May 26, 1910] 



NATURE 



389 



to make to South Africa for the purpose of carrying on 

 geological investigations, are also recommended. 



Oxford. — The following is the text of the speech de- 

 livered by Prof. Love in presenting Messrs. P. H. Cowell 

 and A. C. de la C. Crommelin for the degree of D.Sc. 

 honoris causa on May 21 : — 



" Ducentos fere abhinc annos Edmundus Halley, qui turn 

 apud nos Professor crat Savilianus, a Newtono doctus vi 

 quadam certa planetas suos intra circulos contineri, cum 

 cometam magnum ipse observasset, hunc annorum quinque 

 fere et septuaginta intervallis quasi legitimo tempore semper 

 rediturum esse praedixit. Vates erat verus, et nos hoc anno 

 tertium ex illo tempore cometae reditum videmus. Cum 

 quidem omnes astronomi ineunte statim anno eius adventum 

 specularentur, simul atque visus est id egerunt ut cursum 

 quo circa solem volveretur certissime constituerent. Ad 

 banc rem acesserunt duo viri, Philippus Herbertus Cowell, 

 Andreas Claudius de la Cherois Crommelin, scientia et 

 peritia singulari praediti, qui hunc nodum nova prorsus 

 ratione solverunt. Qua in re distinguere vix possumus quid 

 huic vel illi acceptum referendum sit : illud constat, nisi 

 alter mathematicorum, alter astronomorum peritissimus 

 fuisset, rem non potuisse navari. 



" Duco igitur ad vos Philippum Herbertum Cowell, qui, 

 cuni plures annos astronomiae rationibus cognoscendis se 

 dedidisset, multas palmas iam adeptus, id tandem con- 

 secutus est ut cometae Halleiani iter nova ratione statueret, 

 et omnes calculos laboriose subduceret. 



" Duco etiam Andream Claudium de la Cherois Crom- 

 melin, qui cum multos annos cometarum naturam investi- 

 gasset, doctrina maxima instructus ad hoc munus accessit, 

 et re latissime perspecta cometae redeuntis, iter non solum 

 hoc anno definire potuit, sed quoties per duo millia ducentos 

 quinquaginta annos his caelestis hospes terram revisit." 



The Vice-Chancellor (Dr. T. H. Warren), in admitting 

 Messrs. Cowell and Crommelin to the degree, spoke as 

 follows : — 



"Salve fratrum par nobile, nee laboribus nee laude 

 divisum, quos dum veluti Geminos illos, vel stellam quam- 

 dam duplicem, pari gloria, togis paribus fulgentes intueor, 

 venit mihi in mentem aliquid versu dicere Vergiliano, licet 

 paullum mutato, 



' In medio duo signa, Conon et quis fuit alter, 

 Praedixit flammae reducis qui gentibus orbem?'^ 



" Ego auctoritate mea et totius Universitatis libenter 

 admitto utrumque, te Cononem, te Aratum novum, ad 

 gradum Doctoris in Scientia, honoris causa." 



The honorary degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred 

 upon Commander Peary by the University of Edinburgh on 

 May 24, in recognition of his north polar work. 



A Reuter message from Salem, Mass., U.S.A., states 

 that the will of the late Mr. Isaac C. Wyman bequeaths 

 practically his entire estate, valued at 2,ooo,oooZ., to 

 Princeton University Graduate School for such use "as the 

 trustees may decide." 



A Reuter message from Cape Town states that the late 

 Sir Donald Currie's daughters, Mrs. Mirrielees, Mrs. 

 Molteno, and Mrs. Wisely, have given a sum of 25,000/. 

 to the University of Cape Town for the construction of a 

 hall as a permanent memorial to Sir Donald Currie. The 

 University has gratefully accepted the gift, and has re- 

 served a portion of the fund, producing 150Z. per annum, 

 for the foundation of a Currie Scholarship. 



SOCIETIES AND 'ACADEMIES. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, May 17. — M. Armand GaiUierin 

 the chair. — The president announced the death of 

 Stanislas Canizzaro, correspondant of the academy, and 

 gave a short account of his work. — Gaston Darboux : 

 The use of new methods of recurrence in the theory of 

 orthogonal systems. — M. Big^ourdan presented photo- 

 graphs of the Halley comet by M. Inignez, taken at the 

 Observatory of Madrid. — A. Lacroix : The mineralogical 

 constitution of the French phosphorites. The optical and 

 physical properties are described in detail, and complete 



1 Cf. Verg. Eel. Hi., v. 40. 



NO. 21 17, VOL. 83] 



chemical analyses are given. — Paul Sabatier and A. 

