July 5, 1917] 



NATURE 



\79 



transporting the revolving fluid must be the same at 

 all heights. This condition is shown to be satisfied 

 if the Hne of lapse of temperature with height in the 

 atmosphere corresponds with an adiabatic line, and 

 this is known to be approximately the case in a 

 cyclonic depression where convection has been 

 ubiquitous and vigorous.-^Prof. A. Fowler and Hon. 

 R. J. Strntt : Absorption bands of atmospheric ozone 

 in the spectra of sun and stars. In this paper it is 

 shown that a series of narrow bands in the ultra-violet 

 absorption sf>ectrum of ozone appears in the spectra 

 of the sun and stars near the extreme end of the 

 photographic spectrum. The atmospheric origin of 

 these bands is proved by the increase in their intensity 

 in the solar sp>ectruni as the sun's altitude is 

 diminished. The obsen-ations are considered strongly 

 to confirm the view of Hartley that ozone is the con- 

 stituent of the atmosphere which limits the spectra 

 of celestial bodies in the ultra-violet. 



Miaeralogical Society, June 19. — Mr. W. Barlow, presi- 

 dent, in the chair. — Dr. G. F. H. Smith : The problem 

 of sartorite. The examination of crystals kindly sup- 

 plied ior the purpose by Dr. C. O. Trechmann and 

 Mr. R. H. Solly showed that the faces fall into zones 

 which are only partially congruent. Just as in the 

 case of calaverite, earlier investigated by the author, 

 there appear to be simultaneously in certain of the 

 crystals five distinct lattices. The vertical spacing and 

 the relative positions of the vertical planes remain un- 

 changed, but in passing from the central lattice ro the 

 two lying on either side there is a distinct shear which 

 varies in direction, though apparently not in amount, 

 from crystal to crystal . — Dr. A. Scott : Note on a curi- 

 ous case of devitrification. The glass of an old bottle 

 found in river sand about 4 ft. below the surface in 

 Leven Shipyard, Dumbarton, has become almost com- 

 pletely crystallised. The crystals, which have a com- 

 position corresponding nearly to 2CaO.Na,0.5Si02, are 

 accompanied by some dark -coloured microlites. A 

 piece of a glass which by accident had been allow-ed 

 to cool slowly showed the same crystals and microlites, 

 and, in addition, a few small needles with high refrac- 

 tion and large birefringence.^ — Dr. G. T. Prior : The 

 meteorites of Simondium, Eagle Station, and Amana. 

 The results of analyses showed that the Amana 

 stone belonged to the cronstadt. with some 

 approach to the baroti type; that Eagle Station is an 

 exception to' other pallasites in containing iron 

 richer in nickel, and olivine correspondingly richer 

 in ferrous oxide; and that Simondium was closer to 

 the grahamites than to the howardites, since, like other 

 grahamites, it contained nickeliferous iron and olivine 

 in chemical composition similar to those of the palla- 

 sites, but with pyroxene and anorthic felspar similar 

 to those of the howardites and eucrites. 



Royal Microscopical Society, June 20.— Mr. E. Heron- 

 Allen, president, in the chair. — F. M. Duncan : A note on 

 the fertilisation and deposition of oya.\n Portiinas depu- 

 fator. The author had recently been able to observe 

 the repeated deposition of fertile ova by a female crab 

 after one copulation. The first batch of ova were de- 

 posited attached to each other in the typical manner. 

 In later depositions the ova were separated from each 

 other, and rested on the floor of the tank like grains of 

 sand. Every care was taken to preclude the possibility 

 of free spermatozoa being present in the water of the 

 tank containing the female crab. This rarelv observed 

 phenomenon had been confirmed bv Dr. H. C'. William- 

 son and Mr. H. J. Waddington." — E. Heron-Allen and 

 A. Earland : Notiria riigosa, a new Foraminifer from 

 the Shetland-Faroe Channel. This representative of 

 a Lituoline genus hitherto recorded onlv by the same 

 authors from tropical and .Australian seas constructs 

 NO. 2488, VOL. 99] 



a polythalamous shell of minute siliceous spicules of 

 curved oxea type, derived from some sponge which, so 

 far, has not been identified, and is isomorphous in 

 structure with the perforate species, Polytnorphina 

 angusta, Egger, and P. lanceolata, Reuss. 



