400 



NATURE 



[July 12, 19 17 



Washington, D.C, 

 National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings No. 5, 

 vol. iii. (May 15).— A. A. Miclielson : The laws of 

 elastico-viscous flow. A number of empirical for- 

 mulae are given. — F. G. Keyes : A new equation of 

 continuity. A comparison of a modification of van 

 der Waals's equation with experimental results ex- 

 tended over wide ranges, showing satisfactory agree- 

 ment between the equation and experiment.^E. W. 

 Berry : The classification of vascular plants.- — C. 

 Barus : Displacement interferometrv in connection 

 with U-tubes.— T. W. Richards and N. F. Hall: 

 Attempt to separate the isotopic forms of lead by 

 fractional crystallisation One may infer that the 

 molal solubilities of the nitrates are probably essen- 

 tially identical and that isotopes are really insepar- 

 able by any such process as crystallisation. — G. N. 

 Collins : Hybrids of Zea iunicata and Z. ramosa. — 

 E. P. Felt :' Distribution of gall midges. A discussion 

 of the existing distribution and of hypotheses con- 

 cerning the way in which it may have been brought 

 about.— R. Pearl : Fertility and age in the domestic 

 fowl. There is a steady and progressive decline in 

 fertility after the first breeding season. — W. A. 

 Noycs : A kinetic hypothesis to explain the function 

 of electrons in the chemical combination of atoms. — 

 C. Barus : Transverse displacement interferometn,-. 

 — C. O. Johns and D. B. Jones : The proteins of the 

 peanut, Arachis hypogaea. Peanut meal contains 

 a high percentage of lysine, and could well be used 

 to supplement a diet of corn and wheat. — A. V. 

 Kidder : A design-sequence from New Mexico. It 

 has been possible to identify five successive steps in the 

 modification of a design. — ^J. B. Ferguson : The equili- 

 brium between carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, sul- 

 phur dioxide, and free sulphur. — E. B. Hart, E. V. 

 McCollum, H. Steenbock, and G. C. Humphrey : Physio- 

 logical effect on growth and reproduction of rations 

 balanced from restricted sources. Studies pointing 

 to the necessity of the accumulation of further in- 

 formation on the physiological behaviour of feeding- 

 stuffs. — J. Loeb and J. H. Northrop : What determines 

 the duration of life in metazoa? Drosophila has a 

 temperature-coefficient for the duration of life of the 

 order of magnitude of that of the chemical reaction. 

 Since we know that the duration of the larval stage 

 is determined bv a specific hormone, we must con- 

 sider the possibility that the duration of life is also 

 primarily determined bv the formation of a hormone 

 in the body. — R. J. Anderson and G. Lusk : The inter- 

 relation between diet and body condition and the 

 energy production during mechanical work in the 

 dog. The accomplishment of a given amount of 

 mechanical work is always at the expense of a given 

 amount of energy, and the amount of energy required 

 for the mechanical work is independent of the 

 physical condition of the subject and of the quantity 

 of carlbohydrate present in the gastrointestinal tract. 



Petrograd. 

 Academy of Sciences, February 15.— P. P. SusUnskij : 



(i) The geological structure and minerals of Mount 

 Serlovaja, in Transbaikalia. (2) The geological struc- 

 ture of some new deposits of wolframite in Trans- 

 baikalia. — M. M. Prigovorskij : Firepwoof clays in Cen- 

 tral Russia. — V. C Dorogostaiskij : A short account of 

 the labours of the Baikal Expedition of the Academy 



of Sciences in iqi6. March i.— I. M. Vinogradov : A 



new method of obtaining asymptotic expressions. — 

 V. V. Zalenskij : The segmentation of the egg of Sulpa 

 hicaudata (second period). — V. and E. Martino : Mate- 

 rials for the classification and geographical distribu- 

 tion of the mammals of the Kirgise Steppe. Part iii.^ 



March 15.— M. A. Rykatev, N. V. Rose, R. G. Abels, 



NO. 2489, VOL. 99] 



Ja. S. Beiikovii, and E. Ju. Gelin : The magnetic sur- 

 vey of the Government of Podolsk in 1913. — V. A. 

 Steklov : The approximation of functions by means of 

 CebySev's polynomials and on quadratures. — N. I. 

 Andrusov : (i) The ecology of Adacna plicata, Eichw. 

 (2) Post-Tertiary marine desposfts of Sinope (Asia 

 Minor). 



HisTORico-PniLOi.OGiCAL SECTION, February 22. — 

 N. M. Mogilianskij : The bicentenary of the Anthropo- 

 logical Section of the Peter the Great Museum of 

 Anthropology and Ethnography. — I. A. Orbeli : Arme- 

 nian rock inscriptions. March 8. — E. D. Polivanov : 



The accentuation of Japanese bisyllabic adjectives. 



March 22. — B. Ja. Vladimircov "and Princa E. A. 

 Dzavachov : An anonymous Georgian historian on the 

 Mongolian language. — Th. E. UspenskiJ : The Tre- 

 bizond MS. in the Public Library. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and 

 Burma. Coleoptera Lamellicornia. Part ii. By 

 G, J. Arrow. Pp. xiii + 387+plates v. (London: 

 Tavlor and Francis.) 155. 



Can We Set the World in Order? The Need for a 

 Constructive World-Culture. By C. R. Enock. Pp. 

 198. (London : Grant Richards, Ltd.) 35. 6d. net. 



Name this Flower : A Simple Way of Finding Out 

 the Names of Comm.on Plants without any Previous 

 Knowledge of Botany. By Prof. G. Bonnier. Pp. 

 xii + 331+ plates 64. (London and Toronto: J. M. 

 Dent and Sons, Ltd. ; New York : E. P. Dutton and 

 Co.) 6s. net. 



Organism and Environment as Illustrated by the 

 Physiology of Breathing. By Dr. J. S. Haldane. 

 Pp. xi + 138. (New Haven : Yale University Press ; 

 London : Oxford University Press.) 5s. 6d. net. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Acids and the War. By T 381 



The Heat Treatment of Steel in Practice. By 



H. C. H. C. . 381 



School and Personal Hygiene 382 



Our Bookshelf ... 382 



Letters to the Editor:— 



Synchronous Signalling. — Prof. J. Joly, F. R.S. . 384 



Calculating Machines.— Prof. Karl Pearson, F. R.S. 384 

 The Hippocampus in Ancient Art. (Illustrated.) — 



Dr. C. R. Eastman 385 



The Hundred-inch Reflector of the Mount Wilson 



Obsefvatory. (Illustrated.) 385 



Maternal and Child Welfare 388 



Notes 389 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



The Nebulce and Stellar Evolution 393 



The Temperature of Space 394 



Radial Velocities of Five Cepheid Variables .... 394 

 The Australian Water Problem. By Dr. Brysson 



Cunningham 394 



The Report of the Board of Education, 1915-16 . 395 



The Carnegie Institution and Scientific Research . 395 



University and Educational Intelligence 397 



Societies and Academies 398 



Books Received 400 



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ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON, W.C.2. 



Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the 

 Publishers. 



Editorial Communications to the Editor. 

 Telegraphic Address : Phusis, London. 

 Telephone Number : GerrARd 883d 



