96 



NA TURE 



[May 25, 189: 



tended to show that the position of Micropleryx was nearer 

 the Trichoplera than had been supposed. — The President 

 announced that the new Lilirary Catalogue, which had been 

 edited by Mr. Champion, with the assistance of Mr. 

 McLachlan and Dr. Sharp, F. R.S., was now ready. 



Paris. 



Academy of Sciences, May 15 — M. Loewy in the chair. — 

 On the quantitative determination of boron, by M. Henri 

 Moissan. The determination is based upon Gooch's methyl 

 alcohol method, in which seveml improvements were intro- 

 duced. The boron is first obtained in the state of boracic 

 acid by treating wiih nitric acid in a sealed tube. The boracic 

 acid is separated by means of pure meihyl alcohol. The reac- 

 tion takes place in a bulb tube provided with a funnel which 

 reaches dciwn into the bulb and can be closed by a cock: Four 

 distillations with ale ihol are carried out, the vapours passing 

 through a coil of glass tuliing into a Bohe nian glass flask. Any 

 uncondensed vapour is absorbed by ammonia solution. The 

 liquid collected is poured upon a known weight of pure slaked 

 lime, forming calcium borate. The latter is calcined and 

 weighed, and the increase of weight gives the amount of boric 

 anhydride absorbed. To test whether the boron has all distilled 

 over, a drop of the distilling liquid is caught on a strip of paper 

 and placed in a flame, when a green colour will indicate any 

 trace of boron. The slaked lime is kept, when not in use, in 

 the form of a stable basic nitrate, which is made ready for use 

 by a strong calcination. The quantity of lime should be 

 16 to 20 times the probable qua .lity of boracic acid. The 

 process, though still somewhat laborious, has given very con- 

 sistent results. — The working of the soil and nitrification, by 

 M. P. P. Deherain. — Reappearance of certain latent affections 

 (etiology and pathogeny), by M. P. Verneuil. — Results obtained 

 with mixtures of butlers and diverge fatty materials by means 

 of the new method for the recognition of adulteration of butter, 

 by M. Auguste H 'uzeau. — On the terms of the second order 

 resulting from the combination of aberration and refraction, by 

 M. Folie. — On the observation of the total eclipse of the sun of 

 l6th April, made at Fundium (Senegal), by M. H. Deslandres. 

 — The solar eclipse of i6th April, 1893, at the Vatican observa- 

 tory, by P. F. Denza. — On a class ol systems of ordinary dif- 

 ferential equations, by M. Vessiot. — On the generalisation of 

 the analytical functioris, iiy M. G. Scheff'eis. — On the cases of 

 integrability of the motion of a point in a plane, by M. 

 Elliott. — On the general law and the formula; of the flow of 

 saturated water vapour, by M. II. Parenty. — On thedimensions 

 of absolute temperature, by M. H. Abraham. — On a new 

 kind of manometer, by M. Villard. — On the inversion of 

 Peltier's phenomenon between two electrolytes beyond the 

 neutral point, by M. Henri Bagard. — Study of the cad- 

 mium and sal-ammoniiE cell, by M. A. Ditte.- — Influence of 

 the te nperature of tem lering upon the mechanical properties 

 and the structure of brass, by M. G. Charuy. — On malic acid 

 substitutions, by M. Ph. A. Guye. — Action of chloride of zinc 

 upon chlorocamphor, by M. A. luard. — On a certain number 

 of organo- metallic combinations belonging to the aromatic 

 series, by M. G. Perrier. — Iiuilasis and indirect alcoholic fer- 

 mentation of inuline, by M. E u. iiourquelot. — Chemical phe- 

 nomena of assimilation of carb mic acid by chlorophyll bearing 

 plants, by M. A. Bach. — On the meteoiic iron of Augustinowka 

 (Russia), by M. Stanislas Meunier — Influence of the medium 

 on respiration in the frog, by M. A. Di sard. — Action of oxygen 

 and compressed air upon warm-blooled animals, by M. G. 

 Phillippon. — On the ophthalmic nerves of Spottdylus Gccderopus, 

 by M. Joannes Chatin. — On the parihogenetic fragmentation of 

 the ovules of mammifers during atresia of the Graafian follicles, 

 by M. L. F. Heniieguy. 



Amstf.rdam. 