Victoria. 

 Royal Society, April 12. — Mr. \V. A. Hartnell, 

 treasurer, in the chair. — R. T. Patton : Timber produc- 

 tion and growth curves in the mountain ash (Euca- 

 lyptus regnans) Measurements and calculations have 

 been made on a large series of cut timber at Powell- 

 town, and the general conclusion regarding the annual 

 development of w-ood in this species of Eucalypt is that 

 it reaches its maximum at fifty years, and that the 

 most profitable time for cutting is between the sixtieth 

 and seventieth years. These appear to be the first 

 investigations of the kind made on -Australian timber. 

 — Prof. E. W. Skeats : Coral-reef and dolomite 

 problems in relation to the formation of atolls. 



Washington, D.C. 

 National Academy of Sciences, April 15 (Proceedings. 

 No. 4, vol. iii.). — R. A. Millikan : A re-determination 

 of the value of the electron and of related constants. 

 The values for the charge on the electron, the -\vo- 

 gadro constant, etc., are given, with estimates of the 

 accuracy of the result.— J. A. Harris, A. F. Blakeslee, 

 and D. E. Warner : Body pigmentation and egg pro- 

 duction in the fowl. A strong negative correlation 

 exists between the October ear-lobe pigmentation and 

 the e^Q production of the year. — A. J. Goldfarb : Vari- 

 ability of germ-cells of sea-urchins. The varying be- 

 haviour of the eggs in the experiments of Loeb, 

 Lillie, Wastenevs, and others was apparently due in 

 large part to variation in the physiological condition 

 of the eggs they used. — G. Harrison : Transplantation 

 of limbs. The experiments confirm previous ones, 

 showing that the limb bud is a self-differentiating 

 body ; they also show^ that the laterality of the f9re- 

 limb may be affected by its new surroundings. — I. 

 Langmoir : The shapes of group molecules forming 

 the surfaces of liquids. Cross-sections and lengths 

 are calculated for a variety of molecules. Various 

 theoretical conditions are developed. — F. J. Alway and 

 G. R. McDole : The im.portance of the water con- 

 tained in the deeper portions of the subsoil. The 

 moisture of the deeper subsoil will be able to move 

 upward only so slowly and through such a short dis- 

 tance in a sinerle season that it will be at most of no 

 practical benefit to annual crops. — ^W. N. Berg : The 

 transformation of pseudoglobulin into euglobulin. 

 The loss of pseudoglobulin in the heated sera corre- 

 sponds almost quantitatively with the gain of euglo- 

 bulin in the same sera. — H. E. Jordan : A case of 

 normal embrvonic atresia of the oesophagus. A de- 

 scription of the phenomenon for turtles. — H. Shapley : 

 Studies of magnitudes in star clusters. V., Further 

 evidence of the absence of scattering of light in space. — 

 H. E. Jordan : The histor\^ of the primordial germ- 

 cells in the loggrerhead turtle embryo. — H. Shapley : 

 Studies of magnitudes in star clusters. VI., The rela- 

 tion of blue stars and variables to galactic planes. 

 The stellar distribution in the so-called globular clus- 

 ters has an underlying elliptical symmetry ; therefore 

 not onlv certain nebulae, our solar system, and the 

 whole galactic system, but even the globular clusters 

 have the oblateness that is general and fundamental 

 in the dynamics of stellar groups. — L. Spier : Zufii 

 chronologv. It has been found possible to establish 

 a chronologflcal scale with apolications to American 

 culture histor\-. — E. W. Berry : The age of the Bolivian 

 Andes. There is definite evidence that parts of the 



