456 



NATURE 



[September 5, 1S95 



was surrounded by a water-jacket, through which a stream of 

 brine, cooled by a freezing mixture, could be jassad. 



The determinations were made exclusively with sodium light. 



In the first column of the table the values of the refractive 

 indices, relative to air, for each degree are given to five places ; 

 in the second the \-alues as found by Walter, and in the third 

 and fourth those for sodium light, given by Gladstone and Dale, 

 and Riihimann. 



Rejrailiv€ Indues of Walii. 



The values show that the refractive index of water, as was 

 first announced by Jamin, increases continuously up to the freez- 

 ing ixiint, the rate of increase, however, seems to change about 

 4°, the temperature of maximum density, as was pointed out by 

 Gladsi.ine and Dale, and that no formula representing the varia- 

 tion of the refractive index of water with the temperature, as a 

 function of the density only, can be a complete expression of the 

 facts of the case. 



Paris. 



Academy of Sciences, Augtist 26. — M. Kizeau in the 

 chair.— Trutlies (Ter/.is) from Cyprus (Terfizia ,/a7vryi), 

 Smyrna, and La Calle {Terfezia konis), by M. Ad. Chatin.— 

 Obsersations of Swift^s comet (August 26, 1895), niade at Lyons 

 ()bser\atory by means of the coude equatorial (0-32 m. ), by M. 

 G. Le Cadet. The remark is recorded that this comet appears 

 as a very diffuse and feeble nebulosity almost equally spread in 

 every direction. By oblique vision a nearly central feeble con- 

 densation can bedislinguished.— Observations of the planet Phao 

 (1=2^, made at Marseilles Obscr\atory by means of the 0'26 m. 

 equatorial, by M. Borrelly.— On regular pencils and the Jqtii- 

 talirc! of the «lh order, by M. Paul Serrct.— Heat of solution 

 and of formation of SfKlium and ixitassium cyanurates, by AL 

 Paul Lcmoult. .\ detailed thermochemical study. The diffi- 

 culty of forming the trimetallic s.ilts is emphasised, and it is 

 shown that the sodium and potassium series do not differ essen- 

 tially. Water does not appear to decompose these salts. — On 

 apiath'e fermentation, and on the influence ofai-ralion in elliptic 

 fermentation at a high temperature, by M.M. M. Rietsch and 

 M. Herselin. Alcohol formed from apicuUc yeasts requires 

 more sugar for its pro<luction than that pro<luced by the agency 

 of elliptic yeasts. Cooling the must to just below 30" and 

 aeratiim Uith favour the economical production of alcohol. — 

 On aluminium utensils, by M. Balland. These utensils in 

 ordinary camp use stand wear fairly well, and arc not 

 much attacked by fotxls during the short time they arc in con- 

 tact therewith. "They should not be soldered or brought into 

 contact with other melals. In the process of manufacture, treat- 

 ment with soda should be avoided ; the fine matt surface pro- 

 duce<l is more easily attacked than a [xilished surf.icc. —On the 

 role of the liver in the anticoagulant action of |)eptone, by MM. 

 K. r,|pv- andV. Pachon. The results of the authors' exjKTiments 

 ■ show that peptone does not itself exert any anti- 

 effect, but that it stimulates the production by the 

 " ' '"■"■ ^ing aniicoagulant pro|)erties. — 



TTi M. Ch. V. Zenger. A solid 



''""' „ - - I , ■:■'■ f revolution is cut by two planes 



perpendicular to the principal axis, and [lassing through the two 

 foci. Otir flnl end I>cing placed as usual on the Inxly surface, 

 '*"■ ' ^e other focus the sounds nf organ movc- 



""'■' '•• intensity, and free from [xirasiiic sounds 



fornnriiFi iii^ iir .j..iceof the ordinar)- instrument.— The electro- 

 dynamic system of the world, by .\I. Ch. V 



CiOTTINGEN. 



Royal Society of Sciences. — "Y^ie Nachrichtciu l«rt 2 for 

 1S9S, contains the following memoirs of scientific interest : — 



May 25. — O. Holder : On groups whose order is free from 

 squares. 



June 15 — A. Hurwitz : A fundamental theorem in the arith- 

 metical theory- of algebraic magnitudes. A. von Koenen : On 

 the selection of points near Goltingenat which differences in tlic 

 intensity of gravity may be ex|iected in trial [XMHlulum experi- 

 ments. W. Schur : On the results of the first pendulum trilll^. 

 W. Voigt : In memoriam Y. E. Neumann. 



I 



NO. 1349, VOL. 52] 



Zenger. 



BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, and SERIALS RECEIVED. 



Books. — Annual Report of the Department of Mines and Agriculture, 

 ?J.S.\V., for the Year 1S94 (Sydney).— Diseases of Personality : Prof. Ribot, 

 translated (Chicago, Open Court Publishing Company). — Analytical Kc\ t 

 the Natural Orders of Flowering Plants : F. Thonner (Sonncnschein V 

 Studies in the Evolutionary- Psychology of Feeling : H. M. Si.in! 

 (Sonnenschein). — Univer-.it>- College, Bristol, Calendar for the Session i 

 iSq6 (Bristol, Arrowsmith).— Origin of Plant Structures : Rev. G. Hen-1 

 (K. Paul). — Bourne's Handy Assurance Manual, 1895 : W. Schooli, .. 

 (London). 



Pamphlets. — Stcnopaic or Pin-hole Photography : F. W. Mills and A. C. 

 Ponton (Dawbam). — University Correspondence College, Ix>n. Inter. Science 

 and Prel. Sci. Guide, No. vii. (Red Lion Square). — Ditto Inter. Arts Guide, 

 No. X. (Red Lion Square). 



Serials. — Indian Museum Notes, Vol. 3, Nos. 4 and 5 (Calcutt.i). — 

 Chambers's Journal, September (Ch.-vml>crs). — Contcmpor.iry Review, Sept- 

 ember (Isbister). — Good \Vord>, September (Isbistcr). — Sunday Magazine, 

 September (Isb'ster). — Humanitarian, September (Hutchinson). — N.xtional 

 Review, .September (.Arnold). — Scribner's M.igx/ine. September (I-Ovv>. — 

 Fortnightly Review, September (Chapman and Hall). — Clinical Sketches, 

 No. S, Vol. 2 (Smith, Elder). — Notes from the Lcydcn Museum, July 

 (Leydcn, Brill). — Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society, .Vugusl 

 (Williams and Norgatc). — A Monograph of the Land and treshwater 

 Mollusca; 1. W. T.iyIor, Part 2 (Leeds. T.iylor).— Bulletin de l.-Vca- 

 d^mie Royale des .Sciences de Belgique, 65*^ .■\nntc, Xo. 7 (Bruxelles).— 

 ZeitNchrift fur Physikalische Chemie, xvii. Band, 4 Heft (Leipzig). — Kala- 

 log der Bibliothek der K. Lxopol disch -Carol inisc hen Deutschen .Vkademie 

 der Xaturforscher, Sechste Liefg. (Halle). — Ditto Rcpertorium 7u den .Acta, 

 und Nova Acta der .Akademie, Erster Band (Halle). — The .Asclepiad, No. 

 43, Vol. xi. (Longmans). 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



The Pendulum and Geology, liy Rev. O. Fisher . 433 

 Some Recent Books on Mycology, liy A. L. S. . 435 

 Our Book Shelf:— 



Dubois: " The Climates of the Geological Past, and 



their Relation to the Evolution of the Sun " ... 436 

 Hol/miiller : " Methodisches Lehrbuchder Elemcnlar- 



Mathematik." — G 437 



Letters to the Editor: — 



Ikighis I. f August Meteors. — Prof. A. S. Herschel, 



F.R.S •. • : • • '437 



Do the Components of Comiiound Colours in Nature 

 follow a Law of Multiple l'ro|X)rtion ?— F. Howard 



Collins 438 



Transformation of Moulds and Veasts. — R. W. 



Atkinson ; The Writer of the Note 438 



Mr. .ScLbohm im MirldcmlnrlV's Crcdihilil).— Prof. 



Alfred Newton. F.R.S 438 



On Photographs of the Moon taken at the Paris 



Observatory 439 



Unscientific Excavations in Egypt 439 



Joseph Thomson. Hy Dr. J. W. Gregory 440 



William Crawford Williamson. Hy Count Solms- 



Laubach 44I 



Notes 443 



Our Astronomical Column: — 



The Forms of Jupiter's Satellites 445 



Ephemeris of Swift's Comet 446 



Ciiniets and tlic Sun-spot IVriod 44^1 



The Sun's Place in Nature. XI. (Illustrated.) By 



J. Norman Lockyer, C.B., F.R.S 44fi'j 



Science in the Magazines 450l 



On the Electrolysis of Gases. (Illustrated.) By 



Prof J. J. Thomson, F.R.S 451] 



University and Educational Intelligence 455,1 



Scientific Serials 4SS| 



Societies and Academies 455f 



Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received 456 



