45^. 



NATURE 



[March 9, 1893 



call a sihall girl much younger than himself "tnother."" Cir- 

 cumcision takes place between the ages of five and ten. Till 

 then a boy goes naked ; but afterwards he is costumed like the 

 men. When a Malekulan is old and decrepit, he has nothing 

 to look forward to but burial alive. Should an old person 

 become bedridden, or a burden, he or she is told quite simply 

 ' that his or her burial will occur on such a day. Invitations to 

 the funeral feast are then sent out, and, dead or not dead, on that 

 date the unhappy person is buried. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, February 27. — M. de Lacaze- 

 Duthiers in the chair. — On the attempt at oyster culture in the 

 Roscoff laboratory, by M. de Lacaze-Duthiers. In April, 1890, 

 a set of seed oysters were introduced into a tank in the grounds 

 of the observatory, which lies opposite Batz Island, in the 

 Channel. They were always submerged, but exposed to tidal 

 changes of level. In a year they had acquired a considerable 

 size, but had not yet "fattened." Last November they had a 

 size and flavour which, in M. Chatin's opinion, surpassed the 

 qualities attained in any other locality along the coast, although 

 in the warmer months preceding (the months without R) they 

 had shared the decline common to all oysters at that period. It 

 was also found that the oysters in the tank acquired longer 

 "beards," and also increased in length, whilst others cultivated 

 on the shores of Batz Island, and often left dry at low water, 

 were more developed in the direction of thickness. As regards 

 reproduction, the results have been fairly favourable, although 

 definite data have not yet been obtained. In one case, where 

 part of the tank water had been pumped into a reservoir used 

 for supplying an aquarium, some embryos were drawn up through 

 the pipes, and fixed themselves on the wooden level-ball, where 

 a colony of about a dozen well-developed oysters was subse- 

 quently found, some of which now measure 6 cm. across. — On 

 the exact determination of the pepto-saccharifiant action of the 

 organs, by MM. R. Lepine and Metroz. — On the photographs 

 of the moon enlarged by Prof. Weinek, by M. Faye. These 

 photographs are enlargements by twenty times of some of the 

 Lick photographs of the moon, obtained by an exposure lasting 

 several days. On their being exhibited, several members ex- 

 pressed their opinion that they had been retouched. — On the 

 urea contained in the blood in cases of eclampsia, by M. L. 

 Butte. It is found that in cases terminating fatally the amount 

 of urea contained in the blood is less than in cases of recovery, 

 owing to hepatic alterations, which in the former cases impair 

 the secretion of urea. From the point of view of prognostication, 

 therefore, recovery can be anticipated if the amount of urea is 

 two or two and a half times the normal amount, but a fatal issue 

 if the amount closely approximates to the physiological figure. — 

 On the general problem of integration, by M. Riquier. 

 — On certain differential equations of the first order, by 

 M. Vessiot. — Remarks concerning a preceding note 

 on a generalisation of Lagrange's series, by M. E. Amigues. 

 — Physical properties of fused ruthenium, by M. A. 

 Joly (see Notes )i-*"On Stas's determination of the atomic weight 

 of lead, by M. G. Hinrichs. In Stas's determinations of the 

 atomic weight from the sulphate and the nitrate the weight of 

 substance taken, according to M. Hinrichs, enters as a continu- 

 ously changing element into the result, owing to a systematic 

 error in Stas's arrangement. In plotting the atomic weights in 

 terms of weight of substance taken, curves are obtained showing 

 a minimum at about 150 gr. The method of averages is there- 

 fore inadmissible, and a new method is promised in a forth- 

 coming communication. — On the aldehydes of the terpenes, by 

 M. A. Etard. — On the constitution of hydrated alkaline 

 phenates, by M. de Forcrand. — On the alkaloids of cod-liver 

 oil, their origin and therapeutic effects, by M. J. Bouillot. — On 

 a pathogenic microbe of blennorhagic orchitis, by MM. L. 

