April 21, 1910J 



NATURE 



239 



nd styled U. campestris ; this tree is unknown on the 

 ontinent. The " Huntingdon elm " he regarded as a 

 ybrid, the first cross between the two species cited. The 

 revious year had been noteworthy for the profuse fruiting 

 f every kind of elm in England, due to the fine autumn 

 f 1908 and the abnormal amount of sunshine during the 

 pring of 1909. The author had procured abundance of 

 seds of numerous varieties and forms, and from many 

 jcalities. These had been sown, and their progeny 

 nalysed. It was shown that the plants thus arising con- 

 armed very closely to the Mendelian formula of 9 : 3 : 3 : i. 

 Tie author gave, in confirmation of his views, the experi- 

 nce he had with regard to the black Italian poplar, 

 'opulus nigra xdeltoidea, the cricket-bat willow, Salix 

 Ibaxfragilis, and the Luccombe oak, Quercus Cerrisx 

 'uber, namely, that the offspring of a first cross invariably 

 roduced a crop of the most diverse character, and this 

 nduced the author to formulate his view, that when 

 otanists were unable to agree about the forms of a given 

 ilant, it was due to a mixture of at least two species, 

 ut where there was practical unanimity, as with varieties 

 f beech and ash, there was only one species concerned, 

 nd the varieties were due to individual peculiarities. He 

 nally insisted upon the importance of planting trees of a 

 "TSt cross, on account of their abnormal luxuriance and 

 apid growth, and their producing timber far more quicklv 

 ihan either parent. — F. Chapman : The Foraminifera and 

 pstracoda from soundings, chiefly deep water, collected 

 jound Funafuti by H.M.S. Penguin. 

 i 



Physical Society, April 8._Prof H. L. C^Uendar 

 ^.R.S., president, in the chair. — B. S. Cohen : Demon- 

 tration of telephone currents in loaded and unloaded 

 ines. The demonstration showed the relationship between 

 he sent and received currents in telephone lines under the 

 'arious conditions which occur in practice. By the aid of 

 i'rof. Kennelly's formulae it is possible to' calculate the 

 elationship between the sent and received currents under 

 liny conditions met with in practice, and for some of the 

 fonditions used in the demonstration the calculated results 

 lad been obtained. Four essentials were necessary for the 

 experiments shown : — (i) A current comparable to the 

 ictual telephonic speech current. This was obtained from 

 I vibrating wire interrupter giving a wave with a funda- 

 nental of about loo ~ per second with a damped oscilla- 

 ion of about 800 ~ per second superimposed. (2) A 

 elephone line with or without its load in the shape of 

 nductance coils. (3) Terminal apparatus. The lines were 

 ermmated by receivers and induction coils as used in 

 Jractice for what is known as local battery working. 

 4) Current measurers. For this purpose barretters arranged 

 is alternating-current ammeters were used. The first 

 ixperiment showed the relationship between the received 

 md sent current for various lengths of standard cable un- 

 oaded. The second experiment illustrated the variation in 

 he current sent when the receiving end was open or closed 

 rircuited and the length of cable was varied. The third 

 'xperiment showed the current distribution along the 

 oaded cable by inserting a barretter at different points 

 ilong the cable. The author gave explanations of the 

 •arious phenomena illustrated in the experiments. He 

 )omted but that it is now possible to make both calcula- 

 !ons and quantitative telephonic tests which give mutual 

 onfirmation. 



Paris. 



Academy of Sciences, April it.— M. Emile Picard in the 

 hair. — G. Bratu : Certain non-linear integral equations. 

 -Paul L^vy : Non-linear integral equations. — B. Calit- 

 :ine : The vibration of buildings. Gas engines, not per- 

 ectly balanced, and running at a high velocity, have been 

 ound to set up vibrations in the surrounding buildings 

 vhich were not only unpleasant to the inhabitants, but 

 [ave rise to dangerous cracks in the masonrv. The 

 irdmary seismograph is not suitable for studying this class 

 jf vibration, so that an instrument has been specially 

 lesigned for this purpose. A description of the instru- 

 nent is given, and the theory of its working. — M. 

 >ussaud : Sources of light with reduced surfaces 

 mployed normally or obliquelv. Movable sources of light. 



ractical applications. — F. Charron : The lubricating 

 iction of air in the friction of solids. Friction in a 



NO. 2 II 2, VOL. 83] 



vacuum. An apparatus is described capable of measuring 

 the critical speed at which the friction of two surfaces is 

 a minimum. By placing the apparatus in a vacuum it was 

 shown that, as the pressure of the air was reduced, the 

 friction varied less and less with the speed. At a pressure 

 of I mm. the friction was nearly independent of the speed. 

