240 



NATURE 



[January 9, 1896 



MM. P. Barbier and L. Bouveault. — Study in germination, by 

 M. J. de Rey-Pailhade. — On the simultaneous determination of 

 the mineral and organic acidity in the juice of the beetroot, by 

 M. D. Sidersky. Advantage may be taken of the indifference 

 of Congo-red paper to the organic acids, but a simpler method 

 is to use a colouring matter present in the juice itself.— The 

 origin of the three-colour theory of the optic nerve, by M. J. P. 

 Durand. A recognition of the work of Thomas Young. — On 

 the influence of lecithin on the growth and multiplication of 

 (organisms, by M. B. Danilewsky. — Comparative study of the 

 buccal mass of gasteropods, by M. A. Amaudrut.- — Cephalo- 

 pods from the stomach of a cachalot, caught at the Azores, by 

 M. L. Joubin. — Some effects of the synodic revolution of the 

 moon on tlie distribution of atmospheric pressures in the autumn 

 season, by M. A. Poincare. — On a meteor observed in Algeria, 

 December 14, 1895, loh. 15m. p.m., by M. J. Triboulet. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



London. 



THURSDAY, }AKVhuv q. 



Society of Antiquaries, at 8.36. 



Mathematical Society, at 8. — On a certain Ternary Cubic : Prof. Lloyd 

 Tanner. — Further Communication on Boltzmann's Minimum Function : 

 S. H. Burbury, F.R.S. — Examples illustrating Lord Rayleigh's Theory 

 of the Stability or Instability of certain Fluid Motions : A. E. H. Love, 

 F.R.S. 



Royal Institution, at 3. — Sound, Hearing, and Speech : Prof. McKen- 

 drick, F.R.S. 



FRIDAY, January 10. 



Malacological Society, at 8. — List of South Australian Pleurotomidse 

 with Descriptions of New Species : G. B. Sowerby. — Descriptions of New 

 Land MoUuscafrom New Zealand and Macquarie Island : Henry Suter. — 

 The Genus Hyalimax, or a near Ally (Neohyalimax), in Brazil : Dr. H. 

 .Simroth. — On a Collection of Slugs from the Sandwich Islands : Walter 

 E. Collinge. 



Royal Astronomical Society, at 8. 



Clinical Society, at 8.30. 



SATURDAY, January it. 



Association for the Improvement of Geometrical Teaching (Uni- 

 versity College), at 11. At 2. — Business Meeting. — Geometrical 



Methods : Dr. Larmor. 



Royal Botanic Society, at 3.45. 



SUNDAY, iAti\}KT<.\ 12. 



Sunday Lf,c ture Society, at 4. — Pasteur and his Work : Prof. Percy 

 Frankland, F.R.S. 



MONDAY, January 13. 



Medical Society, at 8.30. 



TUESDAY, January 14. 



Royal Institution, at 3. — The External Covering of Plants and Animals : 

 its Structure and Functions : Prof. C. Stewart. 



Institution of Civil Engineers, at 8. — The Sanitary Works of Buenos 

 Ayres : Sewerage, Drainage, and Water-Supply : Hon. R. C. Parsons. 



Zoological Society, at 8.30. — A Preliminary Revision and Synonymic 

 Catalogue of the Hesperiidae of Africa and the adjacent Islands, with 

 Descriptions of .some apparently New Species : Rev. W. J. Holland. — 

 On a Collection of Butterflies obtained by Mr. R. Crawshay in Nyasa- 

 land between the Months of January and April, 1895 : Dr. Arthur G. 

 Butler. -pOn a Newly-discovered Modification of the Iris in the Eyes of 

 certain of the Ungulata adapted for assisting Vision : Dr. G. Lindsay 

 Johnson. 



Royal Photographic Society, at 8. — Astigmatism and a New Stigmatic 

 Portrait Lens : H. L. Aldi.s. 



Royal .Asiatic Society, at 3. 



Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society, at 8.30. 



WEDNESDAY, January 15. 

 Society of Arts, at 8.— The Making of a Great University for London : 



Prof. Silvanus P. Thompson, F.R.S. 

 Entomological Society, at 8.— Annual Meeting. — Election of Council 



and Officers. — The Speculative Method in Entomology : Prof. Meldola, 



F.R..S., President. 

 Royal Microscopical Society, at 8. — Annual Meeting. — Election of 



Council. — Address by the President, A. D, Michael. 

 Royal Meteorological Society, at 8.— Annual General Meeting. 

 British ARCHiEOLOGiCAL Association, at 8. 



THURSDAY, January 16. 

 Royal Society, at 4.30. 

 London Institution, at 6. — Experiments with Incandescent Lamps : Prof. 



Fleming, F.R.S. 

 Linnean Society, at 8. — On the Fistulose Polymorphinae and the Ramu- 



linffi : Prof. T. Rupert Jones, F.R.S., and F. Chapman. 

 Society of Arts, at 4.30. — The Shan Hills : their Peoples and Products : 



Colonel R. G. Woodthorpe, C.B., R.E. 

 Society of Antiquaries, at 8.30. 

 Chemical Society, at 8. — The Acetylene Theory of the Luminositj' of 



Hydrocarbon Flames : Prof. Vivian B. Lewes. — And other Papers. 

