36o 



NATURE 



[August 13, 1903 



Precisely similar phenomena are met with at the inter- 

 faces of certain immiscible liquids one of which is a 

 solution, and the great persistence of many emulsions is 

 due mainly to the accumulation of solid or highly viscous 

 particles at the interfaces of_ the two liquids. 



Superficial resistance to "'shear," the capability, of yield- 

 ing " mechanical surface aggregates " and " coagula," the 

 possession of marked bubbling-power, and the formation of 

 very persistent emulsions by certain limpid liquids, are all 

 explained as due to the accumulation of certain substances 

 in a solid or highly viscous condition at the surfaces con- 

 cerned, and to the physical properties of the matter thus 

 accumulated. 



Paris. 



Academy of Sciences, August 3. — M. Albert Gaudry in 

 the chair. — The relations between multi-fluid batteries, by 

 M Berthelot. — Remarks concerning the relations between 

 batteries formed of the same liquids, between two different 

 or identical electrodes, by M. Berthelot. — On a double 

 carbide of chromium and tungsten, by MM. Henri Moiasan 

 and A. Kouznetzovw. A double carbide of chromium and 

 tungsten of the formula CW2.3C2Cr3 has been prepared 

 by two different methods. It is similar to analogous com- 

 pounds indicated by MM. Carnot and Goutal as existing in 

 metallurgical products. The carbide is very stable, not 

 attacked by acids or by ordinary reagents, and is remark- 

 able for its extreme hardness, scratching quartz and topaz 

 with ease. It is possible that this compound may be 

 formed by the addition of tungsten to chrome steels, and 

 may be the cause of some of the special properties of these 

 steels. — Does arsenic exist in all the organs of the animal 

 economy? by M. Armand Gautier. A review of the work 

 done on this question since the author's first memoir in 

 1899, together with a minute study of the influence of 

 arsenic in the reagents on the results. — The addition of 

 hydrogen to aldehydes and ketones by catalysis, by MM. 

 Paul Sabatier and J. B. Senderens. The direct action 

 of hydrogen in presence of reduced nickel at a low tempera- 

 ture readily transforms aldehydes and ketones into the 

 corresponding alcohols. The method possesses the advan- 

 tag;^ of furnishing the alcohols free from secondary pro- 

 ducts, and in high yields. — The residue of secular perturb- 

 ations, by M. Jean Mascart. — On quasi-periodic functions, 

 by M. Esclangon. — On the functions of n variables re- 

 presented by series of homogeneous polynomials, by M. H. 

 Dulac- — On the integrals of S. Lie, by M. N. Saltykow. 

 — On the changes in phase resulting from the normal re- 

 flection in quartz on silver, by MM. J. Mac6 de Lepinay 

 and H. Buisson. — A description of an instrument designed 

 to measure accurately the optical constants of microscope 

 objectives and eye-pieces, by M. V. Legrros. — On telekine, 

 by M. L. Torres. The name telekine is applied by the 

 author to a system of a spring and governor, controlled 

 from a distance by wireless telegraphy. Among the appli- 

 cations suggested by the author as possible are the direc- 

 tion of submarine torpedoes and of balloons. — New laws of 

 tonometry, deduced from Raoult's experiments, by M. E. 

 Wickersheimer. — Pressure curves of univariant systems 

 containing one gaseous phase, by M. A. Bouzat. Four 

 groups of univariant systems are distinguished, for which 

 it is found that the ratio of the absolute temperatures 

 corresponding to a given pressure in any two systems of the 

 same group is constant for any value of the pressure. This 

 is equivalent to the proposition that the variation of 

 entropy resulting from the liberation of one molecule of 

 gas under a given pressure has the same value for all 

 systems in one group. — The estimation of pyridine in 

 aqueous solution, by M. Maurice Frangois. The method 

 is based on the formation of the chloroaurate, 

 C3H,N.HCl.AuCl3, and its insolubility in ether. The 

 chloroaurate is ignited, and the amount of pyridine deduced 

 from the weight of gold left. — On secondary amides, by 

 M. Tarbouriech. By the action of acid chlorides upon 

 primary amides in sealed tubes at iio°-ii5°, several mixed 

 secondary amides have been prepared, the physical and 

 chemical properties of which are given. — The reduction of 

 the ethereal salts of acids of complex function, by MM. L. 

