532 



NATURE 



[March 29, 1900 



Matruchot and M. Molliard. In the plant studied {Narcissus 

 Tazetta) the action of cold produced nuclear deformations, 

 which are evidently related to the respective positions of the 

 nucleus and the cell fluid. The most obvious phenomenon is 

 an orientation, generally bipolar, of the chromatic portion with 

 a more or less complete condensation of the chromatin in the 

 equatorial region. — On the toxicity of the compounds of the 

 alkaline earths with respect to higher plants, by M. Henri 

 Coupin. Of the salts tried, barium chlorate proved to be the 

 most injurious. The iodine compounds of all three alkaline 

 earths possess a much higher toxic effect than the other halogen 

 compounds, and for a given acid the toxicity increases with the 

 atomic weight of the metal. — -On the pure culture of a green 

 algae : formation of chlorophyll in the dark, by M. Radais. 

 'Comparative experiments on the cultivation of Chlorella vulgaris 

 in the daylight and in the dark showed that the multiplication 

 of the cells was the same in both cases. After about a fortnight's 

 growth at 25°, the green tint was also the same in both, the 

 'identity of the green colouring matter formed in the dark with 

 chlorophyll being proved spectroscopically.— The andesitic vol- 

 cano of Tifarouine (Algeria), by M. L. Gentil. — Specific heat of 

 the blood, by M. H. Bordier. The 'measurements were made 

 by the method of cooling, the upper starting temperature being 

 45°. Arterial blood, defibrinated blood and serum gave 'QOI, 

 •920 and "932 respectively. The specific heat of arterial blood 

 is greater than that of venous blood {'893). It follows from 

 these figures that the specific heat of the organism taken as a 

 whole must be nearer 07 or o "8 than i*o as usually assumed. 

 — Restoration of the functions of the heart and central nervous 

 system after complete anemia, by M. Frederic Batelli. — Method 

 for the examination and measurement of taste, by MM. Ed. 

 Toulouse and N. Vaschide. Four solutions were employed of 

 salt, sugar, quinine bromhydrate and citric acid, which were 

 systematically diluted. Special precautions as to temperature 

 and mode of contact with the tongue were made, the start being 

 made with a tasteless solution, the strength of which was 

 gradually increased until the taste became perceptible. — Some 

 considerations concerning the freezing of water, by M. F. 

 Bordas. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



THURSDAY, March 29. 

 RovAt, Society, at 4.30.-011 the Retinal Currents of the Frog's Eye, 

 excited by Light and excited Electrically : Dr. Waller, F.R.S.-Ob- 

 servations on the Electromotive Phenomena of Non-meduUated Nerve : 

 Miss Sowton.— Variation : Prof. Ewart, F.R.S.— Certain Laws of Varia- 

 tion : Dr. H. M. Vernon. — (i) Data for the Problem of Evolution in 

 Man. IV. Note on the Effect of Fertility depending on Homogamy. 

 (2) Mathematical Contributions to the Theory of Evolution. VIL On 

 the Inheritance of Characters not capable of Exact Quantitative Measure- 

 ment : Prof. K. Pearson, F.R.S. 



Royal Institution, at 3. —Equatorial East Africa and Mount Kenya : 

 H. J. Mackinder. 



Chemical Society, at 3.— Annual General Meeting. At 8.30.— Bunsen 



Memorial Lecture : Sir Henry Roscoe, F.R.S. 



Society of Arts (Indi:m Section), at 4.30.— The Manufacture and Use ol 

 Indieo : Christopher Rawson. 



FRIDAY, March 30. 

 ■Royal Institution, at 9.— Facts of Inheritance : Prof. J. A. Thomson. 



SATURDAY, March 31. 

 kRoYAL Institution, at 3. — Polarised Light : Lord Rayleigh. 



MONDAY, April 2. 



Society of Arts (Foreign and Colonial Section), at 4.30. — The Century 



in our Colonies : Right Hon. Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke, Bart., M.P. 



Royal Geographical Society, at 8.30. — Explorations in Central Asia : 



Captain H. H. P. Deasy. 

 Victoria Institute, at 4.30.— North Polar Thalassography: Cavaliere 

 Tervis. 



TUESDAY, April 3. 

 Royal Institution, at 3. — Structure and Classification of Fishes : Prof 



E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S. 

 Society of Arts, at 8. — Process Engraving : Carl Hentschel. 

 R-iYA', Meteorological Society, at 3. — Commemoration Meeting. — 



Address by Dr. C. Theodore Williams. 

 Zoological Society, at 8.30. — On Jilus syh'atitus anA its Allies, Sub- 

 species, and Geographical Variations: G. E. H. Barrett-Hamilton. — 

 Notes on the Mammals of Siam and the Malay Peninsula : Stanley S. 

 Flower. — On a Remarkable New Piece of Skin from Cueva Eberhardt, 

 Patagonia : Dr. Einar Lonnberg. 

 Institution of Civil Engineers, at 8. — Economical Railway Con- 

 struction in New South Wales : Henry Deane. — The Tocopilla Railway : 

 Robert Stirling. 

 Royal PnoTOGRAPHictSociETY, at 8.— F. P. Ambrano will show Slides, 



Old and New. 

