November 30, 1893] 



NA TL RE 



119 



the theorem itself, being entirely independent of the form in 

 which the group may be supposed to be expressed. The 

 latter part of the paper dealt with the orders of simple groups 

 in certain cases. — Prof. Hudson showed and explained some 

 mechanical constructions (by his son, R. W. Hudson) for the 

 parabola, hyperbola, cubical parabola, and semi-cubical parabola. 

 Royal Meteorological Society, November 15. — Dr. 

 C. Theodore Williams, President, in the chair.— Mr. F. J. 

 Brodie read a paper on the great drought of 1893, ^"^ i's 

 attendant meteorological phenomena. The author confined his 

 investigation to the weather of the four months, March to June, 

 during which period the absence of rain was phenomenal ; 

 barometric pressure was greatly in excess of the average, tem- 

 perature was high, with a large diurnal rang^, and the duration 

 of sunshine was in many places the longest on record. The 

 mean temperature over England was about 4" above the average. 

 Along the south and south-west coasts the sunshine was between 

 50 and 60 per cent, of the possible duration. The rainfall was 

 less than half the average amount over the southern and eastern 

 parts of England, the extreme south of Ireland, and a portion 

 of Durham and Northumberland ; while over the southern 

 counties of England generally the fall amounted to less than 

 one-third of the average. The smallest number of days with 

 rain was at the North Foreland, where there were only eighteen. 

 — Mr. W. Marriott gave an account of the thunder and hail- 

 storms which occurred over England and the south of Scotland 

 on July 8, 1893. Thunderstorms were very numerous on that 

 day, and in many instances were accompinied by territic hail- 

 storms and squalls of wind. It was during one of these squalls 

 that a pleasure-boat was capsized off Skegness, twenty-nine per- 

 sons being drowned. About noon a thunderstorm, accompanied 

 by heavy hail and a violent squall of wind, passed over Dum- 

 fries and along the valley of the Nith ; many of the hail■^tones 

 measured from i inch to li inches in length. At the same hour a 

 similarstorm occurred at Peterborough. From about two until ten 

 p.m. there was a succession of thunderstorms over the north-east 

 of.England and south-east of Scotland, and at many places it 

 was reported that the thunderstorms were continuous for nine 

 hours. Two storms were remarkable for the immense hail- 

 stones which fell during their prevalence over Harrogate and 

 Richmond in Yorkshire. The hailstones were 4 and 5 inches 

 in circumference, and some as much as 3 inches in diameter. 

 Great damage was done by these storms, ail windows and glass 

 facing the direction from which the storm came being broken. 

 It is computed that within a radius of five miles of Harrogate 

 not less than loo.OCO panes of glass were broken, the extent of 

 the damage being estimated at about jTyioo. The thunder- 

 storms in the northern part of the country travelled generally in 

 a north-north-westerly direction at the rate of about twenty 

 miles an hour. They appear to have taken the path of least 

 resistance, and consequently passed over low ground and along 

 river valleys and the sea coast. Several storms seem to have 

 followed each other along the same track. 



Royal Microscopical Society, November 15, — A. D. 

 Michael, President, in the chair. — Mr. C. L. Curties exhibited 

 and described a microscope by Leitz, of Wetzlar, made on the 

 English model, with tripod foot and inclining body, horse-shoe 

 stage, and sub-stage fittings. — Mr. A. W. Bennett gave a resmne 

 of Mr. W. West's paper on new British fresh-water Alg«. — 

 Prof. F. Jeffrey Bell read a paper by Mr. G. Sandeman, on a 

 parasitic disease in flounders. The author stated that there 

 are often found on the coast flounders having small round 

 swellings under the skin, which have been described under the 

 name of multiple tumours. The tumours have the appearance 

 of eggs, deposited irregularly beneath the skin. They cause a 

 slight projection of the skin, which sinks slightly between the 

 individual ova, but, when very many are present in one mass, 

 the large tumour which is formed projects considerably from 

 the body, and is sometimes even a pedunculated or finger-shaped 

 formation. On microscopic examination, the contents of the 

 tumours present all the characteristics of eggs. The cause and 

 habits of the parasite are so obscure that the author finds it 

 impossible to pronounce a definite opinion on the subject. —The 

 President announced that the Society's conversazione would 

 take place in the early spring. — Mr. C. Beck raised a discussion 

 as to the possibility of obtaining a standard tube-length. Dr. W. 

 H. Daliinger congratulated Mr. Beck upon the able way in 

 which he had brought the matter before them. He thought 

 that a committee should be appointed to discuss the whole 

 question. 



NO. 



