336 



NATURE 



[July 31, 1890 



application therein given of the integral calculus to physics aiid 

 mechanics.— New researches on the relative stability of salts m 

 the solid and dissolved state : aniline salts, by M. Berthelot. 

 The author compares the heat of formation and the properties of 

 the more stable aniline salts, such as the sulphate, nitrate, and 

 chloride vyith the unstable ones, e.g. the acetate and benzoate. 

 The observations furnish a new confirmation of thermo-chemical 

 theories.— Heat of formation of certain amides, by MM. Berthe- 

 lot and Fogh. The amides investigated are acetamide, propion- 

 amide, benzamide, and succinimide ; and the experiments show 

 that the heat of formation of anilides, e.g. acetaniiide and benz- 

 anilide, is greater than that of the corresponding amides.— The 

 share of the end-plates of motor nerves in the expenditure of the 

 energy which produces contraction ; influence exercised on the 

 heating of a muscle by the number and nature of the changes of 

 state which the end-plates excite in the contractile bundle, by 

 M. A. Chauveau.— Discovery of a comet by M. Coggia at 

 Marseilles Observatory. (See Our Astronomical Column.)— On 

 the means of recognizing the Cysticerci (bladder worms) of 

 TcBfiia saginata, which cause "measles" in the calf and ox, in 

 spite of the rapid disappearance of the Cysticerci on exposure to 

 the air, by M. A. Laboulbene.— On the sensibility of plants 

 when regarded as ordinary reagents, by M. Georges Ville. 1 he 

 author has extended to peas and wheat his observations m 1867 

 on yeast as a test for phosphoric acid, and finds that their vary- 

 ing growth is an indication of extreme delicacy for very minute 

 amounts.— On the production by electric discharges of images 

 reproducing the principal characteristics of solar activity, by M. 

 Ch. V. Zenger. — On the combination of observations, by M. R. 

 Lipschitz. This is an extension of Gauss's application of the 

 calculus of probabilities to errors of observation.— The diagram- 

 mometer : an additional apparatus for the study of curves, by 

 Colonel Kozloff.— On the physical property of the surface of 

 contact of two liquids under the influence of mutual affinity, by 

 M G. Van der Mensbrugghe.— On internal crystalline reflection, 

 by M. Bernard Brunhes.— On the double elliptic refraction of 

 quartz, by M. F. Beaulard.— On a magnetic anomaly observed 

 in the neighbourhood of Paris, by M. Th. Moureaux. A dis- 

 cussion of the earliest results of a detailed magnetic survey of 

 France now being made indicates that regions of local disturb- 

 ance exist in the Paris basin.— Researches on the double phos- 

 phates of titanium, tin, and copper, by M. L. Ouvrard.— Re- 

 searches on the optical dispersion of organic compounds : the 

 ethers, by MM. Ph. Barbier and L. Roux.— Upon certain 

 hydrates of the haloid esters, by M. ViUard. The author finds 

 that the iodide and fluoride of methyl form hydrates like the 

 chloride and bromide. Experiments on the haloid compounds 

 of ethvl show that the chloride and fluoride yield similar 

 hydrates. The fluorides were gases prepared by M. Moissan s 

 process, and yielded colourless crystalline hydrates. --On oxy- 

 gluconic acid, by M. L. Boutroux. The author has obtained by 

 the oxidation of either glucose or gluconic acid by bacterial action 

 an acid, to which he gives the name oxygluconic, having the 

 formula of glucoronic acid, CijHioOu, but differing from the 

 latter in being Isevorotatory, very soluble in alcohol, and not 

 yielding crystals on evaporation. The new acid appears to be 

 identical with one recently obtained by M. Emile Fischer by 

 the replacement of the acid radical of saccharic acid with an 

 aldehyde group, using the action of sodium amalgam on its 

 lactone —On the examination of the impurities contained in 

 alcohol, by M. Ed. Mohler.— On a new process for the deter- 

 mination of mineral matters in sugar by means of benzoic acid, 

 by M E. Boyer.— On the mineral springs of Cransac (Aveyron), 

 by M Ad. Carnot.— On the combinations of haemoglobin with 

 oxygen, by M. Christian Bohr.— Possibility of injections into 

 the human trachea as a means of introducing medicines, by M. 

 j^ Botey.— Claim of priority in the discovery of craniectomy, 

 by M Gueniot.— On the mechanism of respiration va. Ampid- 

 laria' hy MM. Paul Fischer and E. L. Bouvier.— On the repair 

 of the shell in Anodon, by M, Moynier de Villepoix. Numer- 

 ous experiments on the growth in water with varying amounts of 

 chalk in solution of the shell after artificial injuries indicate that 

 it is a product of secretion of the mantle, that it is at first a 

 purely organic formation, and that the lime for its consolidation 

 is obtained from the surrounding medium.— On the secretion of 

 silk in Bombyx ntori (common silkworm), by M. Raphael Dubois. 

