140 



NA TURE 



[August 4, 1892 



per cent, of free oxygen ; otherwise some half-burnt gases will 

 remain in the vessel, notably carbonic oxide. Excess of oxygen, 

 especially if under a pressure of 25 atmospheres, ensures that 

 the temperature of the centre of combustion should remain as 

 high as possible. In the case of gases the oxygen should only 

 be in very slight excess, and should be introduced by tenths of 

 an atmosphere, until the most favourable pressure is reached. 

 Volatile bodies should, if possible, be burnt in the liquid state. — 

 Study of boron trisulphide, by M. Henri Moissan. Five new 

 methods of obtaining this body are described : by the action of 

 fused sulphur on boron iodide ; by burning boron in sulphur 

 vapour at 610° ; by the action of hydrogen sulphide on pure 

 boron ; by the action of carbon bisulphide on boron ; and by 

 the action of the sulphides of arsenic, antimony, and tin upon 

 boron. The substance thus obtained shows several remarkable 

 properties. — Researches on the chemical constitution of the 

 peptones, by M. P. Schutzenberger. — On two ruminants of the 

 Neolithic epoch of Algeria, byM. A. Pome). — The two candidates 

 selected for the Directorship of the Paris Observatory were M. 

 Tisserand and M. Loewy. — ResumS oi solar observations made 

 at the Royal Observatory of the Roman College during the 

 second quarter of 1892. A letter from M. P. Tacchini to the 

 President. The spots, faculse, and prominences observed show 

 a considerable increase since last quarter. — Sun observations 

 made at the Lyons Observatory (Brunner equatorial) during the 

 first half of 1892, byM. Em. Marchand. 125 groups of sun- 

 spots have been counted, as against loi in the previous half- 

 year. The southern hemisphere, which used to contain less 

 spots, has lately shown nearly as many as the northern. The 

 latitude of the groups continues to diminish. — New results with 

 regard to hydrogen, obtained by the spectroscopic study of 

 the sun. Similarity with the new star in the Charioteer, 

 by M. Deslandres. In addition to the nine ultra-violet lines of 

 hydrogen already known, five more have been photographed in 

 the spectrum of a very brilliant prominence, extending up to the 

 oscillation frequency 271,700. They correspond very closely 

 with the frequencies calculated from Balmer's harmonic series. 

 The interest of the discovery is augmented by the circumstance 

 that the spectrum obtained shows a great similarity with that of 

 the new star in the Charioteer. — On the velocity of propagation 

 of the electromagnetic undulations in insulating media, and on 

 Maxwell's relation, by M. R. Blondlot. Given an oscillator, 

 the wave-length which it is susceptible of emitting remains the 

 same, whatever may be the insulating medium in which the 

 experiment is made. — On the heat of formation of per- 

 molybdic acid and the permolybdates, by M. E. Pechard. 

 — On crystallized phosphide of mercury, by M. Granger. 

 — On the mineralizing action of ammonium sulphate, by 

 M. T. Klobb. — Micrographic analysis of the alloys, by M. 

 Georges Guillemin. — On homopyrocatechine, and two derived 

 nitrides of homopyrocatechine, by M. H. Cousin. — On a new 

 class of combinations, the metallic nitrides, and on the properties 

 of nitrogen peroxide, by MM. Paul Sabatier and J. B. Senderens. 

 — The specific heat of the atoms and their mechanical constitution, 

 by M. G. Hinrichs. On monopropyl urea and dissymmetrical 

 dipropyl urea, byM. F. Chancel. — On the composition of fossil 

 bones, and the variation in their percentage of fluorine during 

 the various geological periods, by M. Adolphe Carnot. — Dis- 

 tribution and state of the iron in barley, by M. P. Petit. — On 

 the comparative number of nerve fibres of cerebral origin serving 

 as motor nerves for the upper and lower limbs of man respec- 

 tively, by MM. Paul Blocq and M. J. Onanoff. — On the com- 

 parative toxic effects of the metals of the alkalies and of the 

 alkaline earths, by M. Paul Binet. — Experimental regeneration 

 of the sporogenic property of the Bacillus anthracis, previously 

 deprived of it by heat, by M. C. Phisalix. — Excretion in the 

 pulmonale gasteropods, by M. L. Cuenot. — On a colourless 

 globuline which possesses a respiratory property, by M. A. B. 

 Griffiths. — On the constitution of the cystoliths and of mem- 

 branes encrusted with carbonate of lime, by M. Louis Mangin. — 

 On a fresh-water perforating alga, by MM. J. Huber and F. 