1257, VOL. 49] 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, November 20. — On a new model 

 of a reverberatory electric furnace with movable electrodes, by 

 M. Henri Moissan. — On equations of mixed functions and a 

 problem of geodesies, by M. G. Kcenigs. — On differential equa- 

 tions of the second order with fixed critical points, by M. Paul 

 Painleve. — On the means of increasing the security of high ten- 

 sion alternate-current distribution, by M. G. Claude. The 

 elimination or diminution of the capacity of the mains with re- 

 gard to the earth would make it necessary to touch the two poles 

 of the circuit to receive a shock capable of endangering life. 

 This may be obviated most conveniently by neutralising the 

 capacity by self-inductions placed along the circuit. — Action of 

 some metals upon acid solutions of their chlorides, by MM. A. 

 Ditte and R. Metzner. If a plate of tin is plunged into a con- 

 centrated hydrochloric acid solution of stannous chloride upon 

 which a layer of water has been poured, crystals of tin are 

 rapidly formed near the surface of separation. The arrange- 

 ment amounts to a galvanic cell, in which the same electrode 

 is plunged into different liquids. A solution of stannic chloride 

 shows the same phenomenon, which takes place as soon as the 

 water has, by the diffusion of the salt, become sufficiently con- 

 ducting to permit the passage of the current. The tin above 

 the surface of separation merely acts as a negative electrode, 

 and may be replaced by a platinum wire. That the phenomenon 

 is one of electrolysis may be shown by replacing a small portion 

 of the bar of tin by an insulator placed at the surface of 

 separation. No crystals are deposited until the two separated 

 portions are brought into communication by the diffusing salt. 

 When the stannic chloride solution is placed in a porous pot in 

 a vessel of acidulated water, and the two liquids are joined by 

 platinum plates, no electrolysis takes place : but cadmium 

 treated by the first method shows precisely similar phenomena. 

 Zinc, which is easily dissolved by the most dilute hydrochloric 

 acid, shows nothing similar. Nickel, which is quickly covered 

 with a protecting layer of hjtirogen, and also bismuth and 

 antimony, which are insoluble in hydrochloric acid, show no 

 phenomena analogous to those exhibited by tin. — Means of pre- 

 serving wood from being worm-eaten, by M. Emile Mer. The 

 attacks on the sap-wood by the insects are due to the presence 

 of starch in this tissue. It may therefore be inferred 

 that the fact of the hard wood being free from the 

 invasion is due to its not being amyliferous. The alburnum may 

 be protected by ridding it on starch. This may be done by an- 

 nulation of the bark at the upper end of the trunk, and by 

 suppressing all buds developed there. Spring is the best season 

 for this operation. The starch has disappeared by autumn, and 

 the trees may be felled during October. Carpenters and joiners 

 will, in this way, be enabled to utilise the whole or part of the 

 sap-wood. — On the development and maturation of the cider 

 apple, by M. L. Lindet. In the maturation of the cooked apple 

 the same transformations take place as during the ripening of 

 the fruit on the tree. The quantity of starch accumulated in the 

 green fruit diminishes, and this diminution coincides with the 

 increase of the saccharose and inverted sugar ; these sugars dis- 

 appear in their turn through respiration. — On the minute 

 structure of the terminal plates of the motor nerves of striated 

 muscle, by M. Charles Rouget. — On the nematodes of the 

 pharyngean glands of ants, by M. Charles Janet. The two 

 glands taken from an ant from an artificial nest {Formica rttfa) 

 appeared in the form of bunches of yellow tubes resembling 

 actinia with numerous tentacles. Each lube was occupied by 

 one or more Rhabditis, which could be dislodged in great 

 numbers by slight pressure on the cover-glass. The whole nest 

 turned out to be thus infested, although the ants appeared to be 

 in good health. The nematodes appear to be a larval form of 

 the sexed individuals living in a free state in the detritus of the 

 nest. — On the polymorphism of Peridinuim acuminatum Ehr, 

 by M. Georges Pouchet. — On the north-east extremity of the 

 main body of Mont Blanc, by MM. L. Duparc and L. Mrazec. 

 — On the origin of the Alps of Chablais and Stockhorn, in 

 Savoy and Sv\itzerland, by M. Hans Schardt. — Discovery of 

 another pre-historic magdalenoan deposit in the Vezere valley, 

 by MM. Paul Girod and Elie Massenat. — On the variation of 

 composition of lake-water with the depth, by M. A. De- 

 lebecque. 



New South Wales. 

 Linnean Society, September 27. — The President, Prof, 

 David, in the chair. — The following papers were read : — 

 Descriptions of new species of Bostrychida, by Arthur M. Lea. 



