4o8 



NATURE 



[February 23, 1893 



at some length, and the results compared with tables in the 

 rtcently issued " C/iaUen^cr Reports." In Upper Cretaceous 

 Geology the phospbatic deposits at Ciply and Taplow were 

 noticed, and also the important correlations of the basement- 

 beds in Norfolk, Lincolnshire, and East Yorkshire. The Lower 

 Cretaceous beds at Speeton next passed under review, more 

 especially in connection with their somewhat difficult palaeon- 

 tology and possible equivalents in Eastern Europe. It then went 

 on to state that our knowledge of the Upper Jurassics of the 

 East of England had of late years received considerable addi- 

 tions and important correlations between our Upper Jurassics 

 generally, and their equivalent on the Jura had been effected, 

 that the inferior Oolite and the Lias boundary had come in for 

 their share of attention, whilst a determined attempt had been 

 made to refer a portion of the red rocks of South Devon to the 

 t*ermian. 



Paris, 

 Academyof Sciences, February 13. — M. deLacaze-Duthiers 

 in the chair. — On an invariant number in the theory of algebraic 

 surfaces, by M. Emile Picard. — Study of the Caiion Diablo 

 meteorite, by M. Henri Moissan. The composition of the 

 meteorite is very variable from point to point. In the fragments 

 examined the percentage of iron varied from 91 '09 to 95"o6, 

 and that of nickel from i'o8 to 7 "05. Diamonds were also 

 found, both transparent and black, and a brown form of carbon 

 of feeble density. The largest diamond measured 07 mm. by 

 o'3mm. It had a yellow tint and a rough surface, and was 

 transparent to light,— On the meteoric iron of Canon Diablo, 

 by M. C. Friedel. A small quantity of a silver-white fragile 

 compound occurring in the meteorite in the forn of plates dis- 

 seminated through the nickeliferous iron and accompanied by 

 schreibersite, was isolated, and its composition found to corre- 

 spond to the probable formula FegS. The mixtures of ordinary 

 carbon, graphite, and diamond were found chiefly associated 

 with nodules of yellow troilite. — On the presence of graphite, 

 carbonado, and microscopic diamonds in the blue earth of the 

 Cape, by M. Henri Moissan. After repeated and lengthy treat- 

 ment with boiling sulphuric and hydrofluoric acids, 250 gr. of 

 blue earth left a residue weighing only 0094 mgr. In this 

 residue brilliant hexagonal crystals of graphite were found, 

 giving rise, when treated with potassium chlorate, to a graphitic 

 oxide of a colour passing from green to yellow. Another species 

 of graphite was also isolated which, when treated with H2SO4 

 at 200° C, swelled up considerably and dissolved. Its artificial 

 preparation will be described in a subsequent paper. The por- 

 tions of the residue unaffected by potassium chlorate and heavier 

 than methylene iodide (density 3 -4) comprised an amber- 

 coloured mass, black diamonds, microscopic true diamonds, 

 and small transparent crystals in form of elongated prisms, 

 which did not burn in oxygen and were not fluorescent 

 in violet light. The first, which contains a large proportion 

 of iron, and the last, which contains silica, can be de- 

 stroyed by treatinent with fused potassium bisulphate and 

 then with hydrofluoric and sulphuric acids. The blue earth, 

 which was taken from the Old de Beers Mine, thus contained 

 all the carbon compounds found in the iron matrix employed for 

 their artificial production. — The clasmatocytes, the fixed cellules 

 of the connective tissue, and the pus globules, by M. L. Ranvier. 

 In an inflamed tissue the clasmatocytes and leucocytes are the 

 only ones which give rise to purulent globules, the latter being, 

 in fact, mortified lymphatic cellules. — Glycosic expenditure 

 attendant upon nutritive movement in hyperglycemia and hypo- 

 glycemia brought about experimentally ; consequences bearing 

 upon the immediate cause of diabetes and other deviations of 

 glycemic function, by MM. A. Chauveau and Kaufmann, — 

 Observations of Holmes's comet made with the equatorial 

 coude [o'2)2 m.) of the Lyon Observatory, by M. G. Le Cadet, — 

 On an explicit form of the addition formulae of the most general 

 hyperelliptic functions, by M. F, de Sal vert, — On the laws of 

 reciprocity and the sub-groups of the arithmetical group, by 

 M, X. Stouff. — Experiments on overflowed weirs, by M, H, 

 Bazin. — On the fringes of caustics, by M. J. Mace de Lepinay. 

