384 



NATURE 



[August 16, 1900 



period of revolution deduced spectroscopically by Newall. — 

 The come't (1900 b) discovered July 23 at the Observatory 

 of Marseilles, by M. Borrelly. The comet is visible to 

 the naked eye as a star of 6th to 7th magnitude.— 

 Observations of the comet 1900 b (Borrelly-Brooks) made 

 at the Observatory of Besan9on, by MM. A. Sallet and 

 P. Chofardet.— Observations of the Borrelly-Brooks comet, 

 made at the Tfiulouse Observatory with the 25 cm. equatorial, 

 by M. F. Rossard.— On circuits formed uniquely by 

 electrolytes, by MM. Camichel and Swyngedauw. From 

 the experiments described with circuits consisting wholly 

 of liquid electrolytes, the authors conclude that an electrolyte 

 may be traversed by a current without decomposition. — On the 

 coupling up of alternators from the point of view of the har- 

 monics, and of the eflfect of synchronised motors, by M. A. Perot. 

 — On the boiling points of zinc and cadmium, by M. Daniel 

 Berthelot. The metals were boiled in an electric furnace speci- 

 ally constructed to avoid the errors due to superheating and 

 radiation from the walls, the temperature being measured by the 

 interference refractometer method previously described by the 

 author. Zinc boiled at 920°, and cadmium at 778''. — On the 

 atomic weight of radiferous barium, by Mme. Curie. First 

 attempts at determining the atomic weight of the metal in 

 radiferous barium chloride gave 146 as against 138 for 

 pure barium chloride. As the result of prolonged 

 fractionations, a product has now been obtained in 

 -which the atomic weight is as high as 174. This, however, 

 is certainly too low, as the chloride analysed still contains an 

 unknown amount of barium. — On the electrolytic estimation of 

 cadmium, by M. Dmitry Balachowsky. The metal is deposited 

 upon a dish previously covered with copper. The solution is 

 slightly acidified with nitric acid, and the deposition carried out 

 at 60° under conditions of electromotive force and current 

 density specified. — On some new spectra of rare earths, by 

 M. Eug. Demar9ay. — On the blue oxide of molybdenum, by 

 M. Marcel Guichard. The hydrated blue oxide of molybdenum 

 has been isolated in a pure state and analysed, and proved to 

 "have the composition Mo02.4Mo03,6HoO. — On the normal 

 proportions of iodine in the organism, and its elimination, by 

 M. P. Bourcet. The author, in conjunction with M. Gley, having 

 previously shown the presence of a trace of iodine in normal 

 blood, has now determined the amount of this element in various 

 parts of the body. The quantities found vary from 0"00 mgr. 

 in fat, pancreas and bladder, to o'lS mgr. per 100 grams of 

 liver and i'8 mgr. per 100 grams of hair. The quantities found 

 are small compared to the amount present in the thyroid gland. 

 About o*33 mgr. of iodine is taken into the human system daily 

 in food ; the thyroid gland contains only about 4 mgr. ; hence 

 it becomes necessary to discover the means of elimination. This 

 is shown to be chiefly effected in man by the skin and epidermal 

 products, sweat, skin, hair and nails ; in women, by the 

 menstrual blood, which contains o'8 to o'9 mgr. of iodine per 

 kilogram, as against 0'02 mgr. per kilogram in normal blood. — 

 On the nitrogenous substances in malt, by MM. P. Petit and G. 

 Labourasse. — On the origin of the secondary calcareous breccia 

 of Ariege, and results drawn from the point of view of the age 

 of the Iherzolite, by M. A. Lacroix. — On some temperatures 

 -observed in the park of St. Maur, by M. E. Renou. 



New South Wales. | 



Royal Society, June 6.— The President, Prof. Liversidge, 

 F.R.S., in the chair. — On the relation, in determining the 

 volumes of solids, whose parallel transverse sections are W"^ 

 functions of their position on the axis.between the position a.nd co- 

 efficients of the sectionand the (positive) indices of the function, by 

 G. H. Knibbs.— On the amyl ester of eudesmic acid occurring in 

 eucalyptus oils, by Henry G. Smith. In a paper read before 

 this society, July 1898, on the stringy-bark trees of New South 

 Wales, R. T. Baker and the author show that an ester was 

 present in the oil of Eucalypttis macrorhyncha. Since then 

 esters have been found to be present in several eucalyptus oils. 

