May 24, 1894] 



NA TURE 



95 



quakes, by M. Stanislas Meunier. — M. d'Abbadie describes 

 a new method of measuring a geodetic base-line in presenting 

 volume li. of " Memoires de la Seclion topographique de I'Ktat- 

 Major-Gincral russe, " on behalf of M. Vt-nukoff. 



Berlin. 



Meteorological Society, April 3. — Prof. Hellraann, 

 President, in the chair. — Dr. Rassner spoke concerning the 

 measurements of the height of clouds at the Eiffel Tower, 

 which had given 150 m. as the lo*est value, and dis- 

 cussed the different methods of determining the height of 

 clouds by means of artificial iiluminants as proposed and used 

 by La Cour, Cleveland Abbe, Jesse, Hasen, and others. The 

 speaker himself on two occasions had the opportunity of measur- 

 ing the height of clouds ; the first, in the summer of last year, 

 was a thunder cloud, whose height he determined, with the aid 

 of an electric lamp, to be about 80 m. ; on the second occasion, 

 in January of this year, he was able by the use of an intermittent 

 benzole light, to measure the height of the clouds to 750 m. — 

 Dr. Schubert made a communication concerning the cyclone of 

 February 12 last, which did very great damage in the forest of 

 Freienwalde and Chorin, especially in the pine districts, 

 where the trees were torn up by the roots, and blown down by 

 the storm. A series of beautiful photographs illustrated the 

 devastation produced by the storm. 



Physiological Society, April 13. — Prof, du Bois Rey- 

 mond. President, in the chair. — Dr. Kriiger spo!:e concerning 

 the determination of the uric acid and nuclein bases in urine 

 by precipitation with copper sulphate and sodium bisulphide. 

 With the help of these reagents one can determine exactly the 

 nitrogen of the uric acid and of the nuclein bases. If the 

 nitrogen of the uric acid be now determined by means of the 

 Ludwig-Salkowsky method, one arrives at a quantitative deter- 

 mioatioD of the nuclein bases. On the other hand, the uric 

 acid in the urine may be changed into allantoin by manganese, 

 in which case treatment with the copper sulphate-sodium 

 bisulphide yields only the nitrogen of the nuclein bases. This 

 is then deducted from the total nitrogen which had been found 

 before, and so one obtains quantitative estimation of the uric 

 acid. These reactions were verified in a great number of experi- 

 ments. — Dr. Jacob reported on a case of leuk.vmia which he 

 I had investigated in conjunction with Dr. Kruger. They nrit 

 showed that an increase in the nitrogen of the uric acid and nuclein 

 bases of the urine is associated with the increase in the number 

 of the leucocytes. After injection of an extract of spleen, 

 , there was observed first a decrease, and later an increase in the 

 ! number of leucocytes. In proportion to the increase of the 

 I leucocytes there was an increase in the quantity of urine excreted 

 and in the amount of uric acid and nuclein bases. When after 

 I some days the number of leucocytes decreased the quantity of 

 I urine, ol uric acid, and of nuclein bases also diminished. — Dr. 

 I Lilienfeld communicated the results of experiments which he 

 I had made on the condensa'.ion of glycocol ether, and on the 

 union of a diamine base derived from glycocol with leucine 

 ether and tyrosine ether. The condensation of glycocol ether 

 and tyrosine ether resulted in a body which gave the reactions 

 of glutin, and resembled glue in appearance, while the union 

 of the above-mentioned three subs:ances gave a proteidlike 

 body, which showed the biuret reaction, and was dissolved 

 by pepsin. The conjectures as to the constitution of these 

 three substances will be tested by further experiments. 



April 27. — Prof, du Tlois Reymond, President, in the chair. 

 Dr. Ad. Loewy communicated the results of his experiments on 

 [the influence of rarefied and compressed air on the circulation. 

 As he showed in earlier experiments a diminution of pressure 

 to about 450 mm. of mercury was tolerated very well and did 

 not lead to any real disturbance, and that the lowered oxygen 

 {tension, produced either by still greater rarefaction or by the 

 addition of carbonic acid to the air breathed, is compensated 

 for by deeper respirations. The speaker desired now to 

 determine by experiment whether, with rarefaction of the air, 

 compensating changes can be observed in the vascular system. 

