April 12, 1917] 



NATURE 



139 



wanting, and Protozoa are absent. The latter occur 

 only among wood-feeding Termites, and are possibly 

 symbiotic rather than parasitic. The balance of evi'- 

 dence is entirely opposed to the occurrence of "cas- 

 tration parasitaire " among Termitidas. 

 Paris. 



Academy of Sciences, March 12.— M. A. d'Arscnval 

 m the chair.— M. Tisserand : The mechanical culture 

 of soils. The replacement of animals by motors on 

 the land, already commenced before the war, has 

 now become necessary. Attention is directed to a work 

 by Capt. Julien, entitled "La Moticulture," in which 

 the construction and use of such apparatus are fully 

 discussed. — R. de Montessus de Ballore : Left alge- 

 braic curves.— >L David : The estimation of ozone. 

 An acid solution of ferrous ammonium sulphate is 

 used to absorb the ozone, the amount being deter- 

 mined by a titration with centinormal potassium per- 

 manganate.— F. Grandjean : The visibiUty, above the 

 temperature of isotropic fusion, of boundaries of con- 

 tact between the anisotropic liquids and the crj^stals. 

 — H. Hubert : The diabases of Foula-Djalon and their 

 contact phenomena. — M. Jean : The influence of ex- 

 tracts of genital glands on phosphorus metabolism. 

 The injection of extract of interstitial gland and that 

 of the yellow body from the ovary of the pig both 

 cause a diminution in the phosphate excreted. — J. 

 Laborde : The reactions of white turbidity in wines. — 

 Em. Bourquelot and A. Aubry : The en, stallisation and 

 complementary properties of the gaiactobiose previ- 

 ously obtained by biochemical synthesis. The authors 

 have now succeeded in preparing in crystallised form 

 the gaiactobiose, the synthesis of which was described 

 in a previous paper. As had been surmised, this 

 >ugar shows multirotation. — J. Amar : The classifica- 

 tion of mutilations of the locomotive apparatus and 

 incapacity for work. — Mile. Marie Goldsmith : Some 

 sensorial reactions of the octopus. This Cephak)pod 

 is capable of distinguishing colours, since associations 

 can be established between the colour of an object 

 and the sensation of feeding. There is proof of 

 memory, but it is of short duration. — O. Duboscq : A 

 new Sporozoa, Selysitia perforans. — E. Roubaud : Auto- 

 inoculation and primary development in the buccal 

 mucus of the larva of Gastrophilus intestittalis. 



March 19. — M. A. d'Arsonval in the chair. — M. 

 Hamy : The approximate values of some definite in- 

 tegrals.— G. Bigourdan : The position and co-ordinates 

 of some astronomical stations of Paris, utilised during 

 the construction of the observatorv. — P. Termier : Re- 

 marks on a recent publication of Si. Maurice Lugeon. 

 An account of a memoir entitled " Les Hautes Alpes 

 calcaires entre la Lizerne et la Kander." — Y. Delage : 

 Pharmacological equivalents and therapeutic units. 

 The author suggests a novel and fundamental altera- 

 tion in the method of writing f>rescript:ons. The 

 number of new synthetic drugs new u»ed in prac- 

 tice is so large that }t has become almost impossible 

 to remember the doses of all of them, -and, it is 

 pointed out, there are difficulties in consulting a book 

 in the presence of a patient. It is proposed that a 

 list of all simple drugs and compounds in use should 

 be drawn up and a number placed after each, indi- 

 cating by weight or volume, according to the nature 

 of the drug, the average daih' dose of the average 

 adult. This would be called the pharmacological 

 equivalent (P.E.). For convenience, to avoid de- 

 cimals, a therapeutic equivalent (T.E.) one-tenth of 

 this would be taken as the unit. A model prescrip- 

 tion drawn up on these lines is driven. It is claimed 

 that the method proposed would have advantages for 

 the doctor, the oharmacist, and the general public. — 

 G. Charpy and A. Cornu-Thenard : Tests for resili'^nce. 

 Irregularities in results in measurements of resilience 



NO. 2476, VOL. 99] 



have been attributed, on one hand, to imperfec- 

 tions in the methods employed, or, on the other, 

 to actual variations in the samples of metals under 

 examination. Ffom the results of a large number 

 of experiments the author has come to the conclusion 

 that the second point of view is the correct one. The 

 resilience of a metal is a perfectly determinate mag- 

 nitude, although it presents jio correlation with the 

 usual constants obtained by traction or bending. — E. 

