46 



NATURE 



[May 14, 1903 



all ages, from the lowest classes of infant schools to the 

 evening classes for youths. Though considerations of space 

 only permit particular reference to the section including the 

 science exhibits from the schools of the Board, it may be 

 said that the work shown from the manual training schools, 

 the classes in domestic subjects, the institutions concerned 

 with the physically and mentally defective, and from the 

 classes in art subjects was highly creditable, and served 

 admirably to show the extent and excellence of the work 

 being done in the public elementary schools of the metro- 

 polis. The collection of pieces of apparatus to assist the 

 teaching of science was this year much smaller than on 

 previous occasions, the reason being that the offer of prizes 

 for the most successful work was this year discontinued. 

 It was satisfactory to notice that the plan recommended 

 more than once in these columns was on this occasion 

 carried out for the first time, and added much to the con- 

 venience of the visitor — we refer to the separation of the 

 work of teachers and that of pupils. Judging from the ex- 

 hibits, more attention appears to have been given during 

 the past year to work with squared paper and to nature- 

 study subjects, and there were some excellent relief maps 

 made by boys of thirteen which would have been a credit 

 to much older students. Altogether there is good reason 

 to believe that the science work being done in the schools 

 of the London Board, under the direction of Dr. Stewart 

 and Messrs. Hubble and Todd, will lead to the development 

 of habits of careful reasoning and alert observation. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIAL. 



American Jdurnal of Science. April.— On the gaseous 

 composition of the H and K lines of the spectrum, together 

 with a discussion of reversed gaseous lines, by John Trow- 

 bridge. The continuous spectra observed in Geissler tubes 

 when submitted to powerful disruptive sparks are not due to 

 incandescence of the glass walls. The lines obtained co- 

 inciding closely with calcium lines, wave-lengths 3968 and 

 3933 are not due to calcium, but are true gaseous lines. 

 The conclusion is drawn that the method of sifting out air 

 lines from metallic spectra by observing the lines which 

 are apparently common to these spectra and setting down 

 such lines as air lines is a fallacious method. — The Boys 

 radiomicrometer, by C. C. Hutchins. The simplicity and 

 sensitiveness of this instrument indicate its employment in 

 several lines of work, but the difficulty of preparing the 

 small circuit which forms its fundamental part is very 

 great. Details are given of the methods suggested by the 

 author of overcoming these difficulties. — Meteoric iron 

 from N'Goureyma, near Djenne, Province of Macina, 

 Soudan, by E. Cohen. This meteorite belongs to the com- 

 paratively rare group of coarsely granular irons, and pre- 

 sents peculiarities of structure which appear to be unique. 

 More than 97 per cent, of it consists of nickeliferous iron, 

 the remaining constituents being schreibserite, troilite, 

 daubreelite, lawrencite, and chromite. — Notes on the collec- 

 tion of Triassic fishes at "Vale, by G. F. Eaton. — ^The 

 mechanics of igneous intrusion, by R. A. Daly. A com- 

 parison of the hypothesis of overhead stoping in the form- 

 ation of magma chambers with the laccolithic theory of 

 crustal displacement, and with the theory of marginal 

 assimilation of invaded formations. — Brachiosaurus alti- 

 thorax, the largest known Dinosaur, by E. S. Riggs. — 

 Some new structural characters of Palaeozoic cockroaches, 

 by E. H. Sellards. — The Bath furnace meteorite, by H. A. 

 Ward. This meteorite fell on November 15, 1902, the 

 date on which the orbit of the Leonids cuts that of the 

 earth. The stone consists essentially of olivene and 

 pyroxene, with troilite and metallic sprinklings. There is 

 also present in small quantities a completely colourless, 

 almost isotropic mineral, which is probably maskelynite. — 

 The use of a rotating kathode in the electrolytic determin- 

 ation of the metals, by F. A. Gooch and H. E. Medway. 

 An ordinary platinum crucible, rotated by a small electric 

 motor at a speed of 600 to 800 revolutions per minute, is 

 used as the kathode. Details of experiments with copper, 

 nickel and silver are given, from which it would appear 

 that much higher current densities may be employed than 

 with the usual apparatus without any appreciable loss of 

 accuracy. 



NO. 



1750, VOL. 68] 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 London. 

