120 



NATURE 



[December 4, 1902 



combines with a part of the body undergoing hydrolysis, another 

 part combining with a portion of the products of hydrolysis. It 

 may be supposed eiiher that it is the non-combined part of the 

 ferment which acts upon the bodies to be split up, or, on the 

 other hand, that the unstable compound formed is itself decom- 

 posed, regenerating a part of the ferment. It is remarkable that 

 both these hypotheses lead to the same law. Experiments are 

 given showing the action of invertin upon saccharose alone and 

 mixed with invert sugar, and of emulsin upon salicin. 



New South Wales. 

 Royal Society, October 8. — Prof. Warren, president, in the 

 chair. — Occurrence of the mineral gadolinite at Cooglegong, 

 Pilbarra District, West Australia, by Mr. Bernard F. Davis. — 

 Pot experiments to determine the limits of endurance of different 

 farm crops for certain injurious substances, part i. (wheat), by 

 Mr. F. B. Guthrie and Mr. R. Helms. The authors describe 

 experiments to test the effect upon the growth of the wheat-plant 

 of certain substances occasionally found in the soil and in 

 manures, and known when present in excessive quantities to 

 act as plant poisons. The following table summarises the 

 principal results obtained. 



Effect upon germination and subsequent growth of wheat of 

 different percentages of injurious substance in the soil. 



Germination 

 affected. 



Germination Growth affected. Growth 



prevented. prevented. 



NaCl 0-05 CT20 0^05 to CV15 (recovered) 020 



N„CO :; o'3o o'5 to 1 'o 010 C40 



NHjCNS o'oo5 coi o'ooi 0005 



NaOO :i above 001 005 o'ooi 0x103 



As,0 :1 



005 



o'5o 



o 05 



O'lO 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



THURSDAY, December 4. 



Roval Society, at 4.30. — (1) On the " Blaze-Currents " of the Incubated 

 Hen's Egg ; (2) On the " Blaze-Currents " of the Crystalline Lens: Dr. 

 A. D. Waller, F.R.S.— A Contribution to the Question of "Blaze- 

 Currents " : Dr. A. Durig. — On the Similarity of the Short Period Pressure 

 Variation over Large Areas: Sir Norman Lockyer, F.R.S., and Dr. 

 W. J. S. Lockyer. — Isomeric Change in Benzene Derivatives. The 

 Interchange of Halogen and Hydroxy! in Benzenediazonium Hydroxides : 

 Dr. K. J. P. ( Irton.— On the Vibrations and Stability of a Gravitating 

 Planet : J. H. Jeans. 



Linnean Society, at 8.— New and rare Corals from Funafuti : G. C. 

 Bourne. — On the Morphology of the Flowers and Fruits of the Xylosteum 

 Section of Lonicera : E. A. Newell Arber. — Note on Carex Tolomiei, 

 Boott : B. Clarke, F.R.S. — New and old Phalangida; from the Indian 

 Peninsula : C. With. 



Rontgen Society, at 8.30.— An Observation bearing upon the Thera- 

 peutic Action of the Focus Tube : Dr. D. Walsh.— X-Rays in Ophthalmic 

 Work : Stephen Mayou.— Mr. Isenthat will show the Nodon Electric 

 Valve for converting Alternating into Continuous Current. 



Chemical Society, at 8. — The Absorption Spectra of Metallic Nitrates. 

 Part II. : W.N. Hartley.— The Specific Heats of Liquids: H. Crompton. 

 — (1) Studies in the Camphane Series. Part X. The Constitution of 

 Enolic Benzoylcamphor ; (2) Note on the Isomeric Benzoyl Derivatives 

 from Isonitrosocamphor : M. O. Forster. — The Constitution of the 

 Products of Nitration of Meta-acetoluidide : J. B. Cohen and H. D. 

 Dakin. 



Aeronautical Society, at 8.— Presidential Address. Recent Aero- 

 nautical Progress : Major B. F. S. Baden-Powell.— The Contributions 

 of Balloon Investigations to Meteorology: Dr. W. N. Shaw, F.R.S. — 

 The Kite Equipment of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition : John 

 Anderson. 



Institution of Electrical Engineers, at 8. — Extra Meeting for 

 the Inaugural Address by the President, Mr. J. Swinburne. 



FRIDA Y, December 5. 



Institution of Civil Engineers, at 8.— The Erection of Steel Bridges, 

 Sheffield Extension of the London and North-Western Railway : 

 A. Reynolds. 



Geologists' Association, at 8.— On the Formation of Chert: Miss 

 Catherine A. Raisin. Illustrared by Lantern Slides. — A List of the 

 Fish Remains from the Middle Bagshot Beds of the London Basin : 

 A. K. Coomaraswamy. 



SATURDAY, December 6. 



