September 28, 1893] 



NATURE 



535 



out and frame a rational system even though some parts of it for 

 a time rest upon hypothetical grounds. 



A Revised Arrangement of the Benthamian " Series" 

 OF Flowering Plants. 



Monocotyledons. 

 Apocarpae. 

 Coronariea?. 

 NudifloriE. 

 Calycinas. 

 Glumace.x". 



Hydrales. (Hydrocharidea;). 

 Epigynx-. 

 Microspermx. 



Dicotyledons. 



Polypelahc. 



Thalamiflorre (including the apelalous Curvembryere, Micrem- 



bryeae, and " Ordines Anomali," and the Euphorbiacese and 



Urticacere, &c. , of the Unisexuales). 

 DisciflorjB (including the apetaloui Daphnales and the Juglan- 



dacea.' and Cupuliferoe, &c., of the Unisexuales). 

 Calyciflorae (including the apetalous Aristolochiacere and 



Cytinacea:). 



Gamopetala. 

 Heteromera:. 

 BicarpellatK. 

 Inferae. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS. 



American Journal of Science, September. — Fireball of 

 January 13, by H. A. Newton (see p. 524).— On a photometric 

 method which is independent of colour, by Ogden N. 

 Rood. This is not based, like most previous methods, 

 upon the comparison of the luminosities of two adjacent sur- 

 faces, but upon the shock that is produced upon the retina by a 

 change of intensity of light. ]f one-half of a rotating disc re- 

 flects less light than the other by i-soth of the whole 

 arnount, with appropriate rates of rot.ition a faint flickering 

 will be noticed. This flickering disappears if the two halves 

 have the same degree of brightness, whatever may be their 

 colours. — On the oscillations of lightning discharges and of the 

 Aurora Borealis, by John Trowbridge. Photographs were 

 obtained of sparks having both great electromotive force and 

 great quantity, produced by an alternating machine giving from 

 300 to 400 alternations per second, with the aid of a step-up 

 transformer and an oil condenser. The oscillations were inves- 

 tigated by Feddersen's rotati ng mirror method. The sparks 

 were about 2 cm. long, and the interval between two successive 

 oscillations was one hundred-thousandth of a second. On each 

 of the photographs reproduced some ten or twelve oscillations 

 can be counted. The discharge is seen to follow exactly the 

 same path three times in succession. After that it assumes 

 the character of a brush discharge. By intercalating a non- 

 inductive water resistance and a vacuum tube between the ter- 

 minals of a suitable transformer it is possible to imitate exactly 

 the phenomena observed when a vacuum tube is held in one 

 hand while the other hand grasps the terminal of the trans- 

 former. In observiug the stri« and waving column.ir form of 

 the light excited in this manner in tubes filled with rarefied 

 gases, one is led to believe that the stratified form of the Aurora 

 Borealis is produced in a similar manner. -On the estimation 

 of chlorates and nitrates, and of nitrites and nitrates in one 

 operation, by Charlotte F. Roberts. By means of the appara- 

 tus for the estimation of nitrates previously described, chlorates 

 and nitrates together may be estimated. They are treated with 

 manganous chloride, and the resulting gases are p.-issed through 

 potassium iodide and then into a Hempel's burette. The 

 amount of nitric oxide, gives the amount of nitrate present, and 

 the chlorate is estimated by deducting from the total chlorine 

 liberated that due to the reduction of the nitrate. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



London. 

 _ Chemical Society, June 15.— Dr. Armstrong, President, 

 in the chair.— The following papers were read :— Contributions 

 to our knowledge of the aconite alkaloids. Part vi. Conversion 



of aconitine into isaconitine, by W. R. Dunstan and F.H. Carr. 

 On heating the hydrobromide of the highly poisonous aconitine 

 it is converted into the corresponding salt of its non-poisonous 

 isomeride, isaconitine. — Part vii. Some modifications of 

 aconitine aurichloride, by W. R. Dunstan and H. A. D. Jowett. 

