264 



NATURE 



[July 10, 1890 



Lacroix. The conclusion is drawn that all its properties are 

 sufficiently characteristic to identify artificial pyroxene with that 

 of volcanic rocks. — The identity of composition of some sedi- 

 raentary phosphates with apatite, by M. Henri Lasne. Phos- 

 phates from various sources and of different geological ages 

 have been found to consist essentially of calcium fluophosphate 

 of the same percentage composition as apatite, together with 

 varying amounts of clay, calcium sulphate, &c. — On the repro- 

 duction of sillimanite and the mineralogical composition of 

 porcelain, by M. W. Vernadsky. Kyanite and andalusite are 

 transformed into sillimanite when raised to a white heat ; the 

 same mineral, or some body very like it, is shown by the author 

 to be produced on heating together an intimate mixture of dry 

 SiOg and dry AI2O3. He further proves that the products of 

 decomposition by heat of topaz, dumortierite, and kaolin are 

 composed in great part of the same substance, and that the 

 crystalline portion of porcelain consists also of this mineral. — 

 On the fauna of pyritic Ammonites of Djebel-Ouach, province 

 of Constantine, by M. G. Sayn. — Craniectomy on a micro- 

 cephalous subject, by M. Lannelongue. A remarkable opera- 

 tion on a female, aged four years, is described, resulting in a 

 considerable amelioration of the condition of the patient. — On a 

 -new system of representing geographical relief, by M. Eugene 

 ■Guillemin. 



Berlin. 

 Physical Society, June 13. — Prof. Du Bois-Reymond, Pre- 

 sident, in the chair. — At the opening of the meeting. Prof. 

 Schwalbe referred in the warmest terms to the loss the Society 

 had sustained by the death of Director F. Gallenkamp, who 

 had for many years acted as its Librarian. — Prof. Vogel spoke 

 on photography in natural colours as attempted at first by 

 Seebeck, then in succession by Becquerel, Niepce, St. Victor, 

 Poitevin, Zenker, and most recently by a Hungarian named 

 Verres. He exhibited a series of photographs in colours obtained 

 by Verres, which, however, showed conclusively that he has not 

 solved the problem, since, although the reds appear as red in 

 the photographs, so also do the yellows and greens appear as 

 red, and the blues as an undeterminate colour. These photo- 

 graphs, on the other hand, mark a distinct advance in colour- 

 photography, since they are fixed, while those of Zenker, 

 although more strikingly coloured, were not fixed. The speaker 

 criticized Zenker's views on the mode of formation of a coloured 

 photograph, and expressed his disbelief in the possibility of any 

 one substance being so changed by rays of different wave-length 

 as to emit, from various parts of itself, rays of exactly corre- 

 sponding wave-length. — Prof. Kundt exhibited a spiral of bis- 

 muth, as employed by Dr. Lenand to demonstrate the influence 

 of a magnetic field upon the electrical conductivity of this 

 metal ; he further showed by experiment how considerable this 

 influence is, and pointed out that it provides a means of measur- 

 ing the intensity of the field. — Prof. Lampe explained that some 

 years ago he had announced to the Society that a problem on 

 maximal attraction of a point dealt with by Gauss had been 

 previously propounded and treated by Playfair. More recently 

 he had found that even Playfair was not the first to deal with 

 this problem, but that a partial solution had been obtained by 

 De Saint Jacques in 1750. 



Physiological Society, June 20. — Prof. Du Bois-Reymond, 

 President, in the chair. — Dr. I. Munk gave a resume of the 

 present state of knowledge as to the absorption of fat. The 

 fact that fats with a high melting-point, such as stearin, are not 

 absorbed is usually adduced in support of the supposed im- 

 portance of emulsification ; on the other hand, some of the 

 speaker's own experiments had shown that a small amount 

 (5-7 per cent.) of this fat may be absorbed. In support of the 

 saponification of fats he described some recent experiments 

 made on the patient with a lymphatic fistula (Nature, vol. xli. 

