6oo 



NATURE 



[April :o, 1893 



force proportional to the physical quantity to be measured, an 

 opposing force sensibly proportional to the displacement, the 

 inertia of the movinc; parts, and the damping force, usually 

 proportional to the velocity. The desideratum is that the periodic 

 motion of the moving piece should fallow a law as closely 

 approaching that of the phenomenon as pos'iible, so that the 

 deflection may at any instant depart as little as possible from 

 a value equal to the ratio of the force to be measured and 

 the opposing force. This the inventor of the "oscillograph" 

 calls the problem of integral synchronisation, from its analogy 

 to that of simple synchronisation investigated by M. Cornu. — An 

 expression is given for the value below which the damping effect, 

 though made assmall as possible, should not be allowed to fall. — 

 On the volatility of manganese, by M. S. Jordan. — Determina- 

 tion of atomic weights by the limit method, by M. G. 

 Hinrichs. — On nitrogenised copper, by MM. Paul Sabaiier 

 and J. B. Senderens. Several metals, when newly prepared 

 by means of reduction of their oxides by hydrogen, are able 

 to fix a large quantity of nitrogen peroxide in the cold. The 

 resulting compounds have been termed nitrogenised metals 

 (metattx nitrh). In the case of copper, a quantitative analysis 

 of the compound has led to the formula CugNOg, which cor- 

 responds to the fixation upon the uietallic surface of the copper 

 of about 1000 times its volume of peroxide at 30° C. — On the 

 isomerism of the amido-benzoic acids, by M. Oechsner de 

 Coninck. — On phtalocyanacetic ether, by P. Th. MuIIer. — 

 On transpiration in herbaceous grafts, by M. Lucien Daniel. — 

 Exploration of the higher atmosphere ; experiment of 

 March 21, 1893, by M. Gustave Hermite. The balloon carrying 

 the registering instruments was constructed of triple gold- 

 beater's skin varnished, its volume being 113 cubic metres. 

 The total weight of the apparatus carried was 17 kgr., includ- 

 ing an automatic distributor of inquiry cards, working by a 

 fuse. The ascensional force was 65 kgr., giving a vertical 

 velocity of 8 or 9m. per second. The average velocity 

 of descent was 2 •4m., so that the instruments did not suffer. 

 The balloon ascended at I2h. 2Sm. from Paris-Vaugirard, 

 and landed at Chanvres (Yonne) at7h. iim. p.m. The lowest 

 pressure registered was 103 mm., or less than one-seventh of 

 an atmosphere, which corresponds to a height of about i6,030 m. 

 The lowest temperature recorded was -5i°C. at 12,500 m., 

 after which the curves of temperature and pressure were inter- 

 rupted by the freezing of the recording ink. Subsequently, 

 however, the intense solar radiation seems to have thawed the 

 ink, so that the barometric record was taken up again at 

 16,000 m. and the thermometric curve at — 21° C. The fuse 

 ceased to burn after some time, probably owing to the lack of 

 oxygen. The balloon could be followed with the naked eye for 

 three-quarters of an hour, within which it attained its highest 

 altitude. It was white, and brightly illuminated by the sun. — 

 Odoriferous power of chloroform, bromoform, and iodoform, 

 by M. Jacques Passy. — Observations on a series of new forms 

 of snow, collected at very low temperatures, by M. Gustave 

 Nordenskiold. 



Berlin. 

 Physiological Society, March 17. — Prof, du Bois Rey- 

 mond, President, in the chair. — In the discussion which ensued 

 on the communication made at the last meeting of the society. 

 Prof. Zunlz gave the data as to the daily consumption of pro- 

 teid and fat by the fasting man Cetti, as also the heat produced 

 by their oxidation, from which it appeared that the heat pro- 

 duction during his fast was constant. — Prof. Behring gave an 

 account of his further experiments with preventive serum. A 

 portion was mixed with a slight excess of tetanus virus ; mice 

 died after inoculation with the mixture. When heated to 65° C. 

 the virus became inert, but not so the serum, thus proving that 

 the respective substances had not exerted any chemical action 

 each on the other. A further new and important fact observed 

 was that tetanus virus — that is, the products of metabolism of 

 tetanus bacilli — made inert by heating to 65° acts preventively 

 towards tetanus infection. Hence the facts known to hold 

 good as to the action of tuberculin in tuberculosis now appear 

 to hold good with regard to tetanus, and should be further in- 

 vestigated in the case of other acute diseases, such as diphtheria, 

 typhus, and cholera. ^ — Dr. Lewy-Dorn gave a full description 

 of his experiments on the question of whether the formation of 

 sweat is the result of a filtrational process. By calculating the 

 capacity of the sweat-glands, and the volume of the sweat-drops 

 secreted, he came to the conclusion that a true new formation 

 of sweat could only be assumed with certainty after a fourfold 



NO. 1225, VOL, 47] 



and copious secretion had taken place. When he now sub- 

 jected the foot of a cat to an air-pressure far exceedin-; that of 

 the blood, secretion of sweat was observed on stimulation of the 

 sciatic nerve. On the other hand, when the foot was subjected 

 to a considerably reduced (negative) air-pressure, no formation 

 of sweat was observed. Both these facts are opposed to the 

 filtrational theory of sweat-secretion. Varnishing the skin did 

 not prevent the secretion of sweat resulting from stimulation of 

 nerves or administration of pilocarpine. 



BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, and SERIALS RECEIVED. 



Books. — Siin, Moon, and Stars. 20th Thousand : A. Glberne (Seeley). — 

 The Field Naturalist's Handbook : Revs. J. G. Wood and V. Wood 

 (Cassell).— A Manual of Dyeing, 3 vols. : E. Knecht. C. Rawson, and R. 

 L,oewenthaI (Griffin). — \ Dictionary of Applied Chemistry, vol. 3 : Prof. T. 

 E. Thorpe (Longmans). — The Iron Ores of Great Britain and Ireland ; J. 

 n. Kendall (C. Lockwood).— The Glacial Nightmare and th; Flood, 2 vjls. : 

 Sir H. H. Howorth (S. l-ow). — Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of 

 Ethnology, 1885-86: J. W. Powell (\Va-ihtngton).— C>ntributions to North 

 American Eihnology, vol. 7 (Washington). 



Pamphlets. — Bibliography of the Athapascan Languages : T. C. Pilling 

 (Washington).— A List of some of the Rotifera of Ireland: Mtss Glascjtt 

 (Dublin). 



Serials. — Bulletin of the New York Mathematical Society, vol. 2, No. 6 

 (New York). — Mineralogical Magazine, March (Simpkin). — Vatural 

 Science, April (Macmillan and Co.). — Journal of Geology, v )1. i, No. i 

 (Chicago). — Mind, April (Williams and Norgate). —Journal of the Royal 

 Agricultural Society, vol. 4, Part i CMurray). —Records of the Aiistr\lian 

 Museum, vol. 2, No. 4 (Sydney). — Congre-! Internitionaux d'Anthropol )gie 

 et d'Arch^ologie Pr^historique et de Zoologie a Moscou, 1892 ; Mat^riaux, 

 premiere partie( Moscou). — Internationales Archiv fiir Ethnographie, Band 

 6, Heft I (K. Paul). — Illustrations of the Zoology of H.M. Indian Marine 

 Surveying 'tiX^'s.m.zx [nvestigator—'^s.xK. i, Crustaceans : J. Wood-Mason; 

 Ditto, Part i. Fishes: A. Aicock (Calcutta). — Proceedings of the American 

 Philosophical Society, December (Philadelphia) —Journal of the Institution 

 of Electrical Engineers, No. 104. vol. xxii. (Soon). — Engineering Magazine, 

 April (New York). — Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and 

 Sciences, vol. xii. No. i (Cambridge, Wilson). — Journal of the Royal 

 Statistical Society, March (Stanford). — journalof Anatomy and Physiology, 

 April (Griffin). — Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, vol. 2, No. 2. 

 Part I (Williams and Nor.jate) — Astron imy and Astro-Physics, April 

 (Northfield, Minn.). — Annals of Scottish Natural History, April (Edin- 

 burgh, Douglas). — International Congress of Experimental Psychology. 

 2nd Session, London. 1892 (Williams and Norgate). — Bulletin de la Sociece 

 Astronomique de France, sixiemeann^e(Paris). — K Manual of Orchida-:eous 

 Plants, Part g (Veitch). — Encyklopsedie der Maturwissenschaften, Dritte 

 Abthg., 13 Liefg., Zweite Abthg., 74 and 75 Liefg. (Breslm, Trewendt). 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



The New University for London 577 



Comparative Geology 578 



The Baltic Ship-Canal ... • 579 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Glazebrook : "Laws and Properties of Matter." — 



J. W. R 580 



Keltic: " The Partition of Africa" 580 



"A Son of the Marshes": "Forest Tithes, and 



other Studies from Nature" 580 



Letters to the Editor : — 



Locusts at Great Elevations. —Sir J. D. Hooker, 



F.R.S 5S1 



The Sandgate Landslip.— Rev. Dr. Irving, F.R.S. 581 

 "Roche's Limit. "—Prof. G. H. Darwin. F.R.S. 581 

 The Afterglows and Bishop's Ring.— T. W. Back- 

 house 582 



Thunderstorms and Auroral Phenomena.— J. Ewen 



Davidson 582 



Fossil Floras and Climate.— J. Starkie Gardner . . ^82 



Wild Spain. {Ilhiatrated.) 583 



Notes 584 



Our Astronomical Column: — 



The Photographic Chart of the Heavens 589 



Catalogue of Southern Star Magnitudes 589 



A New Table of Standard Wave-lengths 590 



Meteor Showers 590 



Wolsingham Observatory, Circular No. 35 590 



Geographical Notes 500 



Recent Innovations in Vector Theory. By Prof. 



C. G. Knott 590 



Experimental Medicine 593 



Steam-Engine Trials 594 



Ethnological Observations in Australia. By R. 



Etheridge, Jun 594 



Scientific Serials 596 



Societies and Academies 596 



Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received 600 