 The author shows that esters are present in fair amount in the 

 •oils of E. botryoides, E. Saligna, and E. rostrata, and that an 

 aromatic alcohol, either linalool or geraniol, is present in the 

 oil of E. patentinervis, over 16 per cent, of free alcohol being 

 proved. The ; saponified oil of E. patentinervis has a fine 

 odour. Citral also occurs in this oil, proved by its characteristic 

 reactions.— Note on a new meteorite from New South Wales, 



by R. T. Baker. The meteorite described in this paper was 

 found early in January of this year, two miles from Bugaldi, a 

 a postal town fifteen miles north-west of Coonabarabran. It is 

 pear-shaped and is nearly five inches long and three inches wide 

 at the broadest part. It belongs to that class of meteorites 

 known as siderites, and is probably composed of iron and 

 nickel. It has a well-defined, closely adhering "skin " of black 

 magnetic material, while the metal immediately beneath this 

 coating is silvery-white in appearance. On the smooth portion 

 at the extremity of the larger end can be seen very distinctly 

 Widmanstatten's figures. The specimen has an exceedingly 

 new appearance, as if it had only just arrived upon the earth, 

 and shows no signs of oxidation. 



GOTTINGEN. 



Royal Society of Sciences. — The Nachrichten (physico- 

 mathematical section), Part i. for 1900, contains the following 

 memoirs communicated to the Society. 



February 3. — L. Krliger : Compensation of errors by means 

 of equations of condition in geodetic determinations of points. 



March 3.— E. Marx: Fall of potential and dissociation in 

 flame-gases. — W. Nernst : On the question of the hydratation 

 of dissolved substances, Part i. — H. Lotmar : The same, Part 2. 

 — C. C. Garrard and E. Oppermann : The same. Part 3. — H. 

 Minkowski : Theory of the units in algebraic Zah'korper. 



March 16. — W. F. Osgood : On a theorem of Schonflies re- 

 lating to the theory of the functions of two real variables. — F. 

 Bernstein: On the same theorem. — H. E. Timerding : On 

 linear systems of conies. 



Among the official reports of the Society are one (by Prof. F. 

 Klein) on the publication of Gauss's works ; and one on the 

 progress of the Encyclopaedia of Mathematics. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



A Standard Text-book of Physics 361 



Huxley's Physiology. By Prof. E. A. Schafer, 



F.R.S 363 



The Glucosides. ByJ. B, C 363 



An Oxford Text-book 364 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Kemp : " The Ore Deposits of the United States and 



Canada."— C. U N. F 3^5 



Brown: " Physiology for the Laboratory " 365 



" Michigan Board of Agriculture. Annual Report 



1898-99" 36s 



Letters to the Editor: — 



Change of Feeding Habits of Rhinoceros-birds in 

 British East Africa.— Prof. E. Ray Lankester, 



F.R.S 36< 



Atmospheric Electricity.— John Aitken, F.R.S. . . 

 The MeUing Points of Rock-forming Minerals.— J. A. 



Cunningham 3^^ 



Observation of the Circular Components in the 



" Faraday Effect."— Prof. D. B. Brace . . . . 3^ 



Physical Structure of Asbestos.— Geoffrey Martin . 36c 



The Bradford Meeting of the British Association . 361 



Recording Telephones. {With Diagrams.) 37i 



Notes 37; 



Our Astronomical Column: — 



Comet Borrelly-Brooks (1900 3) 37! 



Ephemeris for Observations of Eros 37| 



The Astrographic Chart Conference 37 



Determination of Solar Parallax 37 



The Distance to which the Firing of Heavy Guns is 



Heard. By Dr. Charles Davison 373 



Subjects for Consideration by Electrical Engineers 379 

 Prize Subjects of the Paris Soci6t6 d'Encourage- 



ment 3^0 



University and Educational Intelligence 380 



Scientific Serials 3^1 



Societies and Academies. {With Diagram.) . ... 381 



NO. 1607, VOL. 62] 



