24 



NATURE 



[May 7, 1903 



of the facuL-E in latitude.— On certain remarkable deform- 

 ations, by M. Jules Drach.— On the carrying of the charge 

 in experiments on electric convection, by M. N. Vasilesco- 

 Karpen. A discussion of the question of a disc, carrying 

 , a variable electric charge, and rotating about its axis, as to 

 how far the charge is carried round by its support? A calcu- 

 lation is given showing the number of turns made by the 

 charge with respect to the disc in unit time. The slipping 

 is proportional to the thickness of the disc and to the in- 

 duced electromotive force.— On the cementation of iron, by 

 M. Georges Charpy. Cementation is not limited by the 

 solubility of carbon in iron. Under certain conditions, the 

 iron may be completely converted into carbide of iron, or 

 the carbon may be indefinitely converted into graphite by 

 the action of a limited quantity of iron.— On the reduction 

 of some compounds of the halogens with metals by 

 hydrogen ; the influence of pressure, by M. A. Jouniaux. 

 The reduction of the chlorides, bromides, and iodides of 

 silver and lead with hydrogen was studied at varying 

 temperatures, and the experimental results compared with 

 an expression deduced from thermodynamics. — On the 

 electrolytic reduction of potassium chlorate, by M. D. 

 Tommasi. — On a reaction giving rise to symmetrical 

 diphenyl-pyrones, by M. R. Fosse. The method used con- 

 sists in treating the phenol orthophosphates with potassium 

 carbonate. Details are given for the reactions with the 

 phosphates of phenyl, cresyl, and naphthyl. — The influence 

 of the nature of the external medium on plant acidity, by 

 MM. E. Charabot and A. Hdbert. Those salts which 

 favour the diminution of water in the plant are precisely 

 those for which the ratio between the volatile acids esterified 

 and the total volatile acidity is the highest. — The influence 

 of the radium radiation on animals in the course of growth, 

 by M. Georges Bohn. — On some proteolytic ferments 

 associated with rennet in vegetables, by M. Maurice 

 Javillier. — On the production of formic acid in alcoholic 

 fermentation, by M. Pierre Thomas. Yeast cultivated in 

 a mineral liquid containing sugar, a large surface of 

 which is exposed to the air, may give rise to considerable 

 quantities of formic acid if nitrogen in certain forms is 

 present. Since ammonium salts and amides exist naturally 

 in certain musts, it is not surprising to find formic acid in 

 the resulting wines after fermentation. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



THURSDAY, May 7. 



Royal Society, at 4.30. — On Lagenostoma Lomaxi, the Seed of 

 Lyginodendron : Dr. F. W. Oliver and Dr. D. H. Scott, F.R.S.— On 

 the Physiological Action of the Poison of the Hydrophidse : Dr. L. 

 Rogers. — Prehminary Note on the Discovery of the Pigmy Elephant 

 in Cyprus : Miss D. M. A. Bate. 



Royal Institution, at 5. — Hydrogen: Gaseous, Liquid and Solid: 

 Prof. Dewar, F.R.S. 



RoNTGEN Society, at 8.30. — Exhibition Evening. 



Chemical Society, at 8. — (i) /3-Bromonitrocamphor and ;3-Bromo- 

 camphoryloxime. Influence of Impurities in Conditioning Dynamic 

 Isomerism ; (2) Spontaneous Decomposition of Nitrocamphor : T. M. 

 Lowry. — The Active Constituents of i>«/^a/n>«(;'oja : E. G. Hill. 



LiNNEAN Society, at 8.— The IngolfiellidK, fam. nov., a New Type of 

 Amphipoda : Dr. H. J. Hansen. — The Evolution of the Marsupials of 

 Australia : A. Bensley. — Copepoda Calanoida from the Faroe Channel, 

 and Other Parts of the North Atlantic: Rev. Canon Norman, F.R.S. 



Institution of Electrical Engineers, at 8.— Applications of Electricity 

 in Engineering and Shipbuilding Works : A. D. Williamson. — Electric 

 Driving in Machine Shops : A. B. Chatwood. 

 FRIDA Y. May 8. 



Royal Institution, at 9.— Rural England: H. Rider Haggard. 



Royal Astronomical Society, at 5. -A Possible Cause of the Moon's 

 Obscuration on April 11: Rev. S. J. Johnson. — Probable papers: — 

 Observations of Stars Occulted by the Moon during the Eclipse of 1903 

 April II : RadclifFe Observatory, Oxford. — Observations of Double Stars 

 made with the 28-inch Refractor: Royal Observatory, Greenwich. 



Malacological Society, at 8.— On the Necessity of Examining and 

 Comparing the Animals before Determining some Species of the Genus 

 Oliva : F. G. Brrdgman. — Notes on some British Eulimidae : E. R. 

 Sykes. — Note on the Occurrence of Planorbis marginatus, Drap., and 

 Limnaea pereger. Mull., in the Pleistocene of Bognor, Sussex : Alexander 

 Reynell. 



Physical Society, at 5. — A Spectroscope of Direct Vision and Minimum 



Deviation : T. H. Blakesley.— Mathematics of Bee's Cells : Prof. Everett. 



—The Coloured Map Problem : W. H. Price.— Note on the Construction 



and Attachment of Galvanometer Minors : Dr. W. Watson. 



