^ 



632 



NA TURE 



[October 26, 189^ 



of a membrane, by fi nile Picird — O i the crystaU'nalioa 

 of water by decompression below zero, by M.- E. H. 

 Amajat. The experiments were performjd with the appara- 

 tus provided with gla^s sights used for studying the solidi- 

 fication of liquids under pressure. But the conical sights 

 mounted in ivory were apt to split into plates, and lose their 

 transparency under high pressures. Cylindrical pieces mounted 

 with marine glue were substituted, some of which resisted pres- 

 sures up to iSoo atmospheres. The water enclosed in the steel 

 cylinder was first solidified and maintained at a temperature 

 below zero. By gradually raising the pressure, the ice was 

 fused and made to disappear completely. On diminishing 

 the pressure, crystals were deposited on the inner surface 

 of the glass, just as in the case of bodies denser 

 in the solid state when the pressure was raised. The 

 phenomenon is, however, rather more difficult to produce. The 

 solidification was especially retarded when care was taken to 

 fuse all the crystals by pressure, but even when a few fragments 

 were left no such beautiful crystals were obtained as in the case 

 of chloride of carbon. It would be extremely interesting to fol- 

 low up, for a certain number of liquids, the variation of the 

 point of fusion under very high pressures ; as the ratio of the co- 

 efficients of compressibility of water and of ice is unknown, it 

 may be asked whether under sufficient pressures the density of 

 ice does not exceed that of water, thus giving rise to a point of 

 inversion which would assimilate the behaviour of water to that 

 of other liquids, or whether other liquids show such a point of 

 inversion in the opposite sense. This would explain certain 

 appearances observed in the case of chloride of carbon. — On an 

 extension of Riemann's method applied to equations of the second 

 order to equations of any order, by M. Delassus.— On the third 

 principle ol energetics, by M. H. Le Chatelier. This is a reply 

 to M. Meyerhofier's criticism, and shows that the term capacity 

 for energy is differently defined by the two authors. Thermo- 

 dynamic theory is based upon two experimental principles and 

 an hypothesis concerning the nature of heat. The latter may 

 be eliminated by substituting for it the experimental principle 

 which can be expressed as follows : It is impossible to extract 

 energy from a system of bodies without making two at lea^t of 

 its constituents experience changes of opposite sense. From 

 this the proportionality of work performed and heat consumed 

 or generated is easily deduced. It is this proportionality which 

 enables us lo reduce the number of algebraic equations to two, 

 sufficient to represent three distinct experimental principles. 

 — On the electric conveyance of heat, by M. L. Houllevigue. 

 The diflference of potential between a conductor and iron is dif- 

 ferent accordingly as the iron is magnetised or not. One joint 

 of a cnpper-iron couple was brought into a magnetic field, 

 and the other left out. Since this arrangement could not 

 give rise to a steady current without creating energy, an 

 opposing electromotive force was to be expected between 

 the variously magnetised parts of the iron. Such a differ- 

 ence of potential was, in fact, found, the balance being in 

 favour of the less magnetised portions. — On some properties of 

 the oxides of lead, by M. A. Bonnet. — -On the interior tem- 

 perature of bread coming out of the oven, by M. Balland. 

 Experiments performed on various kinds of bread from different 

 ovens show that the temperature of the crumb during baking 

 reaches ioo° or 102°, thatof the crust being much higher. When 

 beyond 100° the steam imprisoned by the crust is under a 

 certain pressure. If this pressure is relaxed by the bursting of 

 the crust, the temperature of the interior falls to 100°.— 

 Observations of the phenomena of karyokinesis in the blasto- 

 derm cellules of the leleostea, by MM. E. Bataillon and R. 

 Kcehler. — On the germination of the Ricinus, by M. Leclerc 

 du Sablon. — A new enemy of the vine, BlanyiUus guttulatus, 

 Fabr., by M. Fontaine. This is a myriapod which invades the 

 buds in numbers, ranging from five to ten per bud, forming 

 balls of the size of a small pea. Washing with potassium sulpho- 

 carbonate and sulphuring the soil are remedies proposed. — 

 On some phenomena relating to the movement of the sea near 

 Bonifacio, by M. Nicol. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES* 



London. 



THURSDAY, October 26. 

 Institution- OP Mechanical Engineers, at 7.30.-00 the Working of 

 ^ Steam Pumps on the Russian South-Western Railways: Alexander 

 Borodin. 



/■^/iJ^K, October 27. 

