July i6, 1903] 



NATURE 



263 



for the synthesis of glycosides {Jour. Chem. Soc, 1899, p. 

 1054; 1901, p. 704), the authors have obtained from the 

 acetochloroarabinose previously prepared by Ryan and 

 Mills {loc. cit.) methyl-arabinoside, /3-naphthylarabinoside, 

 o-cresyl-arabinoside, and carvacryl-arabinoside. — Report on 

 the metamorphosed sedimentary and igneous rocks of 

 the Ox Mountain range in Mayo and Sligo, and of their 

 being probably a continuation of the similar rocks to the 

 west in Mayo and Galway, also that they most likely ex- 

 tf:nd northwards into Donegal and Londonderry, by Mr. 

 A. McHenry. Opinions were stated as to the probability 

 that the igneous rocks were contemporaneous in age with 

 the granitic and associated basic rocks of Leinster ; that is, 

 that they belong probably to early Devonian time. Also 

 that the sediments into which the igneous rocks of the 

 west and north-west intrude are mainly of Ordovician age, 

 with occasionally Upper Silurian sediments included, as in 

 the case of the Wenlock quartzite of Croagh Patrick Moun- 

 tain, south of Clew Bay. — On the antipodal relations of the 

 eruptions and earthquakes reported as having occurred 

 since January, 1901, by Prof. J. P. O'Reilly. The paper 

 details the principal earthquakes and eruptions mentioned 

 as having taken place since the commencement of 1901, 

 giving the essential particulars regarding the points cited, 

 as also the antipodal relations in each case. It is stated 

 that of the centres of eruption mentioned, between 91 and 

 g2 per cent, lie in the northern hemisphere, giving rise, 

 therefore, to antipodes situated in the southern hemisphere, 

 and for the most part in the Pacific and South Pacific, in 

 the neighbourhood of New Zealand, in the Indian Ocean 

 and the island groups of these oceans, that is to say, in 

 parts of the earth's surface usually considered as being in 

 a state of continued immersion, and so far implying a 

 certain connection between the seats of activity on land 

 and their antipodals in these oceans. — To obtain the cubic 

 curve having three given conies as polar conies, by Dr. 

 J. P. Johnston. It was shown that the conditions that 

 the three conies could be transformed by a linear substitu- 

 tion, so as to be the first deriveds of a ternary cubic, gave 

 eight independent linear equations to determine the nine 

 constants of the transformation. A method was then given 

 by which the equation of the cubic could be at once written 

 down in a short symmetrical form. The constants of trans- 

 formation were seen to be the coordinates of the points 

 of which the conies were the polar conies. — A report on the 

 Irish Hepaticae, by Mr. D. McArdle, forms a risumi of 

 all papers on the subject since 1876. 170 species and 63 

 varieties are enumerated. The arrangement is the same as 

 that adopted in the " Cybele Hibernica," of which it is 

 intended to form part ii. A table of districts shows at a 

 glance the rarity or frequency of each plant. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, July 6. — M. Mascart in the chair. 

 — The secretary announced to the Academy the death of 

 Prof. J. W. Gibbs, correspondant for the section of 

 mechanics. (An obituary notice appeared in Nature of 

 May 7, p. II.) — Study of the flow of sheets of water, by M. J. 

 Boussinesq. — On new syntheses effected by means of 

 molecules containing the methylene group associated with 

 one or two negative radicles. The action of epichlorhydrin 

 upon the ^odium derivatives of acetone-dicarboxylic esters, 

 by MM. A. Haller and F. March. The lactone obtained 

 as rhe result of this reaction has been esterified with alcohol 

 and hydrochloric acid. The ester was not isolated, since 

 it suffers internal condensation, giving rise to a hydro- 

 furfurane derivative, the properties and reactions of which 

 are described. — The action of human serum upon the 

 Trypanosomes of nagana, caderas, and surra, by M, A. 

 Laveran. Human serum, injected into animals suffering 

 from nagana, surra, or caderas, causes the temporary dis- 

 appearance of the parasites from the blood of the animal. 

 No other method of treatment has been found which causes 

 even a temporary cure of these diseases. No other species 

 of animal furnishes a serum having properties analogous 

 in this respect to human serum, with the exception of a 

 slight effect noticed in the serum from the ape. — Remarks 

 on the formation of pollen in the Asclepiadeae, by M. L. 

