November 13, 1902] 



NATURE 



47 



— On the formation of liquid drops and the law of Tate, by 

 MM. A. Leduc and P. Sacerdote. A reply to the criticisms of 

 MM. P. A. Guye and L. Perrot. — Remarks on a recent note by 

 M. Ponsot on the electromotive force of a thermoelectric couple, 

 by M. H. Pellat. — On the electrical resistance of lead sulphide 

 at very low temperatures, by M. Edmond van Aubel. The 

 resistance of the lead sulphide was found to diminish as the 

 temperature was lowered. The experiments were carried out 

 over a range of temperature between the boiling point of liquid 

 air and the ordinary temperature of the room. The results are 

 not in accord with the previous work of Guinchant and Streintz. 

 — On a chlorosulphate of aluminium, by M. A Recoura. The 

 aluminium compound isolated proved to possess the formula 

 A1S0 4 C1,6H 2 0, analogous with the similar chromium previously 

 described. — On a general method for the preparation of the 

 metallic nitrides, by M. Guntz By heating various metallic 

 chlorides with lithium nitride, several new nitrides have been 

 obtained ; among these are two new nitrides of iron having the 

 composition Fe 3 N 5 and FeN ; chromic chloride gives CrN. By 

 working with lithium hydride instead of the nitride, metallic 

 hydrides are obtained, but in many cases the reaction is so 

 violent that the hydrides formed are decomposed. The con- 

 ditions necessary to prevent this decomposition are now being 

 studied. — On barium ammonium and barium amide, by M. 

 Mentrel. Barium ammonium is readily formed by the action of 

 barium on ammonia at - 23° C. , the dissociation pressures being 

 measured for temperatures between - 63° and 2S" C. Nitric 

 oxide is absorbed by this substance at low temperatures, barium 

 hyponitrite being formed ; carbon monoxide is also absorbed 

 under similar conditions, forming a new compound, barium car- 

 bonyl, Ba(CO) 2 , a yellow, solid body which decomposes without 

 explosion in contact with air, or on heating. Metallic barium, 

 heated at 280° in a current of dry ammonia, gives barium 

 amide. — On some products of the oxidation of aniline by atmo- 

 spheric oxygen, by M. C. I. Istrati. By the prolonged action of 

 air on boiling aniline, three new crystalline substances of high 

 molecular weight and unknown constitution were obtained. — 

 On a new albuminoid material extracted from maize, by MM. 

 E. Donard and H. Labbe. The new substance, which is 

 present in maize to the extent of about 4 per cent., and which 

 is best extracted by boiling amyl alcohol, is given the name of 

 maisine. It possesses properties which distinguish it from the 

 albuminoid matters obtained from other cereals. — On the estima- 

 tion of carbon monoxide and carbonic acid in vitiated air, by 

 M. Ferdinand Jean. An application of the minimetric method 

 to the examination of air, requiring no skilled manipulation in 

 its use. — Researches on the budding of Rhabdopleura Mormanni, 

 by MM. C. Vaney and A. Conte. — On the fibrillar continuity 

 of the epithelial cells in the Nebalia, by M. Alphonse Labre. — 

 On vital rhythm, by MM. Vaschide and CI. Vurpas. 



New South Wales. 



Royal Society, September 3. — Prof. Warren, president, in 

 the chair. — Languages of some native tribes of Queensland, 

 New South Wales and Victoria, by Mr. R. H. Mathews. This 

 paper dealt fully with the grammatical structure of the speech 

 of the native tribes inhabiting the Murray River along the 

 Victorian frontier, and stretching thence northerly through the 

 central and western districts of New South Wales to the 29th 

 parallel of latitude, andcontinuingonwardsfar into Queensland. — 

 (1) Current papers, No. 7 ; (2) Meteorological notes, by Mr. H. C. 

 Russell, C.M.G..F.R S.— Meteoric dusts, New South Wales, 

 by Prof Liversidge, F.R.S. The term meteoric dust is used 

 because it is commonly applied to the materials forming the 

 subject of this paper ; it is not intended to state that the dusts 

 are necessarily of cosmic or extra-terrestrial origin. The 

 specimens described and exhibited were from Moruya (fell on 

 December 15, 1880) ; from Uralla (fell on December 14, 1S82) ; 

