552 



NATURE 



[xA.PRiL 7, 1892 



with large standing monoliths. Some of the fragments of 

 pottery found are very good, and give evidence of a highly 

 developed artistic skill. Close underneath the temple stood a 

 gold-smelting furnace, made of very hard cement of powdered 

 granite, with a chimney of the same material, and the quantity 

 of rejected quartz found hard by proved that these ruins had 

 formed the fortress for the protection of a gold-producing 

 people. The ruins and the things in them are not in any way 

 connected with any known African race ; the objects of art and 

 of special cult are foreign altogether to the country, and neither 

 the date of construction nor the race of the builders can now be 

 determined with accuracy ; but the evidence in favour of this 

 race being one of the many tribes of Arabia is very strong, and 

 all the facts point to a remote antiquity. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, March 28. — M. d'Abbadie in the 

 chair. — Note on a theorem on the calculation of probabilities, 

 by M. J. Bertrand. — On the periodic variations of latitude, ac- 

 cording to a letter from M. Helmert to the members of the Per- 

 manent Commission of the International Geodetic Association, 

 by M. Faye. (See Our Astronomical Column.)— On the 

 approximate theoretical calculation of the delivery from an 

 orifice in a thin wall, by M. J. Boussinesq.;— On the population 

 of the five continents of the earth, by M. I'^mile Levasseur. A 

 comparison of M. Levasseur's estimations with those given by 

 others shows that the differences are greater for Africa, Asia, 

 Oceania, and America, than for Europe. This is what would 

 be expected. M. Levasseur's numbers are as follows : — 



Population, 



in 



millions. 



360 



824 

 38 



88 

 34 



1497 



— Note on a theory on the production of various vegetable galls, 

 by M. A. Laboulbene. — Mechanical laws of atmospheric circula- 

 tion ; surfaces of equal density ; squalls ; secondary and general 

 circulations, by M. Le Goarant de Tromelin. — Observations 

 of Swift's comet (Rochester, March 6,* 1892) and of the minor 

 planet discovered by Wolf on March 18, made with the East 

 Tower equatorial of Paris Observatory, by Mdlle. D. Klumpke. 

 Observations for position were made on March 17, 21, 23, and 

 24. — Observations of Swift's comet made at Toulouse Ob- 

 servatory, by M. B. Baillaud. Observations for position were 

 made on March 16, 18, 19, 21, and 25. — Observations of Wolfs 

 periodic comet made with the great telescope of Toulouse Ob- 

 servatory, by MM. E. Cosserat and F. Rossard. Dates of 

 observations for position : November 28, December i, 4, 21, 

 22, 26, and 31. — On plane rheaitx having equal invariants, by 

 M. G. Koenigs. — On congruences of which the mean surface is 

 a plane, by M. C. Guichard. — On the existence of integrals in 

 differential systems, by M. Riquier. — An electro-ballistic chrono- 

 graph, by M. W. Schmidt. — On the radiations of incandescent 

 bodies and the optical measure of high temperatures, by M. J. 

 Violle. By estimating the intensities of the lines at C and D in 

 the radiations of a piece of platinum, the author has deter- 

 mined the temperature of the metal. His results agree very 

 well with those obtained by M. Le Chatelier up to 1500°. — On 

 the temperature of the sun, by M. H. Le Chatelier. (See Our 

 Astronomical Column.) — Application of the theory of lines of 

 force to the demonstration of an electrostratic theorem, by M. 

 L. de la Rive. — On electro-capillary phenomena, by M. A. 

 Berget. — On a safety-lamp for use with coal gas, by M. F. 

 Parmentier. The author records some experiments on the 

 action of platinum wires and crucibles in cooling flames below 

 the temperature necessary for the combustion of the gases. — 

 Action of potassium fluoride on anhydrous chlorides ; prepara- 

 tion of anhydrous fluorides of nickel and potassium, and of 

 cobalt and potassium, by M. C. Poulenc. The compounds 

 prepared have the composition NiKFj and C0KF3. Full de- 

 scriptions are given of the mode of preparation and the proper- 

 ties of the new substances. — On the fixation of iodine by starch, 

 by M. G. Rouvier. — On the estimation of fluorine, by M. 



Total ... 