 Quigrnard. — On a rapid method of obtaining a plan of a 

 country by means of photographs taken from a balloon, 



NO. 1759, VOL. 68] 



by M. Laussedat. Maps taken photographically from 

 balloons have hitherto required a laborious graphical treat- 

 ment to reduce them to a plane ; a purely optical method 

 of treatment is now described. — Experiments on the resist- 

 ance of the air, by M. G. Eiffel. A heavy mass, 120 kilo- 

 grammes, and carrying plates which could be varied in 

 shape and size, as well as means of recording the velocity 

 and air pressure, was allowed to fall freely. The formula 

 usually given for the pressure is KSV^, where S is the 

 surface, V the velcity, and K a constant o- 125kg. As a 

 result of these experiments, it was found that K increased, 

 with the surface, and with equal surfaces, increases with 

 the perimeter p, such that K = 0032 + 0022 p. — Secular 

 variations of secondary importance, by M. Jean Mascart. 

 — On the lines of curvature of certain surfaces, by M. E. 

 Blutel. — On the groups of Mathieu, by M. de Siguier. 

 — On the fundamental functions of Poincard and the 

 method of Neumann for a frontier composed of curvilinear 

 polygons, by M. S. Zaremba. — On the characteristics of 

 th'i vowels, the vocal scales, and their intervals, by M. 

 rabb6 Rousseiot. — On a species of oscillation of the 

 chromatic perception, by M. C. Malt^zos. — Consequences 

 of the theory of nickel steels, by M. C.-E. GMlllaume. 

 The theory that the anomalous behaviour of nickel steels 

 is due to the transformation of iron from the o to the 7 

 state, and inversely, is applied to the explanation of ex- 

 periments by Howe, Nagaoka and Honda, and Curie with 

 satisfactory results. — On the diminution of the potential for 

 any spontaneous change in a medium at constant tempera- 

 ture and pressure, by M. Arifts. — The action of iodine on 

 thin pellicles of copper, by M. HoulleviKue. It was found 

 as a result of these experiments, that the smallest molecule 

 of copper capable of reacting chemically with the vapour 

 of iodine is of dimensions of the order of 40 ^/x. Its weight 

 is of the order of 5x10-" milligrams. — Simplification of 

 the analysis of silicates by the use of formic acid, by M. A. 

 Lecldre. After opening up the silicate by fusion with an 

 appropriate base, the use of formic acid in the place of 

 nitric acid is recommended in the subsequent separation 

 of the silica and titanium. — On the conditions of produc- 

 tion and stability of thiosulphuric acid, by M. J. Aloy. 

 Thiosulphuric acid can be produced by the action of an 

 alcoholic solution of sulphur dioxide on sulphur ; the 

 presence of alcohol and of neutral salts increases the 

 stability of the acid. — On the esterification of the hydracids, 

 by M. A. Villiers. — On dibromo-acetylene, its purification, 

 cryoscopy, and analysis, by M. P. Lemoult. By the action 

 of alcoholic potash upon tribromoethylene, and fraction- 

 ation in the complete absence of oxygen, pure dibromo- 

 acetylene can be obtained. The formula CBrfCBr was 

 established by analysis and cryoscopic determinations in 

 acetic acid solution. — On lactase, by MM. Em. Bourquelot 

 and H. H^rissey. Lactase and emulsin are probably two 

 distinct ferments, since emulsin without lactase can be 

 obtained from Aspergillus niger and Polyporus sulphureus, 

 lactase without emulsin from kephir, and the two together 

 in several species of almond. — The action of sodium on 

 carbon tetrachloride and chlorobenzene : formation of 

 triphenylmethane and hexaphenylethane, by M. Jules 

 Schmidlin. — The preparation of primary alcohols by means 

 of the corresponding acids, by MM. L. Bouveault and G. 

 Blanc. The method of reduction previously described, 

 sodium in boiling alcohol, has been extended to other fatty 

 acids. Aromatic acids with the carboxyl group in the ring 

 resist the reduction. — The internal ethylene oxide of 

 )8-cyclohexanediol-i.2, and its derivatives, by M. L^on 

 Brunei. — On the amount of acids soluble in ether in wines, 

 considered as a means of differentiation, by M. Ch. Blarez. 

 — The heat of neutralisation of hydroferrocyanic acid ; the 

 heat of formation of its compounds with ether and acetone, 

 by MM. Chretien and Guinchant. — On the fatty acids of 

 egg lecithine, by M. H. Cousin. It is shown that egg leci- 

 thine contains, besides the derivatives of stearic, oleic, and 

 palmitic acids already known, a derivative of linoleic acid. 

 — The intravenous injection of glycerol ; the estimation of 

 the glycerol in the blood and its elimination by the urine, 

 by M. Maurice Nicloux. Glycerol disappears very rapidly 

 when injected into the blood, and appears in the urine in 

 notable quantity very soon after injection. — The carbo- 

 hydrates of barley and their transformation in the course 