 Aries : The pressure of saturated vapour at low tem- 

 peratures and the chemical constant. — .M. Haug was 

 elected a member of the section of mineralogy in the 

 place of M. A. Lacroix, elected permanent secretary. — 

 E. Lebon : A new table of divisors of numbers.^-G. 

 Julia : The reduction of binary forms of any degree. 

 — G. Giraud : Hyperfuchsian functions. — A. Bnhl : The 

 .\belian sums of conical volumes. — L. Hartmann : The 

 systematic variation of the value of the kinetic energy 

 m the elastic shock of bodies. — A. Leduc : Heats of 

 vaf)orisation and maximum vapour pressures. A 

 comparison of the latent heats of vaporisation of ether 

 and benzene deduced from the vapour fwessures of 

 Ramsay and Young, and determined experimentally 

 by Winkelmann, Regnault, and Perot. The causes of 

 the differences, which are considerable, are discussed. 

 — C. Truche : The treatment of ulcerous lymphangitis 

 of the horse by bacteriotherapy. The preparation of 

 a serum is described, and the favourable results ob- 

 tained by its use. — M. Ratynski : A treatment of in- 

 fected wounds. 



W.ASHINGTON, D.C. 



National Academy of Sciences (Proceedings No. 12, 

 vol. ii.). — S. Taber : The origin of veins of the asbesti- 

 form minerals. Cross-fibre veins are formed through 

 a process of lateral secretion ; the fibrous structure 

 is to be attributed largely to the mechanical limi- 

 tation of crystal growth through the addition of new 

 material in only one direction. — R. -\. Daly : A new 

 test of the subsidence theory of coral reefs. Exist- 

 ing coral reefs are new upgrowths on platforms 

 which have been formed before, and independently 

 of, the reefs. The submarine topography of each 

 reef-platform structure as a whole, and the element- 

 ary principles of oceanography, declare against the 

 assumption that the forms and spatial relations of 

 atoll and barrier reefs are due to the sinking of the 

 earth's crust. — -A. McAdie : A new thermometer scak. 

 It is suggested that the absolute zero and the melt- 

 ing point of ice be designated as o and 1000. — \V. J. 

 Crozier : The immunity colcM-ation of some Nudi- 

 branchs. The coloration of Chromodoris zebra is a 

 metabolic accident, at least in relation to its pro- 

 tection. — R. Pearl : Some eff^ects of the continued 

 administration of alcohol to the domestic fowl, with 

 special reference to the progeny. Confirmation of 

 previous calculations that the progeny of alcoholised 

 parentage in poultrv, while fewer in number, are 

 made up of individuals superior in frfiysiological 

 vigour, and that this result is due to a selective action 

 of the alcohol upon the germ-cells. — O. E. Buckley : 

 .An ionisation manometer. Use is made of the ionisa- 

 tion of gas by an electron discharge. The range of 

 the apparatus is from 10- ' mm. to as low pressures 

 as can be obtained. — H. M. Bowman : Physiological 

 studies on Rhizophora. The rate of transpiration varies 

 directly with the concentration of the medium in 

 which the Rhizophora plants grow. — J. F. McClendon : 

 The hydrogen ion concentration of sea water, and 

 the phvsiological efff^'^ts of the ions of sea water. It 

 is calculated that OH', Na*, and K* increase the 

 permeabiijtv of the plasma membrane by causing it 

 to swell, and that Ca", Mg", and H' (at least on 

 the alkaline side of the isoelectric point) inhibit in- 

 crease in permeability by inhibiting swelling. — L. B. 



