24 



NA TURE 



[November 2, 1899 



the spark passed between the lowest points ; but as the ionised 

 air ascended so did the most conducting path, and consequently 

 the spark worked its way to the top of the electrodes. Here 

 the heated air passed away and the spirk returned to the lowest 

 point to rise again. The Chairman thought that these effects 

 might be due to the magnetic forces produced by the circuit 

 itself. That similar effects in the arc light were due to this 

 cause had been proved many years ago. Mr. Watson repeated 

 some of the experiments under new conditions, and proved that 

 the explanation of the phenomena was not to be found in the 

 tendency of the circuit to enlarge itself owing to magnetic 

 forces. Mr. Boys pointed out that the relation of the heating 

 effect to the current, which was small in the arc light, was very 

 large in the case of the spark discharges used, and therefore 

 the movement of the spark in the latter case was practically 

 determined by the heating effect in consequence of the relatively 

 small importance of the electromagnetic effect. Prof. S. P. 

 Thompson remarked that similar effects could be produced by 

 an alternating current working an ordinary induction coil. 

 — The Society then adjourned until November lo, when the 

 meeting will be held in the Central Technical Institute. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, October 23. — M. van Tieghem]in 

 the chair. — On the simultaneous occurrence of phenomena of 

 oxidation and hydration at the expense of organic substances 

 under the influence of free oxygen and light, by M. Berthelot. 

 Experiments were carried out on the slow oxidation of ether in 

 presence of water and air, or of hydrogen peroxide. Practically 

 no oxidation of moist ether takes place in the dark, either with 

 air or hydrogen peroxide. After five months' exposure to light 

 in a sealed tube, the air remaining over the ether contained 

 no trace of free oxygen, but some aldehyde, acetic acid, and 

 alcohol were found in the ether. A little methane is formed at 

 the same time. Two chemical reactions are thus shown to go 

 on together, a hydration and an oxidation. The author con- 

 siders that similar reactions go on in nature, such sub- 

 stances as the sugars and carbohydrates, glycerides, &c., 

 undergoing simultaneous hydration and oxidation. — Equi- 

 librium of a vessel carrying liquid, by M. Appell. The 

 author has shown in a previous paper on the same subject that 

 the determination of the positions of equilibrium of a vessel 

 with a liquid cargo may be reduced to the determination of the 

 smallest value of the distance between two parallel planes 

 tangential to two given surfaces. The problem is now simpli- 

 ■fied to finding the shortest distance of a fixed point to a tangent 

 plane to one surface. — Observations on a note by M. Blondel, 

 relating to the reaction of induction in alternators, by M. A. 

 Poller. — On certain remarkable surfaces of the fourth order, by 

 M. G. Humbert.— On the determination of the coefficient of 

 solubility of liquids, by MM. A. Aignan and E. Dugas. In a 

 previous paper by the authors it is shown how to determine 

 the coefficients of reciprocal solubility of two non-miscible 

 liquids when no contraction takes place. In the present paper, 

 expressions are developed in which this restriction is re- 

 moved, and the results are applied to experiments on 

 mixtures of aniline and water, and amyl alcohol and water. — 

 On merogonic impregnation and its results, by M. Yves Delage. 

 The results published by the author a year ago showing the 

 possibility of producing an embryo from a portion of an egg 

 mot containing a nucleus have now been extended. The fer- 

 tilisation of non-nucleated ovular cytoplasm is not limited to 

 the echinoderms. It is found in some molluscs, and in the 

 annelid Lattice conchy lega. Since it can no longer be looked 

 aipon as a biological curiosity, but is a process which may be 

 generalised, the author proposes to give it the name of 

 merogony. — The affinities and the property of absorption or 

 arrest of vascular endothelium, by M. Henri Stassano. It is 

 shown that it is the affinity of the vascular endothelium for 

 mercury which is the cause of the predominance of this poison 

 in the organs containing the most blood. This endothelium 

 also appears to act in the same way with other poisons, 

 such as strychnine and curare. — Death by the electric discharge, 

 by MM. J. L. Prevost and F. Battelli. From a series of ex- 

 periments on dogs, rabbits and guinea-pigs, the authors conclude 

 that the fatal effects of the electric shock are proportional to the 

 energy of the discharge, and are not proportional to the 

 quantity of electricity passing. — The grafting of some mono- 

 cotyledons upon themselves, by M. Lucien Daniel. After 

 many unsuccessful attempts, it has been found possible to graft 



a part of a monocotyledon (Vanilla and Philodendron) upon 

 itself. The success depends largely upon the extent of the 

 surfaces in contact. — La graisse, a bacterial disease of the 

 haricot, by M. Delacroix. The disease is probably identical 

 with that recently described by M. E. F. Smith as affecting the 

 haricot in the United States, and the bacillus from which is 

 named Bacillus phaseoli. No curative treatment of the living 

 plant would appear to be possible. — Observations relating to the 

 deposit of certain calcareous travertins, by M. Stanislaus 

 Meunier. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



THURSDAY, November z. 



