48 



NA rURE 



[November lo, 1892 



Schloesing. Reply, by M. Berthelot.— On the laws of com- 

 pressibility of liquids, by M. E. H. Amagat. Deformations 

 of the piezometers were investigated and allowed for in these 

 experiments, and the pressures carried as far as 3000 atmo- 

 spheres. The liquids operated upon were ether, alcohol, carbon 

 bisulphide, acetone, the ethyl halides, and chloride of phos- 

 phorus. In every case the coefficient of compressibility was 

 found to decrease regularly as the pressure increased. At 3000 

 atmospheres that of water was reduced by nearly one-half its 

 ordinary value, that of ether by two-thirds. This diminution 

 again is greater the higher the temperature. The ratio of the 

 difference of the coefficient to the corresponding difference of 



temperature, -^, increases rapidly with the temperature, and 



decreases rapidly as the pressure increases. The value of 



— ~~ also diminishes rapidly as the pressure increases ; but 



whilst for alcohol it grows decidedly with the temperature, for 

 ether it seems sensibly independent of it. It is probable 

 that the ratio passes through a maximum at a certain tempe- 

 rature. — Observation of the comet Barnard (October 12), made 

 at the Algiers observatory with the equatorial coude, by M. F. 

 Sy. — Elliptic elements of the comet Barnard, by M. Schulhof. 

 Discussing the probabilities of the new comet being identical 

 with, or a part of, the comet Wolf, which was subjected to 

 considerable perturbations by Jupiter in 1875. — On the equa- 

 tions of dynamics, by M. R. Liouville. — On the solution of 

 the ballistic problem, by M. E. Vallier. — Displacements of a 

 magnet on mercury under the action of an electric current, by 

 M. C. Decharme. If a light magnetic needle be floated on a 

 bath of perfectly pure mercury, and conductors carrying a 

 current be dipped into the mercury at different places, the 

 needle will, before assuming the position of equilibrium accord- 

 ing to Ampere's law, go through a series of excursions, rendered 

 necessary by the difficulty of its motion, perpendicular to its 

 length. If the current crosses the mercury in a direction per- 

 pendicular to the length of the needle for instance, with the 

 negative pole of the current on the left of the south-seeking 

 pole, the needle will move away parallel to itself, will turn 

 round, and return to take up the normal position. — On the 

 temperature of maximum density of mixtures of alcohol and 

 water, by M. L. de Coppet. The lowering of the freezing- 

 point in solutions of alcohol is sensibly proportional to the 

 quantity of alcohol, in confirmation of Blagden's law. But the 

 lowering of the temperature of maximum density is not pro- 

 portional to the percentage of alcohol. For weak solutions 

 there is no lowering, but rather an elevation of the temperature 

 of the maximum. — On the dissociation of barium dioxide, by 

 M. H. Le Chatelier. — On a limited reaction, by M. Albert 

 Colson. — On the fixation of free nitrogen by plants, by MM. 

 Th. Schloesing, jun., and Em. Laurent. — Purification of drain 

 waters by ferric sulphate, by MM. A. and P. Buisine. — Ex- 

 periments on bread and biscuit, by M. Balland. — Ptomaines 

 extracted from urines in erysipelas and puerperal fever, by M. 

 A. B. Griffiths. — Hermerythrine, a respiratory pigment con- 

 tained in the blood of certain worms, by M. A.-B. Griffiths. — 

 Morphology of the skeleton of the star fish, by M. Edm. Perrier. 

 — The secreting apparatus of the Copaifera, by M. Leon Guig- 

 nard. — New observations on sexuality and parasitic castration, 

 by M. Ant. Magnin. — A possible cause of the doubling of the 

 canals of Mars ; experimental imitation of the phenomenon, by 

 M. Stanislas Meunier. — Devonian and permio-carboniferous of 

 the Aspe valley, by M. J. Seunes. — A short account of the 

 voyage of the La Manche to Iceland, Jan Mayen, and Spitz- 

 bergen during the summer of 1892, by M. Bienaime. The 

 maps of Jan Mayen were found to be very accurate, those of 

 Spitzbergen much less so. The barometric changes in Iceland, 

 Jan Mayen, and the Faroes agreed strikingly with those of 

 Great Britain and Scandinavia, while those of Spitzbergen were 

 of a particular order. Pendulum observations gave ^=9'82345 

 for Jan Mayen, and 9 82866 for Spitzbergen. — Eruption of Etna 

 of 1892, by M. A. Ricco. — The analysis of complex odours, 

 by M. Jacques Passy. Proceeding from very small doses, say 

 of amyl alcohol, two different perfumes will be perceived to 

 increase and then diminish in succession, finally giving way to 

 an odour which soon becomes disagreeable as it increases in 

 strength. The transition from perfume to unpleasant odour is 

 very general in volatile substances. — Immunity against cholera 

 conferred by milk, by M. N. Ketscher. — A new apparatus for 

 hypodermic injections, by M. G. Bay. 



NO. 1202, VOL. 47I 



BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, and SERIALS RECEIVED. 