1 36 '2 



NO. 1171, VOL. 45] 



Ad. Carnot.— On the aldehydes and acetone bromides which 

 result from the action of bromine on alcohols of the fatty 

 group, by M. A. I^tard. — On propylamines and some of 

 their derivatives, by M. F. Chancel. — On some reactions 

 of isomeric amido - benzoic acids, by M. Oechsner de 

 Coninck. — Study of the velocity of decomposition of diazo- 

 compounds, by MM. J. Hausser and P. Th. MuUer. — On two 

 fluorhydrines of glycerine, by M. Maurice Meslans. (See Notes. ) 

 — On the mode of union of rings of the abdomen (zigzag articula- 

 tion) of Hymenoptera, by M. G. Carlet. — On the embryonic 

 development of the Galatheida of the genus Diptychus, by M. 

 E. L. Bouvier. — On the histology of the pituitary gland, by 

 M. G. Saint-Remy.— On the blue colouring matter in the blood 

 of Crustacea, by M. F. Heim.— On a new marine Rhizopod 

 {Pontomyxa flava, g. et sp. n.), by M. E. Topsent.— The 

 streptonary nervous system of Heteropods, by M. Paul Pelseneer. 

 — Observations on I'anthracnose maculee, by M. Louis Mangin. 

 — On the artificial culture of Diatomacese, by M. P. Miquel. — 

 On the crystalline rocks of Chablais, by M. Michel-Levy. — The 

 Saint-Beat marble, its age and stratigraphical relations, by M. 

 Caralp.— On some minimum perceptible quantities of certain 

 odours, by M. Jacques Passy. — Difference in the functions 

 exercised on the bladder by the afferent nerves of the hypo- 

 gastric plexus, by M. Lannegrace.— On the Martinique cyclone 

 of August i8, 1891, by M. G. Landes.— Magnetic disturbances 

 and seismic phenomena, by M. limile Riviere. 



BOOKS and PAMPHLETS RECEIVED. 



Books. — Index of Meteorological Observations in the United States 

 (Washington).— Essex Institute Historical Collections, vol. xxvii. cSalem, 

 Mass.)— A New Course of Experimental Chemistry: J. Castell-Evans 

 (Murby).— Souvenir of Shakespeare's King Henry the Eighth {Black and 

 W^/zz7e).— Deutsches Meteorologisches Jahrbuch fiir 1890 (Hamburg).— 

 Island Life, 2nd edition : A R.Wallace (Macmillan).— A Naturalist in the 

 Transvaal: W. L. Distant (Porter).— The Clyde Sea Area: Dr. H. R. 

 Mill (Williams and Norgate). -Live Stock: Prof. J. Wrightson (Cassell).— 

 The Great Earthquake in Japan, 1891 : J. Milne and W. K. Burton (Stan- 

 ford). . ,. „ 



Pamphlets.— Azimut Assoluto del Segnale Trigonometnco di Monte 

 Vesco suir orizzonte di Torino : F. Porro (Torino).— Ergebnisse der Meteoro- 

 logischen Beobachtungen im Systeme der Deutsche Seewarte fur das Lustrum 

 1886-90 (Hamburg). 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Mendeleeff 's Principles of Chemistry. By T. E. T. 529 

 The Ligation of the Great Arteries. By Dr. M. 



Armand Ruffer 53° 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Streeter : "Precious Stones and Gems : their History, 



Sources, and Characteristics '•■ . 531 



Lewes: " Air and Water" 53^ 



Letters to the Editor : — 



Ornithology of the Sandwich Isles.— Prof. Alfred 



Newton, F.R.S.; J. E. Hatting 532 



Poincare's Thermodynamics. — P. G. T 532 



M. Poincare and Maxwell.— Prof. Geo. Eras. Fitz- 



Gerald, F.R.S 532 



Prof. Burnside's Paper on the Partition of Energy, 

 R.S.E., July 1887.— Prof. W. Burnside ; S. H. 



Burbury, F.R.S 533 



Double Orange.— Gerald B. Francis . . . • ■• 534 

 Metals at High Temperatures. {Illustrated.) By Prof. 



W. C. Roberts-Austen, C.B., F.R.S 534 



On Insect Colours. II. By F. H, Perry Coste . 541 

 Examination of the Standards of Measure and 



Weight immured in the Houses of Parliament . 543 



Notes 543 



Our Astronomical Column:— 



The Relative Motion of 61 Cygni 547 



The Temperature of the Sun 547 



Comet Swift, March 6 53^ 



Wolf's Comet, 1891 II 53^ 



Periodic Perturbations of the Four Inner Planets . . 548 

 N. P. D.'s observed with Greenwich and Washington 



Transit Circles 54 



Washington Observations, 1887 • ■ 54 



Fertilization of the Casuarinacese. By A. W. B. . 548 



University and Educational Intelligence 549 



Societies and Academies 549 



Books and Pamphlets Received 55 2 



