August 6, 1891] 



^^ATURE 



335 



figures (Table I.)i at temperatures from -5° to + 100°, taking 

 the volume at 4° equal to 1,000,000, and the pressure being 

 equal to one atmosphere, appear as follows in the second column 

 (V/) of the subjoined table. They are followed, in the third 

 column, by the volumes as calculated from I'rof. Mendeleefifs 

 new formula : — 



Finally, a third table is given, being the result of the calcula- 

 lion made by taking 



S = I - 



{t - 4F 



and 



\ooo<^\t) 

 </>(/•) = 12878 + 1-158/ - o 0019/2, 



\ooo<^{t) = 1-90 {94-10 + t) (703-51 - 4 

 and extending the calculation to + 200° and - 10°. The most 

 important values of - - are given in the fourth column of the 



subjoined table ; so, also, the approximate values of — , which 



are " but a first r.iugh approximation," to show the importance 

 of pressure in the determinations of volumes of water : — 



In conclusion, Prof. Mendeleeff repeats that he proposes as 

 soon as possible to make anew the determinations of the densi- 

 ties of water, because the former determinations were made on 

 assumptions (permanency of the coefficient of the expansion of 

 glass and mercuiy, and no notice being taken of pres^ure) 

 which can no longer be maintained. If new measurements con- 

 firm the formula, or lead to a more correct one, we shall be 

 better able to understand the laws of the expansion of all liquids, 

 and therefore of gases as well. " In the case of water," he 

 says, " we have begun to understand more clearly the influence 

 of heat upon densities and volumes, and I believe that with the 

 help of water we may expect some further progress in the study 

 of the influence of heating upon matter." 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



Oxford. — The examiners in the Final Classical Schools 

 issued the Class List on Wednesday week, completing the results 

 of the examinations held in Trinity Term. 



The summer meeting of Extension students commenced on 

 Friday last, when Mr. Frederic Harrison, M.A. Wadham 

 College, delivered the inaugural lecture. The popularity of the 

 movement is proved not only by the continual increase in the 

 number of students who avail themselves of the advantages 

 offered l)y this system of education, but by the interest which 

 foreign Governments are taking in the development of the plan. 

 The French Government have sent two special commissioners to 

 report on the prospects and condition of the University Exten- 

 sion movement, and a large number of the representatives of the 

 American University Extensionists are now in Oxford. 



The number of students attending the various lectures is 

 greater than on any previous occasion, more than rioo having 

 subscribed, while last year the number did not greatly exceed 

 900. A more rapid growth and a still greater measure of success 

 attending the work may be anticipated from the fact that various 

 County Councils, finding themselves in possession of funds 

 arising from the operation of the Local Taxation Act, and 

 which they propose to devote to the purposes of technical 

 instruction, are availing themselves of the machinery of the 

 University Extension system to accomplish this desirable end. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS. 



In the Botanical Gazette for June, Mr. T. Holm coutributes a 

 study of some anatomical characters of North American grasses. 

 In a paper entitled " On the Relation between Insects and the 

 Forms and Characters of Flowers," Mr. T. Meehan epitomizes 

 his views on fertilization opposed to the current theory, viz, 

 that the part played by insects in the fertilization of flowers has 

 been greatly exaggerated ; that flowers do not abhor cross- 

 pollen ; and that all annuals can self-fertilize when cross- 

 fertilization fails, annuals in almost all cases having every 

 flower fertile. 



The most important paper in the Journal 0/ Botany for July 

 is the commencement of a detailed account of the Algae of the 

 Clyde sea-area, by Mr. George Murray, Secretary to the Com- 

 mittee for the Exploration of the Marine Fiora of the West of 

 Scotland. This is prefaced by an account of the physical 

 features of the Clyde sea-area, by Dr. John Murray. Following 

 this is the commencement of a hand-list of the Algse, by Mr. E. 

 A. L. Batters. The Rev. H. G. Jameson concludes his key to 

 the genera and species of British mosses, which it is hoped may 

 be published in a separate form ; and Mr. George Murray sinks 

 Hooker's genus of sea-weeds Cladothele in Stictyosiphon. 



NO. 1 1 36, VOL. 44] 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



Paris. 



Academy of Sciences, July 27.— M. Duchartre in the chair. 

 — Proofs that Asia and America have been connected in recent 

 times, by M. Emile Blanchard. In this paper the author points 

 out certain species of Asiatic fauna and flora which are found in 

 North America, as, in the preceding one, he indicated the repre- 

 sentatives of European fauna and flora which occur in the same 

 continent. Without making an extensive enumeration of the 



