624 



NATURE 



[April 28, 1892 



perspective. — Prof. Blackie read a paper on the most recent 

 phases of Greek literary style. The style of the educated Greek 

 and the popular style were brought into closer correspondence 

 than previously at the commencement of the present century, 

 chiefly through the influence of Coraes. In this paper Prof. 

 Blackie investigates the result of that amalgamation. Since 

 1830, the development of the Greek language has been most 

 marked. The higher classical style has been constantly gaining 

 ground, so that popular and literary Greek now differs as little 

 from ancient classical Greek as Scotch does from English ; 

 while, previous to the time of Coraes, they were as distinct as 

 present-day English is from the English of Chaucer. The 

 author gives examples of the deviations of the literary and 

 popular Greek of various epochs from ancient Greek, which 

 prove a rapid return to the ancient purity of language. Thus, 

 while in twelve lines of Romaic Greek eighteen or twenty 

 deviations from the pure style may be found, in twelve lines of 

 modern Greek only two or three such deviations appear. In 

 the first five verses of the second chapter of Luke, nineteen 

 deviations occur in the Romaic New Testament, while in the 

 same passage in the English Bible Society's version of 1890 only 

 four are found. In two pages of a recent number of a Greek 

 newspaper only two deviations occur. — Dr. Berry Haycraft com- 

 municated a contribution, by Mr. F. E. Beddard, to the anatomy 

 of Sutroa 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, April 19. — M. d'Abbadie in the 

 chair. — Calculation of the diminution which is experienced by 

 the mean pressure on a fixed horizontal plane, in the interior of 

 a heavy liquid filling a basin and agitated by certain wave 

 motions, by M. J. Boussinesq. — Note by M. Faye accompanying 

 the presentation of celestial photographs obtained at Heidelberg 

 by Dr. Max Wolf, Director of the Observatory. The photo- 

 graphs commented upon by M. Faye are those recently taken of 

 a part of Cygnus, and that on which the trail of a new asteroid 

 was detected ; also a picture showing a shooting-star which 

 crossed the field of observation during exposure. The photo- 

 graphs were taken by means of a portrait-lens 2\ inches in 

 diameter. — On the optical measure of high temperatures, by 

 M. A. Crova.— Researches on the formation of planets and 

 satellites : memoir by M. E. Roger, presented by M. Jordan. 

 The author has developed a complex relation connecting the 

 distances of planets from the sun, and also one connecting 

 the distances of planets from their satellites.— Observations of 

 Swift's comet (1892 March 6), made with the Brunner equa- 

 torial of Lyons Observatory, by M. G. Le Cadet. Observations 

 for position were made on April 3, 4, 8, 9, li, and 15. — On 

 differential invariants of a surface with respect to conformable 

 transformations of space, by M. Arthur Tresse.— On the accuracy 

 of comparisons of a mUre a bouts with a metre a traits, by M. 

 Bosscha. — Researches on the secondary wood of Apetales, by 

 M. C. Houlbert. — On the relations existing between the form 

 and nature of the beds of andalusite at Ariege, by M. A. 

 Lacroix. It appears that at Ariege the form of the andalusite 

 is characteristic in each bed to such an extent that, given a 

 geological map of the region, it is possible to indicate a priori 

 where the mineral would be found, and conversely, given a 

 specimen of andalusite, the geological nature of the bed from 

 which it was taken could be stated with very little chance of 

 error. The facts described by M. Lacroix are thus as useful to 

 the geologist as to the mineralogist. — On the loess of Turkestan, 

 by M. Guillaume Capus. 



Brussels. 

 Academy of Sciences, March 5. — The following com- 

 municatiins were read : — The male of certain Caligides, and a 

 new species of this family, by M. P.J. Van Beneden. The 

 author describes (i) the male of Pandarus Crane hii ; (2) the 

 male and female Pandarus affinis, n. sp. ; (3) a new species, 

 Chlamys incisus ; and (4) the male of Dinematoura elongata. — 

 Theoretical determination of the radius of the sphere of mole- 

 cular activity of liquids in general, by M. P. De Heen. The 

 conclusion is arrived at that the radius of the sphere of activity 

 is proportional to the product of surface tension into molecular 

 volume. — On the curve in conic sections, by M. CI. Servais. — 

 Researches on the physiology of respiratory centres, by Dr. 

 Alfred Bienfait. The author adduces evidence to show that 

 a single respiratory centre, isolated by two transverse sections 

 from the accessory respiratory centres, controls the movements 

 of the glottis. — On a new ptomaine obtained by the culture of 



Bacterium Allii, by Dr. A, B. Griffiths, In a former paper 

 Dr. Griffiths described and named Bacterium Allii — a micro- 

 organism found by him. This Bacteria produces a green pig- 

 ment, soluble in alcohol, and possessing a particular absorption 

 spectrum. In the presence of albuminoids, Bacterium Allii 

 gives rise to a crystaliizable ptomaine, which furnishes a 

 chloroplatinate, having the formula, according to analyses, 

 (CioHj^NHCOPtjCU. The analysis of the base gave the 

 formula C10H17N, which corresponds to that of chloro- 

 platinate. 



BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, and SERIALS RECEIVED. 



BnoKS.— The ApodiHae: H. M. Bernard (Macmillan).— Tanganyika : E. 

 C. Hore (Stanf rd). -Epidemics, Plagues, and Fevers : Hon. RoUo Russell 

 (Sta..f rd).— Hand-book of Jamaica, 1892 (Stanford).— A Trf-atise on Physical 

 Optics: A. B Basset (Bell).— The Landfall of Lief Eriks'.n, a.d. iooo : E. 

 N. Horsf rd (Boston, Damrell and Upham) —A (iuide to Electric Lighting : 

 S Bottone (Whittaker).— Elementary Lessons in Heat: S. E. Tillman, 2nd 

 edition (Gay and I'.ird).— Les Alterations de la Per.sonnalit6 : A. Binet(Pans, 

 Alcan). -Thermodynamische Studien : J. W. Gibbs, translated by W. 

 Ostwald (Leipzig, Engelmann) —English Botany. su"plemtnt to the 3rd 

 edition. Part i : N. E Brown (Bell).— Progressive Mathematical Exercises, 

 2nd series; A. T Richardson (Macmillan). 



Pamphlet.— The Wheat Plant, h w it Feeds and Grows : W. Carruthurs 

 (also 8 diagrams) (W. and A K. Johnston). 



Seria. s. — Proceedings of the Rochester Academy of Science, vol. 1. 

 Brochures i and 2 (Rochester, N Y.).— Brain, Part 57 (Macmillan).— 

 Journal of the Bombay Natural Hist.iry Society, No. 4 vol. vi. (Bombay). 

 —Journal of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, N'> 97, voi. xxi. 

 (Spon).— Bulletin of the New York Mathematical Society, vol. i. No. 7 

 (New York).— Physical Society of London, Pr .ceedings, vol. xi. Part _3 

 (Taylor and Francis) —Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, vol. xii. 

 Part 7 (Stanford) —Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society, April 

 (Williams and Norgate) — A Manual of Orchidaceous Plants, Part 8 

 (Veitch).— Notes from the Leyden Museum, vol. xiy Nos. i and 2 (Leyden, 

 Brill) — American Journal of Mathematics, vol. xiv. No 2 iBaltimorel. — 

 Transacti ns of the Royal Society of Victoria, vol. ii. Part 2. 1891 (Mel- 

 bourne).— Report of the Geological Survey of India, vol. xxv. Part i 

 ((Calcutta). 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Theoretical Chemistry. By Prof. M. M. Pattison 



Muir . . 601 



The Travels of a Painter of Flowers. By W. B. H. 602 



American Town Trees 603 



Out Book Shelf: 



Briggs: " Synopsis of Non Metallic Chemistry " . . 604 



Whiteley : "Chemical Calculations" 604 



Bonney: " The Year-book of Science " ..... 604 



" Handy Atlas of Modern Geography " 605 



Letters to the Editor :— 



Aurora— Geo. M. Seabroke ; Arthur Marshall; 



Arthur E. Brown 605 



Pigments of Lepidoptera.— F. H. Perry Coste ; 



Prof. R. Meldola, F.R.S 605 



Eozoon.— Sir J. William Dawson, F.R.S 606 



The Theory of Solutions.— Prof. W. Ostwald . 606 

 Physiological Action of Diminished Atmospheric 



Pressure.— F. R. Mallet 606 



Sensitive Water Jets.— W. B. Croft 606 



DoubleOrange.— Gerald B. Francis 607 



On the Line Spectra of the Elements. By Pi of. C. 



Runge 607 



Aberrant Fossil Ungulates of South America. By 



R. L. . . . 608 



The Changefulness of Temperature as an Element 



of Climate. By H. F. B • • 610 



Forestry in America. By Prof. W. R. Fisher ... 611 



Notes 612 



Our AstronomicaJ Column : . 



Spectrum of Nova Aurigse 616 



Photographs of the Region of Nova Cygni . . . .617 



Winnecke's Comet 617 



Personal Equations in Transit Observations 017 



The Sirius System •. ■•,•.; °^7 



The Ancient Civilization of Central America. ( With 



Map.) By Alfred P. Maudslay 617 



University and Educational Intelligence ..... 622 



Scientific Seriais 622 



Societies and Academies 023 



Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received 024 



NO. II 74, VOL. 45] 