 Royal Academy of Sciences, April 28. — Prof, van de 

 Sande Bakhuyzen in the chair. — Mr. Kamerlingh Onnes 

 exhibited isogonic charts for 1540, 1580, 1610, 1640, 1665, and 

 1680, drawn by Dr. van Bmmeien ai'cording to observations 

 discovered by him in old, especially l>utch books, in the manu- 

 scripts of van .Swinden and in oil Dutch ship-Journals. — 

 Mr. Franchimont trealtd of hydrocyinic acid in plants. A 

 short time ago Mr. van Roinburg;h fmnd hydrocyanic acid, 

 probably as an unstable coniii •un<l with acetone (and perhaps 

 with glycose), in the caou ch )iic->ieliling plants Manihot 

 f;!aziovn, MUll. Arg., Hevea hrasilietnis, .Miill. Arg., xaAHevea 



8] 



iprticeana. Now Mr. van Romburgh has examined Indigofera's, 

 and found that the leaves of the Indigo/era galegoides D.C. 

 (Tariem octaii), which do not produce indigo, and have no 

 particular smell, yield a considerable quantity of hydrocyanic 

 acid and of benzaldehyde by being weakened in water for two 

 hours. By new researches Mr. van Romburgh will try to find 

 out if this Indigofera contains amygdaline or laurocerasine, and 

 whether the enzyme, to which the decomposition is due, is 

 identical or not with emuisine. This seems to be the first time 

 that hydrocyanic acid has been found in a plant belonging to 

 the family of the Papilionaceae. 



BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, and SERIALS RECEIVED. 



Books. — Catalogue of the Library of the Entomological Society of Lon* 

 don, edited by G. C. Champion (London). — Evolution and Religion: A. J, 

 Dadson (Sonnenschein). — Zoology of the Invertebrata : A. E, Shiplev 

 (Black). — ArchsEological Survey of Egypt ; Beni Hasan. Part i: P. E. 

 Newberry (K. Paul). — Some Further Recollections of a Happy Life (Mac- 

 millan). — Helps to the Study of the Bible (.Oxford University Press). —A 

 History of Crustacea: Rev. T. R. R. Stebbing(K. Paul). 



Pamphlets. — Manchester Museum, Owens College Museum Handl)Ooks^ 

 Outline Classification of the Animal Kingdom, 2nd edition (Manchester, 

 Cornish). — Outline Classification of the Vegetable Kingdom (Manchester, 

 Cornish). — Catalogue of the Type Fossils : H. Bolton (Manchester, 

 Cornish). — The Romanes Lecture. 1893 — Evolution and Ethics: '1", H, 

 Huxley (Macmillan). — Syllabus of Elementary Course of Botany : J. B. 

 Philip (Aberdeen, Bisset). 



Serials. — Dictionary of Political Economy, Part 5 (Macmillan). — As- 

 tronomyand Astro-Physics, May (Northfield). — Journal of the College of 

 Science, Imperial University, Japan, vol. 6, Part i(TokyM). — Am';rican 

 Jouma! of Mathematics, vol. xv. No. 2 (Baltimore). — Botanische Jahr- 

 bucher ftir Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie, Sieb- 

 zehnter Band. i.u. 2 Heft (Williams and Norgate). 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Reason versus Instinct, By Dr. Alfred R. Wallace . 73 

 Our Book Shelf:-— 



Fletcher: " The Principles of Agriculture" 74 



Trouessart : "AuBordde la Mer : Geologie, Faune, 



et Flore des Cotes de France" 74 



Letters to the Editor : — 



Mr. H. O. Forbes's Discoveries in the Chatham 



Islands. — Henry O. Forbes 74 



Phagocytes of Green Oysters. — Prof. E. Ray Lan- 



kester, F.R.S 75 



The Conjoint Board's Medical Biology. — Walter E. 



CoUinge 75 



Vectors 7icrsns Quaternions. — Alexander Macfar- 



lane 75 



An Atmospheric Phenomenon in the North China Sea. 



— Chas. J. Norcock 76 



The Greatest Rainfall in Twenty-four Hours. — E. 



Douglas Archibald • 77 



A Dust Whirl or (?) Tornado.— J. Level 77 



What becomes of the Aphis in the Winter? — T. A. 



Sharpe 77 



Soot-figures on Ceilings. — J. Edmund Clark . ... 77 

 A Difficulty in Weismannism Resolved. — Prof. 



Marcus Hartog 77 



Notes . 77 



Our Astronomical Column: — 



The Total Solar Eclipse (April 1893) 81 



The Eclipse of April 1893 81 



Finlay's Periodic Comet 81 



Variable Star Nomenclature 81 



Jupiter's Satellites 81 



The Moon's Surface ^^ 1 



Amedee Guillemin 82 ,| 



Geographical Notes 82 



Bacteria : their Nature and Function. Dr. E. Klein, 



F.R.S 82 



Surgery and Superstition. By Frank Rede Fowke . 87 

 Animal Heat and Physiological Calorimetry. Prof. 



Rosenthal SS 



Magnetic Properties of Liquid Oxygen. Prof. J. 



Dewar, F.R.S 89 



Scientific Serials 9' 



Societies and Academies 9' 



Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received 96 



