June 7, 1894] 



NA JURE 



'43 



at nickel 'n impervious to carbon monoxidi. In the latter 



ortion of tlie piper theauthordiscusses the various "so-called" 

 •explanations which have been given of the phenomena, but 

 inds none satisfactory. Experiments on the absorption 

 of gases by platinum and other metali are in progress 

 with a view to the further elucidation of the subject. Mr. 

 'lond thought the fact that ri-se of temperature accelerates 

 iffusion, tended to confirm Graham's view that the gases 

 pass throus;h openings in the solid, for increase of temperature 

 I would widen any pore; which m'ght exist in the metal. 

 The President inquired whether the author's argument against 

 the possibility of palladium hydride condensing in the pores of 

 the metal, beciuse of its being unstable at the temperatures 

 employed, would be affected by the fact of water being capable 

 of existing in contact with glass at temperatures much above 

 boiling point. In reply Prof. Ramsay said the President's sug- 

 gestion might be tru», but if so another condition must be 

 fulfilled, viz. that the hydrogen molecules must be split 

 1 up into the atom'c or nascent state. — .\ piper on the 

 relations of pressure, volume, and temperature of rarefied 

 jises, by Prof. \V. Ramsay, F.R S , and Mr. E. C. C. 

 lUly, was reid by the latter. In the first part of the paper a 

 I historical summiry of previous researches on the subject is 

 j given, and the chief sources of error pointed out. The method 

 ; employed by the authors was to have two Mcl.eod gauges con- 

 I nected wiih a pump, and arranged so that both could be trapped 

 under exactly the same pressure. One ot the gauges waS sur- 

 rounded by a vapour jacket at about 130 C, whilst the other 

 was cold at abo.it 13° C. .\fter both were trapped, the hot 

 i gauge was allowed to cool and the readings of both taken. 

 From these observations the coefficient of expansion of the gas 

 I used could be calculated. The expjriments also served as tests 

 ; of the reliability of the McLeod gauge under different con- 

 ' ditions. I'^or air and carbon dioxide the gauges proved quite 

 unreliable, whilst for hydrogen they were very satisfactory. 

 With carbon dioxide the surface condensation was so large as to 

 , make the observations worthless, but hydrogen suffered no con- 

 I densation between pressures of 650 mm. and o 003076 mm. 

 I Great dil'ticulty was experienced in filling the gauges with pure 

 I hydrogen, but when accomplished the expansion was found to be 

 normal (.jjn) down to o'4 mm. pressure, and diminished to 3^5 

 at 0*07 mm. Oxvgen, however, gave a coefficient of ^.i^ at 

 5 mm. pressure, ^'5 at 25 mm., and j' - at i'4 mm. At 07 

 mm. its behaviour was most erratic, there being as much as 

 fifteen times the amount of gas trapped in the gauge at one time 

 as at another. This confirms C. , Bohr's observations on the 

 anomalous behaviour of oxygen about this pressure. For 

 nitrogen the values of the coefficients found were ^Xt, at 5 mm., 

 ' 1 at I 'I mm., and ^\,. at o'6 mm. At small pressures the 

 '.-lasticities of hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide and air in- 

 crease with decrease of pressure, but in oxygen the reverse holds. 

 Examining the consequences of this increase of elasticity in the 

 light of the kinetic theory of gases the authors point out that it 

 means an increase of internal energy, and suggest that this may 

 he the the cause of phosphorescence in high vacua. The 

 President annoanceil that the discussion on the last paper would 

 be taken at the next meeting, after proofs had been distributed 

 til meml>ers. 



Chemical Society, May 3. — Dr. Armstrong, President, in 

 ■ chair. — The following papers were read. — The structure and 

 iL-mistry of the cyanogen flame, by A. Smithells and K. Dent. 

 The flame of cyan ogenburning in air consists of an inner cone of a 

 peach-blossom tint surrounded by a blue-grey mantle. With a 

 small air-supply the only products of combustion in the inter- 

 conal gases are carbon monoxide and nitrogen with small pro- 

 portions of nitrogen oxides and carbonic anhydride; the 

 quantity of the latter constituent increases as the air-supply 

 increases. On igniting dry cyanogen — the flame being fed with 

 dry air — and separating the two cones in the usual way, the 

 outer cone becomes extinguished ; this agrees with Dixon's 

 observation that a mixture of dry carbon monoxide and air is 

 not explosive. — The results of measurements of the freezing 

 points of dilute solutions, by II. C. Jones. The author defends 

 his work from Pickering's recent criticisms, and attacks Picker- 

 ing's method of plotting the results of freezing point determina- 

 tions. — The conditions in which carbon exists in steel, by J. O. 

