200 



NATURE 



[May 



1919 



action of the monosodium derivative of acetylene on 

 some halogen esters of secondary and tertiary alcohols. 

 The reaction differs from that shown by halogen esters 

 of primary alcohols, and the corresponding acetylene 

 compounds are not formed. Halogen acid is eliminated 

 and ethylene hydrocarbons are produced. — J. Amar : 

 The curve of pulmonary ventilation. A study of the 

 effects of physical fatigue on respiration. 



April 28.- — M. L^on Guignard in the chair. — H. 

 Parenty : Presentation of a miniature model of a steam 

 recorder. The apparatus, a photograph of which is 

 given, is based on the measurement of pressure in 

 front and behind a constriction in the pipe. — A. Righi : 

 Michelson's experiment and its interpretation. — M. 

 Carleman : The conformable representation of multiply 

 connected domains.— L. E. J. Brouwer : The enumera"- 

 tion of finite groups of topological transformations of 

 a tore. — A. Denjoy : The true value of definite 

 integrals. — R. piquard : A modification of the fluoro- 

 metric method of measuring X-rays and its applica- 

 tion to the measurement of the radiation from 

 Coolidge bulbs. Measurements with fluorescent 

 screens cannot give a value of the radiation in abso- 

 lute measure, since the fraction of the incident energy 

 absorbed by such screens may vary, according to the 

 nature of the X-rays, between 53 and 20 per cent, 

 of the whole, and matters are not improved by in- 

 'creasing the thickness of the screen, since the 

 observed brightness is due to the superficial layers 

 only. This dif^icultv is avoided by the use of a suflR- 

 cient number of thin screens (0-2 mm.). — M. de 

 Broglie : The spectroscopy of the X-ravs. The L ab- 

 sorption spectrum of radium. — J. Bourcart : The 

 presence of the Priabonian in the Salonica region. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



Botany of the Living Plant. By Prof. F. O. 

 Bower. Pp. x+580. (London : Macmillan and Co., 

 Ltd.) 25s. net. 



Premiers Elements d'une Th^orie du Quadrilatere 

 Complet. Bv A. Oppermann. Pp. 76+plate. (Paris : 

 Gauthier-Viliars et Cie.) 



Technic of Surveying Instruments and Methods, 

 including General and Detailed Instructions for Field 

 and Office Work of Extended Students' Surveys. By 

 Profs. W. L. Webb and J. C. L. Fish. Pp. xvi + 3iq. 

 (New York : J. Wiley and Sons, Inc. ; London : 

 Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 9s. 6d. net. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



THURSDAY, May 8. 

 Institution op Electrical Engineers (Joint Meeting wth the Iron and 



Steel Institute), at 2.30.— T. Bibby : Developments in Iron and Steel 



Electric Furnaces.— W. H. Booth : The Booth-Hail Eleciric Furnace.— 

 ■ H. A. Greaves ; Application of Electrical Energy to the Melting of Metals. 



— R. G. Mercer : Electric Furnaces in the Utiited Kingdom, 1918. — Axel 



Sahlin : A New Type of Electric Furnace. — Victor Stobie : Large Electric 



Steel Melting Furnaces. 

 Royal Institution, at 3. — Dr. H. S. Hele-Shaw: Clutches. 

 Institution op Minino and Metallurgy, at 5.30. — Annual General 



Meeting. — Hugh K. Picard : Presidential Address. — H. Standish Ball : 



The Work of the Miner on the Western Front, 1915-1 8. 

 Optical Society, at 7.30.— Prof. F. J. Cheshire: Presidential Address — 



Polarised Light. — J. Rheinberg : Graticules. 

 FRIDAY, May q. 

 Royal Astronomical Society, at 5 —A. W. Clayden : Note on the Blue 



Violet Absorption of Venus. — E. Doolittle : Note on Espin's List of New 



Double Stars. —A. N. Brown: Observations of U Persei in 1911-19. — A. 



Pannekoek : The Distance of the MWVyVJa.y.—Prohabie Papers : Rev. 



T. E. R. Phillips : Micrometrical Measures of Double Stars in 1918. — 



Rev. A. L. Cortie : The Spectrum of Nova Aquilas, 1918, July 29. — W. M. 



Smart : Note on the Position Line of Navigation. 

 Phvsical Society, at 5.— A. E. Bawtree : Demonstration of a New 



Method of Producing Coloured Designs upon GUss.- F. J. Whipple : 



Absolute Scales of Pressure and Temperature. — Dr. A. O. Rankine : The 



Transmission of Speech by Light. 

 Ro7Ai Institution, at 5. 30.— Sir George Macartney : Chinese Turkistan— 



Past and Present. 

