2l6 



NATURE 



[July 2, 1903 



the diseases known as nagana, surra, and caderas, by 

 MM. A. Laveran and F. Mesnil. It has been previously 

 shown that the nagana or disease of the tsetse fly and 

 caderas, prevalent in South America, are distinct diseases, 

 and a comparison of the Trypanosoma from the disease 

 known as the surra with the two preceding shows that 

 this is quite different from either. The three diseases are 

 hence quite distinct. — The international congress of 

 savants at the Universal Exhibition of St. Louis, 1904, by 

 M. Newcomb. This congress will be held on September 

 19, 1904, and the five following days. A short account is 

 given of its objects and the arrangements that have been 

 made. — The drawings on the walls of the cave of Altamira 

 (Spain), by MM. Emile Cartailhac and the Abb^ H. 

 Brcuil. A comparison is made between these drawings 

 and those recently described in the French caves. The 

 style of work and colouring is similar in both, but in the 

 Spanish cave the colouring is much superior to that in the 

 French caves ; it is noticeable that in the former drawings 

 of the mammoth and reindeer are absent. — Remarks by 

 AL Salomon Reinach on the preceding memoir. It is note- 

 worthy that only animals which could be used for food 

 are depicted in these caves, there being no representations 

 of carnivora. The Aborigines of Central Australia also 

 draw figures of animals on the rocks and soil, with the 

 object of increasing their multiplication, and here, also, 

 carnivora are naturally absent. — The propagation of waves 

 in elastic media, according as the media are conductors 

 or non-conductors of heat, by M. P. Duhem. — The per- 

 petual secretary announced to the Academy the death of 

 M. L. Cremona, correspondant for the section of geometry. 

 — On surfaces which may, in several movements, give rise 

 to a family of Lam^, by M. A. Demoulin. — On the simul- 

 taneous employment of the laws of distinct survival, by 

 M. Albert Quiquet. — On a method of measuring the varia- 

 tion of the current in the armature in short circuit during 

 the time of commutation in a continuous current dynamo, 

 by M. lliovici. — On the physical constitution of the atmo- 

 sphere, by M. Louis Maillard. The usual formula for the 

 density p = 273/76o /)/T does not appear to hold when /> and 

 T are both very small. From the author's calculations, 

 which are partly based on results from captive balloons 

 and partly on laboratory experiments, the density of the 

 air diminishes up to a height of 30 to 50 kilometres, and 

 then increases up to 75 kilometres (p = o-2i). If these re- 

 sults are correct, the theories of astronomical refraction 

 will require some modifications. — On the estimation of 

 vanadium in alloys, by M. Paul Nicolardot. The method 

 of Sefstrom (the solution of the alloy in sulphuric or hydro- 

 chloric acid) for the qualitative detection of vanadium in 

 Swedish iron, when slightly modified, can be made quanti- 

 tative. Comparative analyses of the same sample by three 

 methods are given. — On the esterification of the hydracids, 

 by M. A. Villiers. — On the benzoyl derivatives of hydrazo- 

 benzene, by M. P. Freundler. — On the action of abietic 

 acid on ferments, by M. Jean Effront. — On some combin- 

 ations of chloride of gold and pyridine, by M,. Maurice 

 Franpois. — The phenyl substitution in the phenyl- 

 methanes, their carbinols and chlorides, by M. Jules 

 ?'Chmidlin. A thermochemical paper. — The preparation 

 of alkyl nitrates and nitrites, by MM. L. Bouveault and 

 A. Wahl. Excellent yield of nitric esters can be obtained 

 by the use of anhydrous nitric acid in the case of the 

 primary alcohols ; with secondary alcohols the action is 

 quite different, the corresponding" ketone being the main 

 product of the reaction ; with tertiary alcohols the action 

 is destructive. The action of pure HNO3 is suggested as 

 a reagent for differentiating between the three classes of 

 alcohols. Excellent yields of nitrous esters were obtained 

 by the action of nitrosyl chloride upon a mixture of the 

 alcohol and pyridine at 0° C— Chlorine derivatives of 

 methylene chloroacetate and diacetate, by M. Marcel 

 Descude. — On some new members of the pyranic series, 

 by MM. R. Fosse and A. Robyn.— On stachyose, by M. C. 

