28o 



NATURE 



[June 5, 1919 



tions and place-names. We must, therefore, recog- 

 nise the existence of a people, the Vitians, who over- 

 spread the whole of Polynesia. They were driven 

 eastwards by a barbaric invasion, which repeated 

 some features of the invasion of Europe by the Ger- 

 manic hordes. Hints of a similar cataclysm lire to 

 be found in Melanesia, and even so far west as 

 Indonesia. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, May 12. — M. L^on Guignard 

 in the chair. — G. Humbert : The measure of the 

 classes of quadratic forms, ternarv and positive, of 

 given determinant. — ^L. Lecornu : The vortices of a 

 fluid vein.— P. Sabatier, A. Mailhe, and G. Gaudion : 

 The action of finely divided metals upon pinene 

 vapour. Four metals were used in these experiments, 

 copper, nickel, cobalt, and iron, and the results of 

 the two first are given in detail. With copper as 

 catalyst, aromatic hvdrocarbons predominate; with 

 reduced nickel at 600° C. the decomposition is very 

 energetic, but as soon as the activity of the metal is 

 reduced by deposited carbon the products are similar 

 to those obtained with copper. — E. Arlis : Direct 

 determination of the temperature exponent in the 

 equation of state of fluids. A formula deduced in 

 an earlier communication has been applied to the 

 experimental data (Sydney Young) for seven sub- 

 stances, with satisfactory agreement. — M. Hilaire de 

 Chardonnet was elected a member of the division of 

 the applications of science to industry.— E. Belot : 

 Spiral orbits with balanced gravitation. ^ — C. Cheneveau 

 and R. Audubert : The velocitv of light in turbid 

 media.— A. Boutaric : The application of the Gibbs- 

 Helmholtz equation A-U = T(9A/3T) to monovariant 

 systems. It has been assumed by Nernst and others 

 that for monovariant systems the above equation 

 becomes A-U=T(^A/rtT), in which dA/dT is the 

 differential coeflP.cient of A (a function of T only) with 

 respect to T. It is shown that, in general, this ex- 

 tension is not legitimate. — A. Colson : Eutectics and 

 dilute solutions.— A. Behal : The isolation and charac- 

 terisation of _ alcohols as allophanates. The alcohol 

 is converted into the allophanate bv cyanic acid, pro- 

 duced in the gaseous state by depolymerisation of 

 cyanuric acid, and the reaction product washed with 

 ether to remove unchanged alcohol and urethane. All 

 the allophanates are crystalline, very sligbtlv soluble 

 in ether, and serve well for the separation and 

 identification of alcohols. — G. Reboul and L. Dunoyer : 

 The influence of the seasons and the aerological 

 systems on the correlative variations of atmosoheric 

 pressure and of the intensity of the wind. — J. Braun- 

 Blanquet : The discovery of Laurus canariensis in 

 the tufas of Montpellier. — P. Bertrand : Relations of 

 the plant zones A, A, and B.B. with the marine levels 

 of the Coal Measures of the North of France. — L. 

 Joleaud : The r6le of the maritime channels of North 

 Florida and South Caribee in the migrations of Ter- 

 tiary and Ouaternarv mammals.- — J. Amar : Pul- 

 monary ventilation and haematosis. — J. Pellegrin : 

 The ichthvological fauna of the eastern Sahara.— E. 

 Sollaud : The first phases of embryonic development 

 in Leander squilla.—l^. Roule : The pigmentation of 

 voung salmon (Salmo solar) and its relations with 

 the first stay in fresh water and the first migration 

 to the sea. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



T/rujf SDAV, JvsF. 5. 

 Royal Institution, at 3.— Sir Valentine Chirol : The Balkans. 

 RovAL SociETV, at 4.30.— Dr. P. Phillip? : The Relation between the 

 : Refractivity and Density of Carbon Dioxide.— P N. Ghosh: The 

 ■ Colours of the Striae in Mica, and the Radiation from Laminar Diffracting 

 •Bonndaries.— r)r..E.F. Armstrong and Dr. T. P. Hilditch : A Study of 

 the Catalytic Aciions at Solid Surfaces. 



