192 



NATURE 



[June 25, 1903 



may even surpass that of coloured indicators. — On the pre- 

 diction of barometric variations, by M. Gabriel Guilbert. 

 It has been shown that the velocity of the wind does not 

 always correspond with the barometric gradient. These 

 •cases are called abnormal, a normal wind being defined 

 ■as one which is light for a gradient of imm. per geo- 

 graphical degree, moderate for 2mm., strong for 3mm., 

 and violent for 4mm. The study of abnormal winds has 

 led to deductions which may be utilised practically. — On 

 a method of crystallising slightly soluble bodies, by M. A. 

 <de Schulten, Dilute sulphuric acid, added to a hot dilute 

 solution of barium chloride at the rate of o-i mgr. per 

 minute, gave after a month measurable crystals of barium 

 sulphate. Crystals of anglesite and celestine can be 

 obtained similarly, and the method has been successfully 

 applied to the production of several other minerals. — On 

 the substitution of paints having zinc for a basis in the 

 place of lead paints, by M. J. L. Breton. — On the so-called 

 colloidal silver, by M. Hanriot. — On the fusibilities of 

 mixtures of sulphide of antimony and sulphide of silver, 

 by M. H. Pelabon. The fusibility curve of a mixture of 

 the sulphides of antimony and silver can be constructed 

 completely ; it presents two maxima corresponding to the 

 existence of two definite combinations, SbjSj.Ag^S and 

 Sb2S3.3Ag2S. It shows besides three minima correspond- 

 ing to three different eutectic mixtures. — On the etherifi- 

 cation of sulphuric acid, by M. A. Villiers. The limits 

 observed in the case of some mixtures of alcohol with 

 sulphuric acid of different strengths after standing twenty- 

 five years at the ordinary temperature are practically 

 identical with those attained by the same mixtures after 

 221 days at 44° C, or 154 hours at 100° C- — On some 

 derivatives of aminopyromucic acid and furfuranamine, by 

 M. R. Marquis. — The action of phosphorus trichloride 

 upon glycerol, by M. P. Carr#. PCI3 acts upon glycerol 

 in the same manner as with glycol. The compounds 

 P^OeCCjH,)^ and PCOHJ.O^C^H.Cl are immediately de- 

 composed by water, giving P2(OH)^.02.C3H,.OH and 

 P(OH)2.0.C3H5(OH)Cl, the calcium salts of which were 

 isolated. — -The action of hydrogen sulphide upon methyl- 

 ethyl-ketone, by M. F. Leteur. The compound (C^H^S), 

 has been isolated, which can be regarded as a polymer 

 of an unknown butanethione. — On two new hydrocarbons 

 isomeric with campholene and camphene, by MM. L. 

 Bouveault and G. Blanc. — The synthesis of 2 : 2-di- 

 methylglutaric acid, by M. E. E. Blaise. — On formic acid 

 from the air, by M. H. Henriet. In a previous note the 

 author has indicated the existence in the air of a nitrogen 

 compound with an acid which appeared to be formic acid. 

 The substance has now been isolated in larger quantity, 

 and the identity of the acid with formic acid completely 

 proved. — The distribution of some organic substances in 

 the geranium, by MM. E. Charabot and G. Lalone. The 

 terpene compounds of the geranium are almost entirely 

 localised in the leaves. — Observations on phenylglycollic 

 acid, by M. Oichsner de Coninck. — The action of iodine 

 bromide on albumenoid materials and on the organic 

 nitrogen bases, by M. A. Mouneyrat. Iodine bromide 

 forms addition compounds with many substances containing 

 nitrogen, and is not necessarily a test for the existence of 

 the pyridine ring in the molecule. — On the presence of 

 indoxyl in urines, by M. L. Maillard. A reply to a note 

 on the same subject by M. J. Gnezda. — On some peculiari- 

 ties observed in the renal tubes of Barbus fluviatilis, by 

 M. J. Audige. — On a criterion of irreducibility in statistical 

 data, by MM. Charles Henry and Louis Bastien.— New 

 expression of the law of electrical stimulation, by M. and 

 Mme. L. Lapicque. The formula given by Weiss, 

 vt — a+bt, where v is the voltage, t the time, and a and b 

 constants, is found to be only roughly approximate ; the 

 experiments of the author require a term with an additional 

 constant to be added to the , formula of Weiss. — On some 

 nuclear phenomena of secretion, by M. L. Launoy.— 

 Cerebral inertia relating to the reading of printed letters, 

 by MM. Andr6 Broca and D. Sulzcr. — Observations on 

 the treatment employed for the destruction of Pyralis of 

 the vine, by M. Joseph Perraud. — New researches on 

 the epiplasm of the Ascomycetes, by M. A. Guilliermond. 

 —Researches- on the nutrition of the tissues in galls, by 

 M. C. Houard.— On the cave of Font-de-Gaume, and on 

 the age of the cavern, by M. E. A. Martel. — On a living 

 safety lamp, by M. Raphael Dubois. 



NO. 1576, VOL. 681 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



THURSDAY, June 25. 



