March 8, 1900] 



NATURE 



453 



Ilotype plates, each containing several figures reproduced 



m photographs of mounted specimens, enlarged by about 



fifteen diameters. The pipes and smoking customs of the 



American aborigines form the subject of a paper by Mr. J. D. 



'iGuire. Mr. W. Tassin contributes a descriptive catalogue 



minerals classified according to their chemical and physical 



1 operties. Easter Island and its inhabitants are described by 



I )r. G. n. Cooke. Dr. O. T. Mason has a short paper on the 



! irms of the man's knife among North American Indians, and 



Dr. Thomas Wilson describes arrovvpoints, spearheads, and 



knives of prehistoric times, his paper being illustrated by sixty- 



live plates, and two hundred text figures. Each of the papers 



IS filled with information, and their attractive setting will excite 



he unstinted admiration of every student of science who sees 



volume. 



"^KVERAL new editions of established scientific works have 

 cly been received. The sixteenth edition of " Kirkes' 

 1 tnd-book of Physiology," by Prof W. D. Halliburton, has 

 just been published by Mr. John Murray. The fifteenth edition 

 was only published a year ago, so few ciianges were necessary ; but 

 where required, the subject-matter has been brought up to date. — 

 The fourth German edition of Prof. O. Hammarsten's "Text- 

 book of Physiological Chemistry " has been translated by Prof. 

 J. A. Mandel, New York University. The translation, which 

 is published by Messrs. J. Wiley and Sons, is now in its third 

 edition, and most of the available literature up to April last 

 year is taken into account. — A second and enlarged edition of 

 Prof. S. P. Thompson's work on " Polyphase Electric Currents 

 and Alternate Current Motors " has been published by Messrs. 

 E. and F. N. Spon, Ltd. The book has undergone revision, 

 and has been improved in several respects. The chapters on 

 graphic theory have been developed by Mr. Miles Walker, and 

 the theory is now presented in such a shape as to be directly 

 available for practical calculations. Many of the illustrations 

 are new, and coloured plates are now used to elucidate various 

 types of polyphase windings.— The third edition of Prof. J. R 

 Ainsworth Davis's book on "The Flowering Plant, as illus- 

 trating the First Principles of Botany " has been published by 

 Messrs. C. GriHiin and Co., Ltd. New illustrations have been 

 added ; and also a chapter on ferns and mosses, which, though 

 not comprehended by the title, will assist students to under- 

 stand the life history and classificatory position of flowering 

 plants.— The first part of a second revised and enlarged edition 

 of Dr. Julius Wiesner's work on "Die RohstoflTe des Pflanzen- 

 reiches" has been published by W. Engelmann, Leipzig. The 

 first edition appeared in 1873, and it is expected that the present 

 one will be completed during this year. The book appeals more 

 particularly to students of economic botany and pharmacy.— A 

 revised edition of *' The Photographer's Note-book and Index, 

 with Tables and Exposure Rules," by Sir David Salomons 

 Bart., has been issued by Messrs. Marion and Co. 



Since the discovery by Curtius of the remarkable compound 

 of hydrogen and nitrogen, hydrazoic acid, numerous attempts 

 have been made to obtain from it the condensation product N^, 

 and during the discussion at a recent meeting of the Chemical 

 Society, Prof. Ramsay gave a short account of some experiments 

 made in this direction in his laboratory by the interaction of 

 silver azoimide and iodine. The wished-for substance could not 

 be isolated, but Prof. Hantzsch, in the current number of the 

 Berichle, has now succeeded in isolating a definite iodide of 

 nitrogen from the products of this reaction. By working at a 

 low temperature and as rapidly as possible in the presence of 

 ether, the new iodide is taken into solution by the latter, and 

 can be obtained as a yellowish solid in minute quantities, not 

 exceeding 0-2 gram, by the rapid evajxjration of the ether. The 

 solid is tOD unstable to submit to analysis, but an examination of 

 NO 1584, VOL. 61] 



the solution showed that its composition was N3I. As might be 

 expected from this formula, the iodide is violently explosive, 

 0'2 gram on one occasion completely pulverising a glass desic- 

 cator. Attempts to prepare N,j by the action of the iodide upon 

 silver azoimide, or by the spontaneous decomposition of the 

 iodide, were unsuccessful. 



The theory of electrolytic solution pressure of Nernst has 

 opened a wide field of research, and has led to many inter- 

 esting developments. It is still, however, open to question 

 whether the osmotic pressure analogy has not been pushed too 

 far, and in the current nuniber of the Zeitschrift fiir Physi- 

 kalische Cheinie is a short criticism by Prof. Lehfeldt on this 

 point. Taking the solution pressures calculated for zinc, nickel 

 and palladium from theobserved electromotiveforcesasgg x 10'*, 

 I •3, and i'5x lo^^" atmospheres respectively, it is pointed out 

 that although the first number is enormous it is not necessarily 

 impossible. It is otherwise with the figure for palladium. 

 Since pressure is a statistical effect, a considerable number of 

 molecules must act on unit area. i-sxio"-'" atmospheres 

 would give one or two molecules of palladium in a volume the 

 size of the earth. 



The fact that such common alkaloids as cocaine, atropine 

 and nicotine are derivatives of pyrrol lends considerable interest 

 to syntheses of derivatives of the latter substance. Pyrrol- 

 aldehyde, the analogue of benzaldehyde and furfuraldehyde, 

 has hitherto been wanting, but its preparation has now been 

 successfully attempted by Bamberger and Djierdjian by the use 

 of Reimer's reaction with chloroform and potash, and is described 

 by them in a preliminary note in the current number of the 

 Bcrichte. The new aldehyde forms a well- crystallised hydr- 

 azone, oxime, and also an insoluble sodium sulphite compound, 

 but differs markedly from its analogues in crystallising readily, 

 prisms several centimetres long being obtainable, and also in 

 possessing no smell. Many important synthetical products 

 may be expected wit h pyrrol- aldehyde as a starting-point. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Vervet Monkey (Cercopitheciis lalamiii), a 

 Serval {Felis seival) from South Africa, presented by Mr. J. E. 

 Matcham ; a Vervet Minkey {Cercopilkecus lalandii) from 

 South Africa, presented by Mr. Dudley B. Myers ; a Common 

 Marmoset {Hapale jacchus) from South-east Brazil, presented 

 by Miss M. C. Glover ; a Greater Sulphur-crested Cockatoo 

 (Cacaitta galer/ta) ixom Australia, presented by Lieut. -Colonel 

 Hopton ; four Black-bellied Sand-Grouse {Pterocles areiianus) 

 from Spain, presented by Mr. G. P. Torrens ; a Purplish 

 Death Adder {Pseuiiec/iis porphyriacus) from Australia, 

 purchased. 



OUR AS TRON.OMICAL COL UMA . 



OccuLTATiON OK Nki'IUne.— There will be an occultation 

 of Neptune on the evening of March 8, the moon having just 

 passed its first quarter. 



Disappearance 

 Reappearance 



Mean Tim 

 h. m. 



.. 6 13 



•• 7 34 



Angle from 

 Nerth Point. Vertex. 



lOI 

 268 



107 

 249 



As the moon passes the meridian of London about 6.30 p.m., 

 the occultation is a favourable one for observation should the 

 weather permit. 



Opposition ok Minor Planet (434), Hunoaria.— Herr 

 A. Berberich, of Berlin, gives in the Astronomische Nachrichten 

 (Bd. 151, No. 3624) a revised set of elements and the deduced 

 ephemeris of this body, to facilitate its detection during the 

 coming opposition about March 23. 