 p. 504) and on dogs. Thus, for instance, when spermaceti was 

 administered to the patient after prolonged fasting, the lymph 

 became cloudy and milky in the third or fourth hour of diges- 

 tion. Analysis of the whole lymph secreted during thirteen 

 hours showed that 15 per cent, of the spermaceti had passed 

 into the lymph, not, however, in an unchanged condition, but 

 as palmitin, showing that the spermaceti must have been decom- 

 posed in the alimentary canal, and that the palmitic acid of 

 which it is partly composed must have become united with 

 glycerin. He made further experiments with oleate of amyl- 

 alcohol, hoping to verify the decomposition of this fat by 

 observing that the animal exhibited symptoms of poisoning with 



NO. 1080, VOL. 42] 



amyl-alcohol : this was, in fact, observed. The above com- 

 pound could not, owing to its pungent taste, be given in suffi- , 

 ciently large doses to the patient with the lymphatic fistui 

 to be conclusive ; but an analysis of the lymph secreted fron 

 the fourth to the twelfth hours showed that it contained, not the 

 compound of oleic acid and amyl-alcohol, but olein — a furthe 

 proof of its decomposition before absorption. So many diffi'^ 

 culties stand in the way of the view that all fats are saponified"^ 

 before absorption, that the speaker considered the various 

 points in connection with the process of fat absorption as still 

 undetermined. — Prof. Ewald gave an account of the sudden 

 death of a patient following upon the introduction of a flexible 

 gastric sound ; a subsequent /<?j^-w^r/^/« showed that the cause 

 of death was rupture of an aortic aneurism. He then proposed 

 as a subject for discussion the question as to whether the rise of 

 blood-pressure which led to the rupture was due to the slight 

 abdominal pressure or to some psychic excitation. The 

 majority of those who joined in the discussion regarded the 

 former as the causative factor of the rise of aortic blood- 

 pressure. 



Brussels. 

 Royal Academy of Sciences, May 6. — M. Stas in the 

 chair. — The following communications were presented: — On 

 the conditions of the act of chemical combination ; modifica- 

 tions arising from the presence of inactive dissolvents ; extract 

 of a letter from M. Menschutkin, Professor of Chemistry at St. 

 Petersburg, to M. Louis Henry. Prof. Menschutkin has studied 

 the combination of (C2Hg)gN with C.2HgI in the presence of 

 inactive dissolvents, for example, hydrocarbons, simple ethers, 

 ketones, &c. The experiments show that such substances 

 exercise a considerable influence on the velocity of combina- 

 tion, it being found that if i represents the constant of velocity 

 of the reaction noted above in hexane, C6H14, this constant for 

 the same combination in CH3 — CO^CgHg, all other things 

 being equal, is 8477. — The state of vegetation on March 2i 

 and April 21, 1890, in Gembloux, PLiccorgne, Liege, and Spa, 

 by Prof. G. Dewalque. The observations that have been ob- 

 tained of herbaceous plants are very discordant. It is estimated, 

 however, that vegetation was from 6 to 8 days behind on March 

 21, and 4 or 5 days behind on April 21. — On the characteristic 

 points of some remarkable lines in conies, by C. Servais. — On 

 the curvature in curves of the second degree, by the same author. 

 — Note on the development in series of sine, cosine, and ex- 

 ponential functions, by Prof. Alphonse Demoulin. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Life of Sedgwick. II. By Prof. T. G. Bonney, 



F.R.S 241 



Measles and Straw-Fungi. By J. F. P 243 



Spiders' Webs. By O. P. C 244 



National Health 244 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Naden : ' ' Induction and Deduction, and other Essays. " 



— C. LI. M 245 



Ellis : " The Lepidopterous Fauna of Lancashire and 



Cheshire " 245 



Letters to the Editor : — 



Intelligence of Chimpanzees. — Prof. George J. 



Romanes, F.R.S 245 



Dr. Koenig's Theory of Beats.— Very Rev. Dr. 



Gerald Molloy 246 



The " Night-shining Clouds."— T. W. Backhouse ; 



Dr. Cecil Shaw ; D. J. Rowan 246 



An Electrical Effect.— Edward B. Cook 246 



The Photographic Image. By Prof. Raphael Mel- 



dola, F.R.S 246 



The Velocities of Projectiles 250 



Notes 251 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Objects for the Spectroscope. — A. Fowler 256 



Secular Inequalities in the Moon's Motion 256 



Annular Eclipse of June 17 256 



The Ethnology of the Gambia Region ...... 256 



Seedling Sugar-Canes 258 



Musical Science 259 



The Museums Association 260 



Scientific Serials 260 



Societies and Academies 261 



