656 



NATURE 



[October 30, 1890 



They are : (i) the axis of rotation is changed in the interior of 

 the earth, the poles describing a circumference about the mean 

 position, of which the radius is o"*25 (7 or 8 metres) ; (2) the 

 accepted periodic variation in observations of latitude is due 

 to refraction phenomena. — Organization of spectroscopic re- 

 searches with the great telescope of Paris Observatory, by 

 M. Deslandres. (See Our Astronomical Column.) — Two solar 

 prominences observed at the Haynald Observatory, Kalocsa 

 (Hungary), by M. Jules Fenyi. On August 15, at gh. 39m., 

 Paris mean time, a prominence reaching a height of 323", was 

 observed on the western edge of the sun. Its base extended 

 from + 37° 4' to + 44° 58' heliographic latitude. Another promin- 

 ence was seen on August 18, at iih. 45m., between - 41° 29' 

 and - 55°. This attained a height of 418", but was of a much 

 more broken character than the preceding one, — On certain 

 kinds of surfaces, by M. Lelieuvre. — Researches on the atomic 

 weight of fluorine, by M. Henri Moissan. (See Notes, 

 p. 649.) — Action of aromatic amines and of phenylhydrazine 

 upon the j8-ketonic nitriles, by M. L. Bouveault. The author 

 establishes the generality of the reaction — 



R_CO— C^ CN + R"'NH2= H,0 + R— C— C A- CN. 



\R" ^ II \R" 



NR'" 



— On the mode of combination of sulphuric acid in plastered 

 wines, and on a method of analysis permitting the distinction 

 between the amount of the plastering and the acidification of the 

 wine by sulphuric acid ,_ by MM. L. Roos and E. Thomas. It 

 is shown, by experimental means, that the sulphuric acid intro- 

 duced by the plastering exists in the wine as K2SO4, and not as 

 KHSO4 ; hence, on precipitation of the H2SO4 by BaClj, the 

 whole of the HCl will remain in combination, thus : — 

 K2SO4 + BaCla = BaSOj + 2KCI ; and so the titrations of CI 

 by standard AgNOg, taken {a) in filtrate from the BaS04 made 

 up to a definite volume, and {b) in a fraction of the same filtrate 

 evaporated to dryness, and then made up to the same fraction 

 of the definite volume, should be exactly the same if no free 

 H2SO4 be present ; if free H2SO4 be present, a corresponding 

 quantity of HCl will be lost to titration {b). — The saccharine 

 matters in mushrooms, by M, Em. Bourquelot. — On the excretory 

 apparatus of Palinurus vulgaris, Gebia deltura, and Crangon 

 vulgaris, by M. Paul Marchal. — On the primitive conformation 

 of the kidney of Pelecypodse, by M. Paul Pelseneer. 



Stockholm. 

 Royal Academy of Sciences, October 8. — On the spec- 

 trum of absorption of bromium, by Prof Hasselberg. — On the 

 development of the Orthagoriscse, by Prof. Smitt.— A report on 

 entomological researches in the south of Sweden and Denmark, 

 by Prof. Aurivillius. — Microscopical structures represented in 

 coloured figures, which had been photographed by the firm 

 Lumiere, at Lyons, exhibited by Prof. Gylden. — On the pro- 

 perties of a combination between nitrogen and hydrogen (HN3) 

 (discovered by Prof. Curtius, in Kiel), which in its free state, as 

 well as in its combinations, has a most remarkable analogy with 

 the hydrogen combinations of the haloids, and in consequence 

 thereof has been named hydrazoic acid, reported upon by 

 Prof. Nilson. — Studies of the crystal form of the arsenopyrite, 

 by Dr. Weibutt. — Studies of naphthalene derivatives, by Dr. 