MONDAY, May ii. 



Society of Arts, at 8.— Mechanical Road Carriages: W. Worby 

 Beaumont. 



Royal Geographical Society, at 8.30. — Cilicia, Tarsus, and the Great 

 Taurus Pass : Prof. W. M. Ramsay. 



NO. 1749, VOL. 6'^ 



TUESDA K, May 12. 



Royal Institution, at 5. — The Astionomical Influence of the Tides: 

 Prof. G. H. Darwin, F.R.S. 



Zoological Society, at 8.30. — A Contribution to the Study of Double 

 Monstrosities in Fishes : James F. Gemmill.— The Metamorphoses of 

 ^geonfasciatns and yEgeon trispinosus : Robert Gurney. — Descriptions 

 of new Species of South American Coleoptera of the Family Chryso- 

 melidse : Martin Jacoby. 



WEDNESDAY, May 13. 



Society of Arts, at 8.— The Preservation of the Species of Big Game in 

 Africa : E. North Buxion. 



Geological Society, at 8.— On some Disturbances in the Chalk near 

 Royston : Horace B. Woodward, F.R.S. — On a Section at Cowley near 

 Cheltenham, and its Bearing on the Interpretation of the Bajocian 

 Denudation : L. Richardson. — Description of a Species of Heterastraca 

 from the Lower Rhaetic Deposits of Gloucestershire : R. F. Tomes. 

 THURSO A V, May 14. 



Royal Society, at 430 — Probable Papers: — The Combination of 

 Hydrogen and Chlorine under the Influence of Light : P. V. Bevan. — 

 On the Photo-Electric Discharge between Metallic Surfaces : Dr. W. 

 Mansergh Varley. — The Elasmometer, a new Interferential Form of 

 Elasticity Apparatus : A. E. Tutton, F.R.S.— On the Radiation of 

 Helium and Mercury in a Magnetic Field : Prof. A. Gray, F.R.S., and 

 Dr. W. Stewart ; with R. A. Houston and D. B. McQuiston.— Meteor- 

 ological Observations by the Use of Kites off the West Coast of Scotland, 

 1902 : Dr. W. N. Shaw, F.R.S., and W. H Dines. 



Royal Institution, at 5. — Proteid-Digestion in Plants : Prof. Sidney H. 

 Vines, F.R.S 



Mathematical Society, at 5.30. — Generational Relations Defining an 

 Abstract Simple Group of Order 32736 : W. H. Bussey. — Points in 

 the Theory of Continuous Groups : Dr. H. F. Baker. 



Society of Arts, at 4.30. — The Province of Assam : Sir James Charles 

 Lyall, K.C.S.I. 



Institution of Electrical Engineers, at 8. — Applications of Elec- 

 tricity in Engineering and Shipbuilding Works : A. D. Williamson. — 

 Electric Driving in Machine Shops : A. B. Chatwood. 

 FRIDAY, May 15 



Royal Institution, at 9. — 1 he Origin of Seed-Bearing Plants: D. H 

 Scoti, F.R.S. 



Epidemiological Society, at 8.30. — The Etiology of Leprosy : Jonathan 

 Hutchinson, F.R.S. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



The Science of Flour Milling. By William Jago . . i 



Physiological Results. By Dr. H. M. Vernon ... 3 

 Physical Chemistry and Biology. By Dr. Berjamin 



Moore 4 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Querton : "Contribution a I'Etude du Mode de 



Production de I'Electricite dans les litres vivants " . 5 

 Johnson : " Statics by Algebraic and Graphic Methods " 5 



Freycinet : '*De I'Experience en Geometrie " .... 5 

 Miron : " Etude des Phenomenes volcaniques : 

 Tremblements de Terre— Eruptions volcaniques — 



Le Cataclysme de la Martinique, 1902 6 



Salomons: "Experiments with Vacuum Tubes." — 



M. S 6 



Letters to the Editor :— 



Energy Emitted by Radio-active Bodies.— Hon, R. J. 



Strutt 6 



The Fossil Man of Lansing, Kansas.— Prof. Karl 



Pearson, F.R.S 7 



Reform in School Geometry.— Prof. G. H. Bryan, 



F.R.S.; Prof. John Perry, F.R.S 7 



Can Dogs Reason ?— Dr. Alex. Hill 7 



Spherical Aberration of the Eye. — W. L. ; Edwin 



Edser; W. Betz ... - 8 



The Solar and Meteorological Cycle of Thirty-five 

 Years, {With Diagrams.) By Dr. William J. S. 



Lockyer 8 



Etiolation 10 



Prof. J. Willard Gibbs. By G. H. B 11 



Notes 12 



Our Astronomical Column :— 



A New Comet 16 



Nova Geminorum 16 



The Partial Eclipse of the Moon on April II 16 



The Occurrence of Spark Lines in Arc Spectra ... 17 



Four Stars with Variable Radial Velocities 17 



The Harvard Meridian Photometer Observations ... l^ 



Engineering Education Abroad 17 



American Symbolism. By A. C. H 20 



The Origin of Natural Gas and Petroleum. By 



H. B. W 20 



Smithsonian Report on Scientific W^ork 20 



University and Educational Intelligence 22 



Societies and Academies 22 



Diary of Societies 24 