 .\rnold and .\ A. Read. The authors confirm the existence 

 tn steel of a carbide having the composition FcgC ; it is isolated 

 as a greyish-black powder from normal sleel, and as bright 

 silvery plates from well-annealed sleel. A highly mangani- 



NO. 1284, VOL. 50J 



ferous steel contained a double carbide of the composition Fe-Nfn 

 C3. — The "cis" and "trans" modifications of tetramethylene- 

 dicarboxylic acid (l : 2) and pentamethylenedicirboxylic acid 

 (I : 2). by \V. H. Perkin, junr. — llexamethylenedibromidf, 

 BrCH^.d!,,. CHo. CH., .CH, . CH, Br, by E. Haworth and 

 W. H. Perkin, junr. The authors have prepared chloromethoxv. 

 propane, CI (C H.^l, OMe ; this, when treated with potassium in 

 benzene solution, yields a substance of the composition MeO 

 (CH.,),; OMe, which is converted into hexamethylenedibromide 

 on heating with hydrobromic acid. — a-Hydrindone and its 

 derivatives, by F. S. Kipping. 



Linnean Society, May 2.\. — .\miversary meeting. — Prof. 

 Stewart, President, in t'le chair. — The Treasurer presented his 

 annual report duly audited, and the Secretary having an- 

 nounced the elections and deaths during the pist twelve 

 months, the usual ballot took place for new members of 

 Council, when the following were elected in the place 

 of those retiring :— Dr. John Anderson, F.R S., C. B. 

 Clarke, F. R.S., Prof. J. Reynolds Green, Arthur Lister, 

 and Albert D. Michael. O.i a ballot taking place for the 

 elections of President an! officers, Mr. Charles Baron Clarke, 

 F. R.S., was elected President, and the officers were re- 

 elected. The Librarian's report having been read, and certain 

 formal business disposed of, the retiring President delivered his 

 annual address, taking for his subject "The Locomotion of 

 Animals, with special reference to the Crustacea" On the motion 

 of Dr. D. II. Scott, seconded by Mr. Howard Saunders, a 

 unanimous vote of thanks was accorded to the President for 

 his able address with a request that he would allow it to be 

 printed. — The Society's gold medal was then formally awarded 

 to Prof. Ernst Haeckel, of Jena, and was received on his behalf 

 by Mr. W. Percy Sladen, who read a long and excellent letter 

 of acknowledgment and thinks, which was prefaced by an 

 expression of the writer's regret at his inability to come to 

 England to receive the medal in person. 



Cambridge. 



Philosophical Society, May 14. — The Master of Downing 

 College, Vice-President, in the chair. — Mr. S. J. Hickson ex- 

 hibited a specimen of Chelifer from Celebes, showing a remark- 

 able sense-organ on the coxae of the last legs. — .Mr. A E. 

 .Shipley read a note on Filaria iinmilis. — On variations in the 

 Xs.x'iZioi Aslerina gibbosa^ by Mr. E. \V. MacBride. The larva 

 o^ Aitcrina gibbosa when fully developed possesses five coelomic 

 cavities, a median anterior and two pairs of posterior cavities, 

 which suggest a comparison with the similarly srranged spac:s 

 in the Balanoghssiis larva, a suggestion which derives further 

 support from the fact that in both cases the anterior cavity opens 

 to the exterior by a pore situated on the left side, called the 

 madreporic pore, in the Asterina larva. Two cases of a similar 

 pore on the right side were recorded, but the variations de- 

 scribed chiefly concern the more anteriorly situated of the paired 

 cavities. The left of these forms the water vascular system of 

 the adult. In one instance a pore was observed leading from it 

 directly to the exterior, recalling the collar pore of Balano- 

 glossiis. The right usually remains rudimentary, but several 

 instances are described of its presenting in greater or less 

 degree the features normally exhibited by its fellow on the left. 

 These variations are to be interpreted, taking into consideration 

 the bilateral symmetry of Echinoderm larvae, as atavisms. — On 

 a new method of preparing culture media, by Dr. Lorrain 

 Smith. The author described a method for preparing media 

 suitable for the cultivation of bacteria. The principle of the 

 method consists in the addition of a small percentage of alkali 

 to fluids which contain proteid such as egg-white and serum of 

 blood. The fluid is then heated to the boiling-point or over it 

 in the autoclave. By this means it is converted into a clear 

 transparent jelly. It is then a medium suitable for the growth 

 of a large variety of germs. 



Paris. 



Academy of Sciences, May 28. — M. Lcewy in the chair. — 

 Observations of Brooks' comet, i 893,6 (October 16, 1893), and 

 of Wolf's planet (AX, 1S94), made with the great equatorial of 

 Bordeaux Observatory, by AIM. G. Kayet, L. Picart, and F. 

 Courty. Note by M. G. Rayet. — On solar faculx, by Prof. George 

 E. Hale. .^ rejoinder to some remarks by M. Ueslandres on a 

 paper published by the author in A'noiuUJge. — Observations of 

 the sun made at Lyons Observatory during the first quarter of 

 1S94, by M. J. Guillaume. From the observations quoted, 