 Jadin. — On the causes of the catastrophe of St. Gervais (Haute- 

 Savoie) on July 12, 1892, by MM. J. Vallot and A. Dele- 

 becque. — Contribution to the improvement of cultivated plants, 

 by M. Schribaux. — The solar period and the last volcanic 

 eruptions, by M. Ch. V. Zenger. 



Berlin. 

 Physiological Society, July 8.— Prof. Munck, President, in 

 the chair. — Dr. Dessoir spoke on the sense of temperature re- 

 garded from the janatomical, psychological, and physiological, 



NO. II 88, VOL. 46] 



point of view. He did not believe in the existence of separate 

 senses for heat and cold since he had failed to obtain sensations 

 of heat and cold by either mechanical or electrical stimulation of 

 certain points of the skin. The temperature sense is localized, 

 since portions of the body-surface can be found which are quite 

 insensitive. The above communication was followed by a 

 lengthy discussion. 



July 22. — Prof. Munck, President, in the chair. — Prof. Zuntz 

 had long ago observed that strong muscular exertion has a 

 different effect on the alkalinity of the blood of carnivora as 

 compared with herbivora; thus in dogs the power of their blood to 

 absorb carbon dioxide was practically unaltered by exercise, where- 

 as in rabbits it was considerably lessened. This point had recently 

 been reinvestigated in the speaker's laboratory by Dr. Cohnstein, 

 who found tj^at the blood of a dog at hard work ou a treadmill 

 showed no alteration of alkalinity. The result was unaffected 

 by diet, since it was the same when the dog was fed with meat 

 alone, or with rice and fat. During very prolonged exertion 

 the blood was finally found to possess an increased alkalinity. 

 Dr. Lilienfeld had recently discovered Prof. Kossel's "histon" 

 in the leucocytes of blood, united to neuclein as " nucleo- 

 histon." Histon prevents the clotting of blood, whereas 

 nuclein promotes the formation of fibrin. These two facts were 

 regarded as explaining the various phenomena connected with 

 blood clotting. Thus the blood is fluid in the blood vessels 

 because nucleo-histon is retained by the leucocytes. On the 

 other hand, when the blood is shed some of the leucocytes or 

 platelets die, whereupon the nucleo-histon escapes into the 

 plasma, is decomposed by the calcium salts there present into 

 nuclein and histon, and the former (nuclein) then causes clotting. 

 These facts also explain the action of calcium salts in promoting 

 clotting. Prof. Zuntz stated that, according to his researches, 

 a taste-sensation, as of something sweet, is very markedly 

 increased when some other stimulus is simultaneously applied 

 to the organ of taste, even when the stimulus is too weak to 

 alone produce any sensation. Thus, for example, a solution of 

 sugar tastes more sweet if it is mixed with some solution of 

 common salt so weak that it excites no saline taste. The same 

 result was obtained by the addition of a solution of quinine, 

 also too weak to itself give rise to any sensation of taste. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Coal-Tar Colouring Matters. By R. Meldola . . . 313 

 Ram Bramha Sdnyal on the Management of Animals 



in Captivity 314 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Ball: " In Starry Realms " 315 



Letters to the Editor :— 



Basset's " Physical Optics."— A. B. Basset .... 315 

 Causes of the Deformation of the Earth's Crust. — T. 



Mellard Reade 315 



An Obvious Demonstration of the 47th Proposition of 



Euclid. {^With Diagram.) — A. J. Bickerton . . 315 

 Musical Sand. Lava in the Bournemouth Drift. — 



Cecil Carus-Wilson 316 



The Flora and Fauna of Bromley.— J. French . . . 316 



The British Association 316 



Inaugural Address by Sir Archibald Geikie, LL. D. , 

 D.Sc, For.Sec.R.S., F.R.S.E., F.G.S., Di- 

 rector-General of the Geological Survey of the 



United Kingdom, President 317 



Section A — Mathematics and Physics. — Opening Ad- 

 dress by Prof. Arthur Schuster, Ph.D., F.R.S., 



F. R. A. S., President of the Section 323 



Section B — Chemistry. — Opening Address by Prof. 

 Herbert McLeod, F.R.S., F.C.S., President of 



the Section 327 



Notes 331 



Our Astronomical Column:— 



Solar Observations at the R. Osservatorio del Collegio 



Romano 334 



A Remarkable Prominence 334 



The Trapezium in the Orion Nebula 334 



New Variable Stars 334 



The British Association Committee on Electrical 

 Standards. By Prof. Oliver J. Lodge, F.R.S. . . 334 



The Institution of Mechanical Engineers 337 



University and Educational Intelligence 338 



Scientific Serials 338 



Societies and Academies 339 