LiNNEAN Society, at 8. — On the Proliferous State of the Awn of Nepal 

 Barley : Rev. Prof. Henslow. — On the Hyobranchial Skeleton and 

 Larynx of the New Aglossal Toad, Hymenochirus Boettgeri : Dr. W. G. 

 Ridewood. — On the Eye-spot and Cilium m Euglena viridis : Harold 

 Wager. 



Chemical Society, at 8. — The Theory ofSaponification: J. Lewkowitsch. 

 —The Action of Dilute Nitric Acid on Oleic and Elaidic Acids : F. G. 

 Edmed. — Tetrazoline : Siegfried Ruhemann and H. E. Stapleton. — On 

 Ethylic Dibromobutanetetracarboxylate and the Synthesis of Tetrahydro- 

 furfuran-aa'-dicarboxylic Acid : Dr. Bevan Lean.— (i) Camphoroxime. 

 Part in. Behaviour of Camphoroxime towards Potassium Hypobromite ; 

 (2) Optical Influence of an Unsaturated Linkage on certain Derivatives 

 of Bornylamine : Dr. M. O. Forster. 



Camera Club, at 8.15. — Scenery in the Canary Islands : T. C. Porter. 

 TUESDAY, November 7. 



Institution of Civil Engineers, at 8. — Address by the President, Sir 

 Douglas Fox, and presentation of Prizes. 



Anthropological Institute, ai 8.30. — Notes on the Ethnology of 

 Tribes met with during progress of the Juba Expedition of 1897-99 • 

 Lieut.-Colonel J. R. L. Macdonald, R.E. 



THURSDAY, November 9. 



Mathematical Society, at 8. — Certain Correspondences between 

 Spaces of n Dimensions : Dr. E. O. Lovett. — On the Form of Lines of 

 Force near a Point of Equilibrium ; The Reduction of Conies and 

 Quadrics to their Principal Axes by the Weierstrassian Method of re- 

 ducing Quadratic Forms ; and on the Reduction of a Linear Substitu- 

 tion to a Canonical Form ; with some Applications to Linear Diff'erential 

 Equations and Quadratic Forms : T. J. I. Bromwich. — On Ampere's 

 Equation Rr-|-2Sj+ T/ + U(rif-S2)=V : Prof. A. C. Dixon.— The Ab- 

 stract Group isomorphic with the Symmetric Group on /•: Letters : Dr. L 

 E. Dickson. 



FRIDA Y, November 10. 



RoyalAstronomical Society, at 8. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Water, Water, Everywhere. By C. V. Boys, F.R.S. i 



History of the Art of Experimenting. By G. F. F. G. 4 

 Our Book Shelf:— 



Elder and Fowler : '/ The Diseases of Children " . . 5 



Minet : " Analyses Electrolytiques " . ..... 5 



Labbe : " Essais des Huiles Essentielles " . .... 5 



Parrish : " Chemistry for Organised Schools of Science" 5 



" Natural and Artificial Methods of Ventilation " . . 6 



Hall: "Man, the Microcosm " 6 



" The Reliquary and Illustrated Archaeologist " ... 6 

 Letters to the Editor: — 



Botany and the Indian Forest Department. — Prof. W. 



Schlich 6 



Dark Lightning Flashes.— Dr.- W. Ainslie Hollis ; 



Dr. William J. S. Lockyer .... .... 7 



A Gutta-percha Plant.— Prof. F. E. Weiss .... 7 



Halo Round a Shadow.- Howard Fox 7 



On the Distribution of the Various Chemical 

 Groups of Stars. II. {Illustrated.) By Sir Norman 



Lockyer, K.C.B., F.R.S 8 



Some Remarks on Radiation Phenomena in a 

 Magnetic Field. {Illustrated.) By Prof. Thomas 



Preston, F.R.S 11 



Notes 13 



Our Astronomical Column:— 



Astronomical Occurrences in November 17 



Holmes' Comet (1899 a^) 17 



Comet Giacobini (1899 e) 17 



New Algol Variable in Cygnus 17 



New Variable Star 17 



Geography at the British Association 17 



Mechanics at the British Association 20 



University and Educational Intelligence ...... 22 



Scientific Serials I . 22 



Societies and Academies 23 



Diary of Societies 24 



NO. 1566, VOL. 61] 