University College Mathematical Society, at 5.30.— Some Present 

 Aims and Prospects of Mathematical Research : E. T. Whittaker. 

 FRIDAY, June 26 



Physical Society, at 5. (University of London, South Kensincton).— 

 (i) Electrical Effects of Light upon Green Leaves ; (2) Blaze-Currents, 

 (a) of a Vegetable Tissue, (h) of an Animal Tissue ; (3) Quantitative 

 Estimation of Chloroform Vapour in Air by {a) Oil Absorption, (b) Densi- 

 metry : Dr. Waller.— The Temperature Limits of Nerve-Action in Cold- 

 blooded and in Warm-blooded Animals : Dr. Alcock.— (i) On the Move- 

 ment of Unionised Bodies in Solution in an Electric Field ; (2> On the 

 Passage of Nervous Impulses through the Central Nervous System : Dr. 

 Hardy. 



TUESDAY, June 30. 



Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies, at 5. — Annual 

 Meeting. 



Fakaday Society (Rooms of the Chemical Society, Burlington House), 

 at 8. — The Present Position of the Theory of Electrolysis : W. C. Dampier 

 Whetham, F R S. — Chlorine Smelting, with Electrolysis: J. Swinburne. 

 — Total and Free Energy of the Lead Accumulator : Dr. R. A. 

 Lehfeldt.— Electrolytic Apparatus : Dr. F. Mollwo Perkin. 

 THURSDAY, July 2. 



Institution of Mining Engineers, at n a.m. — Luxemburg and its Iron- 

 ore Deposits : J. Walter Pearse. — The Lake Superior Iron-ore Region : 

 Prof. Van Hise.— Mineral Resources of the State of Rio Grande do Sul, 

 Brazil: H. Kilburn Scott.— Electric Coal-cutting : W. E. Walker.— 

 Pneumatic and Electric Locomotives in and about Coal-mines : A. S. E. 

 Ackermann. — Electrical Plant Failures, their Origin and Prevention : 

 A. C. Cormack. — The Electrical Driving of Winding-gears : F. 

 Hird. — Electric-power Distribution by Continuous Current for Mining 

 and General Purposes in North Wales : T. P. Osborne Yale. 



Rontgen Society, at 8.30. — Annual General Meeting. 

 FRIDAY, July 3. 



Institution of Mining Engineers, at 11.30 a.m. — Further Remarks 

 on the Portuguese Manica Gold-field : A. R. Sawyer.— Coal-fields of the 

 Faroe Islands : E. A. Greener. — Miners' Anaemia or Ankylostomiasis : 

 Dr. J. S. Haldane. — Water-softening Plant : Vincent Corbett. — The 

 Redevelopment of the Slate-tra(*e in Ireland: O. H. Kinahan — The 

 Smelters of British Columbia : W. Denham Verschoyle.— The Common- 

 sense Doctrine of Furnace-draught: H. W. Halbaum. — The Ventilation 

 of Deep Mines : Arthur C. Murray. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Science and the Navy. II. . 169 



The Distribution of Diseases. By J. W. W. S. . 171 

 Hydrodynamical Fields of Force. By Prof. G. H. 



Bryan, F. R.S 172 



Farm Accounts 173 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Livingston: "The 2^6le of Diffusion and Osmotic 



Pressure in Plants." — H. H. D. . . . 174 



Williams: " Mechanical Refrigeration." — M. W. T. 174 

 Buttel-Reepen : "DiestammgeschichtlicheEntstehung 

 des Bienenstaates sowie Beitrage zur Lebensweise 

 der solitaren u. sozialen Bienen (Hummeln, Meli- 



poninen, &c. )" 174 



Spiller: "The Mind of Man."— A, E, T 174 



Patten: " Heredity and Social Progress" .... 175 

 Balfour : "The Educational Systems of Great Britain 



and Ireland."— A. T. S 175 



Hoffman and Barton : "Alpine Flora" 175 



"Arnold's Country-side Readers"; " Arnold's Sea- 

 side Reader" 175 



Letters to the Editor : — 



Foetal or New-born Giraffes Wanted. — Prof. E. Ray 



Lankester, F.R.S 176 



Seismometry and Geite.— Dr. C. Chree, F.R.S. . . 176 

 Phenomena of Vision. — C. Welborne Piper; 



Edwin Edser 177 



School Geometry Reform — R. W. H. T. Hudson 177 



Recent Excavations at Nippur 177 



Mathematical Reform at Cambridge 178 



The University of London 179 



Notes 179 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Astronomical Occurrences in July 183 



New Ccmei, 1903 c 183 



Photographic Observations of Comet 1903 III. . . . 183 



The Mirror of the Crossley Reflector 183 



Radiant Poinls of July and August Meteors .... 184 



Sun-spots and Terrestrial Temperature 184 



The Satellites of Saturn .... 184 



The Royal Society Conversazione 184 



The Engineering Conference 185 



New Case of Protective Mimicry in a Caterpillar. 



{Illustrated.) 187 



University and Educational Intelligence 188 



Societies and Academies 189 



Diary of Societies 192 



