November 23, 1899] 



NATURE 



95 



morphic functions, by Prof. A. C. Dixon. — Note on Clebsch's 

 second method for th e integration of a Pfaffian equation, by J. 



Zoological Society, November 14.— Dr. A.Giinther.F.R.S., 

 Vice-President, in the chair. —Mr. Sclater gave an account of his 

 recent journey to the Cape, and made remarks on the animals 

 he had obtained there for the Society's collection. He also 

 called attention to the desirability of the establishment of a Zoo- 

 logical Garden at Capetown. — Mr. A. Smith Woodward read a 

 communication from Sefi. F. Ameghino containing some further 

 notes on Neomylodon listai (Grypoiherium). Mr. A. Smith 

 VVoodward also exhibited, on behalf of Dr. Moreno, the skull 

 and other specimens of this animal lately discovered in the cave 

 in Southern Patagonia where the original pieces of skin had been 

 obtained, and made remarks on them. — Mr. Lydekker exhibited 

 and made remarks on a remarkably fine head of the swamp-deer 

 {Cervus diivaucelt), obtained by Major C. B. Wood in the 

 Central Provinces of India.— The Secretary exhibited, on be- 

 half of Mr. C. Pole Carew, some malformed horns of the Sambur 

 Deer {Cervus aristolelis), obtained by him in the southern pro- 

 vince of Ceylon, and read some notes on them sent by Mrs. 

 Carew. — A communication was read from Mr. F. Vaughan 

 Kirby, containing field-notes on the blue-buck of the Cape 

 Colony {Cephalcphits tnonticola). — A communication was read 

 from Mr. R. I. Pocock, containing an account of the collections 

 of Arachnids made by Mr. G. L. Bates in French Congo. To 

 this was added a complete list of the species of the same group 

 represented in the British Museum, and descriptions of the new 

 genera and species. — A communication was read from Mr. 

 Stanley S. Flower containing notes on a second collection of 

 Batrachians made in the Malay Peninsula and Siam from 

 November 1896 to September .1898. Forty-nine species, of 

 which fifteen had not been previously recorded from these 

 countries, were enumerated, and the tadpoles of several of 

 them were described for the first time.— Mr. R. Lydekker 

 read three papers dealing with (l) the specific characters of 

 the Chilian Guemal (Cariaais chilensis), which previously, from 

 the absence of good specimens of the animal, had been inaccu- 

 rately given ; (2) the skull of a Shark-toothed Dolphin' (/'rti- 

 squalodon australis) from Patagonia, in which he pointed out 

 the characters of distinction between that species and the genus 

 Sijualodon ; (3) the results of recent investigations on the denti- 

 tion of the Marsupial and Placental Carnivores. — A communica- 

 tion was read from Mr. Ernest Gibson, containing field-notes on 

 the Wood-Cat of Argentina {Felis geoffroyi), two specimens of 

 which animal had recently been presented to the Society by Mr. 

 William Brown, of Buenos Aires. 



Cambridge. 

 Philosophical Society, October 30.— Mr, J. Larmor, 

 President, in the chair. — The following were elected officers for 

 the ensuing year : President, Mr. J. Larmor ; vice-presidents, 

 Mr, F. Darwin, Prof. A. R. Forsyth, Dr. W. H. Gaskell ; 

 treasurer, Mr. Newall ; secretaries, Mr, Baker, Mr, Shipley, 

 Mr, Wilberforce ; members of Council, Mr. Harker, Mr. 

 Hutchinson, Prof. Liveing, Mr. Skinner, Mr. (iadow, Mr. 

 Sharp, Prof. J. J. Thomson, Mr. Berry, Sir G. G. Stokes, Mr. 

 Bateson, Mr. Seward, Mr. G. T. Walker.— The following com- 

 munications were made to the Society : On semi-convergent 

 series, by Mr. W. McF. Orr. — An experiment on the condens- 

 ation of clouds, by Mr. C. T. R, Wilson. The author gave an 

 experimental demonstration of the production of cloud by the 

 contact of layers of moist air of different temperatures. — On the 

 conductivity of gases from arcs and from incandescent wires, by 

 Mr. J. A, M'Clelland. The first part of this paper contains an 

 account of experiments on the conductivity of gas through which 

 an arc discharge has passed ; the second part deals with the 

 conductivity of gas near an incandescent wire. Experiments 

 have been made with an arc between platinum terminals and 

 with an incandescent platinum wire in air, oxygen and carbonic 

 acid gas. The conductivity is shown to be pj^oduced by ionis- 

 ation, and the nature of the carriers, their velocity under an 

 electric force, and other points are investigated. With the arc 

 in air, or oxygen, there is a small excess of positive elec- 

 tricity in the gas taken from the neighbourhood of the arc, 

 and this excess is very great in CO, ; the greater velocity of 

 the negative carriers under electric force causes more of them 

 to be discharged to the terminals of the arc. The velocity of 

 the carriers under electric force is not a constant quantity, 

 but varies with the nature of the arc and the temperature of 

 NO. 1569, VOL. 61] 



the mcandescent wire. The velocity diminishes as the temper- 

 ature is raised ; this may be cau.sed by the carriers coming: 

 from the wire itself or the arc terminals at these higher 

 temperatures, or by the disintegration of the wire or terminals, 

 affording material to condense on the carriers already formed 

 m the gas.— On the secondary Rontgen rays, by Mr. J. S. 