 Malacological Society, at 6.— G. B.- Sowerby : A New Species of 



Ampullaria in the Geneva Museum.— Dr. A. E. Boycott : Parthenogenesis 

 . in PaluJestrinajenkinsi. — Tom Iredale : Notes on the MoUusca of Lord 



Howe Island. 



SATURDAY, May 10. 



Royal Institution, at 3.— Pro^. H. S. Foxwell : Chapters in the Psycho- 

 logy of Industry. 



MONDAY, May 12. 



Royal Geographical Society, at 8.30. — A. Trevor Battye : Crete ; its 

 Scenery and Natural Features. 



TUESDAY, May 13. 



Royal Institution, at 3. — Prof. A. Keith : British Ethnology — The People 

 of Ireland. 



Royal Anthropological Institute, at 5. — Sir Everard im Thurn : 

 Dwellings and Costumes of Old Fiji, illustrated by Lantern Slides and 

 Specimens. 



Zoological Society, at 5.30.— Lt.-Col. S. Monckton Copeman : Experi- 

 ments on Sex Determination. 



WEDNESDAY, May 14. 



Royal Society of Arts, at 4.30. — H. Kelway-Bamber : Railway Trans- 

 port in the United Kingdom. 



Institution' of Electrical Engineers, at 6.— Major J. Erskine-Murray : 

 Wireless in the koyal Air Force. 



British Psychological Society (Medical Section), Medical Society of 

 London, 11 Chandos Street, W.i, at 8.30.— Dr. W. H. R. Rivers: 

 Inaugural Address— The Objects and Work of the Section. 

 THURSDAY, May 15. 



Royal Institution, at 3. — Prof. F. Keeble : Intensive Cultivation. 



Royal Society, at ^.-1.0.— Probable Papers: Prof. W. H. Young: (i) The 

 Area of Surfaces ; (2) Change of the Independent Variables in a Multiple 

 Integral. — Prof. W. A. Bone and R. J. Sarjant : Researches on the 

 Chemistry of Coal. I. The Action of Pyridine upon the Coal Substance. 

 —Prof. E. F. Burton : A New Method of Weighing Colloidal Particles.— 

 W. E. Curtis : The Value of the Rydberg Constant for Spectral Series. 



Royal Society of Arts, at 4.30.— Prof. H. E. Armstrong : Soil Deficiencies 

 in India, with Special Reference to Indigo. 



Institution of Electrical Engineers, at 6. — E. A. Laidlawand \V. H. 

 Grinsted : The Telephone Service of Large Cities, with Special Reference 

 to London. 



Chemical Society, at 8. — B. Blount and J. H. Sequeira: " Blue John 

 and other Forms of Fluorides. — G. M. Bennett : The Nitration of Diphenyl- 

 ethy^enediamine. — D. L. Hamniick : The Destruction of Picric Acid in 

 Nitrating Acid.— J. C. Irvine and J. S. Dick: The Constitution of 

 Maltose. A New Example of Degradation in the Sugar Group. — R. J. 

 Manning and M. Nierenstein : The Tannin of the Canadian Hemlock 

 ( Tsuga Canadensis, Carr). 



FRIDAY, May 16. 



Royal Institution, at 5.30.— Dr. S. F. Harmer : Sub- Antarctic Whales 

 and Whaling. 



SATURDAY, May 17. 



Royal Institution, at 3.— Dr. J. Wells : Csesar's Personal Character as 

 seen in his Commentaries. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Joseph Black 181 



The Functions of the Internal Ear. By Prof. A. 



Keith, F.R.S. . 182 



Military Geology and Topography. By W. B. R. K. 183 



Our Bookshelf 183 



Letters to the Editor:— 



The Cultivation of Sponges.— Lieut. W. R. Dunlop, 



R.N.V.R 184 



Wasps.— W. F. Denning ... 185 



The Lunar Tide in the Atmosphere. { With Diagrafii. ) 



By Dr. S. Chapman . .... 185 



Inter-Allied Co-operation in Chemistry 187 



The Royal Academy. By J. S. D 188 



Robert Chapman Davie 189 



Notes 190 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Determination of Proper Motions . I94 



The Blink Microscope I94 



Calculation of Occultations of Stars by the Moon . . 194 

 X-Rays and British Industry. By Major G. W. C. 



Kaye . I94 



Radio-Telegraphic Investigations in Connection 



with the Solar Eclipse of May 29, 1919 196 



The Bureau of Standards and the War 197 



University and Educational Intelligence 198 



Societies and Academies 199 



Books Received . . 200 



Diary of Societies ... 200 



Editorial and Publishing Offices: 



MACMILLAN AND CO., Ltd., 



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



Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the 

 Publishers 



Editorial Communications to the Editor. 

 Telegraphic Address : Phusis, London. 

 Telephone Number : Gerrard 8830. 



NO. 2584, VOL. 103] 



