24 



NATURE 



[May I, 1890 



importance of the medical man being well trained in eleaientary 

 chemistry, pointing out that it was too seldom recognized that 

 the fundamental action of medicines — the origin of their power — 

 is a chemical change, and that if an understanding and apprecia- 

 tion of their effects are to be sought for, the first steps must be 

 to learn the laws which govern chemical change, and the 

 chemical nature of the substances employed. He urged, that in 

 place of the present unsatisfactory system, chemistry should be 

 placed on an equal footing with anatomy, medicine, and 

 physiology, in which subjects the Examining Board of the two 

 Colleges insists that the student shall have studied at a recog- 

 nized medical school, thus recognizing most wisely the importance 

 of study under efficient instructors and at places properly 

 equipped. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, April 21. — M. Herrnite, President, 

 in the chair. — On the theory of the optical system formed by a 

 double plane mirror in front of the object-glass of an equatorial, 

 and movable about an axis, by MM. Loewy and Puiseux. In 

 a previous note (April 14) the authors dealt with the formulae 

 relative to the employment of one plane mirror movable about 

 an axis. They now study the system obtained by replacing the 

 single mirror by two reflecting surfaces cut on the same block of 

 glass in the form of a prism. — On Weber's law of electro- 

 dynamics, by M. H. Poincare. — On the heat of formation and 

 reactions of hydroxylamine, by MM. Berthelot and Andre. 

 One of the results of the investigation is to confirm the similarity 

 between ammonia and hydroxylamine, their heats of formation 

 showing only a slight difference. Hydroxylamine cannot therefore 

 be regarded as oxidized ammonia. — On the nutrition in hysteria, 

 by M.Bouchard. The author quotes a work by M. Empereur, 

 " Surla Nutrition dans I'Hysterie," published in 1876, in which 

 demonstrations of the normal pathological state during hysteria, 

 similar to those described by MM. Gilles de la Tourette and 

 Cathelineau, are given. — Observations of Brooks's comet (a 1890) 

 made with the ^^mo'/ equatorial (35 cm. free aperture) of Lyons Ob- 

 servatory, by M. G. Le Cadet. On March 28 the comet appeared 

 as an almost perfectly round nebulosity without any noticeable 

 point of condensation. Its magnitude was estimated as 11*5. — 

 On the actual minimum of solar activity, and the spot which 

 appeared in March 1890 at a remarkably high latitude, by M. 

 A. Ricco. A comparison of the number of spots that appeared 

 in 1890 with the number observed in 1878 indicates that the 

 minimum certainly passed towards the end of last year. — On a 

 transformation of differential equations of the first order, by M. 

 Paul Painleve. — Construction for radius of curvature in certain 

 classes of curves, notably Lame's curves, parabolas and hyper- 

 bolas of various orders, by M. G. Fouret. — On mica condensers, 

 by M. G. Bouty. The author finds that at ordinary tempera- 

 tures, and for differences of potential from i to 20 volts, a thin 

 lamina of mica opposes an absolute obstacle to the continued 

 passage of electricity through it ; also, that residual charges do 

 not appear to depend on the penetration of electricity, so to 

 speak, into the dielectric, but rather on a progressive increase of 

 the dielectric constant. — On the mechanical action of alternating 

 currents, by M. J. Borgman. In a note presented on February 

 3, the author described a method by means of which it was easy 

 to produce the repulsion of conducting masses by a coil tra- 

 versed by an alternating, or simply an intermittent current, 

 discovered by Elihu Thomson. To determine the influence of 

 various conditions on this phenomenon, the author has under- 

 taken, and describes a series of experiments made with modified 

 apparatus. — Halos and parhelia observed at St. Maur Park, by 

 M. E. Renou. The relative number of halos and parhelia ob- 

 served in different years and in different months of the year 

 are given. — On oneof the causes of the loss of iron ships on account 

 of the perturbations of the magnetic needle ; determination of the 

 amount of deviation for each ship, by M. Leon Devaureix. The 

 author has observed the deviation of the compass during six conse 

 cutive voyages from Bordeaux to La Plata, returning by Dunkirk. 

