312 



NATURE 



[July 30, 1891 



under the influence of luminous excitations. These movements 

 are apparently due to a reaction of the retina at the moment 

 ■when light strikes it. — ■On the innervation of the stomach of 

 Batrachians, by M. Ch. Contejean.— On the development of 

 the mesoderm of CrustacccE, and on that of its derived organs, 

 by M. Louis Roule.— On the homology of the pedal and 

 •cephalic appendices of Annelidse, by M. A. Malaquin. — On 

 the muscardine of the white worm, by MM. Prillieux and 

 Delacroix. 



Brussels. 



Academy of Sciences, May 5.— M. Plateau in the chair. 

 — Linamarine, a new glucoside from Linum Usitatissimum, 

 ■yielding hydrogen cyanide on hydrolysis, by A. Jorissen and E. 

 Hairs. The method of preparation found to give the best yield 

 is described. This glucoside presents some points of resemblance 

 with amygdalin, but the table of properties discloses many im- 

 portant differences, notably the solubility of the new body in 

 cold water, its melting at 134° withotU decomposition, and the 

 absence of benzaldehyde from the products of its hydrolysis. 

 The elementary analysis of the new glucoside gives the following 

 figures: C, 47-88; H, 6-68; N, 5-55; O, 39-89.— On the 

 pinacone of desoxybenzoin, by M. Delacre. The author shows 

 that there are two bodies of the formula CjgHagOa obtained by 

 the reduction of desoxybenzoin, one consisting of glassy needles 

 ■melting at 210°, and the other obtained in large crystals melting 

 at 163°. He explains the discordance of the results of MM. 

 Limpricht and Schwanert and M. Zagumenny as being due to 

 the former having obtained the mixed bodies, and hence deter- 

 mined the melting point at 156°. — On the constitution of a- 

 benzopinacoline, by M. Delacre. The author gives a complete 

 chemical and physical study of the properties of this body ; he 

 concludes that o-benzopinacoline is not a pinacoline but the ether 

 of benzopinacone, and that its constitution would be expressed 

 .by the formula 



(CsHs)^ : C-O-C : (QH^), 



(CgHs)^ : C-O-C : {Q,^\\^)^ 



'thus making its molecular weight double that he previously as- 

 signed to i3-benzopinacoline. The data given in the paper for 

 the determination of the molecular weight of the a-benzopina- 

 coline by the cryoscopic and vapour tension methods would lead 

 to the adoption of the same molecular weight as in the case of the 

 ()8-benzopinacoline. — On the rate of formation of compound 

 €thers, by N. Menschutkin. A study of the velocity of etheri- 

 fication of some thirty-two alcoholic derivatives, comprising 

 primary and secondary saturated alcohols, tertiary alcohols, 

 primary unsaturated alcohols, alkyl chlorides, alkyl cyanides, 

 and ethers. Acetic anhydride was employed as etherifying 

 agent, as by its use no water was produced, and thus the com- 

 plication of the problem by the introduction of reversible re- 

 actions was avoided. The velocity of etherification of methyl 

 alcohol is the greatest ; the substitution of any element or group 

 of elements for hydrogen in the molecule CH3OH invariably 

 decreases the velocity of the reaction. — Theorems on the cur- 

 vature of algebraical curves, by Prof CI. Servais. — On the 

 "attractive spheres" in some vegetable cells, by E. de Wilde- 

 man. — Crystallographic note on albite from Revin, by M. A. 

 Franck. 



CRACOVVr. 



Academy of Sciences, May. — On the expansion and com- 

 pressibility of atmospheric air, by A. W. Witkowski. The 

 author has made experiments with air between the temperatures 

 100° and- 145° C, and at pressures up to 130 atmospheres. The 

 coefficient of expansion (a) has been found at the constant tem- 

 peratures 100°, 16°, - 35°, - 78°-5, - io3°-5, - 130°, - 135°, - 140°, 

 and- 145°, by varying the pressure. The values obtained for 

 these nine isothermals are tabulated and represented graphically. 

 From the isothermal curves it appears that the coefficient of 

 expansion increases up to a maximum in each case, and then 

 diminishes. The increase is most rapid near the liquefaction 

 points. All the curves tend towards a point the co-ordinates 

 of which are p ~ i atmosphere, and o = 0-00367. The values 

 •expressing the compressibility of air have been calculated from 

 the expansion coefficient. — An electrical thermometer for low 

 temperatures, by the same author. The fact utilized in the 

 construction 01 the instrument is the variation of the resistance 



of a platinum wire at different temperatures. From the experi- 

 ments it appears that this is about 2 ohms per degree. It is 

 therefore easy to obtain a sensibility of 75V of a Centigradejdegree. 