 — E. Haudid : The general law relating to a generator 

 or a receiver with a derived branch : the case of dynamos. 

 — C. E. Quye and A. Tscherniavski : The measurement 

 of very high potentials by means of an electrometer under 

 pressure. By placing the electrometer in air under a 

 pressure of four to nine atmospheres, the errors due to 

 the silent or brush discharge and electric breeze were 

 suppressed. The constant of the apparatus was nearly 

 independent of the pressure of the gas, and the damping 

 was easily under control. A potential of 80,000 volts from 

 a Wimshurst machine was readily measured with this 

 arrangement. — G. Urbain : The magneto-chemical analysis 

 of the rare earths. The magnetisation coefficients vary 

 more rapidly than the atomic weights in the rare earths, 

 and the measurements are much more easily made. The 

 results of the application of the method to the separation 

 of a mixture of dysprosium and yttrium are given. — W. 

 Louguinine : The determination of the quantities of heat 

 disengaged during the addition of bromine to some un- 

 saturated substances. Data are given for the heat of 

 combination of bromine with caprylene, styrolene, cyclo- 

 hexane, ethyl phenylpropiolate, and pulegone. — E. Kohn- 

 Abrest : The nitrides and oxides extracted from aluminium 

 heated in air. — L. Grenet : The cementation of silicon 

 steels. Silicon steels which do not undergo cementation 

 in wood charcoal can be readily cemented by the use of 

 prussiate of potash. — M. Vournasos : The reducing action 

 of alkaline formates on certain mineral compounds. 

 Boron nitride heated with an alkaline formate gives off 

 a mixture of hydrogen, ammonia, and boron hydride. The 

 proportion of the latter compyound may amount to i'5 per 

 cent. — L60 Vigrnon : The phenomena of electric transport 

 in solutions of certain colouring materials. Transportation 

 phenomena are very clearly produced with the colloidal 

 solution of several d3'estuffs, proving the presence of un- 

 dissolved granules carrying appreciable electric charges. 

 With colouring matters in true solution these effects are 

 not produced. — E. Darmois : Artificial camphor. It is 

 possible to prepare both the dextro and laevo optically 

 active forms of synthetical camphor. — F. Couturier : The 

 condensation of pinacoline with its esters. — Jacques 

 de Lapparent : The basic rocks of Saint-Quay-Portrieux 

 (C6tes-du-Nord) and their relations with the pegmatite 

 lodes which traverse them. — Victor Henri, Andr6 

 Helbronner, and Max de Recklinghausen : The 

 sterilisation of large quantities of water by the ultra- 

 violet rays. The arrangement of lamps described is 

 capable of sterilising water on the large scale with an 

 expenditure of 36 watt-hours per cubic metre of water 

 treated. — Ch. Dt*6r6 and M. Qorsolewski : The prepara- 

 tion of demineralised gelatin and some of its chemico- 

 physical properties. Two methods of purification have 

 been used, dialysis and freezing. The gelatin thus 

 obtained is practically free from ash. It forms jellies, but 

 less well than when electrolytes are present. Between 

 certain limits of concentration solutions of this highly 

 purified gelatin are opalescent, this opalescence disappear- 

 ing on adding traces of alkali. — H. Stassano and A. 

 Daumas : The double rdle of calcium in the coagulation 

 of blood and lymph. — M. Weinberg: : The influence of 

 feeding on the production of spontaneous atheroma. — _Ph. 

 Glangeaud : .Archaen formations in the Forez mountains. 

 — Wilfrid won Seidlitz : The crushed granites (mylonites) 

 of the Grisons, the Vorarlberg, and the Allgau. — J. 

 Thoulet : Marine sediments of atmospheric origin. 



Cape Town. 



Royal Society of South Africa. Ma^rh 16. — Mr. S. S. 

 Hough, F.R.S., president, in the chair. — Dr. R. Marloth : 

 Some new South African succulents. Among the new 

 species are some of special biological interest. Mesem- 

 brianthentum mitratum was discovered in the desert belt 

 east of Port Nolloth by Mr. Garwood Alston. The shrub 

 bears at the end of the apparently dead branches a fleshy 

 knob. This consists of two closely joined leaves, between 