 — Note on the preparation of iridium dioxide, by M. G. Geisen- 

 heimer. Iridium dioxide is obtained in fine brown-red micro- 

 scopic needles by heating potassium iridate in a platinum crucible 

 for an hour with 15 times its weight of a mixture of equivalent 

 quantities of chloride and bromide of potassium. The crystals 

 are isolated by washing first with water and then with aqua- 

 regia. Analysis proves them to be pure IrOg. — Action of 

 hydrogen peroxide on the oxygen compounds of manganese ; 

 Part I, action on the oxides, by M. A. Gorgeu. The author 

 concludes that in the process of decomposition of hydrogen 



peroxide by the peroxides of manganese, the latter, especially in 

 presence of acids, are themselves reduced to some extent if they 

 contain more oxygen than is indicated by the formula Mn304, 

 4H2O, and that the analysis of hydrogen peroxide should not 

 therefore be carried out by means of the hydrated higher 

 manganese oxides. — Preparation and heat of formation of sodium 

 erythrate, by M. de Forcrand. — Note on the chlorine derivatives 

 of the amylamines, by M. A. Berg. Three chlorine derivatives — 

 namely, monochloramylamine, dichloramylamine, and chlorodi- 

 amylamine— have been prepared by the action of hypochlorites 

 on amvlamine and diamylamine hydrochlorides. Analyses and 

 descriptions of the properties of the three bodies are given. — On 

 the alcoholic fermentation of inverted sugar, by MM. U. Gayon 

 and E. Dubourg. Following the progress of the fermentation by 

 means of the polarimeter, the authors show that the two com- 

 ponents of invert-sugar are attacked with different degrees of 

 rapidity, and that different ferments do not act in the same 

 manner, some attacking the Isevulose by preference, others the 

 remaining component. — Note on alcoholic fermentation and the 

 transformation of alcohol into aldehyde caused by champignon 

 du muguet, by MM, Georges Linossier and Gabriel Roux. — A 

 geological paper, by M. Stanislas Meunier, gives an account of 

 the results of the lithological and geological examination of the 

 meteorite from Jelica (Servia), 1889. 



BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, and SERIALS RECEIVED. 



Studies in Evolution and Biology : A. Bodington (E. Stock).— Glimpses 

 into Nature's Secrets : E. A. Martin (E. Stock).— A Manual of Anatomy for 

 Senior Students : E. Owen (Longmans).- Monograph of the British Cicadae 

 Part 2 : G. B. Buckton (Macmillan). — Fur Seal and other Fisheries of 

 Alaska (Washington).— National Academy of Sciences, vol. 4, Part 2; 3rd 

 Memoir— The Temperature of the Moon : S. P. Langley (Washington).— 

 The Solar Corona : F. H. Bigelow (Washington).— Photographs of the 

 Corona taken during the Total Eclipse of the Sun, January i, 1889 ; Struc- 

 ture of the Corona ; D. P. Todd (Washington).— National Health : B. W. 

 Richardson (Longmans).— The Function of Labour in the Production of 

 Wealth: A. Philip (Blackwood).— Magnetism and Electricity: W. J. 

 Harrison and C. A. White (Blackie). 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



The Application of the Microscope to Physical and 



Chemical Investigations i 



Bertrand on Electricity 2 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Nicholson: *' Sundevall's Tentamen." — F. E. B. . . 3 



Davis: " The Flowering Plant " 4 



Hutchins: "Cycles of Drought and Good Seasons in 



South Africa."— H. F. B 4 



Durham : " Science in Plain Language " 4 



Letters to the Editor : — 



Panmixia.— Prof. E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S. . . . 5 

 The Inheritance of Acquired Characters. — ^Joseph 



John Murphy; W. Ainslie HoUis 5 



Variation in the Nesting Habits of Birds. — T. D. A. 



Cockerel! 6 



Russian Transliteration. — Charles E. Groves ; Geo. 



G. Chisholm 6 



On some Decomposed Flints from Southbourne-on-Sea. 



— Cecil Carus-Wilson 7 



Doppler's Principle.— G. H. Wyatt 7 



The Relative Prevalence of North-east and South- 

 west Winds.— C. E. Peek 8 



The London Mathematical Society's List of Papers. — 



R. Tucker, Hon. Sec 8 



The United States Scientific Expedition to West 

 Africa, 1889. By Prof. David P. Todd. {With 



Diagram.) 8 



The Extermination of the American Bison. {Illus- 

 trated. ) By R. L ..II 



Dice for Statistical Experiments. By Francis Gallon, 



F.R.S 13 



The Royal Society Selected Candidates 14 



Notes 16 



Our Astronomical Column: — 



Objects for the Spectroscope. — A. Fowler 20 



Comets and Meteor Streams 20 



Stellar Proper Motions 20 



Optical Isomerides of Inositol 21 



University and Educational Intelligence .21 



Societies and Academies 21 



Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received 24 



