72 



NA TURE 



[May 15, 1890 



motion of the Treasurer, (A. B. Kempe, F. R.S.)i seconded by 

 S. Roberts, F.R.S., the following resolution was carried 

 unanimously ; That the cordial thanks of the London Mathe- 

 matical Society be given to Lieut. -Colonel Campbell for his 

 generous gift of ;^SOo to the general fund of the Society. — The 

 following communications were made : — On the function which 

 denotes the excess of the divisors of a number which ^ i, mod. 

 3, over those of a number which z=. 2, mod. 3, by Dr. Glaisher, 

 F.R.S. — A table of complex multiplication moduli, by Prof. 

 Greenhill, F. R.S.. — On bicircular quartics, by R. Lachlan. — 

 On the genesis of binodal quartic curves from conies, by H. M. 

 Jeffery, F.R.S. — On the arithmetical theory of the form 

 j^ + ny^ -f «V - 3«x)/3, by Prof. G. B. Mathews. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, May 6. — M. Hermite, President, 

 in the chair. — Heats of combustion of the principal nitrogen 

 compounds contained in living bodies, and their rdle in the pro- 

 duction of animal heat, by MM. Berthelot and Andre. The 

 data and results are given for sixteen nitrogenous bodies. The 

 average heat of combustion is 9400 cal. for fatty bodies, 5700 cal. 

 for alijumenoids, and 4200 cal. for carbohydrates, taking i gram 

 of each substance. The conclusion is drawn that a weakening 

 of the organism with diminution of power of consumption of the 

 food digested shows itself first by general deposition of the most 

 difficultly eliminated substances, fatty matters, then by failure to 

 get rid of nitrogenous bodies, and finally by incapacity to con- 

 sume the carbohydrates. — Some remarks on the subject of 

 spherical functions, by M. E. Beltrami. — Remarks on the 

 loss of virulence in cultures of Bacillus anthracis, and 

 on the insufficiency of inoculation as a means of estimat- 

 ing it, by M. S. Arloing. Tt is known that in a culture of 

 the Bacillus atithracis left to itself the virulence after a time 

 disappears. The author gives details of the phenomenon and 

 some results of an examination of various cultures. — MM. Ber- 

 trand, Tisserand, and Poincare reported on a memoir by M. 

 Cellerier entitled " On Variations of Eccentricities and Inclina- 

 tions." The memoir deals with equations of movement, 

 planetary perturbations, the development of the perturbing 

 function, the study of secular variations, and the differential 

 equations which define them. — On fields of magnetic rotation, 

 by M. W. de Fonvielle. — On algebraical integrals of differential 

 equations of the first order, by M. Painleve. — Solar phenomena 

 observed during 1889, by M. Tacchini. The distribution in 

 latitude of protuberances, faculze, spots, and eruptions is given. — 

 On the polarization of electrodes, by M. Lucien Poincare. The 

 author shows that in the case of melted salts the maximum 

 polarization decreases with the temperature, and becomes nil at 

 the temperature of decomposition of the salt, the change is 

 gradual with silver poles, but with gold electrodes there is a 

 sudden fall at the point of decomposition of the electrolyte. 

 Admitting that the maximum of polarization is equal or superior 

 to the equivalent of the energy expended in the electrolytic 

 action, the results point to the theory that an elevation of tem- 

 perature tends to dissociate a salt by the separation of the two 

 ions of which it is composed, just as occurs, according to M. 

 Arrhenius, in a weak solution. — On the preparation and proper- 

 ties of tetrafluoride of carbon, by M. H. Moissan. — On the 

 reduction of nitric acid to ammonia and a method of estimation 

 of this acid, by M. E. Boyer. The author indicates the exact 

 conditions under which nitric acid may be entirely reduced to 

 ammonia when acted upon by hydrogen liberated in the solution 

 by the action of Zn upon hydrochloric acid, and gives analyses 

 which show that his method yields trustworthy quantita:tive 

 results. — On the molecular refracting power of salts in solution, 

 by M. E. Doumer. It is shown that the law of molecular 

 refraction is best exemplified when one considers the solutions 

 in a state of dilution such that the density of the salt in the 

 solution, taken in relation to the density of hydrogen, may be 

 equal to the molecular weight of the salt. — The action of oxy- 

 geuated water upon the oxygen compounds of manganese ; 

 Part 2, action upon permanganic acid and. the permanganates, 

 by M. A. Gorgeu. — On the amethylcamphophenolsulphonateand 

 a derived tetranitrated yellow colouring-matter, by M. P. Caze- 

 neuve. — Note on tridymite and christobalite, by M. Er. Mallard. 

