72 



NA TURE 



[May 1 8, 189: 



that these figures depended on the presence of dust, or other 

 impurities on the surface of the glass.and that similar effects might 

 be produced by means of heat. The results of his experiments 

 verified his conjecture and showed that dust has an effect on the 

 formation of some kinds of breath figures. — .\ paper, communi- 

 cated by Mr. H. B. Stocks, on some concretions from coal 

 measures, and the fossil plants which they contain, was read. 

 The concretions are found at Halifax, Yorkshire, and at Oldham, 

 Lancashire. They are called " coal-balls " by the miners, and 

 are found in a bed, belonging to the lower coal measures, above 

 a stratum containing marine shells. The chief constituents are 

 carbonate of lime and iron pyrites. The remains of plants which 

 the balls contain are wonderfully preserved, every cell being well 

 defined. Often the nodule is a mass of fosil wood, with a thin 

 mineral coating. The author thinks that the bed has been 

 formed in shallow water near the sea coast, the process of forma- 

 tion being similar to that now going on in the mangrove swamps 

 of South America. — Lord Maclaren communicated a paper on 

 the general eliminant of three equations of different degrees. 



Paris. 



Academy of Sciences, May 8. — M. Loewy in the chair. — 

 On the equation 6.u — ke", by M. Emile Picard. — On an objec- 

 tion to the Kinetic theory of gases, by M. H. Poincare. If, in 

 equation 75 of the theory ofadiabatic expansion, Maxwell had 

 made Q = <f> instead of =9, as he ought to have done, since Q is 

 a function of ;< + 5, »-)-t;, t«4-f, he would have obtained the 

 formula 



/ 3 P 



where / is the pressure and f the density. This formula is not 

 in accordance with experiment, but is a legitimate conclusion 

 from the kinetic theory. Another error is pointed out in the 

 theory of the conductivity of gases, where Maxwell's formula 



K= .5- V ought to have been K = -5.y. For air, the experimental 



37 27 



value is 56 x 10"', the calculated va'ue from Maxwell s formula 

 54 X 10-", and the value calculated from the corrected formula 

 8l X 10"^. — Shooting stars and fluctuations of latitude, by M. 

 d'Abbadie. — On a new type of phosphorites, by M. Armand 

 Gautier. — On a general case in which the problem of the rota- 

 tion of a solid Ijody admits of integrals expressible by means of 

 uniform functions, by M. Hugo Gylden. — The surmulot in the 

 ancient western world, by M. A. Pomel. From evidence 

 furnished by archaeological excavations carried out by Prof. 

 Waille at Cherchell, on the coast of Algiers, it appears that the 

 surmulot or Norway rat, Mus dectimantis, lived there at the 

 time of the Roman occupation, instead of invading Europe from 

 India in the middle of the eighteenth century. There appears 

 to be no doubt that the remains found were contemporary with 

 the Roman settlement of Julia Caesarea. — Mr. Rowland was 

 elected correspondent for the section of physics in the place of 

 the late M. Soret. — Researches on the formation of the planets 

 and satellites, by M. E. Rodger.— Solar observations of the 

 first quarter of 1893, by M. Tacchini. — On isothermal surfaces 

 with plane lines of curvature in one or both systems, by M. P. 

 Adam. — On the transcendentality of the number e, by M. 

 Gordan. — On an application of the theory of Lie's groups, by 

 M. Drach. — On the limitation of degree for algebraic integrals 

 of the differential equation of the first order, by M. Autonne. — 

 On a theorem relating to the transformation of algebraic 

 curves, by M. Simart. — On a class of dynamical problems, by 

 M. Goursat. — Remarks on the specific heat of carbon, by M. 

 H. Le Chatelier. Recent experiments conducted by MM. 

 Euchene and Biju-Duval, engineers to the Parisian 

 Gas Company, place beyond doubt the conclusion 

 arrived at by M. Monckman, that the specific heat 

 of carbon does not asymptotically approach a certain value as 

 the temperature rises. A large number of experiments show 

 that the specific heat of graphite increases between 250° and 

 1000° in a manner rigorously proportional to the temperature. 

 For temperatures between o" and 250° the atomic heat 

 c = 192 + 00077/, 'ind between 250° and 1000° c = 3-54 -t- 

 000246/. — Electric interferences produced in a liquid lamina, 

 by M. R. Colson. — On the flame-spectra of some metals, by M. 