 Townsend. This paper contained an account of experiments, 

 made with the rays given out when Rontgen rays fall oi> 

 metals and other bodies. These rays are of two kinds. The 

 first are rapidly absorbed by the air, and at a distance of one 

 centimetre from the radiating body their power of ionising the 

 air is reduced to one-thousandth of its value at the surface. The 

 rays of the second kind are more penetrating, and extend to a 

 distance of several centimetres from the radiating body. They 

 cannot be considered part of the first kind of rays, as these 



would only have an effect of ^^ of their initial value at a dis- 



10" 

 tance of 6 centimetres, which would be too small, td detect. 

 Manchester. 



Literary and Philosophical Society, November 14. 



Prof. Horace Lamb, F.R.S. , President, in the chair.— Mr. 

 W. E. Hoyle exhibited a series of flint implements, &c., fron> 

 Egypt, forming part of a large collection obtained by Prof 

 Flinders Petrie during the past winter in excavating about twenty- 

 miles of cemetery in the western desert between Hu and Den- 

 dereh, and since presented to the Manchester Museum. These 

 belonged to various periods, from prehistoric to Roman. Certain 

 types of knives with very finely notched edges and forked lance- 

 heads are very characteristic of the prehistoric age. One cemetery 

 dates from the Libyan settlements in Egypt at the close of the 

 Middle kingdom, about 2400 B.C. Here the graves were all 

 shallow pits of the form known as " pan graves," in which the 

 bodies were laid in a contracted position, but not all in the 

 same direction. From this were obtained several of the strings 

 of beads exhibited. The shell bracelets are very characteristic 

 of this period. Another large cemetery at Hu began in the 

 sixth dynasty, and contained, besides pottery, a large quantity 

 of beads. One large necklace of five strings was of amethystv 

 others were of cornelian and garnet, whilst in the other sets- 

 were metal beads, which, from their not having corroded, were 

 presumed to have contained a considerable proportion of gold: 

 The collection included a large number of pieces of engraved 

 bone, apparently prepared for inlaying, as well as two beautiful 

 diorite saucers, one circular and the other in the shape of a 

 large Unio shell. A block of stone about six inches square^ 

 with a circle and two cross-lines on the top, once formed the 

 upper part of a short stone pillar, and is believed to have beeik 

 a surveyor's mark. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, November 13.— M. van Tieghena 

 in the chair. — Observation relating to researches on the di- 

 amines, by M. Berthelot. A correction to the paper published] 

 on this subject in the last number of the Comftes rendits. — The 

 disease attacking carnations at Antibes, by MM. Prillieux and( 

 Delacroix. The primary cause of the disease is a fungus, &■ 

 detailed description of which is given. Artificial cultures coulcfi 

 be carried out either on potato or in a drop of nutrient fluid- 

 The species appears to be new, and the provisional name of 

 Fusarium Diattthi is given to it. — Researches on acute alco- 

 holism ; estimation of alcohol in 'the blood and tissues, by ML 

 N. Grehant, The alcohol was introduced into the stomach- it* 

 measured amounts through a tube, and samples of blood takei* 

 at half-hourly intervals were submitted to distillation in vacuo,, 

 and the alcohol in the distillaters estimated by the bichromate 

 method of Nicloux. In another experiment the aninml was. 

 killed, and separate analyses made of the brain, muscles, Uve«„ 

 kidneys and blood. The amounts per 100 grams of matefiiEU* 

 were nearly the same, varying between 0325 and 041 c.c oS 

 alcohol, — On congruences of circles and spheres which inter- 

 vene in the study of cyclic and orthogonal systems, by M. Cl 

 Guichard, — On equations of the second order with fixed critical) 

 points, by M. Paul Painleve. — On the generalisation of ex- 

 pansions in continued fractions given by Gauss and Euler, of 

 the function (i xx)"\ by M. H. Pade. — A new mode of con- 

 sidering the propagation of luminous vibrations through matter,, 

 by M. G. Sagnac. — On the spectrophotometry of the electnc 

 light, by M. Fernand Gaud. A comparison between the vor 

 tensities of different portions of the spectrum of incandescent 

 and arc lights with sunlight was made by decomposing each« 