Books.— A Text-book of Magnetism and Electricity: R. W. Stewart 

 (Clive).— Public Health Problems: J. F. J. Sykes (Scott).— An Elementary 

 Manual on Applied Mechanics : Prof. A. Jamieson (Griffin).— Mind in 

 Matter, 3rd edition : Rev. J. T ait (Griffin).— Arthur Young's Tour in Ire- 

 land, 2 vols. : edited by A. W. Hutton (Bell).— Text-bof k of Elementary 

 Biology: Dr. H. J. Campbell (Sonnenschein). — The Volcanoes of Japan, 

 Part I, Fujisan : J. Milne and W. K. Burton (Low).— Strange Survivals: 

 S. Baring-Gould (Methuen). — Finger Prints : F. Galton (Macmillan).— 

 Modern Mechanism : edited by P. Benjamin (Macmillan).— Catalogue of 

 Ea-tern and Australian Lepidoptera Heterocera in the Collection of the 

 Oxford University Museum: Part i, Sphinges and Bombyces: Col. C. 

 Swinhoe (Oxford, Clarendon Press).— An Introduction to the Study of 

 Botany : A. Dendy and A. H. S. Lucas (Melville).— Hydrostatics and Ele- 

 mentary Hydrokinetics : Prof. G. M. Minchin (Oxford, Clarendon Press).— 

 New Vegetarian Dishes : Mrs. Bowdich (Bell).— British New Guinea: J. 

 P. Thomson (Philip).— Autres Mondes: A Guillemin (Paris, Carr^.— 

 St(ir<;ochimie : J. H. Van't-Hoff (Paris, Carri).— Th^orie Math^matiquede 

 la Lumiere, 11. : H. Poincare' (Paris, Carre').— Trait^ de M6canique: V. 

 .lamet (Paris. Carr^)- In Savage Isles and Settled Lands: F. S. Baden- 

 Powell (Bentley).— Sianford's Contoured Map of the County of London 

 (Stanford).— Naked-Eye Botany: F. E. Kitchener (Percival) —Geometrical 

 Drawing : A. J. Pressland (Percival).— Practical Physics, Part i, Physical 

 Processes and Measurements; the Properties of Matter: Prof. Barrett and 

 W Brown (Percival).— Beetles, Butterflies, Moths, and other Insects: A. 

 W. Kappel and W. E. Kirby (Cassell).— The Principal Starches used as 

 Food : W. Griffiths (Cirencester, Baily).- Charles Darwin : F. Darwin 

 (Murray).— University College, Nottingham, Calendar, 1892-93 (Notting- 

 ham, Sands) — Proceedings a d Transactions 0/ the Royal Society of 

 Canada, 1891 (Montreal, Dawson). 



Pamphlets.— Report on the Operations of the Department of Land 

 Records and Agriculture, Madras Presidency, 1890-91 (Madras). — Entwurf 

 einer Neuen Integralrechnung : Dr. J. Bergbohm (Leipzig, Teubner).— 

 Leaves from the Book of Nature : L. Piers (Ridgway).— Fossil Mammals of 

 the Wahsatch and Wind River Beds, Collection of 1891 : H. F. Osborn and 

 J. L. Wortman. — Present Problems in Evolution and Heredity : H. F. 

 Osborn. — Revision of the Species of Coryphodon : C. Earle. 



Serials. — Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, November (Long- 

 mans). — Festschrift zur Feier des 150 Jaehrigen Bestehens der Naturforsch- 

 enden Gesellschaft in Danzig am 2 Jan.' 1893 (Danzig).— Schriften der 

 Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Danzig, Neue Folge, Achten Bandes, 

 Erstes Heft (Danzig).— Notes from the Leyden Museum, vol. xv. No. i 

 (Leyden, Brill).— lournal of the Chemical Society, November (Gurney and 

 Jackson).— Mitteilungen des Vereins fur Erdkunde zu Halle a/s 1892 (Halle 

 a/s). — Medical Magazine, November (Southwood), 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Experimental Biology. By C. LI. M 25 



British Fungus Flora. By M, C. C 26 



South African Shells. By (BV)^ 27 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Williams: " The Framework of Chemistry " .... 28 

 Lubbock : "The Beauties of Nature, and the Wonders 



of the World We Live in " 28 



Hall and Knight : " Algebra for Beginners " .... 28 



Ziehen: " Introduction to Physiological Psychology " 28 

 Letters to the Editor :— 



The VolucellcE as Examples of Aggressive Mimicry. — 



Edward B. Poulton, F.R.S 28 



The Geology of the Asiatic Loess. — Thos. W. Kings- 

 mill; Prof. G. H. Darwin, F.R.S 30 



Optical Illusions. {With Diagram.) — R. T. Lewis. 31 



A Remarkable Rainfall.— Alfred O. Walker . ... 31 

 On a " Supposed New Species of Earthworm and on the 

 Nomenclature of Earthworms." — Dr. C. Herbert 



Hurst 31 



Ice Crystals. — C. M. Irvine 31 



Lunar Craters. — M. H. Maw 31 



A Fork-tailed Petrel.— Newman Neave 31 



The Origin of the Year. III. {Illustrated.) By J. 



Norman Lockyer, F.R.S 32 



Technological Examinations 35 



Robert Grant. By R. C 36 



Notes 37 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



A Bright Comet . . 40 



Comet Barnard (October 12) 40 



Comet Brooks (August 28) 41 



Occultation of Mars and Jupiter by the Moon .... 41 



Motion of the Solar System 41 



Some Reminiscences of the Maoris. By Rev. W. 



Colenso, F.R.S 41 



Uganda 45 



Scientific Serials 46 



Societies and Academies 46 



Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received 48 



