496 



NATURE 



[August io, 19 i6 



It is within experience also that the plant constructed 

 by the so-called chemical engineer, meaning the 

 chemist with a knowledge of engineering, is likely to 

 result in heavy repair costs. As Prof. Donnan truly 

 indicates, what the industry wants is the association 

 of specialists in both sciences, each understanding 

 enough of the other's profession to enable them to 

 work together with the greatest efficiency. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, July 24. — ^Ttl. Ed. Perrier in the 

 chair. — The president announced the death of Sir 

 William Ramsay, foreign associate. — G. Bigourdan : 

 The propagation of sound .to a great distance. The 

 distance at which the sound of firing at the front can 

 be heard, given in a recent note as 250 kilometres, 

 must be extended to 300 kilometres. — C. Richet : The 

 time minimum in the psycho-physiological reaction to 

 visual and aural stimulations. Remarking on a note 

 by MM. J. Camus and Nepper (see below), the author 

 agrees that the figures put forward by M. Lahy appear 

 to be too low, and are probably affected by a systematic j 

 •error. — M. Petrovitch : The relations of inequality be- 

 tween arithmetical and geometrical means. — M. 

 Mesnager : The displacement of the points of a rect- 

 angular plate. — M. de Broglie : The K absorption band 

 of the elements for the X-rays, from bromine to bis- 

 muth, and the emission of a Coolidge tube for very 

 short wave-lengths. Measurements of the absorption 

 band of elements — that is, indirectly the shortest line 

 of the K group of their spectra — are given for twenty- 

 four elements, ranging in atomic weight from bromine 

 to thorium. A tungsten antikathode was used and 

 the wave-lengths measured, decreasing regularly with 

 the increase in the atomic weight, the only exception 

 being the relative positions of iodine and tellurium. — 

 Mile. P. Collet : The working of galena employed as 

 detectors in wireless telegraphy.— MM. Massol and 

 Faucon : The absorption of ultra-violet radiations by 

 the bromo-derivatives of methane. Experiments 

 were made on bromine, carbon tetrabromide, tribromo- 

 methane, and dibromomethane. The characteristic 

 band of bromine in solution was not found in any of 

 the bromo-derivatives of methane. These compounds 

 increase in transparency for ultra-violet light as the 

 proportion of bromine they contain diminishes, and 

 •each bromine derivative is less transparent than the 

 corresponding chlorine derivative, examined under 

 the same conditions of concentration and thickness. — 

 E. Moles : The density of hydrogen bromide. Con- 

 tribution to the revision of the atomic weight of 

 bromine. The mean of thirty-two determinations of 

 the density of hydrobromic acid is 364442 grams per 

 normal litre. This leads to the value 79-926 for the 

 atomic weight of bromine.— J. Eriksson : The reappear- 

 ance of mildew (Phytophtora infestans) in the potato. 

 — M. Repelin : The age of the OHgocene deposits of 

 the basins of Aix and Marseilles, and, in particular, of 

 the clavs of Milles and the lignites of Saint-Zacharie. 

 — Mmes. M. Lapicque and C. Veil : Muscular velocities 

 measured bv chronaxy in the different cavities of the 

 heart.^ — J. Camus and M. Nepper : The reaction times 

 of the candidates for aviation. A criticism of a recent 

 communication by M. Lahy. The authors find it diffi- 

 cult to explain the reaction times measured by M. 

 Lahy, which appear to be much too small. — L. 

 Viatleton : Ontogenjc development and the analogous 

 organs.— H. Bierry : The detection of tuberculous 

 bacilli in sputa. Details of a method based on the 

 liquefaction and subsequent centrifugation of the 

 sputa, which has given good results in practice. 



NO. 2441, VOL. 97] 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



Fossil Vertebrates in the American Museum of 

 Natural History. Department of Vertebrate Palaeon- 

 tology. Vol. v., Articles collected from the American 

 Museum Bulletin for the Years 1913-14. (New York.) 



Scientific Method in Schools : A Suggestion. B\ 

 W. H. S. Jones. Pp. 36. (Cambridge : At the Uni- 

 versity Press.) 15. net. 



Papers from the Geological Department, Glas-.v 

 University. Vol. ii., 1915. . (Glasgow : J. Macleiu.- 

 and Sons.) 



The Genus Phoradendron : a Monographic Revision. 

 By Prof. W. Trelease. Pp. 224-hplates 245. (Urbana, 

 111., U.S.A.: The University.) 



Concentrating Ores by Flotation. By T. J. Hoover. 

 Third edition. Pp. vi + 326. (London : The Mining 

 Magazine.) 



The Nation of the Future. By L. Haden Guest. 

 Pp. 115. (London : G. Bell and Sons, Ltd.) 25. net. 



An Emperor's Madness or National Aberration? By 

 Prof. E. Lugaro. Translated by Dr. W. N. Robin- 

 son. Pp. v+ 135. (London : G. Routledge and Sons, 

 Ltd.) 25. 6d. net. 



Department of Statistics, India. Agricultural 

 Statistics of India, 1913-14. Vol. ii. Pp. v-f-iiO. 

 (Calcutta : Superintendent Government Printing, 

 India.) i rupee. 



Preliminary Geometry. By F. Rosenberg. Pp. 

 vi + 22o. (London : W. B. Clive.) 25. 



Commercial Arithmetic and Accounts. By A. R. 

 Palmer and J. Stephenson. Part i., pp. xiv + 292 + lvi. 

 Part ii., pp. xi + 293-5 14 -flvii-cliv. (London: G. Bell 

 and Sons, Ltd.) Each 25. 6d. net. 



Return. British Museum. May, 19 16. Pp. no. 

 (London : H.M.S.O. ; Wyman and Sons, Ltd.) 5^d. 



CONTENTS. PAGF 



The History of the Family. By Prof. J. A. Green 477 



Forecast by Mr. Wells. By J. P 478 



Our Bookshelf 478 



Letters to the Editor: — 



Is Proto-Oxygen the Principal Constituent of the 



Atoms? — a', van den Broek . . . ' 479 



International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. 



—Dr. C. W. Stiles 479 



The Magnitude of d Eridani.— T. W. Backhouse . 479 



South African University Legislation 480 



The Newcastle Meeting of the British Association 481 

 Sir William Ramsay, K.C.B., F.R.S. By Prof. 

 Frederick Soddy, F.R.S., and Prof. A. M. 



Worthington, C.B., F.R.S 482 



Roland Trimen, F.R.S. By E. B. P 485 



Notes 486 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



The August Meteors 49° 



July Meteors • • 49° 



A Sun-spot in High Latitude 49° 



Lowest Effective Power of a Telescope . . 490 

 Ventilation and Metabolism. By Prof. Leonard 



Hill, F.R.S 491 



The American Philosophical Society 49^ 



University and Educational Intelligence 494 



Societies and Academies 49^ 



Books Received 49^ 



ST. 



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