 — On a phenomenon of apparent reflection at the surface of the 

 clouds, by M. C. Maltezos. — On the electric figures produced 

 at the surface of crystallised bodies, by M, Paul Jannetaz. If 

 the face of a crystal be covered with matter consisting of light 

 and small grains, such as lycopodium seed or talc powder, and 

 an electric discharge passed into the face through a point out- 

 side it, certain figures are formed, many of which were investi- 



NO. 12 17, VOL. 47] 



gated by Wiedemann and Senarmont. Very regular ellipses 

 were obtained by M. Jannetaz by passing a series of discharges 

 from an electrostatic machine or an induction coil. The orien- 

 tation of the major axes of the ellipses was observed for a large 

 number of minerals. In most cases this axis was perpendicular 

 to the direction of maximum conductivity for heat. In the case 

 of a well-defined single cleavage, such as that of mica, talc, a 

 block of wood, the cut edge of a book, or a schistose rock, the 

 major axis was perpendicular to the plane of cleavage. The 

 point need not touch the plate. Figures were obtained on a 

 plate of gypsum strewn with lycopodium powder, and charged 

 from beneath. Positive and negative sparks show the same 

 effect. — Action of temperature on the rotatory power of liquids, 

 by M. Albert Colson. — Density of nitrogen dioxide, by M. A. 

 Leduc — Considerations on the genesis of the diamond, by M. 

 J. Werth. — On the chlorine derivatives of the propylamines, 

 the benzylamines, aniline and paratoluidine, by M. A. Berg. — 

 On dipropylcyanamide and dipropylcarbodiimide, by M. F. 

 Chancel. — Survival after section of the two vagi nerves, by M. 

 C. Vanlair. — On the internal pericycle, by M. Leon Flot. — On 

 a modification to be applied to the construction of bottles 

 designed to collect specimens of deep waters, by M. J. Thoulet. 

 The compressibility of water is such that ore litre, collected at 

 a depth of 8000 m. below sea-level, would expand by 35 cc. 

 when the bottle was opened at the surface. Such bottles may 

 therefore be constructed of thin sheet copper or other metal 

 allowing an expansion of thirty-five parts in 10,000. — Lines of 

 structure in the Winnebago County meteorite and some others, 

 by Mr. H. A. Newton. — On a meteorite observed at Newhaven 

 (Connecticut), by Mr. H. A. Newton. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Man and Evolution. By A. R. W 385 



Poincare's " Theorie Mathematique de la Lumiere. 



By A. B. Basset, F.R.S 386 



The Moths of India. By W. F. K 387 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Bonney : " The Year-Book of Science (for 1892) " . 388 



Alexander: " Treatise on Thermodynamics " . . . 388 

 Steele : " Mediaeval Lore : an Epitome of the Science, 

 Geography, Animal, and Plant Folk-Lore and Myth 



of the Middle Ages" 388 



Hopkins : " Astronomy for Eviery-day Readers " . . 389 

 Letters to the Editor : — 



Blind Animals in Caves.— Prof. E. Ray Lankester, 



F.R.S 389 



Glacier Action.— The Duke of Argyll, F.R.S. . 389 



Dr. Joule's Thermometers.— Prof. Sydney Young . 389 



Foraminifer or Sponge ?— F. G. Pearcey 390 



Colonial Meteorology.— G.J. Symons, F.R.S. . . 390 



Ozone.— W. G. Black 390 



Lion-Tiger and Tiger-Lion Hybrids. By Dr. V. 



Ball, F.R.S 390 



Observations of Atmospheric Electricity in America. 



By Prof. Oliver J. Lodge, F.R.S 392 



The Preservation of the Native Birds of New 



Zealand 394 



The Earthquakes in Zante 394 



Notes . 395 



Our Astronomical Column: — 



Comet Brooks (November 19, 1892) 399 



Comet Holmes (1892 III.) 399 



Solar Observations at Rome 399 



The Star Catalogue of the Astronomischc Gesellschaft 399 



Nova Aurigae 399 



Parallax of ;8 Cygni 399 



Geographical Notes 399 



Captain Bower's Journey in Tibet 400 



The Chemistry of Osmium. By A. E. Tutlon . . . 400 

 Reduction of Tidal Observations. By Prof. G. H. 



Darwin, F.R.S. . 402 



The Harvard College Observatory. By Prof. E. C. 



Pickering 403 



University and Educational Intelligeace 404 



Societies and Academies 405 