 Chemical Society, April 22.— Prof. W. A. Tilden, F.R.S.^ 

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

 The velocity and mechanism of the reaction between 

 potassium ferricyanide and potassium iodide in neutral 

 aqueous solution, by F. G. Donnan and R. lo RossiKnol. 

 The velocity of this reaction can be investigated by titra- 

 tion of the iodine liberated ; the simplest interpretation 

 shows that it is quinquemolecular. — A microscopic method 

 of comparing molecular weights, by G. Barker. Small 

 quantities of the two solutions are introduced into a capillary 

 tube, where they form bi-concave, discoid drops, care being 

 taken to use the solutions alternately, so that each drop of 

 one solution is enclosed between two drops of the other. 

 The capillary tube is then sealed at both ends, and the length 

 of each drop is measured microscopically from day to day 

 until no change in volume is apparent. At this point the 

 solutions are equimolecular. — Note on the spectrum of 

 pilocarpine nitrate, by W. N. Hartley. The author states 

 that the curve recently described by Dobbie as that of the 

 ultra-violet absorption spectrum of pilocarpine nitrate is 

 that of nitric acid slightly modified by the alkaloid present. 

 — Isomeric change of dipropionanilide into propionyl-/>- 

 aminopropiophenone, by Dr. F. D. Chattaway. Under 

 the influence of various catalytic reagents, e.g. zinc and 

 hydrogen chlorides, dipropionanilide, like diacetanilide and 

 dibenzanilide, undergoes transformation into propionyl-/)- 

 aminopropiophenone ; the latter and some of its derivatives 

 are described. — Note on the formation of di- and hexa- 

 methylammonio-cadmium chlorides, by W. R. Lang:. Dry 

 methyl amine and cadmium chloride react at —11° to fornT 

 a white powder of the composition CdCU,6CH3.NH2. 

 This, when heated to 100°, furnishes a stable substance of 

 the composition CdCl2,2CH3.NHj. 



Royal Astronomical Society, May 8.— Prof. H. H. 

 Turner, president, in the chair. — -The president announced 

 that the council had elected Lady Huggins and Miss Agnes 

 M. Gierke honorary members of the Society. — The secre- 

 tary read a paper by the Rev. S. J. Johnson on a possible 

 cause of the moon's obscurity on April 11, in which the 

 author suggested that the presence of volcanic dust in the 

 earth's atmosphere was the cause of the darkness of the 

 moon's disc during the recent partial eclipse. — Mr. Lewis 

 gave an account of a series of measures of double stars 

 made with the 28-inch refractor at the Royal Qbs^ryatory, 

 Greenwich, during 1902, and described the orbits of "some 

 stars of especial interest. — Mr. Bryan Cookson gave a 

 short account of his work on the satellites of Jupiter during 

 a recent stay of two years at the Royal Observatory, Cape 

 of Good Hope. — The Astronomer Royal exhibited and ex- 

 plained a series of diagrams of sun-spots and magnetic 

 disturbance observed at the Royal Observatory during the 

 years 1874 to 1901.- — Dr. Rambaut read a paper on occult- 

 ations of stars observed at the Radcliffe Observatory, 

 Oxford, during the lunar eclipse, as well as observations 

 of the colour of the shadow, penumbra, &c.— The president 

 suggested certain subjects for discussion, and a short dis- 

 cussion took place on Mr. Percival Lowell's recent pro- 

 posal of a standard scale of " seeing." — Mr. A. R. Hinks 

 read extracts from a letter from Mr. Ritchey, of the Yerkes 

 Observatory, in which he described his methods of develop- 

 ing photographs of nebulae, &c. Mr. Ritchey stated that 

 with regard to such nebulae as those of Andromeda or Orion 

 he made his prints from a negative in which the central 

 portions had been reduced. He considered that the star 

 images are smaller on a negative that had been developed 

 extremely slowly. 



Anthropological Institute, April 28. — Mr. H. Balfour, 

 the president, exhibited specimens of the tools used by the 

 natives of North-West Australia in the manufacture of glass- 

 spearheads. The tools consist of a piece of a sheep's leg- 

 bone and of a water-worn pebble of a purely natural shape. 

 The pebble was used in the earlier stages of the spearhead '& 

 manufacture, while the bone was used in its final shaping. 

 Mr. Balfour also exhibited a spearhead which had been 

 made with these tools. A full account of the exhibit, illus- 

 trated with a plate, will be found in the May number of 