 — On the zeolites of gneiss from Cambo (Basses Pyrenees), by 

 M. A. Lacroix. It is noted that the zeolites are remarkable for 

 their abundance and the beauty of their crystals. They occur 

 in two distinct beds : (i) in acid gneisses, (2) in basic gneisses. 

 Descriptions of the crystals are given. — On a new method for 



the analysis of straw, by M. Alexandre Hebert. — On the rdle of 

 green manures as nitrogenous dressing, by M, A. Muntz. The 

 author concludes from the results of some experiments that the 

 efficacy of green manures as nitrogenous dressing depends espe- 

 cially on the facility with which the fresh vegetable matters allow 

 the nitrification of the proteids and on the favourable influence 

 which they exercise on the physical properties of soils. — Experi- 

 ments relative to the transmissibility of hsemoglobinuria to 

 animals, by M. V. Babes, 



BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, and SERIALS RECEIVED. 



European Birds : J. Backhouse (Gurney and Jackson). — Larva Collecting 

 and Breeding : Rev. J. S. St. John (Wesley).— A Course of Lectures on the 

 Growth and Means of Training the Mental Faculty : Dr. F. Warner (Camb. 

 University Press).— Pure Logic, and other Minor Works : W. S. Jevons 

 (Macmillan).-^Terminologia Medica Polyglotta : T. Maxwell (Churchill). — 

 A Guide to the Exhibition Galleries of the Department of Geology and 

 Palaeontology in the British Museum (Natural History), Parts i and 2 

 (London). — CJeologisk kart over de Skandinaviske Lande og Finland: H. 

 Reusch (Kristiania;. — The Elements of Machine Design ; Part i, new edition: 

 W. C. Unwin (Longmans). — Annual Report of the Department of Mines, 

 N.S.W., for the year 1888 (Sydney, Potter).— Seventh Annual Report of the 

 U.S. Geological Survey 18S5-86 : J. W. Powell (Washington).— The 

 Chemistry of Paints and Painting : A. H. Church (Seeley). — A Smaller Com- 

 mercial Geography : G. G. Chisholm (Longmans). — Les Aguas Minerales de 

 Chile : Dr. L. Darapsky (Valparaiso, Helfmann). — Notes upon a Proposed 

 Photographic Survey of Warwickshire : W. J. Harrison (Birmingham). — 

 Fjeld og Jordarter i de Skandinaviske Lande og Finland : H. Reusch 

 (Kristiania).— Report of Mr. Tebbutt's Observatory, 1889 : J. Tebbutt 

 (Sydney).— Notes on Electric Lighting : Rev. G. Molloy (Dublin, Gill).— 

 Imperial College of Agriculture and Dendrology, Tokyo, Japan, Bulletin 

 No. 7 : Y. Kozai (Tokyo). 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



The Alternate Current Transformer, By Prof. Oliver 



J, Lodge, F.R.S 49 



McKendrick's "Special Physiology," By E. H, S. . 50 

 Our Book Shelf:— 



Maximowicz : " Historia Naturalis Itinerum N. M, 

 Przewalskii per Asiam Centralem," and " Plantse 

 Chinenses Potaninianse nee non Piasezkianse." — W, 



Botting Hemsley, F.R.S 51 



Bonaparte: "Le Glacier de I'Aletsch et le Lac de 

 Miirjelen."— Prof. T. G, Bonney, F,R. S. . , . 51 

 Letters to the Editor : — 



Panmixia.— Prof. E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S. . . . 52 

 Bertrand's Idiocyclophanous Star-prism. {Illustrated. ) 



H. G. Madan 52 



Coral Reefs, Fossil and Recent.— Prof. T. G. 



Bonney, F.R.S 53 



Bison and Aurochs, — R. Lydekker 53 



The Haunts of the Gorilla.— Dr. A, B, Meyer ... 53 



Flat-fishes.— T, D. A. Cockerell 53 



Variation in the Nesting-Habits of Birds. — Thos. 



Swan 54 



Doppler's Principle.— E. P. Perman 54 



" Index Generum et Specierum Animalium." — 



Charles Davies Sherborn 54 



" The Anatomy of the Frog."— T, P, Collins . , , 54 

 Colour- Vision and Colour-Blindness. By R, Bru- 



denell Carter 55 



Compound Locomotives. By N. J. L 61 



New Zoological Park at Washington 63 



James Nasmyth 64 



Notes 64 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Objects for the Spectroscope.— A, Fowler 67 



Changes in the Magnitudes of Stars 68 



A Mechanical Theory of the Solar Corona 68 



The Iron and Steel Institute • 68 



A Monument to a Famous Japanese Cartographer 



and Surveyor 70 



Societies and Academies 70 



Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received 72 



