 Morat and C. Bonne. — Perforated muscle of the hand. Its 

 appearance in the animal series, by M. A. Perrin. — On two new 

 types of Crustaceae (Isopods) belonging to the subterranean 

 fauna of the Cevennes, by M. A. Dollfus. — Remarks on the 

 sense organs of the Spharomides Raymondi, Stenasellus virei, 

 and of some Ascellidse, by M. Arm. Vire. — On the defence of 

 vines against the attacks of Cochylis, by M. P. Cazeneuve. — 

 — Remark on the subject of the methods of destruction of 

 •Cochylis in the vine, by M. Emile Blanchard. — On the tubercles 

 of Orchidaceae, by M. Leclerc du Sablon. — On the replacement 

 of the principal root by a radical in Dicotyledons, by M. 

 Boirivant. 



St. Louis. 



Academy of Science, June 7. — Mr. Robert Combs, of 

 Ames, Iowa, presented a paper entitled " Plants collected in 

 the District of Cienfuegos, Province of Santa Clara, Cuba, in 

 1895-96." The paper embraces the results of a collection ex- 

 tending from the commencement of the rainy season of one 

 year until the close of the dry season the following spring, the 

 territory covered by the collection lying between the entrance 

 ■of the bay of Cienfuegos, on the south coast of Cuba, up the 

 •bay and the river Damuji to Rodas, and extending back from 

 the river to Yaguaramos, and almost to the Cienega de Zapato, 

 a region including nearly all kinds of soil and condition found 

 •upon the island, except those of the mountain regions and the 

 mud swamps. A brief statement was made concerning the 

 origin of the Cuban flora, and its affinities with that of con- 

 tinental Central America, rather than the geographically nearer 

 Floridan region. The paper comprised a full catalogue of the 

 collections made, which had been determined at the herbarium 

 of Harvard University, and of which several sets had been 

 distributed to the larger herbaria. — Prof. F. E. Nipher made 

 some remarks on the difficulties yet involved in the theories of 

 the ether. 



New South Wales. 

 Royal Society, June 2. — The President, Mr. Henry Deane, 

 in the chair. — A contribution to the study of oxygen at low 

 pressures, by Prof. R. Threlfall and Florence Martin. There is 

 known to be a pressure (about 07 mm. of mercury) at which 

 oxygen becomes unstable in its volumes and pressure relations. 

 This instability may plausibly be attributed to a change in the 

 chemical nature of the gas, and during the period of change it 

 is possible that ozone may be temporarily produced. An ex- 

 periment was made with the object of investigating whether 

 oxygen can form ozone simply by virtue of a reduction of pres- 

 sure. A suitable indicator having been discovered, an experiment 

 was satisfactorily carried out showing either that no ozone at all 

 is formed when the pressure falls to from 0*4 too'i mm., or 

 that, if such formation does occur, it is to an extent less than 

 0'005 per cent, of the volume of the gas employed. — Deter- 

 mination of the orbit elements of comet of 1896 (Perrine), by 

 C. J. Merfield. The author explained that his deductions were 

 based on observations made in various American and European 

 observatories, and also on observations made by Mr. John 



Tebbutt, of Windsor, New South Wales. The elements as 

 determined by him agreed substantially with those determined 

 by Dr. Knopf, and would not, in his opinion, be sensibly varied 

 by further investigations. 



GOTTINGEN. 



Royal Society of Sciences. — The Nachrichten (mathe- 

 matico-physical section), Part i for 1897, contains the following 

 memoirs presented to the Society. 



January 9. — P. Stackel : Extracts from the correspondence 

 of Gauss with W. Bolyai. R. Mliller : Approximately recti- 

 linear motion by means of the jointed quadrilateral. W. Schur : 

 The polar flattening of the planet Mars. 



February 6. — W. Voigt : The kinetic theory of ideal fluids. 



February 20. — D. Hilbert : Diophantine equations. A. 

