'32S 



NATURE 



[February 6, 1896 



January and June on a specimen of Acer Negundo. During the 

 whole of this period the temperature of the tree was lower than 

 that of the air in the morning and at noon, but higher in the 

 evening. The lowest temperature of the tree recorded was in 

 February, -2i°'i C. In the same part Miss H. G. Fox gives a 

 monograph of the species of Cypripediiini belonging to the 

 Atlantic region of North America, six in number, with a scheme 

 of the affinities of all the American species of the genus. 



The fourth volume of the Transactions of the Royal Society 

 of Victoria (1895, PP- ^66) is taken up with " A Monograph of 

 the Tertiary Polyzoa of Victoria," by the late Dr. MacGillivray. 

 The monograph is illustrated by twenty-two lithographed plates, 

 all of which were prepared by Dr. MacGillivray, but only a few 

 pages of the descriptive text had been written, and Prof, Baldwin 

 Spencer and Mr. T. S. Hall are responsible for the descriptions 

 required to complete it. In Victoria, as well as in South 

 Australia, there are numerous Tertiary formations containing large 

 deposits of Polyzoa, the accurate determination of which, 

 especially in relation to the living species, is of great geological 

 interest. Dr. MacGillivray's monograph, with its numerous fine 

 illustrations of species, will prove of great assistance in working 

 out this relation. 



The second volume on "Africa," in the new issue of Stan- 

 ford's Compendium of Geography and Travel, deals with South 

 Africa, and the author is Mr. A. H. Keane. The volume is 

 not merely an enlarged edition of Keith Johnston's work, but 

 practically a new publication, containing but a few passages of the 

 original text, while only three of the old text-figures have been 

 retained. Nnmerous new and carefully selected illustrations 

 give attractiveness to the text, which is well abreast of the 

 knowledge of African geography. How enormously the avail- 

 able information has increased may be gathered from the fact 

 that the present volume, dealing with South Africa alone, runs 

 into 671 pages; and we can quite believe Mr. Keane when he 

 says : ' ' Occurrences of far-reaching consequence have followed 

 in such swift succession that in the preparation of this work the 

 chief difficulty has been to keep pace with the shifting scenes." 

 A broad view is taken of geography, attention being given to 

 African history, political questions, and ethnology, as well as to 

 the physical features, hydrography, and natural history of the 

 continent. Altogether the volume is a valuable addition to the 

 works dealing with Africa, and a desirable acquisition to every 

 geographer's library. 



The first volume of what promises to hz a very elaborate 

 " Trait e de Chirurgie clinique et operatoire," has come to us 

 from MM. J. B. Bailliere et Fils. The editors of the work, 

 which will be completed in ten bulky volumes, are Profs. A. Le 

 Dentu and P. Delbet ; and if the first volume, dealing with 

 general and special pathology, is followed by others of like 

 fulness 'and quality, a valuable work of reference will have 

 been added to the literature of surgery. The chief object 

 of the editors — the object towards which the efforts of 

 all physicians and surgeons tend — will be to make the publica- 

 tion the Uvre de chevet of those who are concerned with the 

 origin and treatment of diseases. It is the surgery of to-day 

 that will be expounded, not that of the past. The recent 

 conquests in the domain of anatomy, bacteriology with all its 

 applications to therapeutical surgery, and operative methods 

 which have extended the field of action of surgery, will all be 

 fully dealt with. Such a broad scope, when considered by the 

 side of the distinguished men who have undertaken to write the 

 various sections, is sufficient to establish the work in a high 

 position. 



In a paper in the current number of the Berichte (January 13) 

 by Lobry de Bruyn and A. van Ehenstein, further details are 

 given of the properties of free hydrazine, NHj — NHg. In the 



NO. 1 37 1, VOL. 53] 



first preliminary communication by M. Lobry de Bruyn, two 

 methods of obtaining the anhydrous base were described, viz., by 

 the action of barium oxide upon hydrazine hydrate, and by the 

 reaction between sodium methylate and hydrazine hydrochloride 

 in absolute methyl alcohol ; in either case the hydrazine being, 

 separated by fractional distillation under reduced pressure. Free 

 hydrazine is a liquid which at 23° has a density of i -003, and ou 

 cooling with ice solidifies to a crystalline mass melting at l''-4 C^ 

 Unlike free hydroxylamine, which is explosive, hydrazine is a 

 very stable body, boiling unchanged under ordinary atmospheric 

 pressure at II3°*5 C., and not decomposing at a temperature of 

 300°, In its chemical behaviour the free base resembles the 

 hydrate, being oxidised to nitrogen by oxygen or air, and con- 

 verting solid sulphur into hydrogen sulphide on warming. In. 

 a subsequent note in the same journal, by M. Lobry de Bruyn,. 

 an improved method is given for the preparation of hydrazine 

 hydrate in quantity, advantage being taken of the fact that glass- 

 is not attacked by this substance at temperatures under 50° C> 

 Since the hydrate boils at 47° under a pressure of 26 mm., the 

 fractional distillation, if conducted at pressures below this, may- 

 be carried out in glass vessels. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Macaque Monkey (Macacus cynoinolgus, i > 

 from India, presented by Mr. Edmund Sheriff; a Common Boa 

 (Boa constrictor) from Trinidad, presented by Mr. S. A. 



Cumberland ; a Antelope { Cervicapra) from Africa, a 



Kinkajou {Cercoleptes caudivolvttlus) from South America, a 

 Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo), British, two Samoan Fruit 

 Pigeons (Ptilonopiis apicalis) from Samoa, deposited ; a Sharp- 

 nosed Snake {Passerita mycterizans) from India, jxirchased. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



Eclipses in February.— During the present month there 

 will be an annular eclipse of the sun and a partial eclipse of the 

 moon. The former will occur on February 13, but as the path 

 of the annulus lies wholly in the South Atlantic and Antarctic 

 Oceans, it is of little interest. At the Cape of Good Hope it 

 will be visible as a partial eclipse, magnitude 0*849, the greatest 

 phase occurring at 6h. 38m. Cape mean time, that is, sixteen 

 minutes before sunset. 



The more important phases of the partial eclipse of the moon 

 on February 28 will be visible in this country, provided the 

 weather be favourable. The following particulars for Greenwich 

 are from the Companion to the Observatory : — 



h. m. h. m> 



First contact with penumbra 5 I5"5 ... With shadow 6 i6-3 

 Last ,, ,, 10 I5"9 ... „ ,, 9 I5"i 



First contact with shadow takes place at an angle of 85° front 

 the north point towards the east, and the last contact at 30" 

 towards the west. The magnitude of the eclipse (moon's 

 diameter = i) will be 0-870. The moon will rise at 5h. 27ni. 



During the partial eclipse the following stars will be occulted : 



AsTROPHYSiCAL STANDARDS. — The need for greater uni- 

 formity in standards, &c., has long been felt by all engaged in 

 astrophysical researches, and we learn with pleasure that the 

 Editorial Board of the Astrophysical Journal has taken up the 

 matter. As the result of a circular addressed to the Associate 

 Editors, the following decisions have been arrived at, and an 