 Denys Cochin. — An attempt at a general method of chemical 

 synthesis, by M. Raoul Pictet. — On the basicity and the 

 functions of manganous acid, by M. G. Rousseau. — On the con- 

 stitution of licareol, by M. Ph. Barbier. — On aluminium chloride 



syntheses, by M. P. Genvresse. — On a liquid isomer or 

 hydrocamphene, by M. L. Bouveault.— On the chemical com- 

 position of essence of Niaouli, byM. G. Bertrand. — Methodical 

 moulding of glass, by M. Leon Appert. — On basic nepheline 

 rocks of the Central Plateau of France, by M. A. Lacroix. — 

 On the quantities of water contained in the arable lands after a 

 prolonged drought, by MM. Demoussyand Dumont. The per- 

 centages of water contained in garden earth at depths of o, 25, 

 50, 75, and loocm. respectively were 45, 27'!, 24 "O, 24'2, and 

 22 '8. One hectare of such soil, Im. deep, and weighing 

 12000 tons, would therefore contain 2460 tons of water, while a 

 specimen of open land containing double the amount of fine 

 sand contained only 1400 tons of water. — Comparative toxicity 

 of the blood and the venom of the common toad (Biifo vulgaris), 

 considered from the point of view of the internal secretion of the 

 cutaneous glands of this animal, by MM. Phisalix and G. Bert- 

 rand. — The pyocyanic bacillus among vegetables, by M. A. 

 Charrin. — Microbian synthesis of tartar and salivary calculus, 

 by M. V. Galippe. 



BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, and SERIALS RECEIVED. 



Books. — Essays on Rural Hyg'ene : Dr, G. V. Poore ( L.ong[nans). — 

 Notes on Recent Researches in Electricity and Magnetism: Prof. J. J. 

 Thomson (Oxford, Clarendon Press). — ITie Health Resorts of Europe: 

 Dr. T. Linn (Kimpton). — Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museuni> 

 (Natural History), vol. i: G. A. Boulenger (London). — Lehrbuch der 

 Botanik, Zweiter Band: Dr. A. .B. Frank (Leipzig, Engelmann). — 

 Sitzungsberichte der K. b. Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften. Math.- 

 Naturw. Classe 1892 (Prag). — The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph : 

 H. M. Field (Gay and Bird).— The Mammals of Minnesota: C. L. 

 Herrick(M.nneapolis, Harrison). — U.S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries; 

 Commissioner's Report, 1888 (Washington). — Geology of the Eureka Dis- 

 trict, Nevada, and Atlas to ditto ; A. Hague (Washington). 



Pamphlets. — The Moon's Face : G. K. Gilbert (Washington). — Observa- 

 tions on Karyokinesis in Spirogyra ; Dr. J. W. Moll (Amsterdam, 

 Miiller). — The Colours of Cloudy Condensation : Prof C Barus. — Beitrage- 

 zur Anatomie holziger und succulenter Compositen : J. Miiller (Berlin, 

 Friedl.'inder). — Report on the Climatology of the Cotton Plant : Dr. P. H. 

 Mell (Washington). 



Serials. — Journal of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, No. 105,. 

 vol. xxii. (Spon). — The Physical Society of London ProceedingSj vol. xii. 

 Part I (London). — Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences ©r 

 Philadelphia, X892, Part 3 (Philadelphia). — Zeitschrift fiir Wissenschaftliche 

 2oologie, 56 Band, r Heft (Williams and NorgateX — Morphologisches. 

 Jahrbuch, 20 Band, i Heft (Williams and Norgate). — M^moircs de Ta Sec- 

 tion Caucasienne de la Soci«it6 Imp6riale Russe de G6ographie, livre xv. 



CONTENTS, PAGE 



Ostwald's General Chemistry. By J. W. Rodger . . 49 ■ 



Clark on the Steam-Engine. By N. J. Lockyer . . . 51 

 A Life of Louis Agassiz. By Prof. T. G. Bonney, 



F.R.S 52 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Schenck: "Beitrage zur Biologic und Anatomie der 

 Lianen im Besonderen der in Brasilien einheimischen 



arten."— W. B. H 53. 



Letters to the Editor : — 



The Late Solar Eclipse. —Prof. T. E. Thorpe, F.R.S. 53 



Daylight Meteor, March 18.— J. Edmund Clark . . 54 



Roche's Limit.— Prof. G. H. Darwin, F.R.S. . . . 54 

 The Use of Ants to Aphides and Coccidae. -Dr. George 



J. Romanes, F.R.S. ; Alfred O. 'Walker ... 54 

 On the Early Temple and Pyramid Builders. By 



J. Norman Lockyer, F.R.S 55 



Notes 58 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



The Greatest Brilliancy of Venus 61 



Finlay's Periodic Comet 61 



L'Astronomie iot May 62 



The Lunar Atmosphere 62 



Bulletin Astronomique for April 62 



Qeographical Notes 62 



The Fundamental Axioms of Dynamics. By Prof. 



Oliver Lodge, F.R.S 62 



The Royal Society Soiree 63 



The Interdependence of Abstract Science and 



Engineering.. By Dr. 'W. Anderson, F.R.S. ... 65 



University and Educational Intelligence 69 



Scientific Serials 7° 



Societies and Academies 7° 



Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received 72- 



NO. 1229, VOL. 48] 



