24 



NATURE 



[NOVEMBEK I, 1S94 



1S94 have been dry, but not nearly so dry as in some previous 

 years. — Enormous hailstones, by G. J. Symons. This con- 

 (MDS some cuttings from various papers of a severe thunder- 

 storm which occurred over a large part of the continent on 

 August 26 and 27 last. \\. Beaucourt hailstones are said to 

 have been picked up weighing nearly two pounds ; at many 

 place> they weighed seven ounces and upwards, and many birds 

 and some sheep were killed. — Climatological table for the 

 British Empire for the year 1S9;, by G. J. Symons. The 

 table contains data referring to iemper,iture, rainfall, &c., at 

 eighteen places. The highest temperature in the shade was ioS° 

 at Adelaide, on February 2, and the lowest - 48° at Winnipeg. 

 on February i. The highest temperature in the sun was 171 

 at Trinidad, which also had the greatest rainfall, viz. 92 5 

 inches ; the least fall was in London, I9'S inches. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



r.\Ris. 



Academy of Sciences, October 22. — M. Loewy in the 

 chair. — Experimental verifir.-ilions of the theory of weirs, with 

 liquid sheets submerged below or adherent, relative to the 

 delivery and the contraction in the lower part of the liquid 

 sheet, by M. J. Bjussinesq. — M. A. Trillat claims priority in 

 regard to processes of disinfection by formaldehyde. — ^On the 

 rotation poles of Venus, by M. C. Flammarion (see p. 21). 

 Variations of the level of water in a basin communicating with a 

 tidal port, by M. A. de Saint-Germain. A mathematical paper. 

 — Force acting at the suiface of separation of two dielectrics, by 

 M. H. Pellal. In the general case, the force is normal to the 

 surface of separation and in the sense that the specific inductive 

 capacity diminishes. Its value per unit of surface is given by 

 the formula 



/■_ K,^)- cos 2a, K,$j- cos 2o« 



8ir Sir 



a, and a. being the angles between the normal and the direction 

 of the field, <f>, and <p„ the intensities of the field, on either side 

 of the surface of separation. — Experimental researches on the 

 freezing-point with different mixtures of alcohol and water, by 

 M. Kaoul Pictet. .\ table of the temperatures o( crystallisa- 

 tion of definite mixtures is given, and the results are plotted in 

 curves discussed in the paper. — A study of the combinations of 

 hydrogen fluoride with water, by M. R. Mettner. The author 

 has succeeded in obtaining only one hydrate possessing definite 

 properties. It has the composition HF.HjO and contains 523 

 per cent of I IF. 1 lie crystals of this composition melt at 

 - 35° <-^- ; they fume in the air, and have a specific gravity 

 greater than I IS- They are very soluble in the cold concen- 

 trated acid. — Researches on the mercuric sulphates, by M. 

 Raoul Varet. The thermal data for the normal sulphate and 

 for the basic salt HgSOj. 2HgO are given in detail. Where- 

 as sulphuric acid completely displaces IICN from its com- 

 bination with potassium liberating i- 25 4 Cal,, hydrocyanic 

 acid, even in dilute solution, replaces sulphuric acid in IlgSOj 

 with diseng.igement of • 235 Cal. Similarly hydrochloric 

 acid displaces sulphuric acid in llgsO,,. -Antimony vermilion 

 is not an oxysulphide, by M. 11. Baubigny. Analysis of the 

 colouring matter o( antimony vermilion, precipitated by sodium 

 thiosulphaie, shows that it is simply a lorm of SbnSj— Bismuth 

 nitrosalicyla es, by M. H. Causse. — Salivary glands of the 

 Apinw (/(/// mrllifica i and 9 ), by M. Bordas. On an un- 

 describcd caterpillar ravaging the leaves and fruits of the fig- 

 tree, in the arrondissemcnt of Puget-Thinicrs, by M. Decaux. 

 — On the mechanism of vegetable respiration, by M. L. 

 Maquenne. The author shows that the ratio of COj produced 

 10 O absorbed is sensibly altered by momentarily subjecting 

 leaves to a vacuum, and the respiration is at the .same time 

 rendered more active. The conclusion is given : The respiration 

 of plar' - --- to be the result of the slow combustion of 

 » very principle, which the living cell constantly 



secrete. I'm the light, and which may accumulate when 



there is ln^ulnclent oxygen in the surrounding atmosphere. - 

 The station of Schwcizersbild, by M. Niicsch.— Three geo- 

 logical sections in French Congo, by M Maurice Barral. — 

 l.atc geological researches in the Altai, by M. Venukoff. — 

 Kolalion movements observed in an aerostatic ascension, by M. 

 Vdnukoir. 



NO, 1305, VOL. 51I 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



London. 



THURSDAY, NcvE.MBEK i. 



