412 



NATURE 



[August 25, 1892 



mittee of gentlemen experienced in scientific education, have 

 made the following appointments to the science scholarships for 

 the year 1892. The scholars have been students of science for 

 at least three years, and have been recommended for the scholar- 

 ships by the authorities of their respective Universities or 

 Colleges, as indicating high promise of capacity for advancing 

 science, or its applications, by original research. The scholar- 

 ships are of the value of ;,f 150 a year, and are tenable for two 

 years (subject to a satisfactory report at the end of the first 

 year) in any University at home or abroad, or in some other 

 institution to be approved of by the Commissioners. The 

 scholars are to devote themselves exclusively to study and 

 research in some branch of science, the extension of which is 

 important to the industries of this country. 



Arthur Ellis, Major- General, 



Secretary. 

 18, Victoria-street, Westminster, August, 1892. 

 University of Edinburgh. — Mr. Andrew John Herbertson. 

 ,, Glasgow. — Mr. James Blacklock Henderson. 



,, Aberdeen. — Mr. John Macdonald. 



Mason Science College, Birmingham. — Mr. Lionel Simeon 



Marks. 

 University College, Bristol.— Mr, George Lester Thomas. 

 Yorkshire College, Leeds.— Mr. Harold Hart Mann. 

 University College, Liverpool.— Mr. James Terence Conroy. 

 Owens College, Manchester.— Mr. Thornton Charles Lamb. 

 University College, Nottingham. — Mr. Edward Arnold 



Medley. 

 Firth College, Sheffield.— Mr. William Henry Gates. 

 University College of North Wales.— Mr. Edward Taylor 



Jones {conditionally). 

 Queen's College, Cork. — Mr. George Ryce. 



,, „ Galway.— Mr. William Gannon. 



University of Toronto. — Mr. Frederick J. Smale. 

 „ Adelaide. — Mr. James Bernard Allen. 



„ New Zealand. — Mr. David Hamilton Jackson. 



,, Sydney {postponed from 1891). — Mr. Samuel 



Henry Barraclough. 



Royal College of Science, London (Session 1891-92). — 

 List of Scholarships, Prizes, and Associateships, awarded July 

 1892 :— 



First Year's Scholarships.. 



Second Year's Scholarships 



r Spencer, Bernard E. 

 I West, George S. 

 "I Gray, Charles J. 

 tVerney, Harry. 

 / Allan, William. 



^"^ \ Perry, George H. 



Melton, George R. 

 '•Edward Forbes" MedaH ^ wjlii^rr, ( 2 Medals and 



and Prize of Books for I ™' William \ 



Biology /Vanstone, John H. j /^^^^^ 



" Murchison " Medal and Prize of Books 1 o. r c j 



for Geology J- Starling, Sydney E. 



" Tyndall " Prize of Books for Physics \ ^ ^ 



Course i ... \ Spencer, Bernard E. 



" De la Beche " Medal for Mining ... Cooke, Lewis H. 



"Bessemer" Medal and Prize of Books 1 T tt ,, 



for Metallurgy | Jeans, Harold. 



■*' Frank Hatton " Prize of Books for ~ 

 Chemistry 



Prizes of Books given by the Department of Science and Art. 



Mechanics Longbottom, John G, 



Astronomical Physics Bruce, James. 



Practical Chemistry Perry, George H. 



Mining Cooke, Lewis H. 



Principles of Agriculture ... Jones, Thomas, 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



Paris. 



Academy of Sciences, August 16.— M. Duchartre in the 



chair. — Theory of a condenser introduced into the secondary 



circuit of a transformer, by M. Desire Korda.— Vaporization in 



boilers, by M. de Swarte. — On some new combinations of 



piperidine, by M. Raoul Varet.— On an application of chemical 



analysis for fixing the age of prehistoric human remains, by 



M. Adolphe Carnot. This determination is based upon the 



Progressive diminution of fluorine contained in the fossil bones 



NO. I 191, VOL. 46] 



of the various geological ages. If the quantity contained in the 

 most ancient remains be designated by i, we shall have 0-64 for 

 Tertiary remains, 0*35 for " Quaternary," and 0*05 or 006 for 

 the recent ones. This fact was utilized in fixing the age of a 

 human tibia found in the sandy layers of Billancourt (Seine) in 

 the neighbourhood of some remains of undoubted Quaternary 

 origin. The ratio of the quantity of fluorine contained in the 

 animal fragments to that in the human tibia was found to be 

 0*469 or 0578 to o*o66. This establishes the more recent 

 origin of the tibia. — On a new genus of permio- carboniferous 

 stems, the G. Retinodcndron Rigolloti, by M. B. Renault. 

