NoVExMBER 26, 1891 



NA TURE 



89 



Atlantic trip, and would involve neither hardship nor danger. 

 During the latter part of July and throughout the whole of 

 August the coast is mainly free of ice, and even the passage of 

 the much-dreaded Melville Bay can very generally be effected 

 during this season of the year without danger from a "nip," 

 and frequently with not so much as an acre of ice to interfere 

 with the traveller's journey. Once beyond Cape York, the free 

 North Water opens up a passage to the 79th or the 80th parallel of 

 latitude, or to within some 700 miles of the Pole. In the course 

 of such a trip the traveller would see much that is novel and 

 interesting, much that is grandly picturesque, and still more that 

 is striking in its deviation from the rest of the earth. A country 

 inhabited by a race of people so remarkable as are the Eskimos 

 is always worthy of a visit, especially at a time when a greatly 

 increasing interest in the science is fostering the study of 

 ethnology. But merely in the contemplation of the forms of 

 the almost endless number of icebergs, the vacation tourist 

 would probably consider himself amply repaid for a journey to 

 this easily- reached land of the midnight sun, with its almost 

 numberless glaciers, its sky-splitting mountains, and a boundless 

 ice-cap. The artist, too, would find abundant suggestion for his 

 brush and palette. 



Prof. August Weismann's "Amphimixis: oder, Die 

 Vermischung der Individuen," has been published at Jena by 

 Herr Gustav Fischer. An English translation, we believe, will 

 shortly be issued, 



A French translation — edited by Dr. H. de Varigny — of 

 Weismann's "Essays on Heredity" (Reinwald) has been issued 

 in Paris. 



The third volume of Dr. McCook's "American Spiders and 

 their Spinning Work," will be ready for delivery in the coming 

 spring. The numerous lithographic plates are many of them 

 prepared and in the colourisis' hands. The cost of preparing 

 the numerous engravings and plates has greatly exceeded the 

 expectations of the author (who is also the publisher). 



Dr. Adolf Fritze contributes to the Miltheihmgen der 

 Deutschen Gesellschaft fiir Natur- und Volkerkunde Ostasiens, 

 in Tokio (Heft 46) a valuable paper on the fauna of Yezo in 

 comparison with that of the rest of Japan. He does not, of 

 course, profess to give a complete account of the subject ; but 

 the natural history of Yezo has hitherto been so imperfectly 

 investigated that his work will be very welcome to zoologists. 



Mr. Robert E. C. Stearns gives in the Proceedings 

 of the U.S. National Museum (vol. xiv., pp. 307-335), a 

 valuable list of shells collected on the west coast of South 

 America, principally between latitudes 7° 30' S., and 8° 49' N., 

 by Dr. W. H. Jones, Surgeon, U.S. Navy. This collection, 

 with various other treasures, was presented to the National 

 Museum in 1884 ; but until lately Mr. Stearns had not an op- 

 portunity of preparing a list. A great part of the shells were 

 picked up on the beaches, and in poor condition ; but our 

 knowledge of the distribution of west South American species 

 is so limited that the collection, Mr. Stearns says, has its special 

 value for the information it furnishes on this point. 



The following science lectures will be given at the Royal 

 Victoria Hall on Tuesday evenings during December : — 

 December i, "North Wales," by A. Hilliard Atteridge ; 8, 

 "The Ways in which Animals hide Themselves," by E. B. 

 Poulton ; 15, "Old Stones," by H. G. Seeley. 



At the meeting of the Chemical Society on Thursday last 

 some further particulars were given by Mr. Mond concerning 

 his work in conjunction with Dr. Langer upon iron carbonyl. 

