536 



NATURE 



[September 25, 1890 



prickly pear ; (2) on the occurrence of arabin in prickly pear 

 \Opuntia braziliensis), by W. M. Hamlet. Personal recollec- 

 tions of the aboriginal tribes once inhabiting the Adelaide Plains 

 of South Australia, by E. Stephens. Aids to the sanitation of 

 unsewered districts (poudrette factories), by J. Ashburton Thomp- 

 son, M. D. Brux. Notes on Goulburn lime, by E. C. Manfred. 

 Notes on some New South Wales minerals, by C. H. Mingaye. 

 The Australian aborigines, by Rev. J, Mathew. The Medical 

 Section held seven meetings, twelve papers . were read, and 

 numerous exhibits shown ; the Microscopical Section held six 

 meetings. The Clarke Medal for the year 1890 had been 

 awarded to George Bennett, M.D. Univ. Glas. The Society's 

 Bronze Medal and money prize of £2^ had been awarded to 

 J. Whitelegge, Sydney, for list of the marine and fresh-water 

 invertebrate fauna of Port Jackson and neighbourhood ; also to 

 Rev. J, Mathew, Coburg, Victoria, for paper on the Australian 

 aborigines ; and the Council has since issued the following list of 

 subjects with the offer of the medal and £zi, for each of the 

 best researches if of sufficient merit : — To be sent in not later than 

 May I, 1891 : The meteorology of Australia, New Zealand, 

 and Tasmania. Anatomy and life-history of the Echidna and 

 Platypus. The microscopic structure of Australian rocks. To 

 be sent in not later than May i, 1892 : On the iron ore de- 

 posits of New South Wales. On the effect which settlement in 

 Australia has produced upon indigenous vegetation, especially 

 the depasturing of sheep and cattle. On the coals and coal- 

 measures of Australia. — The Chairman read the Presidential 

 address, and the officers and Council were elected for the ensuing 

 year. Dr. A. Leibius being President. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, September 15. — M. Duchartre in the 

 chair. — On the atomic weight of gadoline, by M. Lecoq de 

 Boisbaudran. The author finds that the atomic weight of gado- 

 line is 155 "95, which agrees fairly well with the value 15675, 

 found previously by M. de Marignac. — Observations of the new 

 minor planet discovered hy M. Charlois, made at Paris Ob- 

 servatory, by M. G. Bigourdan. The nights of observation of 

 position were September il and 12. — Observations of Denning's 

 comet (1890, July 23), made with the great equatortal of 

 Bordeaux Observatory, by MM. G. Rayet, Picart, and Courty. 

 Some observations of position are given which extend from 

 August 5 to September 12. — Solar phenomena observed during 

 the first half of 1890, by M. Tacchini. (See Our Astronomical 

 Column). — The shooting-stars of August 9 and 11, 1890, 

 observed in Italy, by M. P. Denza. (See Our Astronomical 

 Column.) — The tornado-cyclone of August 19, 1890, by M. 

 L. Gauthier. The author thinks that the storm of August 19 

 should be called a tornado-cyclone, because of its complex 

 character. He gives an account of secondary phenomena that 

 accompanied it, viz. electrical manifestations, divisions of the 

 principal branch, the conical form of the cloud, the aspiration 

 produced by the rapid whirling of the air, and the formation of 

 a lateral wind. — The storms of the month of August 1890, and 

 the solar period, by M. Ch. V. Zenger. The author traces a 

 connection between August storms, the Perseid meteors, 

 and the sun-spot period. — On the acetic ester of acetal, by 

 M. A. Combes. — On the Isonandra Percha or Isonandra Gutta, 

 by M. SeruUas. The author gives an account of the Isonandra 

 Gutta, both as to its discovery and as to the growth of certain 

 specimens. Some interesting information with respect to the 

 use of gutta-percha for commercial purposes is also given. — 

 Researches on the propagation of the vine by cuttings, by M. 

 L. Ravaz. — Notes were also submitted by MM. Dumoulin- 

 Froment and Doignon on the electrical gyroscope designed by 

 M. Trouve for the rectification of the compass ; and by M. 

 Mathieu Plessy, stating that he had discovered potassium in the 

 supposed new base that he obtained by heating ammonium 

 nitrate {Comptes rendus, August 25, 1890). 



Brussels. 

