;6S 



NA TURE 



[August 9, 1891. 



generally all ready for operatioa 9, in which the optical compass 

 IS employed. This is a mo^t important one, for not only are 

 the horizontal men^urea made, on which so much depends, but 

 in addition the plane of the wires and fibres are made identical, 

 the correspondinc scale reading is found, and any eccentricities 

 are measured and may be corrected. 



(To be continued.) 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



Paris. 



Academy of Sciences, July 30.— M. Lrewy in the chair. — 

 Conditions necessary for the production and the perception of 

 murmurings in tulies through which air-currents pass, by M. A. 

 Chauveau. — On certain of the later geological and climatic 

 phases in Barbary, by M. A. Pomel. The quaternary period 

 was marked in Barbary by (i) a rainy phase with formation of 

 alluvial deposits, followed by (2) a dry period characterised by 

 the formation of travertinous crusts, and (3) the partial submer- 

 gence and reappearance of the coast districts with the production 

 of a narrow band of marine beds and a moderately humid 

 climate, which has since deteriorated to the present condition of 

 excessive dryness. — Report on M. Higourdan's memoir "On the 

 roicrometric measurement of small angular celestial distances, 

 and on a method of perfecting this Icind of measurement," by 

 MM. Loewy, Tisseraml, and Wolf The method used by the 

 author for the measurement of micrometric angular distances 

 consists in the use of glass points in place of the micrometer 

 threads, so that the image is never blo'ted out by superposition. 

 It allows of much easier work, and is at least as accurate as any 

 method previously employed. — On the theory of differential 

 quadratic formula?, by M. Wladimir de Tannenberg.— On the 

 integration of certain systems of equations with derived partials 

 of the first order involving several unknown functions, by M. 

 Kiquier. — On the absorption of light in isotropic and crystal- 

 lised media, by M. G. Moreau. — K contribution to the 

 study of the stiuclure of stetl, by M. K. Osmond. With 

 moderately hard steel, containing 045 per cent, of 

 carbon and 035 per cent, of manganese, the struc- 

 ture was found to vary gradually in samples all originally 

 heated to 825" C. and quenched in water at 15'C. after cooling 

 to 720'', 69o°,670°, 650°, and 640' respectively. Hardening fiom 

 640' left the structure almost the same as slow cooling. With 

 hard steel, containing I 24 per cent, carbon, the variation is 

 more rapid ; the temperature of maximum hardening lies very 

 near to that of no hardening. The structure, as studied by 

 polished surfaces, in steel of moderate hardness gives informa- 

 tion concerning (1) the maximum temperature of heating, (2) 

 the temperature from which it has been hardened, and (3) the 

 rate of cooling. — A refractometer with a chamber capable of 

 being healed, and its application to measurements with fatty 

 substances, by M. Fery. — On the constitution of rhodinol from 

 essence of Pelargonium, by MM. Ph. Barbier and L. Bouveault. 

 Rhodinol is demons'raled to be a primary alcohol, Cj,, M|,0, 

 containing one eihylcnic grouping ; it is a cyclic compound, 

 and its rotatory power and that of its derivatives prove the pre- 

 sence of an a ymmetric carbon atom. The consideration of the 

 foregoing, together with the ea>e with which on oxidation it 

 yields acetone and a-methyladipic acid, leads to the provisional 

 formula : — 



ClI, 

 CH 



Nr = c/~ 



/ 



CH, 



CHj CH . CHjOH. 



— Action of thionyl chloride on some inorganic acids and organic 

 compound*, by M. Ch. Moureu. With mineral acids .SOCL 

 give? the corresponding chlorhydrins ; with aldoximes it yields 

 nitrile* by dehydration ; with oxalic and formic acids it behaves 

 just like 4ul|ihuric acid. In each case equal volumes of hydro 

 gen chloride and mlphur dioxide are libet.itcJ. — On the stability 

 of aqueous solutions of mercuric chloride, by M. E. Ilurcker. — 

 The oxidation of beer worts, by M. P. Petit. — The mechanism 

 of the influence of toxic substances acting by means of secondary 

 cauict in the production of infection, by MM. Charrin and 

 Duclert. The concluiion is drawn that poisons aid infection 

 by an antiphagocyiary action allowing the more rapid multipli- 

 cation of the disease microbe without increasing the virulence 



NO. 1293 VOL. 50] 



of its virus. — On some new laws of pupillary contraction, by M. 

 Ch. Henry. — Is the use of the Auer burner capable of causing 

 partial poisoning ? By M. X. Grthant. The author quotes 

 experimental results from which he draws the conclusion that 

 the Auer burner in use does not cause poisoning by the trace of 

 carbon monoxide produced. — On the transformation of " Pa- 

 guriens" into anomourous crabs of the sub-family of the 

 Lithodina;, by M. E. L. Bouvier. — On the venomous gland of 

 the "Myriapodes Chilopodes," by M. O. Duboscq. — Branchiae 

 in Pliysa lamellata, by M. Paul Pelsener. — On the Hongkong 

 plague, by M. Yersin. A specific bacillus is found in great 

 numbers in ihebubon, but not in the blood. 



BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, and SERIALS RECEIVED. 



Books. —The Counin- ^[onlh by Month, August : (_>wen and Boiilg«r 

 {EIiss). — Lcs Machines fhcnniqucs ; Dr. A. Wiu (Paris, Gauthicr-Villar-. ■ 

 — Ohject-Lcssons in Elementary Science : V. T. Murchc. 3 Vols. (M^ 

 millan^. — Fur and Feaihcr Scries— The Grouse: Macpherson. Siua;; 

 \\'oriIcy. and Saintsbury (Longmans). — 41st Report of the Department ■ 

 Science and Art (Evre and Spotliswoode). — Dircctor>', with Regulations I" 

 Kstahlishine and Conducting Science and Art Scliools and Classes (l''\ ■ 

 and Spoiii'.woode). — The Wild Garden : W. Robinson, 4th edition (Murra\ 

 — A Treaiisc on the Measurement of Electrical Resistance: W. A. Fn- 

 (Oxford. Clarendon Prtis). — The Animal as a Machine nnJ a Prime M-Hi 1 

 R. H. Thurston (K. Paul). — Tnc Collected Mathematical Papers of Henry 

 John Stephen Smith: edited by Dr. J. \V. L. C.lai^hcr. 3 Vols. (Oxforti, 

 Clarendon Press). — Progreis in Flying Machines: O. Chanute (S. Low). 



Pamthuets. — Report on the Gohna Landsl'p, Garhwal : T. H. Holland. 



— Romanes Lecture, 1894 — The Effect of E.xtcrnal Influences upon Develop- 

 ment : Dr. A. Weismann (Frowdc). — Sketch and Check-List of the Flora 

 of Kaffraria : T. R. Sim (Cape Town, '"Argus"). 



Serials.— Bulletin of the New York Mathematical Society, Vol. 3,^0. 

 10 (New York. Macmillan). — Geological Magazine, August (K. Paul) — 

 Journal of the Chemical Society, July and August (Gurney and Jackson). — 

 Geologische und Gcosraphisc'ic Experimcnte : E. Reyer, 3 and 4 Hcfi 

 (Leipzig, Eng^lmann). — Science Progress. August (Scientific Press, Ltd.) 



— Scribncr's Magazine. August (S Low). — l-'orinighlly Review. Augn ; 

 (Chapman), — Medical Magazine, August (Southwo 'd). — Naiural History 

 Plants: Kenier and Oliver, part 4 (Blackie). — Himmel und Erde, Augu- 

 (Berlin).— Seismolpgical Jnurn.-il of Japan, Vol. 3, 1S04 (V.k -hama). 

 Journal of tlic Anthropohigical Institute, Aucust(K. Paal).— Sociela Ken! 

 di Napoli, Atii della Reale Accademia delle Sctenze Fisiche e Matematicli 

 Scric Secnnda, Vol. 6 (Napoli^. — Rcndironio dell'Accadeniia dclle Scien." 

 Fisiche c Maicmaiiche, Scrjc 2'', Vul. S (Napoli). 



CONTENTS. PACE 



Letters to the Editor:— 



Wilde '.sTheoryof the Secular Variation of Terrestrial 



M.ngnetism.— L. A. Bauer 337 



Time-Gauge of Niagara.— Thos. W. Kingsraill . 337 

 Late -Vppearance of the Cuckoo. — Mrs. Hubbard . 338 

 Height of B.irometer.— Prof. Karl Pearson .... 338 

 Magnetisation of Rock Pinnacles. — M, M. S. ; James 



Heelis 33* 



British Association 338 



Inaugural Address by the Most Hon. the Marquis 

 of Salisbury, K.G., D.C.L., F.R.S., Chancellor 



of the University of 0.tford, President 339 



Section A — Mathematics and Physics.— Opening 

 Address by Prof A. W. Riicker, F.R.S., Pre- 

 sident of the Section 343 



Section B— Chemistry. — Opening Address by Prof. 



H. B. Dixon, F.R.S., President of the Section . 348 

 Section C— Geology. —Opening Address by L. 

 Fletcher, F.R.S., President of the Section . . . 3S3 



Notes 359 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



The Magnesium .Spectrum as a Crittrion of Stellar 



Temperature 3^4 



The August Swarm of Meteors 365 



Institution of Mechanical Engineers 36J 



On the Newtonian Constant of Gravitation. II. 



(/llmlralul.) liy Ptof C. V. Boys, F. R. S 36& 



Societies and Academies 3^^ 



Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received 368 