 The relation between the temperature and the electrical resistance 

 is subject to slight variations if the thermometer is employed for 

 widely different temperatures. This fact has been noted by 

 previous experimenters. — On derivatives of iw-methyl-^-uramido- 

 benzoyls, by S. Niementowski. — On the critical pressure of 

 hydrogens, by K. Olszewski. — Mathematical notions and methods, 

 by S. Dickstein. 



BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, and SERIALS RECEIVED. 



Reunion du Comite International Permanent pour 1' Execution de la Carte 

 Photographique du Ciel (Paris, Gauthier-Villars). — Solutions of the Ex- 

 amples in Charles Smith's Elementary Algebra : A. G. Cracknel! (MacmilLan 

 and Co.).— The Right Hand : Left-Handedness : Sir D. Wilson (Macmillan 

 and Co.). — The Positive Theory of Capital : E. V. B5hm-Bawerk. translated 

 by W. Smart (Macmillan and Co.). — Outside the Class-room : Thoughts for 

 Young Engineers : W. H. Bailey (Manchester, Cornish).— The Skeleton of 

 the Irish Giant, Cornelius Magrath ; D. J. Cunningham (Williams and Nor- 

 gate). — Die Jahrliche Parallaxe des Sterns Oeltzen 11677 : Dr. J. Franz 

 (Konig:sberg).— The Photochronograph and its Application to Star Transits 

 (Washington), — The Geological and Natural History Survey of Minnesota, 

 Eighteenth Annual Report, 1889: N. H. Winchell (Minn.). —The Iron Ores 

 of Minnesota: N. H. Winchell and H. V. Winchell (Minn.).— Thirty-eighth 

 Report of the Department of Science and Art (Eyre and Spottiswoode). — 

 Abbildungen zur Deutschen Flora : H. Karsten's (Berlin, Friedlander). — 

 Anatomie des Hundes : Dr. W. Ellenberger and Dr. H. Baum (Berlin, P. 

 Parey). — The Telescope: J. W. Williams (Sonnenschein). — Les Engrais 

 Chimiques : Tome Premier, Les Principes et la Theorie : M. G. Ville 

 (Paris). — An Explanation of the Constitution of the Ether, of the Constitu- 

 tion of Matter, and of the Cause of Universal Gravitation : J. G. Vine 

 (Reeves). — Peabody Institute of the City of Baltimore, Twenty-Fourth Annual 

 Report, June 4, 1891 (Baltimore. )^Proceedings of the Boston Society of 

 Natural History, vol. xxv.. Part i (Boston). — Notes from the Leyden 

 Museum, vol. xiii., No. 2 (Leyden, Brill). — Contributions from the U.S. 

 National Herbarium, vol. i., No. 4 (Washington). 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



The History of Chemistry. By Prof. T. E. Thorpe, 



F.R.S 289 



Progress in Elementary Biology. By Prof. E. Ray 



Lankester, F.R.S 290 



Cerebral Localization 292 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Guyau : " Education and Heredity. " — F. G 292 



Carus: " The Soul of Man " 293 



Letters to the Editor : — 



The Recent Earthquakes in Italy.— Prof. J. P. 



O'Reilly 293 



The Great Comet of 1882. ( With Diagram. )— Sereno 



E. Bishop 293 



Copepoda as an Article of Food.— I. C. Thompson 294 

 Meteorological Phenomenon.— Francis Gallon, 294 



F.R.S 294 



Refraction through a Prism. {With Diagram.) — Rev. 



John H. Kirkby . 294 



Further Notes on the Anatomy of the Heloderma. — 



Dr. R. W. Shufeldt 294 



The Discovery of the Standards of 1758 .... 295 



Maxwell's Electro-magnetic Theories. By Prof. 



A. Gray 296 



The Origin of the Flora of Greenland. By Clement 



Reid 299 



The Sun's Corona. By Dr. J. M. Schaeberle ; J. 



Norman Lockyer, F.R.S 300 



Notes 301 



Our Astronomical Column :— 



Observations of Sun-spots and Faculse 305 



Stars having Peculiar Spectra 305 



The Institution of Naval Architects 305 



Seventh International Congress of Hygiene and 



Demography 307 



The Origin of Certain Marbles. By Profs. SoUas, 



F.R.S., and Cole . 308 



Is the Mariner's Compass a Chinese Invention ? . . 308 



University and Educational Intelligence 309 



Scientific Serials 309 



Societies and Academies 310 



Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received 312 



NO. II 35, VOL. 44] 