NO. 2588, VOL.- 103] 



Royal Society of Arts, at 4.30. — Lord Montagu of Beaulieu : Aviation 

 as Affecting India. 



LiNNEAN Society, at 5.— H, N. Dixon : Mouses from Deception Island, 

 New Guinea. — Miss Alwin M. Evans: The Structure and (Jccurrence of 

 Maxillulae in the Orders of Insects.— Ernest E. Unwin : Notes upon the 

 Reproduction o( Aselius a fuaiicus.— The General Secretary : A Medallion 

 Portrait of Carl von Linn^, hitherto unknown ; The Original Seal of the 

 Society, in use from 1789 till 1803. 



Chemical Society, at 8.~W. H. Perkin : Cryptopine. Part II.— P. 

 Blackman: An Isotonic (Isosmotic) Apparatus for comparing Molecular 

 ^yeights. P.-irt I.— V. Cofman : The "Active Substanre " in the lodina- 

 tion of Phenols.— N. V. Sidgwick : The Influence of Orientation on 'the 

 Boiling-poiiits of Isomeric Benzene Derivatives. — J. Senior : The Atomic 

 Weight of Iodine, and the Discovery of a New Halogen. — H. Hepworth : 

 The Absorption Spectra of the Nitric Esters of Glycerol. 



FRIDA V, June 6. 



Royal Institution, at 5.30.— Sir E. Rutherford : Atomic Projectiles and 

 their Collisions with Light Atomi. 



SATURDAY, June 7. 



Royal Institution, at 3.— J. M. Price : The Italian Front. 

 THURSDAY, June 12. 



Optical Society, at 7.30.— S. D. Chalmers : The Recognition of Detail. 

 FRIDAY, June 13. 



Royal Astronomical Society, at 5 



Phvsical'Society, at 5. — B. Van der Pol.jun. : A Comparison of the Wave- 

 form of the Telephone Current produced by a Thermal Detector and a 

 Rectifier in the Heterodyne Reception.— E. Wilson and E. F. Herroun : 

 The Magnetic Propeities of Varieties of Magnetite. 



Malacological Society, at 6.— G. C. Crick: Ammonites navicula 

 (Mantell). — k. Bullen Newton: A Sandstone Cast of Aturia aturi 

 (Basterot) from the Miocene of Western Australia.— A. S. Kennard and 

 B. B. Woodward: The Generic Names for the Two QxKix^'h Eilobiidae 

 \o\\mAuriculi(iae\inyosotis, Draparnaud { = <ienticulata, Montagu) and 

 bidentata, Montagu — G. Despott : The Mollusca of Marsascirocco Har- 

 bour, Malta.— Tom Iredale : Notes on Polyplacophora. Part II. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Industrial Efficiency 261 



Solar Thermodynamics. By R. A. S 261 



Oils, Fats, and Waxes. By C. S 262 



Our Bookshelf 263 



Letters to the Editor:— 



Intravenous Injections in Cholera. — Prof. W. M. 



Bayliss, F.R.S 264 



A Crocodile on Rotuma. — Prof. J. Stanley Gardiner, 



F.R.S 264 



Calendar Reform and the Date of Easter. — Alexr. 



Philip ... 264 



Glossina and the Extinction of Tertiary Mammals. — 



Prof. T. D. A. Cockerell ... 265 



Indications of Oil in Derbyshire. By V. C. Illing . 265 



The Solar Eclipse 265 



Wireless Telephony 266 



The Atlantic Flight 267 



Notes 267 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



An Earth-effect on the Sun 272 



The Lunar Atmospheric Tide 2f 2 



The Date-palm Sugar Industry of India ... . 272 



Sussex Natural History 273 



New Ideals of Science Teachers. By G. H. J. 



Adlam 273 



The Selous Collection 274 



Forthcoming Books of Science 274 



The Royal Society Conversazione 275 



University and Educational Intelligence . ... 278 



Societies and Academies . . . 279 



Diary of Societies 280 



Editorial and Publishing Offices : 



MACMILLAN AND CO., Ltd., 



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



Advertisements arid business letters to be addressed to the 

 Publishers. 



Editorial Communications to the Editor. 

 Telegraphic Address.: Phusis, London. 

 Telephone Number : Gerrard 8830. 



