48o 



NATURE 



[June i6, 1910 



oxygen compounds of nitrogen and of sulphur. All experi- 

 ments to cause the combination of oxygen and nitrogen by 

 the action of the ultra-violet rays gave negative results. 

 Nitrous oxide under these conditions gave nitrogen and 

 some of the higher oxides, and nitric o.xide behaved 

 similarly. Sulphur dioxide in the presence of mercury 

 gave sulphate of mercurj- and sulphur, a considerable pro- 

 portion of the sulphur dioxide remaining unchanged. 

 Sulphur is produced in this reaction even if oxygen is added 

 in excess. — ^J. O. Serpek : The nitrides and oxides 

 extracted from aluminium heated in air. Commenting on 

 a recent note by M. Kohn-Abrest, the author points out 

 that the fact of the production of oxide and nitride of 

 aluminium simultaneously by the combustion of aluminium 

 in air has been known for a long time. — P. Mahler : The 

 action of air on coal. Data are given for the amounts of 

 carbon monoxide and dioxide produced by the action of 

 air on coal maintained at temperatures varying between 

 25° C. and 105° C. This action takes place slowly at the 

 ordinary temperature, and from this it follows that the 

 traces of carbon monoxide which have been found in the 

 air of mines are not accidental, but normal. — Georges 

 Dupont : The oxidation of the acetylene y-glycols. 

 Synthesis of the a-acid alcohols. — A. Arnaud and S. 

 Posternak : The isomerisation of oleic acid by the dis- 

 placement of the double linkage. A repetition of the work 

 of SaytzefT on the addition of hydriodic acid to oleic acid, 

 and the subsequent removal of this acid by the action of 

 alcoholic potash, has shown that a very complicated mix- 

 ture of isomeric acids is obtained. The iso-oleic acid of 

 SaytzefT is not a single substance. — L6on Brunei : The 

 passage of some aromatic hydroalcohols to the correspond- 

 ing phenols. The best of the methods examined was found 

 to be that of Sabatier and Senderens, the catalytic de- 

 hydrogenation of the aromatic hydroalcohols by passing 

 over hot reduced copper. — MM. Stoecklin and 

 Crochetelle : The accidental presence of sulphocyanides in 

 milk and their origin. Sulphocyanides may be introduced 

 into milk when certain Cruciferae enter into the food of 

 the cow. — Raoul Combes : The simultaneous production 

 of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the course of the dis- 

 appearance of the anthocyanic pigments in plants. It is 

 shown that the simultaneous evolution of oxygen and 

 carbon dioxide is more general than has been hitherto sup- 

 posed, and 'always occurs when the acid pigments are 

 disappearing. — H. Jacob de Cordemoy : The influence of 

 the medium on the variations of the secreting apparatus 

 of the Clusiaceae. — A. Contamin : The resorption of ex- 

 perimental tumours of mice under the influence of the 

 X-rays. The results of a histological study of the resorp- 

 tion of a glandular epithelioma under the influence of the 

 X-rays. — Mile. Boleslawa Stawska : Studies on cobra 

 venom and the anti-venom serum. — M. Fougrerat : The 

 homologies of the muscles of the posterior member of 

 reptiles. — M. Rose : Some tropisms. — G. Seliber : Thp 

 symbiosis of the butyric bacillus in culture with other 

 anaerobic micro-organisms. — ^Jean Bielecki : The varia- 

 bility of the proteolytic power of anthrax bacteria. — V. 

 Roussanof : The Palasozoic strata of Nova Zembla. — 

 A. Doby : A fossil-bearing horizon in the Muschelkalk of 

 Bourbonne-les-Bains (Haute-Marne). — ^Jean Boussac : The 

 Heh'etian Nummulitic and the pre-Alpine Nummulitic in 

 central and eastern Switzerland. — M. Roman : Th*" 

 Rhinoceri of the European Oligocene, and their connec- 

 tion.— -M. Fournier: The nodules (Septaria) of th« 

 Triassic ammonites of Madagascar, and on the develop- 

 ment of Ammonea. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



THURSDAY, June i6. 

 Royal Society, at 4.30- — Experiment"! Researches on Vegetable Assim-- 

 lation and Respiration. VI. Some Experiments on Assimilation in the 

 Open Air : D. Thodav.— A Case of Sleeping Sickness studied by Precise 

 Enumerative Methods : Reenlar Periodical Increase of the Parasites 

 Disclosed : \fajor R. Ross, F.R.S., and David Thomson.— Th- 

 Wecognition of the Individual by Haemolytic Methods (Preliminarv 

 Communication): Dr. Charles Todd and R. G. White.— Receptors ard 

 Aflferents of the Third, Fourth, and Sixth Cranial Nerves : Miss F. M. 