 Aconitine aurichloride may be obtained in three different 

 physically isomeric modifications, melting at I35'5°, 152', and 

 176° respectively. — Note on the stereoisomerism of nitrogen 

 compounds, by S. U. Pickering. — A study of the properties of 

 some strong solutions, by S. U. Pickering. The depressions of 

 the freezing points of water, acetic acid, and benzene, by a 

 number of organic non-electrolytes, indicate in all cases the 

 formation of compounds of the solvent with the dissolved 

 substance. — .Studies on citrazinic acid, by W. J. Sell 

 and T. W. Easterfield. The authors propose provisional 

 formulae for citrazinic acid and a number of allied com- 

 pounds as the result of their work on the subject. — The 

 essential oil of hops. Preliminary notice, by A. C. Chap- 

 man. A dextro-rotatory sesquiterpene CjjH.,,, is ob- 

 tained by the steam distillation of hops. — I'he sulphides 

 and polysulphides of ammonium, by W. P. Bloxam. The 

 author has obtained a number of crystalline double ammonium 

 sulphides of the general formula (NHjljS, .vNHj'SH. — 

 Sarcolactic acid obtained by fermentation of inactive lactic 

 acid, by P. Frankland and J. MacGregor. — Hexaiiitroanilide, 

 by A. G. Perkin. — The constituents of the Indian dye-stuff 

 kamala, I., by A. G. Perkin. On extraction with ether, 

 kamala yields rottlerin, CuHjnOj, isorotllerin, two resins 

 C]2Hj.,03 and Cj3Hi204 and a small proportion of a yellow 

 colouring matter. — A quantitative methnd of separating iodine 

 from chlorine and bromine, by D. S. Macnair. The method 

 is based on the fact that, when treated with chromic acid 

 mixture, silver iodide is converted into the iodate whilst silver 

 chloride and liromide are converted into the suipliales. — No e 

 on a form of burette for rapid titration, by L. Garbutt. — The 

 use of sodium peroxi<Ie as an analytical agent, by J. Clark. 

 By heating powdered minerals with sndium peroxide, the 

 arsenic and sulphur may be rendered soluble. — .Stibiotantalite, 

 a new mineral, by G. A. Goyder. — The colouring matter of 

 Drosera IVhitlakeri, II., by E. Rennie. The author has ex- 

 tended his previously published work on this subject. — Prepara- 

 tion of mono-, di", and tri-benzylamine, by A. T. Mason. 

 Mono-, di-, and tri-benzylamine respectively may be obtained 

 as the chief products of the interaction of benzyl chloride and 

 ammonia, by varying the quantity of the latter. — Piazine 

 (pyrazine) derivatives, II., by A. T. Mason. — Piazine deriva- 

 tives, III., by A. T. Mason and L. A. Dryfoos. In these two 

 papers the authors describe a number of new substituted piazines 

 and their dihydrides. — Condensation products from ethylene- 

 diamine and deriv.atives of acetoacetic acid, IV., by A. T. 

 Mason and L. A. Dryfoos. — Studies of the oxidation products 

 of turpentine, by S. B. Schryver. The author assigns to 

 terpenylic acid the formula 



CHo-CO. 



No 



COOH -CH., -CH-CMe, 



/' 



NO. 1248, VOL. 48! 



— Addendum to note on the nature of depolariser.s, by H. E. 

 Armstrong. — The molecular complexity of liquids, by W. 

 Ramsay and J. Shields. The authors deduce the molecular 

 weights of liquids from their surface tensions.— The preparation 

 of active amyl alcohol and active v.ileric acul from fusel oil, by 

 W. A. C. Rogers. By repeatedly heating tu-el oil with fuming 

 hydrochloricacid, pure laevo- rotatory amyl alcohol ([aji)= - 5 '2°) 

 is obtained ; by oxidising the alcohol, active valeric acid may 

 then be prepared. — On the occasion of the Rothamstead jubilee, 

 July 29 last, an address w.as presented to Sir J. Lawes and Dr. 

 Gilbert by the President and Council of the Chemical Society. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, September iS.— M. de Lacaze- 

 Duthiers in the chair. — On the teeth of hyperboloidal gearing, 

 by M. H. Resal.— The shooting stars of the month of August' 

 1893, observed in Italy, by P. Fran9 lis Denza. Reports re- 

 ceived from members of the Meteorological Association in all 

 parts of Italy show that the August showers were observed 

 under comparatively favourable conditions. The number of 

 meteorites observed grew progesdvely from the first to the 

 eleventh of the month, and the phenomenon exhibited on the 

 latter date a greater brilliancy than u<ual. Ihe maximum took 

 I place eatlier than in previous years, and ih; grca'.er density of 



