240 



NATURE 



[July 9, 1891 



and the report of the thunder. — A paper was also read by Mr. 

 A. B. MacDowall, on some suggestions bearing on weather 

 prediction. 



Geological Society, June 24.— Sir Archibald Geikie, 

 F.R. S., President, in the chair. — The fillowing communica- 

 tions were read :— On wells in West Suffolk boulder-clay, by 

 the Rev. Edwin Hill. It might be supposed that in a boulder- 

 clay district water could only be obtained from above or from 

 below the clay. But in the writer's neighbourhood the depths 

 of the wells are extremely different, even within very short 

 distances ; and since the clay itself is impervious to water, he 

 concludes that it must include within its mass pervious beds or 

 seams of some different material which communicate with the 

 surface. It would follow that this boulder-clay is not a uniform 

 or a homogeneous mass. The visible sections are only those 

 given, at hand by ditches, and at a considerable distance north 

 and south by pits at Bury St. Edmunds and Sudbury. The 

 appearances in these harmonize with that conclusion. Conclu- 

 sion and appearances differ from what we should expect on the 

 theory that this boulder-clay was the product of the attrition 

 between an ice-sheet and its bed. The reading of this paper 

 was followed by a discussion in which Prof. Prestwich, Dr. 

 Evans, Mr. Clement Reid, Mr. Charlesworth, Mr. Topley, Mr. 

 Goodchild, the President, and the author took part. — On the 

 melaphyres of Caradoc, with notes on the associated felsiles, 

 by Frank Rutley. — Notes on the geology of the Tonga Islands, 

 by J. J. Lister. (Communicated by J. E. Marr, F.R.S.)— On 

 the Inverness earthquakes of November 15 to December 14, 

 1890, by C. Davison. (Communicated by Prof. Chas. Lap- 

 worth, F.R.S.) In this paper the author gives reasons for 

 supposing that the Inverness earthquakes of last year were due 

 to the subsidence of a great wedge of rock included between a 

 main fault and a branch one ; and he considers that there is little 

 doubt that these recent earthquakes were the transitory records 

 of changes that, by almost indefinite repetition in long past 

 times, have resulted in the great Highland faults. — The next 

 meeting of the Society will be held on Wednesday, November 1 1 . 



Paris, 

 Academy of Sciences, June 29. — M. Duchartre in the 

 chair. — On persulphates, by M. Berthelot. Some new facts are 

 stated in proof of the existence of persulphuric acid not merely 

 as an anhydride, S.2O7, but also as a compound capable of farm- 

 ing distinct salts, similar as regards composition to perman- 

 ganates, perchlorates, permolybdates, and pertungstates. — Ex- 

 periments on the mechanical actions exercised on rocks by gas 

 at high pressures and in rapid motion, by M. Daubree. The 

 author shows that volcanoes of the same group have approxi- 

 mately the same height, and points out that it is probable that 

 each group is the result of internal action at one centre. These 

 considerations are applied to old volcanic rocks, which often 

 exhibit a marked tendency to equality of level. The experi- 

 ments which throw light on the disturbances investigated were 

 previously described. — Action of sodium alcoholates on camphor : 

 new method of preparation of alkyl camphors, by M. A. 

 Haller. — On a cryptogam parasite of locusts, by M. Charles 

 Brongniart.— On surfaces pissessing the symmetry of plane 

 systems, by M. S. Mangeot. — On homogeneous finite deforma- 

 tions : energy of an isotropic body, by M. Marcel Brillouin. — 

 On the biaxial character of compressed quartz, by M. F. 

 Beaulard. — The photogenic efficiency of different sources of 

 light, by M. A. Witz.— On an electro-magnetic bell, by MM. 

 Guerre and Martin.— Contribution to the study of atmospheric 

 electricity, by M. Ch. Andre. It is generally admitted that 

 atmospheric electricity is subject to a diurnal variation. A 

 discussion of the observations made by M. Mascart at Lyons 

 since 1884 shows that electric potential varies in much the same 

 manner as barometric pressure and relative humidity. In fact, 

 curves showing the annual variations of relative humidity and 

 electric potential have precisely the same form. — On the oxida- 

 tion of azo-compounds, by M. Charles Lauth. — On the forma- 

 tion of the mesentery and the intestinal canal in the embryo 

 of the fowl, by M. Dareste. — On the sting of Ileterodera 

 Schachtii, by M. Joannes Chatin. — On Cladosporise Entomo- 

 phytae, a new group of parasitic fungi of insects, by M. Alfred 

 Giard.— Contribution to the study of the differentiation of the 

 endoderm, by M. Pierre Lesage. — On the destruction of Pero- 

 nospora Schachtii of the beetroot, by means of compounds of 

 copper, by M. Aime Girard.— Influence of muscular exercise 

 on the excretion of urinary nitrogen, by M. Chibret. 