 Wirnau : The substitution-groups of eight things. 



March 6. — D. Hilbert : On the development of a given ana- 

 lytical function of one variable as an infinite series of rational 

 integral functions. A. Hurwitz : On the generation of in- 

 variants by integration. 



The accompanying Geschdflliche Mittheihm^en include a 

 memoir of Karl Weierstrass by David Hilbert, of Ernst Curtius 

 by F. Leo, and of August Kekule by Otto Wallach. 



BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, and SERIALS RECEIVED. 



Books.— The Voyages made by the Sieur D. B. to the Islands Dauphine 

 or Madagascar, &c. : translated and edited by Captain P. Oliver (Nutt). — 

 Elemente der Geologie : Dr. H. Credner, Achte Auflage (Leipzig, Engel- 

 mann). — Fifteenth Annual Report of the Fishery Board for Scotland, Part 

 3 (Edinburgh) —Wild Flowers of Scotland : J. H. Crawford (Macqueen) — 

 The Elementary Part of a Treatise on the Dynamics of a System of Rigid 

 Bodies : Dr. E. J. Routh, 6th edition (Macmillan). — Introductory Course 

 in Differential Equations : Dr. D. A. Murray (Longmans). — Modern Myth- 

 ology : Andrew Lang (Longmans). — Our Coal Resources at the Close of the 

 Nineteenth Century : Dr. E. Hull (Spon).— Ludwig Otto Hesse's Gasam- 

 melte Werke (Miinchen, K. Akademie). — The Ascent of Man : H. Drum- 

 mond, new edition (Hodder). — Among British Birds in their Nesting 

 Haunts : O. A. J. Lee, part v. (Edinburgh, Douglas). 



Pamphlkts. — Effects of the Weather upon Vegetation : J. Clayton 

 (Bradford, Byles).— Nel Paese della Amazzoni : Dr. V. Grossi (Roma). 



Serials. — Proceedings of the Physical Society of London, Vol. xv. Part 

 7 (Taylor).— Quarterly Review, July (Murray).— Terrestrial Magnetism, 

 June (Wesley). — Engineering Magazine, July (Tucker). — Proceedings of the 

 Royal Society of Queensland, Vol. xii. (Brisbane) — Journal and Proceed- 

 ings of the Royal Society of New South Wales for 1896 (Sydney). 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



The Elements of Physics. By Prof. A. Gray, F.R.S. 265 



The Irish Dolmens. By R. A. Stewart Macalister . 268 

 Human Embryology. By Prof. E. A. Schafer, 



F.R.S 269 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Trouessart : " Catalogus Mammalium tarn viventium 



quam fossilium " 270 



Freycinet : " Essais sur la philosophie des Sciences 



Analyse-mecanique." — G 270 



Crawford: " Wild Flowers of Scotland " 270 



Bell: " The Science of Speech" 270 



Letters to the Editor:— 



Bipedal Locomotion among Existing Reptiles. — W. 



Saville-Kent 271 



Sensitiveness of the Retina to X-Rays. — Ernest 



Braun 271 



Sample-Post for Natural History Specimens. — Walter 



F. H. Blandford . 271 



Australian Natural History. {Illustrated.) By R. L. 271 

 The Calcutta Earthquake. {Illustrated.) By T. D. 



La Touche 273 



Paul Schiitzenberger. By T. E 274 



Notes 275 



Our Astronomical Column: — 



Cambridge Observatory Report 279 



New Variable in Coma Berenices 279 



The Photographs of the Moon taken at the Paris 



Observatory * 280 



The International Congress of Naval Architects 



and Marine Engineers 281 



Lighthouse Progress, 1887-1897. By J. Kenward . 282 

 The Limits of Audition. By the Right Hon. Lord 



Rayleigh, F.R.S 285 



University and Educational Intelligence 286 



Scientific Serials 286 



Societies and Academies 287 



Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received 288 



NO. 1447, VOL. 56] 