 Hugounenq and J. Fraud. — Crustacea and cirrhipeds commensal 

 with the Mediterranean turtles, by MM. E. Chevreux and J. de 

 Guerne. — On a terrestrial leech of Chili, by M. Raphael 

 Blanchard. This animal, which has been named Mesobdella 

 brevis, forms a link between the Glossiphonidse and the 

 Hirudinidse. Arnrtng the latter it approaches most closely the 

 Hemadipsinse by its mode of living and its ten large black eyes, 

 but differs from the whole family by the great condensation of 

 its somites. — Mineralogical and lithological examination of the 

 meteorite of Kiowa county, Kansas, by M. Stanislas Meunier. 

 The metallic portion presents two principal alloys of iron and 

 nickel, which an attentive study has succeeded in characterising : 



NO. I 2 19, VOL. 47] 



Tsenite (FcgNi) and plessife (FcjoNi). In composition it agrees 

 closely with the entirely metallic type called jewellite, but it 

 differs from the latter in structure. Apart from the peridotic 

 portions the mass consists of lamellae of tsenite arranged in 

 bundles which frequently intersect at the angles of the octa- 

 hedron. The intervals are filled up with plessite which may be 

 distinguished at once by its dark-grey colour, contrasting with 

 the polished steel tint of the other alloy. Some specimens of 

 the meteorite show quite exceptional characters. With the 

 usual structure and cohesion they are formed of opaque black 

 mineral grains cemented by a network of oxidised iron. These 

 have probably been produced by an alteration of the normal 

 specimens, in which the metallic skeleton has been oxidised. 



GOTTINGEN, 



Royal Society of Sciences. — From July 27 to December 

 28, 1892, the following papers of scientific interest have ap- 

 peared in the Nachrichten : — 



July. — Drude : Current theories of light practically tested. — 

 Ehlers : On Arenicola marina, L. (five pages). — Rhumbler: The 

 so-called germ-spherules (Max Schultze) of Foraminifera (these 

 are stated to be merely deposits of iron silicates). — Nernst : The 

 change of free energy in the mixture of concentrated solutions. 

 — Hilbert : Third note on algebraical invariants. 



September.— Fricke : A general arithmetical principle in the 

 theory of automorphic functions. — Kohlrausch : On the in- 

 fluence of time upon solutions of sodium silicates. 



November. — Peter : Botanical work in the summer of 1892. 

 — Voigt : On a problem in fluid motion. — Sella and Voigt : 

 The rupture coefficient of rock salt. — Kallius : The neuroglia- 

 cells of peripheral nerves. 



December.— Wagner : The third (Peter Apian's) map of the 

 world (1530). 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Theory of the Sun. By A. F 433 



Elementary Biology. By W. N. P 434 



Van't HofTs " Stereochemistry." By F. R. J. . . . 436 

 Our Book Shelf :— 



Wettstein : " Die Fossile Flora der Hottinger Breccie." 



— J. S. G 436 



Mee : " Observational Astronomy." — W. J. L. . 437 

 Loney : '' Mechanics and Hydrostatics for Beginners." 



— G. A. B 437 



Letters to the Editor :— 



The Glacier Theory of Alpine Lakes.— Dr. Alfred 



Russel Wallace 437 



Waves as a Motive Power. — H. Linden 438 



Blind Animals in Caves.— J. T. Cunningham ; A. 



Anderson 439 



Foraminifer or Sponge .'— R. Hanitsch 439 



A Magnetic Screen.— Frederick J. Smith .... 439 

 On Electric Spark Photographs ; or, Photography 

 of Flying Bullets, &c., by the Light of the Electric 



Spark. II. {Illustrated.) By C. V. Boys, F.R.S. . 440 

 Micro organisms and their Investigation. By Mrs. 



Percy Frankland 446 



The Ordnance Survey 447 



Notes 448 



Our Astronomical Column :— 



Comet Brooks (November 19, 1892) 451 



Comet Holmes (1892 IIL) 45^ 



Universal Time 45^ 



The Bielids, 1892 45^ 



The Wolsingham Observatory 452 



United States Naval Observatory 452 



• Yale Astronomical Observatory 452 



Geographical Notes • • • 452 



Stromboli. By Dr. H. J. Johnston-Lavis .... 453 



Forthcoming Scientific Books 453 



University and Educational Intelligence 454 



Scientific Serials . . 454 



Societies and Academies 455 



