48 



NA TURE 



[November 9, 1893 



characters of the bogheads produced by Algae, by MM. C. E. 

 Bertrand and B. Renault. A study of the boghead oi Autun, 

 the kerosene shale of Australia, and the brown torbanite of 

 Scotland show that these deposits are due to the thalli of a 

 single species of alga, that of Autun containing Pila bibracteiisis, 

 the kerosene shale Reinschia australis, and the Torbanite an- 

 other Pila, 



Berlix. 



Meteorological Society, October lO. — Prof, von Bezold, 

 President, in the chair. — Prof Hellmann spoke on the frequency 

 of hal'j phenomena, after having first described their typical 

 features and their causation by reflection and refraction from 

 hexagonal ice-prisms. From observations at Upsala extending 

 over seven years he had ascertained that the 22° halo is most 

 frequently observed, then mock suns and moons, then the 46° 

 halo, and least frequently the vertical pillars of light. On the 

 whole the phenomena are five times more frequent in connection 

 with the sun than with the moon. During the course of a year 

 the phenomena follow a regular course ; solar-halos are at a 

 maximum in May and a minimum in December, whereas lunar- 

 halos are at a maximum in December and a minimum in May. 

 If snow-crystals were equally plentiful in the air at all periods 

 of the year, then solar-halos would be most frequently seen in 

 June, at the time when the sun is above the horizon for the 

 longest period on each day. But inasmuch as there are fewer 

 snow-crystals in the air in the summer, the maximum is put back 

 to May. The maximum for lunar-halos occurs when the nights 

 are longest and there are most snow-crystals in the air. Statistics 

 from the polar stations for 1882-83 show that only solar pheno- 

 mena occur during the period of midnight sun, and only lunar 

 phenomena during the polar night, their frequency being solely 

 dependent on the occurrence of clouds. An account was given 

 of a stroke of lightning in Heligoland which had smitten two 

 persons near the railroad, killing one and stunning the other. 

 Photographs were exhibited of the latter as showing the 

 characteristic marks on the arm, chest, abdomen, and legs. 

 After a member of the Society had suggested a new method of 

 estimating clouds — which, however, requires further working 

 out and testing — the President drew attention to wave-clouds as 

 described by Von Helmholtz in his most recent theoretical work 

 on the dynamics of the atmosphere. They occur when two 

 layers of air travelling with diflTerent velocities pass one over 

 the other, in which case waves are formed and clouds at the 

 junction of the layers. These clouds are then drawn out into 

 long strips, formerly called polar-bands. They occur not only 

 in the layers of cirrus clouds, but also at lower levels. A wish 

 was expressed that these clouds might be photographed. 



Physical Society, October 20. — Prof Knndt, President, in 

 the chair. — Dr. Raps gave an account of his work on the 

 photography of atrial vibrations. The method is based on the 

 use of a Jamin's refractometer, which produces interference 

 phenomena by means of reflection and refraction of a ray of 

 light at the surfaces of two parallel glass plates. When the 

 air between the two plates is transmitting waves of condensation 

 and rarefaction, the interference bands are displaced, and if they 

 fall on a slit behind which a sensitized paper is kept in motion 

 on a drum, the waves of aerial vibration may be recorded. The 

 experiments were first made on a closed organ-pipe, near whose 

 upper end were two openings facing each other but closed with 

 glass. Through these the two rays of light passed before they 

 were made to interfere. When the pipe was gently blown, 

 sine curves alone were'obtained, corresponding to the funda- 

 mental note of the pipe. As the pressure was increased, the 

 overtones became more and more prominent, until at last they 

 alone determined the shape of the curve. Further experiments 

 were made with closed reed pipes, after it had been ascertained 

 that the tongue of the reed vibrates like a pendulum. The 

 phenomena were the same as in the first case. Experiments 

 with open pipes were found to be much more difficult, but even in 

 this case good photographs of the vibrations were obtained. D.-. 