 Paul Hellstrom. — Some observations on the anatomy of the 

 subterranean elongations of the Graminese, by the same. — On 

 the occurrence of Dictyophylliim Nihsoni, Brongn., in the coal- 

 bearing strata of China, by Prof. Nathorst. — On Kibaucour's 

 cyclic system, by Prof. Backlund. — Derivatives of ethyliden- 

 disulphon-acids i, and on i, 4 fluor-naphthalin-sulphon-acid, by 

 Herr Mauzelius. — Contributions to the knowledge of the moss 

 flora of Canada, by Lector N. C. Kinberg. — Contributions to 

 the theory of infinite determinants, by Herr H. von Kock. — On 

 the conductibility of electricity through hot, saline vapours, by 

 Dr. S. Arrhenius. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



London. 



SUNDAY, November 2. 

 JuNDAY Lecture Society, at 4.— The Order of Nature— its Relation to 

 Human Life and Happiness : A. Elley Finch. 



NO. 1096, VOL. 42] 



MONDAY, November 3. 

 Royal Institution, at 5.— General Monthly Meeting. 



TUESDAY, November 4. 

 Zoological Socibty, at 8.30.— On the Indian Gaur and Its Allies : W. T 

 Blanford.F.R.S. -Description of a New Squirrel from the Philippine 

 Islands : Dr. A. B. Meyer. --On a Cervine Jaw from Algeria : R. Lydek- 

 ker.— Note on the Skull of the East African Reed-buck (Cervicaira 

 bolior): Dr. A. Giinther, F.R.S. "^ 



WEDNESDAY, Novembkr 5. 



Entomological Society, at 7. -African Micro-Lepidoptera : Right Hon. 



Lord Walsingham, F.R.S.— A Monograph of British Braconid^, Part 



i , • , -^; '^'- ^- Marshall.— New Species of Moths from Southern India • 



Colonel Charles Swinhoe. 



THURSDAY, November 6. 



LiNNBAN Society, at 8.— A Contribution to the Study of the Relative 

 Effects of different parts of the Solar Spectrum on the Assimilation of 

 Plants : Rev. Prof Henslow. 



Chemical Society, at 8.— The Magnetic Rotation of Saline Solutions • 

 Dr. W. H, Perkin.— Note on Normal and Iso-propylparatoluidine : E. 

 Hon and H. F. Mosley.— The Action of Ammonia and Methylamine on 

 the Oxylepideus: Dr. F. Klingemann and Dr. W. F. Laycock.— Con- 

 densation of Acetone Phenanthraquinone : G. H. Wadsworth. 



FRIDAY, November 7. 

 Geologists' Association, at "i.— Conversazione. 



SATURDAY, November 8. 

 Royal Botanic Society, at 3.45. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Seebohm's "Birds of Japan." By R. Bowdler 



Sharpe 633 



Jeans's " Waterways and Water Transport." By 



N. J. L 634 



Sanity and Insanity. By W. B. L 635 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Roth: "A Guide to the Literature of Sugar." — 



D. M 636 



Morris: " Practical Plane and Solid Geometry " -635 

 Oliver: "Madagascar: or, Robert Drury's Journal." 



- — H. C. L 637 



Letters to the Editor : — 



Large Meteors. — W. F. Denning 637 



Extraordinary Flight of Leaves. — James Shaw . . 637 



On the Soaring of Birds. — C. O. Bartrum 637 



Manners and Customs of the Torres Straits 



Islanders. By Prof. Alfred C. Haddon 637 



French Police Photography. {Illustrated.) By 



Edmund R. Spearman 642 



The Cinquemani " Chronologe." By H. D. G. . . 645 

 The New Australian Mammal. By Dr. P. L. Sclater, 



F.R.S 645 



Richard Burton. By K 645 



Professor Heinrich Will. By A. E. T 646 



Notes 646 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Objects for the Spectroscope. — A. Fowler 649 



Spectroscopic Observations (Sawerthal's Comet 1881 I. 



and j3 Lyrse) 650 



Spectroscopy at Paris Observatory 650 



On the Later Physiographical Geology of the Rocky 

 Mountain Region in Canada, with Special Refer- 

 ence to Changes in Elevation and to the History 



of the Glacial Period 650 



The Scientific Investigations of the Fishery Board 



for Scotland 653 



University and Educational Intelligence 654 



Scientific Serials 655 



Societies and Academies 655 



Diary of Societies 656 