NO. II 32, VOL, 44] 



Brussels. 

 Royal Academy of Sciences, April 4.— M. F. Plateau in 

 the chair. — On the characteristic property of the common sur- 

 face of two liquids under their mutual affinity. Part iii., by 

 M. G. Van der Mensbrugghe. The observations given in the 

 first paper indicated that the common surface of two liquids 

 which act upon one another is subjected to a force whose direc- 

 tion is away from the centre of curvature. In the present note 

 the authi)r gives some new facts which appear to render this 

 force d'rxiension very manifest. When a drop of olive oil is 

 put upon the surface of distilled water, it slowly breaks up into 

 a lens-shaped drop on the water surface and a spherical drop 

 which djscends to the bottom of the containing vessel. It is 

 shown that a slow diminution occurs of the tension of the surface 

 common to the oil and water. This diminution apparently 

 arises from a slow chemical action between the two liquids, and 

 which, if sufficiently prolonged, is manifested by the formation 

 of a thin pellicle separating them. Many such phenomena as 

 these are stated and explained according to the new theory. — 

 Fourth note on the structure of the equatorial bands of Jupiter, 

 by M. F. Terby. The author remarks that he was the first to 

 comment upon the structure of Jovian equatorial bands, and to 

 make known the fact that it is observable in small instruments. 

 In a recent publication Mr. Keeler has overlooked these obser- 

 vations, and rendered this rectification necessary. — On the num- 

 ber of invariant functions by M.Jacques Deruyts. — A propos 

 the rotation of the planet Venus, by M. L. Niesten (see Nature, 

 June 18, p. 164). — Geometrical calculation of the distances of 

 remarkable points of triangles, by M. Clement Thiry. 



BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, and SERIALS RECEIVED. 



Saturn's Kingdom : C. M. Jessop (Paul).— Collection de Memoires relatifs 

 a la Physique, tomes i. to iv. (Paris, Gauthier-Villars). — Charles Darwin : C. 

 F. Holder (Putnam). — Solutions of Examples in Elementary Hydrostatics : 

 Dr. W. H. Besant (Bell).— Practical Electro-Therapeutics : A. Harries and 

 H. N. Lawrence (Low). — Popular Astronomy : Sir G. B. Airy ; new edition 

 (Macmillan and Co.). — The Electrician Primers, 2 vols. (Electrician Office). 

 — Report on the Cahaba Coal Field : J. Squire (Montgomery, Ala.). — A 

 Vertebrate Fauna of the Orkney Islands : T. E. Buckley and J. A. Harvie- 

 Brown (Edinburgh, Douglas) — Manuel Pratique d'Analyse Bacttfriologique 

 des Eaux : Dr. Miquel (Paris, Gauthier-Villars). — Outlines of Field Geology, 

 4th edition : Sir A. Geikie (Macmillan and Co.). — The Histo;y of Human 

 Marriage: E. Westermarck (Macmillan and Co.). — Memorials of John 

 Gunn : edited by H. B. Woodward and E. T. Newton (Norwich, Nudd).— 

 Michigan Mining School Report 1886-91 (Marquette, Mich.)— Sommaire de 

 Photogrammetrie : V. Legros (Paris). — Die Indo-Malayische Strandflora : 

 A. F. W. Schimper (Jena, Fi-;cher). — Vorlesungen iiber Maxwell's Theorie 

 der Elektricitat und des Lichtes, i Theil : Dr. L. Boltzmann (Leipzig, Barth). 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



The United States Entomological Commission . . 217 



Physical Religion , 219 



The Karwendel Alps. By T. G. B. . 221 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Cremona: " Graphical Statics." — A. G. G 221 



Gibbins : " The History of Commerce in Europe " . . 222 

 Letters to the Editor:— 



The Albert University.— Prof. E. Ray Lankester, 



F.R.S. ; Prof. G. Carey Foster, F.R.S. . . . 222 



The Draper Catalogue. — Prof. Edward C. Pickering 223 



The Cuckoo.— E. W. P 223 



Colour-Associations with Numerals, &c. — Dr. Edward 



S. Holden 223 



Erratic Barometric Depression of May 23-29, and 



Hailstorm of May 24. — B.J.Hopkins 224 



"An Alphabet of Motions."— ^J. S. Dismorr . . . 225 



On a Cycle in Weather Changes. — A. B. M 225 



The Forecast of the Indian Monsoon Rains. By 



H. F. B 225 



Physical Science for Artists. II. By J. Norman 



Lockyer, F.R.S 227 



Luminous Clouds. By O. Jesse 229 



Wilhelm Eduard Weber. By G. C. F 229 



A Souvenir of Faraday. By William Crookes, 



F.R.S.; F. O. Ward 230 



Notes 231 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Luminous Outburst observed on the Sun 234 



Lord Hartington on Techical Education 234 



Scientific Serials 236 



Societies and Academies ... 236 



Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received 240 