 Tozer and Prof. C. S. Sherrington. F.R.S.— (rt) Trypanosome Diseases of 

 Domestic Animals in Uganda : f i) Trypanosoma pecorum ; (h) Experi- 

 ments to ascertain if Cattle may act as a Reservoir of the Virus of 

 Sleeping Sickness ( Trypanosoma gambiense) : Colonel Sir D. Bruce, 



F.R.S., and others.— The Lignite of Bovey Tracey: Clement Reid, 

 F.R.S., and Eleanor M. Reid. 

 LiNNEAN Society, at 8. — Inheritance of Sterility in Potatoes, with Remark* 

 on the Shapes of the Pollen : Dr. Redcliffe N. Salaman. 



MONDAY, Ju.sE 20. 

 Royal Geographical Society, at R.30. — Features of Alpine Scenery due 

 to Glacial Protection : Prof. E. \. Garivood. 



TUESDAY, June 21. 



Royal Statistical Society, at 5. 



Faraday Society, at 8. — Studies in the EIectromenllurg5j of Ferro-alloys 

 and Steel: P. GiroH. — The Failure of the Light Engineering Alloys, 

 particularly the Aluminium Alloys : E. F. Law. — New Types of Mercury 

 Vapour Lamps : Dr. F. MolUvo Perkin. 



THURSDAY, June 23. 



Royal Society, at 4.30. — Probable Papers : The Damping of .Sound by 

 Frothy I/quids : A. Mallock, F.R.S. — Dispersion of Light by Potas.sium 

 Vapour: Prof. P. V. Bevan. — Additioml Refractive Indices of Quan 

 Vitreous SMira, Calcite and Fluoriie : J W. liifford. — The Absorpt 

 Spectra of Sulphur Vapnur at Different Temperatures and Pressures ai. 

 their Relatii nto the Molecular Complexity of th's Element : J. I. Graham. 

 — 'I he Wave-making Resistance of Ships ; a Study of certain Series of 

 Model Experiments : Dr. T. H. Havelock. 



Physical Society, at 5. 



FRIDAY, J1NE24. 



NO. 2120, VOL. 83] 



CONTENTr>. PAGlj 



The Face of the Earth. By Prof. J. W. Gregory, ! 



F.R.S 451: 



Explorations of India . 453 



General Biology ... . . ... 4c: 



Commercial Organic Analysis. By T. A. H. . . . 4 



Tropical Climatology 4 



Out Book Shelf;— 



" The Fourth Dimension Simply Explained " . 4 



'* Diagram showing the Classification of the Elements : 



Periodic Arrangement " . ... 45; 



Rabes and Lowenhardt : " Leitfaden der Biologic fiir 



die Oberklassen hoherer Lehranstalten " 4 



Tarr and McMurry: " Tair and McMurry's Geo- 

 graphies " 4 



Letters to the Editor : — 



Koch's Discovery of the Method of Plate-culture of 

 Micro-organisms. — Prof. C. S. Sherrington, 



F.R.S. 4- 



Crocodiles and Sleeping Sickness. — Prof. E. A. 



Minchin; The Writer of the Article ... 4 

 The Earth and Comets' Tails.— R. T. A. Innes; 



A. S. Hemmy 4 



The Term " Radian " in Trigonometry. — Dr. Thos. , 

 Muir, CM. G., F.R.S. ; James Thomson . . 45, 

 The Nutritive Value of B'ack Bread. — Fred Smith ; 



The Writer of the Article 46 



The Recoil of Radium B from Radium A. — Dr. W. 



Makower and S. Russ 46 



Curve Tiacing and Curve Analysis — A. P. Trotter . 46 

 A Brush for Collecting Mercury.— George Win- 

 chester 46 



Light Alloys. By Dr. Walter Rosenhain ... 



Greek Archaeology. By H. R. Hall 



Goats and Malta Fever 



The King and the Royal Society 



Prof. George F. Barker 4^1 



Notes . . ... 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



The Meteor of June I . . . 4^ 



Coming Total Eclipses of the Sun 4' 



The New Canals on Mars '4' 



The Objective-prism Determination of Stellar 



Velocities 4^ 



Exploration of the Karakoram Range. (Illustrated.) j^J 

 Lieut.-Col. H. H. Godwin- Austen, F.K.S. . . . p| 

 Further Observations of Halley's Comet ... 



Papers on Invertebrates . . . tj^l 



Some Biological Serials " 



Reports on Ice in Seas and Oceans 



The International Horticultural Congress 

 Lowell Observatory Photographs of the Planets. 



{Illustrated.) By Prof Percival Lowell ..... 

 University and Educational Intelligence ... 



Societies and Academies 



Diary of Societies 