 Bouveault and G. Blanc. — The action of phenyl hydrazine 

 on alkyl bromides and iodides, by M. J. Allain Le Canu. 

 — Thermochemical researches on colouring matters. 

 Rosaniline and pararosaniline, by M. Jules Schmidlin. — 



NO. 1763, VOL. 68] 



On the estimation of ammonia in wine and its use in 

 differentiating mistelles from liqueur wines, by M. J. 

 Laborde. — On the salol ferment present in certain samples 

 of milk, by M. A. Desmouli6re. Remarks on a paper 

 on the same subject by MM. Miele and Willem. — On the 

 properties and chemical composition of the phospho-organic 

 reserve material of pl^pts containing chlorophyll, by M. S. 

 Poster nak. It is shown that the phospho-organic reserve 

 material of green plants possesses characteristic properties 

 by means of which it can be easily differentiated from other 

 phosphorus compounds already known. — Excretion in 

 hydroids, by M. A. Billard. — The mechanical laws in the 

 development of the skull of Cavicornes, by M. U. Duerst. 

 — The digestive apparatus of the Silphidae, by M. L. 

 Bordas. — On the Heteropods collected during the voyages 

 of the Hirondelle and the Princesse Alice, made under the 

 direction of the Prince of Monaco, by M. A. Vayssiftre. 

 — Sections of the Tertiary strata of Patagonia, by M. 

 Andr6 TournouSr. — On the geological constitution of the 

 district of Mirsa Matrouh, by M. D.-E. Pachundaki. 

 — The sensitisers of the tubercle bacillus, by MM. J. Bordet 

 and O. Gengou. 



New South Wales. 

 Royal Society, June 3.— Mr. F. B. Guthrie, president, in 

 the chair. — Language of the Bungandity Tribe, South 

 Australia, by Mr. R. H. Mathews. The paper dealt with 

 the grammatical structure of the aboriginal tongues of the 

 tribe. The author also briefly referred to the social organisa- 

 tion of South Australian tribes from the Lake Eyre basin 

 to Port Lincoln and Mount Gambier. — Notes on tide 

 gauges, with description of a new one, by Mr. G. H. 

 HalliKan. The author gave a brief history of the develop- 

 ment of the automatic tide recorders, and exhibited a new 

 gauge of his own design. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



The University in the Modern State. V 337 



The Spectroscope in Astronomy. By Prof. R. A. 



Gregory 338 



The Germinal Layers of the Vertebrata 341 



Psychological Studies. By W. McD 342 



Our Book Shelf:— 



The Curaior : " A Gloucestershire WiM Garden" . . 342 



" Geographen-Kalender " 343 



Mell : " Biological Laboratory Methods " . . . . 343 

 Dixie: " Ijian ; or, the Evolution of a Mind"; 



*' Isola ; or, the Disinherited " 343 



Letter to the Editor :— 



Radio-active Gas from Bath Mineral Waters. — H. S. 



Allen 343 



The Southport Meeting of the British Association. 344 

 The Centenary of Heidelberg University. By 



M. W 345 



British Medical Association Swansea Meeting. By 



F. W. T 346 



Ventilation of Factories and Workshops 346 



Graham Bell's Tetrahedral Cell Kites. {Illustrated.) 347 



Bible and Babel 349 



Notes 349 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Borrelly's Comet (1903 6') 353 



Projection on Mars 353 



The Satellite of Neptune 353 



The Estimation of .Stellar Temperatures 353 



Observations of the Minima of Mira 354 



The Size of Stellar Systems 354 



Recently Determined Stellar Parallaxes 354 



Experiments in Radio-Activity, and the Produc- 

 tion of Helium from Radium. By Sir William 

 Ramsay, K.C.B., F.R.S., and Mr, Frederick 



Soddy 354 



On the Intensely Penetrating Rays of Radium, By 



Hon. R. J. Strutt 355 



The Coloration of the Quaggas. {IlhisiratedA By 



R. I. Pocock 356 



Agricultural Notes 357 



University and Educational Intelligence 358 



Societies and Academies 359 