 They have succeeded in isolating two distinct compounds of 

 iron and carbon monoxide. One of them is a liquid of the 

 composition Fe(CO)3, to which the name ferro penta-carbonyl is 

 NO. 1 152, VOL. 45] 



given. The other is a solid corresponding to the formula 

 Fe2(CO)7, and is termed di-ferro hepta-carbonyl. Liquid ferro 

 penta-carbonyl is obtained by heating finely-divided iron, 

 obtained by reduction of ferrous oxalate, in a stream of carbon 

 monoxide. The operation is a very slow one, 100 grams of 

 metallic iron yielding one gram of the liquid in twenty-four 

 hours. Ferro penta-carbonyl is a light amber- coloured liquid, 

 which may be distilled without decomposition. Tt boils con- 

 stantly at 102° "8 C. Its specific gravity, compared with water at 

 18°, is 1-44. It solidifies at -21°, forming yellow acicular 

 crystals. Its vapour density has been determined, the number 

 obtained being 6 '5, agreeing fairly well with the value 67 

 calculated for Fe(C0)3. The liquid is quite stable in the dark, 

 but when exposed to light an important change occurs. Gold- 

 coloured crystals rapidly form in it, which upon analysis are 

 found to consist of a second iron carbonyl, the di-ferro hepta- 

 carbonyl Fe2(C0)-. These crystals are almost insoluble in the 

 ordinary solvents. When warmed to 80°, however, they de- 

 compose, the products of decomposition being the penta-carbonyl 

 metallic iron, and carbon monoxide. It appears, therefore, that 

 iron does not exactly resemble nickel in its behaviour with carbon 

 monoxide, for the carbonyl compound of the latter metal, it will 

 be remembered, possesses the composition Ni(C0)4. 



A note upon the products of oxidation of nickel carbonyl is 

 contributed by M. Berthelot to the current number of the 

 Compies rendus. M. Berthelot states that nickel carbonyl 

 behaves towards oxygen in a manner somewhat similar to an 

 organic radicle. The products of its spontaneous oxidation do 

 not consist entirely of the oxides of nickel and carbon. The 

 liquid may be preserved in a glass vessel under a layer of water 

 without change so long as air is excluded ; but as soon as air is 

 admitted, the compound] slowly oxidizes, and a quantity of 

 apple-green hydrated oxide of nickel free from carbon is 

 deposited. At the same time a portion of the nickel carbonyl 

 volatilizes and oxidizes in the air, forming a white cloud which 

 deposits upon all the objects in the neighbourhood. M. 

 Berthelot has succeeded in collecting a considerable quantity of 

 this white deposit, and has subjected it to analysis. He con- 

 siders it to be the hydrate of the oxide of an organic radicle 

 containing nickel. The numbers obtained from the analysis 

 agree with the formula CjOaNij . loHjO, but as it appears 

 likely that the preparation contained more or less nickel hydrate 

 this formula is not considered final. M. Berthelot is of opinion 

 that the substance probably contains an organo -nickel com- 

 pound of the composition CoONi, belonging to a type derived 

 from ethylene. He is continuing the study of this interesting 

 substance. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Bonnet Monkey (Macacus sinicus 9 ) from 

 India, presented by Mr. J. Robinson ; a Rhesus Monkey 

 {Macacus rhesus $ ) from India, presented by Mrs. K. Clark- 

 Ourry ; a Macaque Monkey {Macacus cynomolgus $ ) from India, 

 presented by Captain J. F. C. Hamilton ; two Ourang-outangs 

 {Simia satyrus 6 i) from Borneo, a Greater Sulphur-crested 



Cockatoo {Cacatua galerita) from Australia, four Pelicans 



{Pelecanus sp. inc.) from India, deposited ; a Bronze-winged 

 Pigeon {Phaps chalcoptera {,) from Australia, a Blood-breasted 

 Pigeon {Phlogcenas cruentata 9 ) from the Philippine Islands^ 

 purchased. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 

 Determination of the Solar Parallax. — A. Auwers, 

 in Ast7-onoinisclie Ncuhrichten (No. 3066), gives the results 

 obtained in the determination of the solar parallax from 

 the heliometer observations made by the German Transit 

 of Venus Expedition, in the years 1874 and 1882. The number 

 of measurements taken amounted to 754, of which 308 were 