Lnnban SoLiETV, at S. — Contributions to the Knowledge of Monocotyle* 



donous Saprophytes; Percy Groom. — On an Error in the Descriptions of 



Ihe EfTccl of a Centrifugal Force upon Growtli : Rev. G. Henslow. — On 



Mediterranean .ind New Zealand Kctepora, and a Fenestrate Bryozoan : 



A. W. Waters. 

 Chsmical SociBTV, at 8. — Tlie Elect romotive Force of Alloys in a Voltaic 



Cell; .\ P. L.iuric. — The Action of Nitric 0.\ide on Sodium Ethylate; 



G. W. Macdonald and Ormc Masson. — On Ethylic Butanetctracarboxyl- 



ate ; Dr. B. Lean. 



MOXDAV, NOVKMBER 5. 



SociKTV OP Chemical Industry (Burlington House), at S — The Com- 

 position and Constitution of certain Alloys, by the late Dr. C. R. Alder 

 Wright, F.RS. ; Mr. Watson Smith.— Note on Oxidised Linseed Oil: 

 Mr. W. F. Reid. 



Aristotelian Society (22 .Mbcmaric Street), at 8.— .'Vn Essential Dis- 

 tinction in Theories of lixpcrience ; Mr. Bernard Bosanquet. 

 TUESDAY, November 6. 



Zoological Society, at 8.30. — Descriptions of New Species of (Eiio- 

 nvchis and .\llicd Genera of Coleoplcra ; Mr. Martin Jacoby. — On the 

 Hyoid Arch of Ceratodus ; Mr. W. G. Ridewood. — Third Kcport on Addi- 

 tions to the Batrachian Collection in the Natural History Museum : Mr. 

 G. A. Boulenger, K.R.S. 



Royal Victoria Hall, at 8.— The Electric Spark; Prof. A. W. RQcker, 

 F R S 



IVEDXESDAY, November 7. 



Geological Society, at 8. — Notes on some Recent Sections in the Mal- 

 vern Hills: Prof. A. H. Green. F.R.S. — The Denbighshire Series of 

 South Denbighshire : Mr. Philip Lake. — On some Points in the Geology 

 of the Harlech Area : Rev. J. F. l>lake. 



EntohologicalSocietv (ii Chandos Street, Cavendish Square), at 8. 



THURSDAY, November 8. 



Mathematical Society, at 8. — Mathematics, President's Address : A 

 Generalised Form of the Hypcrg<^ometric Series, and the Differential 

 Equation which is satisfied by the Series: F. H. Jackson. — Third (and 

 concluding) Memoir on certain Infinite Products: Prof, L, J. Rogers. — 

 On the Kinematics of Non-Euclidean Space : Prof. W. Burnside, F.R.S. 



Institution o f Flkctrical Knginkbks, at 8. — Notes on Electric! ram- 

 ways (in the United States and Canada (Supplementary Paper): H. D. 

 Wilkinson. — Electric Traction, with Special Reference to the Installation 

 of Elevated Conductors : R. Sv. Blackwell and Philip Dawson. 

 FRIDAY, November 9. 



Physical Society, at 5. — The Photographic Action of Stationary Liftht 

 Waves: J. Larmor, F.R.S. — On Vapour Pressure ; Prof. S. Youngs 

 F.R.S. — On the Luminescence of Glass : John Burke. 



ROVAL ASTRONU.MICAL SociBTY, at 8. 



SATURDAY^ November 10. 

 RovAL Botanic SociBTVt at 3.45. 



CONTENTS, PAGE 



Past and Present. l!y Right Hon. T. H. Huxley, 



K.R.S I 



Economic Products of India. Hy W. T. B . . 4 



Chinese and Japanese Butterflies. By W. E. K. . . 6 

 Our Book Shelf:— 



Collinson ; " Rainmaking and .Sunshine." — W. E. P. 7 

 Uo.skins : " The Elemenls of Graphic Statics : a Text- 

 Hook lor Suidenls of Engineeriiiij." — G 7 



Eha ; "A Naturalist on the Prowl" 8 



" A Son of the Marshes " : " From Spring to Fall " . 8 



Cooke: " I. dible and Poisonous Mushrooms " . ... S 

 Letters to the Editor: — 



What arc Ac(|uircd Characters? — Right Hon. Sir 



Edw. Fry, F.R S ... 11 



Discontinuous Motion. — A. B. Basset, F.R.S. ... 11 



Capacity for Meat. — E, H. Griffiths 11 



The .Swallowing of One .Snike by Another. — Baron 



C. R. OstenSacken ... 12 

 On Recent Researches in the Infra-Red Spectrum. 



(IlhiilralcJ.) liy Prof. S. P. Langley . . 12 

 The Treatment of Diphtheria by Anti-toxic Serum. 



Hy Dr. M. A. Ruffer 16 



Notes iS 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



The Spectrum of 5 Cephei 21 



The Kolalion of Venus . . . . ■ 21 



The l.owe observatory 21 



The Mean Parallax of .Slars . 21 



The Institution of Mechanical Engineers 22 



A New Method of Preparing Phosphoretted 



Hydrogen 23 



University and Educational Intelligence 23 



Scientific Serials 23 



Societies and Academies 24. 



Diary of Societies 24. 