 Tanret. It is shown that manneotetrose and stachyose 

 are identical, the composition being C,,H,,0„,. — Compari- 

 sons between the phenomena of nutrition in seedlings with 

 or without their cotyledons, by M. G. Andi-6.— On some 

 conditions of oxidation of salicylic aldehyde by organs and 

 extracts of organs, by MM. J.-E. Abelous and J. Aloy. 

 The oxidation of salicylic aldehyde in extracts from the liver 



NO. 1757, VOL. 68] 



of the horse or calf goes on better in a vacuum than in air, 

 th"? presence of free oxygen diminishing, or even suppress- 

 ing, the oxidation. — On the glycerol in the blood, by M. 

 Maurice Nicloux. — On mixtures of iodine and sulphur, by 

 M. R. BoulOMCh. From a dilatometric study it would 

 appear that sulphur and iodine when fused together give 

 rise to neither definite compounds nor solid solutions. — The 

 action of the magnetic field on the infusoria, by MM. C. 

 Ch^neveau and G. Bohn. Contrary to the results 

 obtained by M. H. du Bois, it is found that an intense 

 magnetic field modifies the ciliary movements, the growth, 

 and the multiplication of the infusoria. — The law of the 

 action of trypsin on gelatin, by MM. Victor Henri and 

 Larguier des Bancels. — The family of the Clostridiaces, 

 by M. Paul Vuillemin. — On the structure of the seed of 

 Nymphaea flava, by M. J. Chifflot.— The disease of the 

 plane tree, by M. J. Beauverie. — On the exotic plant 

 species in the immediate neighbourhood of B^ziers (H6rault), 

 by M. P. Carles. — On the geology of the Oubangui district 

 at Tchad, by M. Lacoin. — The poisons of the organism 

 and gestation, by MM. Charrin and Rochd. — The results 

 of phototherapy and the technique of its application in 

 lupus, by M. Finsen. Statistics of the results obtained in 

 the treatment of lupus at the Finsen Institute, Copenhagen, 

 with some details of the mode of treatment. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



FRIDA Y. Jui.v 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-trade 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. 



Grologists' Association, at 8.— Some Flint Implements from Reading 

 and Maidenhead : LI. Treacher. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 



The Biography of Helmholtz. By Sir J. Burdon- 



Sanderson, Bart., F.R.S., and Harold Hilton . 193 

 The Earth-history of Central Europe. By T. G. B. 196 

 Our Book Shelf:— 



Whetham : " A Treatise on the Theory of Solution, 



including the Phenomena of Electrolysis" . . i 

 Brough : "The Study of Mental Science." — W. 



97 



JMICU .... 197 



Hasluck : " Photography"; Kilbey : "Hand Camera 



Photography" 198 



Colomer : " Mise en Valeur des Giles Mineraux " . . 198 

 Letters to the Editor :— 



Psychophysical Interaction. — Prof. J. H. Muirhead 198 

 Tables of Four-figure Logarithms. — Prof. John 



Perry, F.R.S 199 



Ship's Magnetism.— Capt. E.W. Creak, C.B., F.R.S. 199 



Mercury Bubbles. — Dr. Henry H. Dixon 199 



Radium Fluorescence.— F. Harrison Glew .... 200 

 A New Series in the Magnesium Spectrum.— William 



Sutherland ... 200 



The Kite Competition of the Aeronautical Society 200 



The Celtic Gold Ornaments 201 



The University of London 201 



A Charlottenburg Institute for London 203 



The British Academy 204 



Notes 205 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Reported Change on Saturn 207 



Search Ephemeris for Faye's Comet 207 



Observations of Nova Geminorum 207 



The Red Spot on Jupiter ... 208 



The Study of very Faint Spectra 208 



Institution of Naval Architects 208 



The International Congress for Applied Chemistry. 



By Dr. H. Borns 209 



South-eastern Union of Scientific Societies . ... 211 



University and Educational Intelligence 211 



Societies and Academies 212 



Diary of Societies 216 