 Physical Society, at 5.— On Air-Core Transformers: E. C. Rimington. — 

 Two Experiments on the Kings and Brushes in Crystals, and Electrical 

 Radiation in Copper Filings : W. B. Croft. 



SUNDAY, October 29. 

 Sunday Lecture Society, at 4.— Savages and Barbarians: a Sketc'i of 

 their Instiuilions and their Growth fruin Savagery to Barbarism ; Prince 

 Kropotkin. 



THURSDAY. November 2. 

 LiNNEAN Society, at 8. — A Coatribuiion to the Phanerogamic Flora of 

 Mato (Irosso and the Northern Chac » : Spencer Le Marchant Muo're. — 

 On a New Freshwater Schizopod from Tasmania : G. N. Thomson. 



FRIDAY^ NovE.\iDER 3. 

 Gkologists* Association, at 8. — Conversazione. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



Books. — Plane Trigonometry ; S. L. Loney (Camb. Univ. Press). — 'I he 

 Mummy : Dr. E. A. W. Biidge(.Camb. Univ. Press).— With the Woodianders 

 and by ihe Tide: a Son of the Marshes (Blackwood). — Romance cf Low 

 Life amongst Plants: Dr. M. C. Cooke(S. P.CK.% — Eleventh Annual Report 

 of the U.S. Geological Survey, Part i: Geology.— Eleventh Annual Report 

 of the U.S. Geological Survey, Part ii. : Irrigation ; J. W. Powell (Wash- 

 ington). — Measurement of Lignt and Colour-Sensations ; J. \V. Luvibond 

 (G. II).— Results of Astronomical Observations made at Sydney Observatory, 

 N.S.W. in the years 1879, idSo, and i88r ; H. C. Russell (Sydney, PotierJ — 

 Horns and Hoofs, or Cnapiers on Hoofed Animals : K. Lyddcker(H. C-jx). 

 — The Municipal Tecnnical School and School ol Art, M'lnchester, Session 

 1893*94, Syllabus (Manchester).— Round the Works wf our Principal Kail- 

 ways (Arnold). 



CONTENTS. PACK 



Analytical Mechanics. By Prof. A. G. Greenhill, 



F.R. o 609 



Molesworth's Pocket-Book 6io 



Toe American Catalogue of Medical Literature. 



By Dr. A. T. Myers 6ii 



Our Bookshelf:— 



" Lehrbuch der Botanik nach dem gegenwarligen 



btand der Wissenichaft " 612 



Wettslein : " The iilemenls of Natural Science " . . 612 

 Weld: "A Short Course in the Theory of Deter- 

 minants" 612 



Fidler : "A Practical Treatise on Bridge Construc- 

 tion." — G 612 



Hatschek : '• The Amphioxus and its Development." 



— E. R. L • . . 613 



Letters to tne editor : — 



The Use of Scientific Terms. — Prof. J. Burdon 



Sanderson, F. R. S 613 



The Thieving of Antiquities. — Prof. W. M. Flinders 



■ Petrie 613 



The Glaciation of Brazil. — Sir Henry H. Howorth,. 



F.R.S 614 



The Glaciation of Brazil. — Scintillation of Stars. — 



David Wilson Barker 614 



The Summer of 1893. — ^J. Lloyd Bozward .... 614 

 Asymmetrical Frequency Curves. — Prof. Karl 



Pearson 615 



British Association Report on Thermodynamics. — G. 



H. Bryan 6t6 



Curious Phenomenon. — William Churchill .... 616 

 Human and Comparative Anatomy at Oxford. By 



Prof. E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S 616 



Celtsiial Photography at the Paris Observatory. 



[lliustraled.) 6l^ 



Smithsonian Institution : Hodgkins Fund Prizes. 



By Prof. S. P. Langley 618 



Notes 618 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



A New Comet 622 



Determination of Geographical Longitude 623 



Astronomy and Astro-Physics at Chicago 623 



A New Astronomical Observatory at Manila .... 623 



The Visibility of Venus to the Naked Eye 623 



Meyer's Conversational Lexicon 623 



Geographical Notes 623 



The Thicknsssand Electrical Conductivity of Thin 



Liquid Films. By A. W. Reinold, F.R.S. ... 624 

 Spontaneous Combustion. By Prof. Vivian B. 



Lewes 626 



University and Educational Intelligence 631 



Scientific Serials 631 



Societies and Academies 631 



Diary of Societies 632 



Books Received 632 



NO. 1252, VOL. 48] 