 —The gangrene of the potato stem, a bacterial disease, by MM. 

 Prillieux and G. Delacroix.— On the angle of polarization of 

 igneous rocks and the chief lunar deductions therefrom, by M. 

 J. J. Landerer. (See Our Astronomical Column.) 



Berlin. 



Physiological Society, June 18.— Prof, du Bois-Reymond, 

 President, in the chair.— Dr. Blumenau gave an account of 

 his researches on the development of the corpus callosum, 

 carried out chiefly upon the brains of embryonic pigs, from 

 which he concluded that the grey matter on the upper and 

 lower sides of this structure grows by a fusion with the neigh- 

 bouring bundles of arched fibres.— Prof. H. Virchow spoke on 

 the gill-slits of the sturgeon, which he had examined with a 

 view to finding a transitional ^form between the gills of 

 Selachians and the osseous fishes. His anatomical and embryo- 

 logical investigations showed that with reference to its gills 

 the sturgeon does not occupy that intermediate position which 

 has been assigned to it by zoologists.— Prof. Gad described an 

 experimental confirmation by Dr. Zagari of Donders's statement, 

 denied by Knoll, that the inhaling of carbonic acid at the end 

 of an expiration materially increases the depth of the ensuing 

 inspiration. He had further found that this reflex effect is not 

 observed after section of the vagi, and is not aff"ected by sec- 

 tion of the recurrent laryngeals. It did not take place when a 

 glass tube was pushed down the trachea and one bronchus, 

 so as to protect these portions of the air-passages from the 

 action of the gas ; but it reappeared on withdrawing the tube 

 until its end rested at the bifurcation of the bronchi. From 

 this it follows that the reflex inspiration is set up by the action 

 of the gas on the mucous membrane of the bronchi. The effect 

 was observed when the carbonic acid gas was diluted with 50 

 per cent, of air, but not upon further dilution. Marshall Hall's 

 theory of respiration receives no confirmation from the above 

 experiments. The concentrated COj which makes its exit into 

 the lungs themselves is probably inactive owing to its inevitable 

 dilution by the residual air. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Lavoisier. By Prof. T. E. Thorpe, F.R.S 313 



The Organisms infesting Water-works. By Prof. 



W. A. Herdman 3^4 



American Gems. By J. W. J 3^5 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Hartig : " Timbers, and how to Know Them " ... 315 

 Mills : " Advanced Physiography (Physiographic As- 

 tronomy) " 316 



Junker: " Travels in Africa " .... • 316 



Owen: "Selected Subjects in connection with the 



Surgery of Infancy and Childhood" 316 



Letters to the Editor :— 



The Correspondence on Russian Transliteration. — H. 



A. MiersandJ. W. Gregory 316 



Discovery of a New Comet.— W. F. Denning ... 317 



The Rotation of Mercury.— R ZiJ 



Birds and Flowers.— The Writer of the Note . . 317 



Chelsea Botanic Garden 318 



Tne Search for Coal in the South of England. {Illus- 

 trated.) By Prof. W. Boyd Dawkins, F.R.S. ... 319 

 Recent Additions to the Literature of Insular 



Floras. By W. Botting Hemsley, F.R.S 322 



The Brontometer. (With Diagram.) By G. J. Symons, 



F.R.S 324 



Notes 326 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Objects for the Spectroscope.— A. Fowler 330 



Distribution of the Perihelia of Comets 33° 



The Rocks of the Moon 33^ 



Brooks's Comet [a 1890) 33^ 



Brorsen's Comet 33 ^ 



Two New Comets (3 and c 1890) 33i 



A New Asteroid (g) • 33^ 



The Scientific Principles involved in making Big 

 Guns. II. {Illustrated.) By Prof. A. G. Greenhill, 



F.R.S 331 



The Tokio Technical School 334 



Scientific Serials 334 



Societies and Academies 335 



NO. 1083, VOL. 42] 