 In particular he determined the velocity of the blood flow by 

 the method recently devised by Prof. Zuntz (N'atl'ke, vol. xlix. 

 p. 168) in animals which respired in rarefied air of about J 

 atmosphere, and found that, at each systole of the heart the 

 volume of the blood ejected exactly equals that which the same 

 animal shows under normal pressure. Thus if the tension of , 

 Ihe oxygen breathed is reduced one half the eft'ect on the circula- 

 tion is as slight as it is on the respiration. With still greater 



rarefaction the oxygen tension in the alvioli can, by deeper 

 respiration, still be brought to the level where the hoenoglobin 

 of the blood is saturated, and no distress appears. Dr. Loewy 

 drew interesting conclusions from his experiments in relation 

 to the meaning of mountain sickness. — Prof. A. Kos>el, in his 

 further researches on thymin, a decomposition product derived 

 from nucleic acid extracted from the thymus, has obtained a 

 substance which gave all the reactions of levulinic acid, anl 

 produced a salt with silver which possessed exactly the crystal- 

 line form of the silver salt of levulinic acid. As levulinic acid 

 originates from levulose, and is viewed by many chemists 

 as proof of the presence of levulose, so from the above reaction 

 the presence of a carbohydrate in nucleic acid is to be deduced. 

 The origin of the nucleic acid is indiftirent for this reaction, 

 since it was found with all nucleic acidi, a very important fact in 

 relation to the physiology of metabolism. The attempt to 

 discover a carbohydrate in the atom complex of casein, closely 

 related to nucleic acid, led to the discovery of a substance 

 which gave all the reactions of levulinic acid, with the exception 

 of the levulinic acid salts, so that a certain conclusion as to the 

 presence of a carbohydrate complex in casein cannot be drawn. 

 Physical Society, April 20. — Prof, du Bns Reymond, 

 President, in the chair. — Prof. Koenig reported on a form of 

 colour-blindness lately examined by him, which had not been 

 observed before. The typically colour-blind see yellow in 

 the spectrum where the normal eye perceives red, and the 

 yellow continues with increasing admixture of white until the 

 middle of the spectrum, about A. = 530/i/i, where it commences to 

 change to pale blue which becomes continuously deeper until, 

 at the violet end of the normal spectrum, deeply saturated blue 

 is perceived; in the totally colour-blind, as is well known, every 

 colour sensation has vanished ; they see in the entire spectrum 

 only white, which attains its greatest intensity about where the 

 normal eye sees green. The typically colour-blind fall into two 

 groups, which differ only in the position of the greatest brilliancy 

 of the spectrum, the maximum in the one lies where the normal 

 eye sees orange, about 650,ua, in the other it lies at the yellow, 

 near 5S0.UU. The newly investigated case of colour-blindness 

 showed a condition intermediate between 'typical colour blind- 

 ness and total colour-blindness. In the entire spectrum only 

 white was seen, but at the red eni of the spectrum the white 

 was mixed with a very weak yellow, and at the violet end with 

 a very weak blue. These colours were first perceived when the 

 two ends of the spectrum lay next one another, and were com- 

 pared. The maximum brilliancy lay in this case where the 

 second group of typically colour-blind show it — near jSo^/i. 

 The present theories of colour perception are unable to explain 

 this new case. [In the report of the meeting of the Physical 

 Society for March 2 {N.\ture, vol. xlix. p. 595), for Roepsel 

 read Koepsel, and for Ilulske read Ilalske.] 



Sydney. 

 Linnean Society of New South Wales, March 28. — 

 The following papers were read : — Notes on Australian 

 TyphlopidiZ, by Edgar R. Waite. Two new species were 

 described — T. batillui, froiu New South Wales, and T.diveriui 

 from Queensland. Some discrepancies in the published de- 

 scriptions of T. un^uirosltis, Peters, and 7. affinis, B!gr. were 

 pointed out. Three aspects of the head of T. wiedii, Peters, 

 the only species hitherto unfigured, were given in order to com- 

 plete the series. The measurements of a gigantic example of 

 T. poly^rctminicus were recorded, the to'.al length being 717 

 mm. (28i inches). — Oa the fertilisation of CUrodmdron 

 tomentoium, R.Br., and CanJoHea serrulala, Labill, by Alex. 

 G. Hamilton. The author showed that both plants possess con- 

 trivances for the purpose of ensuring cross-fertilisation. Cltro- 

 dendroit is proterandrous, and is fertilised by Sphin^iJ^t, the 

 pollen being deposited on the legs and underside of the thorax 

 of the insects, a bending of the style keeping the immature 

 stigma at this stage out of the way. After the pollen i> shed 

 the stamens curve downwards and the style straightens, bringing 

 the now mature stigma into the position formerly occupied by 

 the anthers. C^inioUea sernilata and its congeners have the 

 anthers and stigma at the end of a sensitive column. This 

 possesses a hinge, which if touched, causes the style to fly over. 

 The anthers mature before the stigma, and at first conceal it. 

 The flower is so constructed that when a bee thrusts in its pro- 

 boscis, it inevitably touches the sensitive spot, and the style 

 immediately flies over and clasps the b;e, which then receives 

 the pollen on its back. Later, w'len the pollen is all shed, the 



NO. 1282, VOL. 50] 