 Institution of Electrical Engineers, at 8. — Presentation of Premiums. 



— Inaugural Address of the President, Dr. John Hopkinson, F.R.S. | 



Numismatic Society, at 7. i 



fR/DAY, J AKVARY 17. 



Royal Institution, at 9.— More about Argon : Lord Rayleigh. 

 Quekett Microscopical Cli m, at 8. 



Institution of Civil Engineers, at 8.— Iron Tunnels : W. O. Leitch. 

 Epidemiological Society, at 8.— Experiences in Relation to Cholera in. 

 India from 1842-79 : Surgeon-General C. A. Gordon, C.B. 



SA TURDA Y, January 18. 

 Royal Institution, at 3.— To the North of Lake Rudolf and among the 

 Gallas : Dr. A. Donaldson Smith. 



BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, and SERIALS RECEIVED. 



Books.— Annuaire pour 1 an 1896, public par Le Bureau des Longitudes 

 (Paris, Gauthier-Villars). — Le Mouvement : E. J. Marey (Paris, Masson). — 

 Principii della Teoria Matematica del Movimento dei Corpi : Prof. G. A. 

 Maggi (Milano, Hoepli).— Elementary Treatise on Electricity and Mag- 

 netism : Profs. Foster and Atkinson (Longmans). — History of the Cholera 

 Controversy : Sir G. Johnson (Churchill).— Quain's Elements of Anatomy, 

 loth edition, Vol. 3, Part 4, Splanchnology : Profs. Schiifer and Symington 

 (Longmans). — Comity International des Poids et Mesures. Proces-Verbaux 

 des Stances de 1894 (Paris, Gauthier-Villars).— Travaux et M^moires de 

 Bureau International des Poids et Mesures, tome xi. (Paris, Gauthier- 

 Villars).— Transactions of the Royal Society of Victoria. " Vol. iv. A Mono- 

 graph of the Tertiary Polyzoa of Victoria : Dr. P. H. MacGillivray 

 (Melbourne). 



Pamphlets.— Special Map of British Guiana (Philip) : Frederic Kitton 

 (Redway).— Guide to the British Mycetozoa exhibited in the Department 

 of Botany, British Museum (Natural History) (London).— Ninth .Annual 

 Report of the Liverpool Marine Biology Committee and their Biological 

 Station at Port Erin : Prof W. A. Herdman (Liverpool). 



Serials.— National Review, January (Arnold).— Norges Geologiske 

 Undersogelse, Nos. 10 to 17 (Kristiania).— Bulletin of the American Mathe- 

 matical Society, December (New York). — Geographical Journal, January 

 (Stanford).— Science Progress, January (Scientific Press) —Mind, January 

 (Williams). — Zeitschrift fiir Wissenschafte Zoologie, Sechzigster Band,. 

 Drittes Heft (Williams).— Annals of Scottish Natural History, January 

 (Edinburgh, Douglas).— Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Vol. 3, 

 No. I (Williams).— Brain, Part 72 (Macmillan).— Journal of the Royal 

 Agricultural Society of England, Vol. 6, Part 4 (Murray). — Minnesota 

 Botanical Studies, Bulletin No. 9 (Minneapolis). — Scribner's Magazine, 

 January (S. Low). — Acaddmie des Sciences de I'Empereur Francois 

 Joseph I. Bulletin International Classe des Sciences Math^matiques et 

 Naturelles, II. — Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, December, Stan- 

 ford). — Geological Magazine, January (Dulau). 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Food and its Functions 217 



The Study of Fungi. By Geo. Massee 218- 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Tristram : " Rambles in Japan, the Land of the Rising 



Sun" 219. 



Green: " A Manual of Botany " 219 



Flather : " Rope Driving " 2I9. 



Letters to the Editor:— 



The Cause of an Ice Age.— Sir Robert S. Ball, 



F.R.S. ; Dr. Alfred R. Wallace, F.R.S. . . . 220 

 The Dying out of Naturalists.— W. T. Thiselton- 



Dyer, CM. G., F.R.S 221 



Pendulum Observations in the Northern and Southern 

 Hemispheres. — Major-General H. S. Schaw, 



R.E 222 



The Metric System.— F, G. Brook-Fox 222 



The Habits of the Cuckoo.— Annie Ley 223 



A Luminous Centipede.— J. Lloyd Bozward ; R. I. 



Pocock 223 



A Lecture Experiment on the Nodes of a Bell. — G. 



Osborn 223 



The Critical Temperature of Hydrogen. — Dr. G. H. 



Bryan, F.R.S 22j 



The Sperm Whale and its Food. By J. Y. 



Buchanan, F.R.S 223. 



Notes 225 



Our Astronomical Column: — 



Celestial Photography Vjy Simple Means 229 



The Constant of Nutation 229 



A Yorkshire Aerolite. By Harwood Brierley . . . 230 

 Prize Subjects of the Paris Academy of Sciences , 230 

 Amateur Cloud Photography. By M. Angot ... 230 



Science in the Magazines 232 



Recent Progress in Optics. By Prof. W. LeConte 



Stevens 233 



University and Educational Intelligence 238 



Scientific Serials 238 



Societies and Academies 239 



Diary of Societies 240 



Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received 240- 



NO. 1367, VOL. 53] 