 from near Broken Hill (fell 1896) ; from Menindie (fell on 

 June 17, 1S99) ; and Pambula (fell on October 5, 1S99). Dust 

 from the roof-beams, and mud from a covered cistern at the 

 University and from the roof of the Observatory, Sydney, all 

 three were collected in 1882. All the dusts are of a reddish 

 colour except those from the University and Observatory, which 

 are grey. The red dusts are mainly siliceous and argillaceous, 

 and look as if they had come from dried-up water-holes ; they 

 contain a variety of organic and mineral matters such as might 

 be expected from such a source, and in addition magnetite and 

 metallic iron ; the latter contains cobalt and ni:kel, which seems 

 to indicate that the dusts contain some cosmic or extra-terrestria 



materials, part of which may have settled down and become 

 mingled with the undoubted superficial terrestrial deposits, and 

 part may have been derived directly from the atmosphere. The 

 University and Observatory dusts also yielded magnetite and 

 metallic iron containing cobalt and nickel, and the University 

 dust yielded particles of gold ; the Observatory dust has yet to be 

 tested. The Moruya, Menindie and B.irrier red dusts yielded 

 particles of gold ; the others have yet to be examined. Fuller 

 information is given in the paper as to the constituents and 

 chemical composition of the dusts, and analyses of volcanic and 

 other dusts for comparison. — A rapid method of estimating lime, 

 by Mr. F. B. Guthrie and Mr. C. R. Barker. 



Linnean Society, August 27.— Mr. J. H. Maiden, president, 

 in the chair. — On a new Cryptocarya from Lord Howe Island, 

 by Mr. J. H. Maiden. The "black plum" of Lord Howe 

 Island, the flowers of which have only recently been available, is 

 shown to be new and described under the name Cryptocarya 

 Gregsoni. It is also shown that an Elceocarpus occurs on the 

 island, although the material at present available is insufficient 

 to determine the species. Also that the Symplocos on the 

 island, hitherto looked upon as .S. Stawe/li, is in reality new to 

 science, and has been named S. candelabrum by Brand. Carl 

 Mez, the monographer of the order Myrsinacere, has shown 

 that there is no true Myrsine on the island, but tint the genus 

 Rapanea is represented by two species, R. platystigma, Mez 

 (Myrsine platystigma, F.v.M.) and R. myrtillina, Mez, sp.n. — 

 Life-histories of, and notes on, Australian Neuroptera, by Mr. 

 W. W. Froggatt. One species of the family Panorpida; 

 (Bilticus austra/is, Klug) and twelve of the family Hemerobiidre 

 are treated of. — Some records of New South Wales mosses, by 

 Mr. W. Forsyth. Eighty-one species or forms are noted. Of 

 these, six forms are new, thirty-nine are additions to the known 

 flora of the State, one is new for Australia, while the remainder 

 are recorded from new or additional localities. The paper 

 concludes with a list of thirty-three species collected in the 

 neighbourhood of the Jenolan caves. — Census Muscorum 

 Australiensium : a classified catalogue of the frondose mosses 

 of Australia and Tasmania, collated from available publications 

 and herbaria, by the Rev. Walter W. Watts and Thomas 

 Whitelegge. Part i., comprising about 530 species. — The ulcer 

 disease (black ophthalmia?) of rainbow trout, by Mr. R. Greig 

 Smith. The ulcer disease of rainbow trout appears to be 

 identical with the brook trout disease of American writers. The 

 disease called black ophthalmia recently occurred at the same 

 time as the ulcer disease in a tank of rainbow trout, but there 

 is reason to believe that these two are not the same disease. 

 From the ulcers, Micrococcus pyogenes was isolated. This 

 produces somewhat similar lesions in mammals. The action 

 of the micrococcus in trout appeared to be influenced by the 

 unhealthy conditions to which the fishes had been subjected. 



September 24. — Mr. J. II. Maiden, president, in the 

 chair. — Australian fungi, new or unrecorded. Decades 

 i.-ii., by Mr. D. McAlpine. — On a new species of Ar- 

 disia from New South Wales, by Mr. R. T. Baker. — Notes 

 on Prosobranchiata. Part i. Lotorium, by Mr. H. Leighton 

 Kesteven. The first portion of the paper is a discussion of the 

 synonymy of the genus and family. The conclusions are in 

 favour of the adoption of Montfort's name Lotorium for 

 the genus, and Harris's Lotoriida; for the family. The 

 second part deals with the arrangement of the species of the 

 genus. — The bacterial origin of the gums of the arabin group, 

 by Mr. R. Greig Smith, (i) The soluble (arabin) wattle 

 gums. A bacterium {Bad. acaciae, n. sp. ) was found in pure 

 culture in the tissues of Acacia binervata from which gum was 

 exuding. In the laboratory it produced a gum which behaved 

 to reagents, gave the same oxidation products and contained 

 the same constituents, viz. arabinan and galactan, as the 

 natural gum. This soluble gum, and probably all others of a 

 similar nature, are therefore of bacterial origin, a circumstance 

 which had been suggested by the irregular distribution of gum- 

 bearing trees, (ii) The insoluble (metarabin) wattle gums. In 

 company with Bact. acaciae, a bacterium (Bad. metarabinum, 

 n. sp. ) was separated from the bast of Acacia pinninervis 

 affected with gumming. In artificial culture it formed a gum 

 which swelled with water like the metarabin gums. The gum 

 gives the same reactions and contains the same arabinan- 

 galactan complex as the natural gum. The metarabin is, 

 therefore, the product of this organism. — Revision of the 



NO. 1724, VOL. 67] 