 The specimen upon which this new genus has been founded 

 was discovered by M. RigoUot in the silicified layers of Autun. 

 It represents a stem 12 mm. thick, 3 mm. of which belong to 

 the wood and 9 mm. to the bark. The latter is composed 

 of several eccentric zones of gum or resin canals, and of cells 

 with sclerified walls in regular alternation. The canals are 

 arranged in continuous circular lines ; their cavities enclose a 

 brown substance which is sometimes granular. The structure 

 of the wood indicates that the new genus belongs to the gymno- 

 sperms ; its density and the small thickness of the ligneous 

 cellular rays distinguish it from the ordinary cycads, while 

 their composite nature makes it impossible to class them with 

 the conifers. Hence it belonged to a family of gymnosperms 

 which is actually extinct. It may be concluded that at no 

 other epoch have the plants secreting gums, resins, tannin, &c., 

 been more abundant, and that the carbonization of these pro- 

 ducts is the origin of the yellow or brown substances found 

 not only in the bituminous schists, forming bands or small 

 lenticular patches, but also in pitcoal, impregnating more or 

 less the preserved tissues, and in cannel-coal, enclosing a 

 large number of recognizable vegetable fragments. — Pancre- 

 atic diabetes, by MM. Lancereaux and A. Thiroloix. 

 Further experiments show that there exists a diabetes actually 

 consequent upon the destruction of the pancreas ; this diabetes 

 is not, however, caused by the absence of the external glandular 

 secretion, but simply by the absence of the liquid secreted 

 internally by the gland and absorbed by the blood-vessels 

 and the lymphatics. — On a new treatment of the glanders, by 

 MM. Claudius Nourri and C. Michel. This is identical with 

 that applied recently to human tuberculosis, with which it has 

 much in common. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Bramwell's Clinical Atlas 389 



Modern Developments in Norway. By W. M. W. . 390 

 Our Book Shelf:— 



" Ostwald's Klassiker der Exacten Wissenschaften " . 391 

 Letters to the Editor : — 



Aurora Borealis. — Hy. Harries 391 



An Unusual Sunset. {Illustrated.) — Henry Crew . 391 

 The Red Spot on Jupiter. — W. F. Denning . . . 391 

 Numbering the Hours of the Day.— T. W. Back- 

 house . . . . • 392 



Propagation of Magnetic Impulses along a Bar of Iron. 



— V. A Julius 392 



" The Limits of Animal Intelligence." — Edward T. 



Dixon 392 



Tropical Cyclones. — Maxwell Hall 393 



A Sparrow's Antipathy to Purple. — G. D. Havi- 



land 394 



Bumping in the Lane Fox Mercurial Pump.— D. G. . 394 

 Carl Schorlemmer, LL.D., F.R.S. By Sir H. E, 



Roscoe, M.P,, F.R,S 394 



Scientific Investigations of the Scottish Fishery 



Board • . . 395 



Notes , 397 



Our Astronomical Column: — 



Nova Aurigse 400 



The Opposition of Mars 400 



Thermal Absorption in the Solar Atmosphere .... 400 



Hydrogen Spectrum in the Solar Atmosphere . . . 401 



Refraction in Micrometric and Photographic Measures 401 



The Recent Earthquakes. By Charles Davison . . 401 



Chemistry at the British Association 401 



Biology at the British Association 403 



Geography at the British Association 406 



The American Association, President's Address . 408 



University and Educational Intelligence 411 



Societies and Academies 412 