 Academy of Sciences, August 2. — M. Stas in the chair. — 

 On the preservation of oxyhsemoglobin when sheltered from the 

 action of atmospheric germs, by M. Leon Fredericq. In a note 

 published in the Bulletin de VAcademie, No. 2, 1890, the author 

 recorded that oxyhaemoglobin may be preserved intact for more 

 than a month without losing its oxygen, and without being 

 transformed into methsemoglobin, by isolating it from the action 

 of atmospheric germs. He has since found that the oxyhsemo- 

 ;globin cannot be preserved for an unlimited period, but after a 

 time begins to pass into methsemoglobin, and the transformation 



NO. 109 1, VOL. 42] 



is complete at the end of a few months. It appears, in fact, 

 that oxyhaemoglobin preserved in a sealed tube and containing 

 atmospheric germs is transformed entirely into reduced haemo- 

 globin in a few days. If, however, such germs are rigorously 

 excluded, the oxyhaemoglobin is preserved intact for a much 

 longer period, but at length is transformed into methsemoglobin. 

 — On the characteristic property of the common surface of two 

 liquids in contact, by M. G. Van der Mensbrugghe.— On the 

 reduction of invariant functions, by M. Jacques Deruyts. —On 

 conjugate cubical involutions, by M. CI. Servais. — Some facts 

 with respect to aldehyde, by M. Maurice Delacre. The author 

 brings some facts relating to the dissociation of chloral hydrate 

 to explain why it should be a well-defined and stable compound, 

 whilst aldehyde hydrate is unknown in an isolated state. — 

 On the deformations produced at the surface of a hollow metallic 

 hemisphere by the impact and by the pressure of a hard body, 

 by M. H. Schoentjes. — Reduction of nitrates by sunlight, by M. 

 Emile Laurent. The author has found that a solution of 

 potassium nitrate exposed to the sun behaves as if it contained a 

 nitrite. It has therefore been concluded that the nitrate is re- 

 duced to nitrite by the action of sunlight. Griess's reaction was 

 employed for the identification of the nitrites. — On the reduction 

 of nitrates by brewers' yeast and by some Mucorini, by the same 

 author. From a series of researches it has been found that grains 

 of barley and maize sterilized and placed in sterilized water until 

 the shoot was one centimetre long, contain no bacteria in their 

 tissues, and therefore have not the power to reduce nitrates. 

 Hence the author considers the reduction of nitrates as a property 

 common to certain microbes, and to the cells of superior plants 

 which are developed in a medium containing no oxygen. The 

 researches have reference to some observations made previously 

 by M. Jorissen. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



The Golden Bough. By W 513 



Goodale's "Physiological Botany." By Francis 



Darwin, F.R.S 516 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Ward: "Plant Organization."— F. W. 518 



Milne and Davis : " Geometrical Conies " 518 



Unwin : " Short Logarithms and other Tables." — W. 518 



Smith: " Elementary Algebra." — W 518 



Letters to the Editor :— 



British Association Procedure. — Prof. William A. 



Tilden,F.R.S 518 



The Exploration of Central Asia.— H. H. G. -A. . . 518 

 Variability in the Number of Follicles in Caltha. — 



T. D. A. Cockerell 519 



The Origin of Melinite and Lyddite. — Dr. H. 



Sprengel, F.R.S 519 



A Recently Established Bird Migration. — Henry 



Cecil 520 



The Common Sole. — Rev. William Spotswood 



Green 520 



A Meteor.— J. Parnell 520 



The White Rhinoceros. {Illustrated.) By Dr. P. L. 



Sclater, F.R.S 520 



Recent Research among Fossil Plants. By J. 



Starkie Gardner 521 



On the Influence of Heat on Copper Potassium 

 Chloride and its Saturated Solution. By Prof. 



J. H. Van't Hoff 522 



Thomas Carnelley. By H. E. R. and P. P. B. . . . 522 



Notes 523 



Our Astronomical Column: — 



Objects for the Spectroscope. — A. Fowler 526 



Solar Activity from January to June 1890 526 



The Telluric Spectrum 526 



The Perseid Meteors 526 



Natal Observatory 526 



The Narraburra Meteor. {Illustrated.) By H. C. 

 Russell, F.R.S., Government Astronomer of New 



South Wales • 526 



The American Association for the Advancement of 



Science. By Dr. Wm. H. Hale 528 



Chemistry at the British Association 530 



Geology at the British Association 532 



Mechanics at the British Association 533 



Scientific Serials 534 



Societies and Academies 535 