 Maiihe : A general method of direct preparation of the 

 thiols by catalysis, starting with the alcohols. The general 

 method proposed consists in passing a mixture of the 

 vapour of the alcohol with sulphuretted hydrogen over 

 thoria at a temperature between 300° C. and 360° C. 

 The mercaptans from the first five primary alcohols were 

 prepared with excellent yields. The substitution of sulphur 

 for oxygen was also successful with allyl alcohol, benzyl 

 alcohol, and various secondary alcohols, but the yields in 

 these cases were not so good as with the primary alcohols. 

 Thiophenols can also be prepared in the same way. — M. 

 Blaserna was elected a correspondant for the section of 

 physics in the place of Lord Rayleigh, elected a foreign 

 associate. — E. Esclangon : Observations of Halley's 

 comet. These results were obtained at the Observatory 

 of Bordeaux, and diagrams are given showing the appear- 

 ance of the comet on various dates. — ^J. Comas Sola : 

 The flattening of lo, first satellite of Jupiter. Observa- 

 tions with the 38-cm. equatorial at the Fabra Observa- 

 tory, continued since 1905, have confirmed the view that 

 lo is flattened, in proportion, greater than any other body 

 known in the solar system. The maximum flattening has 

 been determined at one-fourth. — M. Borrelly : Observa- 

 tions of Halley's comet made at the Observatory of 

 Marseilles with the comet finder. Data are given for 

 observations for fifteen nights between April 21 and 

 May 10, together with the positions of the comparison 

 stars. — M. Txitzdica : A new class of surfaces. — E. 

 Ouivet : The differential equation of the motion of a heavy 

 spherical projectile in air. — Maurice Frdchet : Continued 

 functionals. — M. Herrgott : The electric thermophile. .An 

 account of a woven material containing fine nickel wire, 

 which is supple and can be heated electrically. — A. 

 de Gramont and M. Drecq : Certain conditions of appear- 

 ance of the band spectrum attributed to cyanogen. The 

 band spectrum usually considered to be characteristic of 

 cyanogen appears to be due to the simultaneous presence 

 of carbon (in sodium carbonate) and nitrogen. The bear- 

 ing of this on comet spectra is mentioned. — M. Houlle- 

 vigue : The dimensions of the material elements pro- 

 jected by the kathodes in vacuum tubes. The metal pro- 

 jected (silver) is deposited on a glass plate, and the mini- 

 mum thickness determined at which the layer conducts 

 electricity. The conductivity appears suddenly, and is only 

 established starting from a certain thickness of the 

 metallic layer. The diameter of the particles calculated 

 from the results of these experiments is of the order of 

 22 to 26 /Jifi. — A. Besson and L. Fournier : The action 

 of the silent discharge upon acetaldehyde in the presence 

 of hydrogen. The product of the reaction was a very 

 complicated mixture containing acetic acid and its homo- 

 logues and several ketones. — F. Bodroux and F. 

 Taboury : Synthesis of aromatic nitriles. Benzyl cyanide 

 is treated with sodium amide and alkyl iodide or bromide. 

 One or both of the hydrogen atoms of the methylene group 

 can thus be replaced by alkyl groups, and several applica- 

 tions of this general reaction are cited. — Georges Darzens : 

 The action of the hydracids upon the glycidic esters. — 

 A. Arnaud and S. Poster nak : Two new isomers of 

 stearolic acid. — Marcel Godchot and Jules Frezouls : 

 Hexahydrophenylglycollic acid. — C. Beys : The estimation 

 of tartaric acid in crude natural materials. — J. 

 Bertheaume : A new method of estimating the three 

 methylamines in admixture with ammonia. The hydro- 

 chlorides are dried and extracted with pure chloroform, in 

 which the hydrochlorides of dimethylamine and trimethyl- 

 amine are soluble. These are further separated by means 

 of their periodides, and the ammonia and methylamine 

 separated by Francois's method with yellow oxide of 

 mercury. — G. Boyer : Studies on the biology of the 

 truffle (Tuber melanosporum). — Paul Dop : The Strychnos 

 of eastern Asia. — ^J. Strohl : The relative weight of the 

 heart and the effect of high altitudes. — Maurice Nicloux : 

 The decomposition of chloroform in the organism. A 

 method is described permitting the estimation of small 

 quantities of chloroform mixed with large quantities of 

 air. The author applies this to determine the amount of 

 chloroform destroyed in the blood, and concludes that 

 about one-half the total amount of chloroform fixed at the 

 moment of anaesthesia is decomposed in the organism. — 