 Raps had also been able, by the same method, to photograph the 

 vibrations resulting from the singing of vowels, and to show that 

 definite harmonic overtones are characteristic of each vowel. 

 Similarly photographs had been taken of the vibrations due to a 

 hunting-horn. Dr. Raps further exhibited an Ampere apparatus 

 for lecture purposes, in which the current was supplied by means 

 of metallic instead of mercury contacts. 



Physiological Society, October 27.— Prof, du Bois 

 Reymond, President, in the chair. — Dr. Lewin gave an account 



NO. 1254, VOL. 49] 



of researches on the physiology of the ureter, carried out in con- 

 junction with Dr. Goldschmidt. These had shown thati the 

 entry of urine into the upper end of the ureter is due to pres- 

 sure exerted by the kidneys that the peristaltic waves of con- 

 traction of the ureter either pass right down to the bladder, or 

 occasionally stop short in their course along the ureter ; that 

 the point of entry of the ixreter into the bladder is possessed of 

 a sphincter, but that notwithstanding this it is occasionally 

 possible for fluid to be driven back out cf the bladder into the 

 ureter. — Prof Senator spoke briefly about the experiments he 

 made some seventeen years ago, on the results of varnishing the 

 skin in men, defending their validity, and the conclusion that 

 varnishing does not affect the health, against objections which 

 had recently been brought forward. — Dr. Cohnstein described 

 experiments on the influence of diff"usive processes on transu- 

 dation. When salt solutions were allowed to flow under a- 

 constant pressure through a ureter or jugular vein surrounded 

 by fluid, it was found that the amount of salt passing through 

 into the outer fluid increased with the pressure on the latter. 

 Similarly a solution of egg-albumen diff"used more copiously 

 into an external fluid than could be observed when it was forced 

 by filtration into a space filled with air ; but the amount of 

 albumen which passed through was independent of the external 

 pressure. This diffusion must play a very important part in the 

 transudation of fluid fro n the blood-vessels, and in the tissue- 

 cells of the living organism, and may suffice to explain many as 

 yet incomprehe nsible phenomena. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Dr. Werner von Siemens 25 



Iron Ores, By Bennett H. Brough 27 



Our Bookshelf:— 



Newhall : " The Shrubs of North- Eastern America. " — 



W. B. H 28 



Briggs and Edmondson : " Mensuration of the Simpler 



Figures " 28 



Calvert: " The Discovery of Australia " 28' 



Prince : " Graphic Arithmetic and Statics " 28 



Russan and Boyle : "The Orchid Seekers " 28 



Letters to the Editor : — 



Human and Comparative Anatomy at Oxford. — Prof. 



E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S 29 



" Geology in Nubibus." An Appeal to Dr. Wallace 

 and others. — Sir Henry H. Howorth, M.P., 



F.R.S • 29 



Correlation of Solar and Magnetic Phenomena.^ 



William Ellis, F.R.S 30 



The Recent Earthquake. — Charles Davison. ... 31 

 An Ornithological Retrospect. — Frank E. Beddard, 



F.R.S 31 



The Foam Theory of Protoplasm. — E. A.Minchin . 31 



Science in the Magazines 31 



On a Meteorite which fell near Jafferabad in India 

 on April 28, 1893. By Prof. John W. Judd, F.R.S. 32 



Notes 33 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



A New Southern Star 38 



" Astronomical Journal " Prize 39 



Comet Brooks (October 16) 39 



Moon Pictures 39 



Meteor Showers during November 39 



Geographical Notes 39 



The Erosion of Rock Basins. {Illustrated.) By ^T. 



D. LaTouche 39 



Chrono-Photographic Study of the Locomotion of 



Animals. {Illustrated.) 41 



The Man of Mentone. {Illustrated.) By Arthur J. 



Evans 42 



University and Educational Intelligence 45 



Scientific Serials 46 



Societies and Academies 4^ 