 M[N'3R\LOGicAL SociETY, at 8.— Hamlinite, Florencite, Plumbogum- 



NO. 1587, VOL. 61] 



mite (Hitchcockite), Beudantite and Svanbergite as Members of an Iso- 

 morphous Group : G. T. Prior.— On the Optical Properties of Chalybite 

 and Diallogite : Dr. A. Hutchinson.— yEgirine (and Riebeckite) Anor- 

 thocla.se Rocks related to the " Grorudite-Tinguaite " Group from the 

 Neighbourhood of Adoa and Axum, Abyssinia: G. T. Prior. — The 

 Chemical Composition of the Mount Zomba Meteorite : L. Fletcher, 



WEDNESDAY, k.vv.\i. A, 



Society of Arts, at 8.— Cotton Supplies : John A. Banister. 



Geological Society, at 8. — Additional Notes on some EruptiveRocks 

 from New Zealand : F. Rutley.— On the Discovery and Occurrence of 

 Minerals containing Rare Elements : Baron A. E. Nordenskiold. 



Entomological Society, at 8. 



Society of Public Analysts, at 8. — Note on the Influence of Tempera- 

 ture and Concentration on the Saline Constituents of Boiler Waters : 

 Cecil H. Cribb. — On an Improved Absorption Apparatus for Use in the 

 Analysis of Essential Oils : Alfred C. Chapman and H. E. Burgess. —On 

 the Composition of Danish Butters : H. Faber. — The Composition of 

 Milk and Milk Products : H. Droo Richmond. 

 THURSDA Y, April 5. 



Royal Society, at 4.30. — PrDbable Papers: On the Weight of Hydrogen 

 desiccated by Liquid Air : Lord Rayleigh, F.R.S. — Combinatorial Ana- 

 lysi? : The Foundations of a New Theory : Major MacMahon, F.R.S. 

 — Uber Reihen auf der Convergenzgrenze : Dr. E. Lasker. — Extinct 

 Mammalia from Madagascar. I. Megaladapis insignis, sp. n. : Dr. C. 

 J. E'orsyth Major. — Ihe Kinetic Theory of Planetary Atmospheres, 

 Part I.: Prof. E. H. Bryan, F.R.S.— Observations on t be Eflfect of Des- 

 iccation of Albumin upon its Coagulability : Prof. T. B. Farmer. 



Royal Institution, at 3. — Equatorial East Africa and Mount Kenya: 

 H. J. Mackinder. 



Mathematical Society, at 5.30. — The Orthoptic Loci of Curves of a 

 Given Class : A. B. Basset, F.R.S. 



Linnean Society, at 8. — Sphenophyllum zxiA its Allies, an Extinct 

 Division of the Vascular Cryptogams : Dr. D. H. Scott, F.R.S. 



Chemjcal Society, at 8.— (i) The Liquefaction of a Gas by " Stlf-Cool- 

 ing " : A Lecture^Experiment ; (2) Note on Partially Miscible Aqueous 

 Inorganic Solutions: G. S. Newth. — The Decomposition of Chlorates. 

 II. Lead Chlorate: W. H. Sodeau.— The Interaction of Mesityl Oxide 



■ and Ethyl Sodiomethylmalonate : A. W. Crossley. — The Brornination 

 of Benzeneazophenol : J. T. Hewitt and W. G. Aston. 



Institution of Electrical Engineers, at 8. 



Rontgen Society, at 8.— The Influence of the X Rays upon the Growth 

 and Development of Micro organisms : Dr. Norris Wolfenden and Dr. 

 Forbes Ross. 



FRIDA Y, April 6. 



Royal Institution, at 9. — Solid Hydrogen : Prof. J. Dewar, F.R.S. 



Geologists' Association, at 8. — Zonal Features of the Kentish Chalk- 

 Pits between London and the Medway Valley : G. E. Dibley. 



Institution of Civil Engineers, at 8. — Experiments on Struts with and 

 without Lateral Loading : H. E. Wimperis. 



SATURDAY, April 7. 



P-OVAL Institution, at 3. — Polarised Light : Lord Rayleigh. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Celestial Photometry 509 



An Illustrated History of Mathematics. By G. B. M. 510 



Scientific Lens-making 511 



Experiments on Animals 512 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Little: " Cyclopedia of Classified Dates "' 513 



Kahlbaum and Thon : "Justus von Liebig und 

 Christian Friedrich Schonbein. Briefwechsel, 



1853-1868."— R. M 



Wartegg : " Cina e Giappone " . . 



French: "Practical Chemistry"; Highton : "An 



Introduction to Qualitative Analysis " 



Roisel : " Essai de Chronologic des Temps prehis- 



toriques" 



Letters to the Editor: — 



Atmospheric Electricity.— John Aitken, F.R.S. . 

 Escape of Gases from Planetary Atmospheres. — 



Dr. G. Johnstone Stoney, F.R.S 515 



State of Practical Instruction in Physics. — Dr. Boris 



Weinberg . . • • S'S 



Indian Corn.— Kumagusu Minakata 515 



The Bacteriology of the Soil.— Thos. T. Watson . 515 

 The Birds of Africa. {Illustrated.) By R. L. . . 516 



Notes 518 



Our Astronomical Column:— 



Astronomical Occurrences in April 521 



Comet 1899 V 521 



New System of Spectrum Photometry 521 



Variable Stars of the Algol Type 521 



Computation of Orbits of Spectroscopic Doubles . 521 

 Malaria and Mosquitoes. By Major Ronald Ross 522 



Australian Experimental Farms 528 



University and Educational Intelligence 528 



Scientific Serials 528 



Societies and Academies 529 



Diary of Societies 532 



513 

 513 



514 



514 



514 



