2l6 



NATURE 



[January 2, 1896 



egg developed into a complete gastrula. From this it appeared 

 that the exit of a portion of the contents of the egg had no 

 influence on the development of the remaining part. — Prof. 

 Zuntz criticised a recent paper by Filehne and Kiouka, in which 

 they attempted to disprove his view that the increased respiratory 

 frequency during muscular exertion is due to the action on the 

 respiratory centre of some product formed during the activity of 

 the muscles. He showed that their objections do not hold good, 

 and that their experiments do not upset his conclusions. 



November 29, 1895. — Prof, du Bois Reymond, President, in the 

 chair.— Dr. Rene du Bois Reymond spoke on the opposition of 

 the thumb, a point on which very scanty and insufficient inform- 

 ation is contained in text-books of anatomy. He had studied 

 in detail the theory of saddle-joints, and on the assumption that 

 the movements take place about two axes at right angles to each 

 other and passing through the point of contact of the two 

 bones, he had arrived by construction at a mathematical formula 

 corresponding to the ideal saddle-joint. This formula shows 

 that a certain very limited amount of rotation is possible in this 

 ioint. He had further investigated, by the horopter and photo- 

 graphically, the actual movements of the thumb, the hand being 

 firmly fixed, and gave the several phases of the movements 

 which occur in the joint between the metacarpus and trapezium, 

 and between the phalanx and the metacarpus during opposition. 

 — Dr. Schultz demonstrated on the humerus of a duck the 

 connection between the lungs and the bone cavities. 



Physical Society, November 15, 1895. — Prof, von Bezold, 

 President, in the chair. — Prof. Warburg gave a short account 

 of experiments, by W. J. Waggener, on the temperature of 

 the flame of a Bunsen burner. The measurements were 

 made with carefully- tested Le Chatellier's thermo-electric 

 elements. The accuracy of the measurements was further 

 tested in two directions. Firstly, with reference to the 

 effect of high temperature on the E.M. F. of the element, it 

 was found that prolonged heating makes the platino-iridium 

 wire more markedly irregular than it does the platinum ; hence 

 the element was exposed to the flame for a short time only. 

 Secondly, with reference to the disturbing effect of heat con- 

 duction, it was found with wires of 0*5, 0"2, ot and 0'05 mm. 

 diameter, that when they are coiled up so that they can be 

 almost completely enveloped in the zone of active combustion 

 the three thicker wires recorded the same temperature, whereas, 

 when not so coiled up, the thicker wires gave a lower tempera- 

 ture. The thinnest wire gave the highest values in the outer 

 edge of the flame and in the zone of active combustion, in the 

 inner cone a lower value than that given by the wire of o'l mm. 

 The highest temperature recorded was 1704° C. Taking the 

 highest records of the above four wires, and representing them 

 graphically, a curve was obtained which gave the value 1750° C. 

 for a wire of zero thickness, a temperature not much below the 

 melting point of platinum, 1780° C. — Prof. Thiesen spoke on the 

 formulee which make it possible to obtain a perfect image with 

 a simple lens. 



Amsterdam. 



Royal Academy of Sciences, October 26, 1895. — Prof. Van 

 Sande Bakhuyzen in the chair.— Prof. Martin read a paper on 

 Tertiary fossils from the Philippines. Basing his arguments upon 

 a collection of fossils formed many years ago by Semper in the 

 Philippines, the author showed that in Luzon, in the upper 

 course of the Rio Grande de Cagayan, there appear neo-miocene 

 strata, which must be considered equivalent to the typical neo- 

 miocene of Java. Similar strata are also found in Cebu ; more- 

 over, neo-tertiary (miocene or pliocene ?) fossils have been 

 brought away by Semper from the hills of Aringay in Luzon, 

 and finally pliocene ones from the Rio Agusan, Mindanao. In 

 the Philippines there occur tertiary and newer deposits, which 

 correspond to the newer sediments in Java, both as regards the 

 age and the petrographic structure and the fossil fauna of 

 the said strata. — Mr. Jan de Vries presented a paper on a class 

 of complete functions. Let W be a function of 7 of the wth 

 degree, then the general formula is determined for a function 

 that satisfies the equation W«_7W„_i -h W«_2 = o. — Prof. 

 Kamerlingh Onnes communicated Dr. Zeeman's measurements 

 on absorption of electrical vibrations in electrolytes, undertaken 

 at the suggestion of Prof, Cohn of Strassburg, and carried out 

 in the Leyden laboratory. The (as yet) preliminary results are : 

 (i) the energy of the electric vibrations in pervading an electro- 

 lyte diminishes in the logarithmic ratio ; (2) if the wave-length 

 is 6*5 m., the energy has decreased to one-third of its original 

 value when the wave has passed through 6 '5 cm. of a solution 



NO. 1366, VOL. 53] 



of common salt, the resistance of which is 3200" lo"^" that of 

 mercury. — Prof. Lorentz presented, on behalf of Mr. A. Smits, 

 a paper, entitled " A Description of the Micromanometer." By 

 means of the instrument described, a difference of pressure equal 

 to tAtt m.m. of water or j^r^y^ m.m. of mercury, may, if all 

 precautions possible are taken, be measured under the most 

 favourable conditions. 



BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, and SERIALS RECEIVED. 



Books.— Gesammelte Abhandlungen iiber Entwickelungsmechanik der 

 Organismen : Prof. W. Roux, Erster and Zweiter Bands (Leipzig, Engel- 

 mann). — Die Mikroskopische Thierwelt des Siisswassers : Dr. F. Bloch- 

 mann. Abthg. i. Protozoa (Hamburg, Grafe). — Fauna der Gaskohle und 

 der Kalksteine der Permformation Bohmens : Dr. A. Fritsch, Dritter Band 

 (Prag, Rivndc). — Die Haustiere und Ihre Beziehungen zur Wirtschaft des 

 Menschen : E. Hahn (Leipzig, Duncker).— The Story of the Solar System : 

 G. F. Chambers (Newnes).— A Manual of Inorganic Chemistry : Dr. T. E. 

 Thorpe, 2 Vols., new edition (Collins) —Die Spectralanalyse : Dr. J. 

 Landauer (Braunschweig, Vieweg).— In Haunts of Wild Game : F. V. Kirby 

 (Blackwood).— Dynamo-Electric Machinery: Prof. S. P. Thompson, 5th 

 edition (Spon). 



Pamphlets. — Dynamo Attendants and their Dynamos : A. H. Gibbings, 

 2nd edition (Rentell).— Submarine Telegraphy, &c. : J. Bell and S. Wilson 

 ^Electricity Office).— Pharmaceutical Society Museum Report for the Year 

 1893-4 (Bloomsbury Square). 



Serials.— Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, December 

 (Paul).— Popular Science Monthly, December (Paul). —American Naturalist, 

 December (Philadelphia).— History of Mankind : F. Ratzel, Part 4 (Mac- 

 millan).— Bulletin of the Illinois State Laboratory of Natural History, 

 Urbana, 111., Vol. 4 (Springfield, 111.).— Good Words, January (Isbister).— 

 Sunday Magazine, January (Isbister).— English Illustrated Magazine, 

 January (198 Strand). — Longman's Magazine, January (Longmans). — 

 Economic Journal, December (Macmillan). — Astrophysical Journal, Decem- 

 ber (Wesley).— Contemporary Review, January (Isbister).— Century Maga- 

 zine, January (MacmilLin).— Natural Science, January (Rait).— Journal of 

 the Chemical Society, December (Gurney).— Zeitschrift fiir Physikalische 

 Chemie, xviii. Band, 4 Heft (Leipzig, Engelmann).— Fortnightly Review. 

 January (Chapman).— The Humanitarian, January (Hutchinson).— Phono- 

 graphic Quarterly Review, January (Pitman).— Journal of the Royal 

 Microscopical Society, December (Williams). 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



The Alps from End to End 193 



The Archegoniate Series of Cryptogams 194 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Lassar-Cohn: "A Laboratory Manual of Organic 



Chemistry."— Dr. J. B. Cohen 195 



Griesbach : " Physikalisch-chemische Propaedeutik, 



Erste Halfte,"— J, W. R 196 



Tutt : " The Pterophorina of Britain " 196 



Bell and Wilson: " Submarine Telegraphy and other 



Papers" 196 



Letters to the Editor:— 



The Astronomical Theory ot the Glacial Period.— 



Prof, G. H. Darwin, F.R.S 196 



Barisal Guns.— D. G. F. Grant; G. B, Scott . . 197 

 Remarkable Sounds.— C. Tomlinson, F.R.S. ; 



Rev, W, S. Smith ; O. Firth; William Stoney 197 

 The Merjelen Lake. (Illustrated.)— Gr^tnvfood 



Pim 198 



The Metric System.— Prof. H. A. Hazen ..... 198 

 Apparatus for determining the Specific Gravity of 

 Minute Fragments of Minerals. {Illustrated.) 



T, D, La Touche I99 



Cactacete in the Galapagos Islands. — Prof, Alex- 

 ander Agassiz 199 



The Venezuela and British Guiana Boundary. By 



Dr. Hugh Robert Mill 200 



Dr. John Russell Hind, F,R,S. By William E, 



Plummer 201 



Notes 202 



Our Astronomical Column: — 



Rotation of Jupiter 206 



The Parallax of a Centauri 206 



New Variable Star of the Algol Type ■ . 206 



The Nature of the Physiological Element in Emo- 

 tion 206 



Photography and Chronographic Measurements, By 



Rev, Frederick J. Smith, F.R.S 206 



Atmospheric Electricity, {Illustrated.) By Prof, 



Arthur Schuster, F,R,S 207 



University and Educational Intelligence 212 



Scientific Serials 212 



Societies and Academies 213 



Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received 216 



