68 



NATURE 



[May 2 1, 1Q03 



distribution of the diphtheria bacillus in the throats of 

 " contacts," by Dr. Graham Smith ; and upon the correlation 

 of several diseases of animals in South Africa, by Dr. 

 Edington. Messrs. Graham Smith and Sanger discuss 

 the biological or precipitin test for blood in its medico-legal 

 aspects, and Messrs. Nuttall and Shipley complete their 

 monograph upon the structure and biology of the Anopheles 

 mosquito. The last is an important contribution, and is 

 illustrated with some beautiful figures. 



A SECOND, revised and enlarged, edition of Mr. H. M. 

 Leaf's " The Internal Wiring of Buildings " has been 

 published by Messrs. Archibald Constable and Co., Ltd. 

 The new edition contains an additional chapter on electricity 

 meters. 



Mr. Edward Arnold has published a revised edition of 

 " A Course of Practical Chemistry," by Mr. W. A. Shen- 

 stone, F.R.S. This little book is intended as a labor- 

 atory companion for use with the author's " Inorganic 

 Chemistry." 



The fourth volume of the " Petite Encyclop^die Scien- 

 tifique du XX* Si^cle," viz., " La Chimie dans I'lndustrie, 

 dans la Vie et dans la Nature," by M. A. Perret, published 

 by MM. Schleicher Fr^res and Co., of Paris, has reached a 

 second edition. 



We have received a copy of " A Guide to the Early 

 Christian and Byzantine Antiquities in the Department of 

 British and Medieval Antiquities," printed by order of the 

 Trustees of the British Museum. The book runs to 116 

 pages, and is illustrated with fifteen plates and eighty-four 

 wood-cuts. Visits to the Christian Room of the British 

 Museum with this guide as a companion will, if the book 

 has been previously studied, be full of interest. The guide, 

 even without the visits, will prove of great value to teachers 

 of history. 



A SECOND edition of the "Life History Album," edited 

 some years ago by Mr. Francis Galton, F.R.S. , has been 

 published by Messrs. Macmillan and Co., Ltd. The 

 " Album " was, in its original form, the joint production 

 of a small committee of medical men, but Mr. Galton has 

 largely rearranged and rewritten the contents, so that the 

 present volume may be regarded almost as a new publica- 

 tion. Convenient provision is made in numerous well- 

 arranged tables for a record of the genealogy, description 

 at birth, the life and medical history for each year from 

 birth to a hundred years of age, and for records as to wife 

 (or husband) and children. An appendix supplies tests of 

 vision and nine charts on which to represent graphically 

 the weight and stature for each vear of life. 



A SUPPLEMENTARY volume to the " Scientific Memoirs of 

 Thomas Henry Huxley," edited by Sir Michael Foster and 

 Prof. E. Ray Lankester, has been published by Messrs. 

 Macmillan and Co., Ltd. In the preface to the new volume 

 Prof. Lankester says, " when it was discovered that owing 

 to a bibliographical obscurity we had omitted the later 

 portions of Huxley's ' Survey Memoir ' on fossil fishes from 

 our collection, it became necessary to issue a supplement 

 containing the important work which we had inadvertently 

 passed over. The opportunity is taken to add three interest- 

 ing essays by Huxley, which, . . . have considerable interest 

 for zoologists." These essays are " Vestiges of the Natural 

 History of Creation. Tenth Edition. London, 1853." 

 " The Rede Lecture, 1883," and the " Inaugural Address. 

 Fisheries Exhibition. London, 1883." The essays referred 

 to are not contained in the published edition of Huxley's 

 more general essays. 



NO. 1 75 1, VOL. 68] 



In a recent number of the Berichte Carl Neuberg de- 

 scribes a method of resolving racemic aldehydes and ketones 

 by means of an optically active hydrazine. The difference 

 in solubility between the stereoisomeric hydrazones is very 

 considerable, and on combining racemic arabinose with 

 Z^menthylhydrazine, it was found that the hydrazone of the 

 laevorotatory d-arabinose readily crystallised out in colour- 

 less prisms, which were practically pure, whilst the hydr- 

 azone of the Z-sugar remained in solution as syrup, which 

 could not be crystallised. 



The wandering of a methyl group in the conversion of 

 pinacone into pinacoline is a phenomenon that has long 

 been familiar to chemists, and further illustrations have 

 recently been given by Crossley in the case of the dimethyl- 

 dihydroresorcins. Three further examples occurring in the 

 antipyrin group of compounds are described by Knorr in 

 the Berichte, and it is noteworthy that in every case the 

 transference of the methyl radicle takes place from a 

 >C(CH3)2 group. It would therefore appear that the 

 reluctance of one carbon atom to carry two methyl groups 

 is an important factor in bringing about this somewhat 

 unusual type of change. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during 

 the past week include a Great Wallaroo {Macropus robiisfus) 

 from South Australia, presented by Mr. T. Becket Birt ; 

 a Black-crested Eagle {Lophaetus occipitalis) from West 

 Africa, presented by Mr. A. Boyd ; a Black-eared Marmoset 

 {Hapale penicillata) from South-east Brazil, a Schneider's 

 Skink (Eumeces schneideri), five Common Skinks {Scincus 

 officinalis), four Common Chameleons {Chanweleon vul- 

 garis) from North Africa, six Hispid Lizards {Agama 

 hispida) from South Africa, a Naked-necked Iguana 

 {Iguana delictissima) from Tropical America, two Seven- 

 banded Snakes {Tropidonotus septemvittatus), a Mocassin 

 Snake (Tropidonotus fasciatus), two Testaceous Snakes 

 {Zamenis flagelliformis), a Hog-nosed Snake (Heterodon 

 platyrhinos) from North America, four Gallot's Lizards 

 {Lacerta galloti), four Atlantic Lizards (Lacerta atlantica) 

 from the Canary Islands, deposited ; a Cape Zorilla {Ictonyx 

 zorilla) from South Africa, purchased. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



Nova Geminorum. — Bulletin No. 19 of the Yerkes Observ- 

 atory is devoted to the observations of Nova Geminorum 

 which have been made since the telegram announcing its 

 discovery was received on March 27. 



Prof. Hale records the colour of the Nova as " a strong 

 red," and when in the best focus of the 40-inch telescope 

 there is a decided crimson glow around the image for about 

 2" or 3", which is not present with the images of the com- 

 parison stars. Prof. Barnard found that with the 40-inch 

 refractor the focus of the Nova did not differ appreciably 

 from that of the surrounding stars. 



Magnitude observations show a decrease from 8-51 on 

 March 27-715 to 8-96 on April 4583, with a secondary 

 maximum of 876 intervening on March 30-673 (H.C.O. 

 scale of magnitudes). 



Two of the prisms of the Bruce spectroscope were removed 

 and a special camera constructed on March 28, and the 

 spectrum of the Nova photographed the same night 

 with an exposure of 3h. 12m. In the spectrogram obtained 

 Prof. Frost has found a band extending from about \ 4598 

 to A 4696 (mean about A 4647), and a very strong H/3 line 

 having its mean value at \ 4862, with two narrow bright 

 maxima near the less refrangible end at about AA 4877 and 

 4882. A less refrangible band extends from A 5647 to 

 A 5685 (mean at A 5666), and another from A 5729 to 

 A 5775 (mean about A 5752) ; a sharp boundary on the violet 

 side of the latter suggests the presence of a dark band. 