Essex Field Club (Essex Museum of Natural History, Stratford), at 

 6.30. — The Non-Marine Mollusca of the River Lea Alluvium at 

 Wathamstow : A. S. Kennard and B. B. Woodward.— Demonstration 

 of the Lumiere Process of Colour Photography and its applications to 

 Natural History Work : Edward R. Turner. 



MONO A Y, December 8. 



Society OF Arts, at 8.— The Future of Coal Gas and Allied Illuminants : 



Prof. V. B. Lewes. 

 Royal Geographical Society, at 8.30.— ThreeYears' Exploring Work in 



Central Asia : Dr. Sven Hedin. 



NO. 1727, VOL. 67] 



TUESDA Y, December a. 

 Institution of Civil Engineers, at 8. — Discussion of flayer on 

 High-Speed Electrical Generating Plant : T. H. Minshal 1 . 



WEDNESDA Y, December 10. 

 Society of Arts, at 8. — French Rural Education and its Lessons for 

 England : Cloudesley Brereton. 



THURSD AY, December ii. 



Royal Society, at 4.30. — Probable papers:— On Certain Properties of 

 the Alloys of the Gold-Silver Series: The late Sir William Roberts- 

 Austen, F.R.S., and Dr. T. K. Rose. — Abnormal Changes in some Lines 

 in the Spectrum of Lithium : H. Ramage — An Erior in the Estimation 

 of the Specific Gravity of the Rlood by Hammerschlag's Method, when 

 Employed in Connection with Hydrometers : Dr. A. G. Levy. — Quater- 

 nions and Projective Geometry : Prof. C. J. Joly. 



Institution of Electrical Engineers, at 8.— The Photcmetry of 

 Electric Lamps : Dr. J. A. Fleming, F.R.S. 



Society of Arts, at 4.30. — Domestic Life in Persia: Miss Ella C- 

 Sykes. 



Institute of Actuaries, at 5.30. — Lecture on Statistics (Measurement 

 of Groups) : A. L Bowley. 



Mathematical Society, at 5.30. — Application of Matrix Notation to 

 the Solution of Linear Differential Equations: Dr. H. F Baker — The 

 Expression of the Double Zeta and Gamma Functions in Terms of Elliptic 

 Functions: G. H. Hardy — Sets of Intervals. Part II, Overlapping 

 Intervals: W. H. Young — Series connected with the Enumeration of 

 Partitions : Rev. F. H. Jackson — The Abstract Group simply I somorphic 

 with ihe Group of Linear Fractional Transformations in a Galois 

 Field. 



FRIDAY, December 12. 



Royal Astronomical Society, at 5. 



CONTENTS. page 



Dr. Nansen's Oceanography of the North Polar 



Basin. By H. R. M 97 



Animal Histology 9S 



Philosophy and Science. By A. E. Taylor .... 99 



The Parallel Running of Alternators. By C. C. G. 101 

 Our Book Shelf:— 



Ostwald and Luther : " Hand- und Hiilfsbuch zur 

 Ausfiihrung physiko-chemischer Messungen." — 



H. M. D 101 



Pigott : " London Birds and other Sketches." — 



R. L. 102 



Shelley: " How to Buy a Camera " 102 



Ikin : "Recent Advances in Science." — M. S. . . . 102 

 Dymond : "Agricultural Industry and Education in 



Hungary" 102 



Morel: " Le Ciment Arme et ses Applications " . . 102 

 Letters to the Editor :— 



Becquerel Rays and Radio-activity. — Lord Kelvin, 



G.C.V.O., F.R.S. 103 



The Conservation of Mass. — Prof. C. V. Boys, 



F.R.S 103 



Germs in Space. — Sir Oliver Lodge, F.R.S.; 



Prof. Theo. D. A. Cockerell 103 



The Leonid and Bielid Meteor-showers of November, 



1902.— Prof. A. S. Herschel, F.R.S 103 



Vitality and Low Temperature. — W. J. Calder . . 104 



The British Academy 104 



Another Hodgkins Gold Medal Awarded. {Illus- 

 trated) 104 



Sir William Roberts-Austen, K.C.B., F.R.S. By 



Dr. T. E. Thorpe, F.R.S 105 



Anniversary Meeting of the Royal Society . . . 107 



Notes no 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Observations of the Perseid Shower 114 



New Variable Star, 16, 1902, Delphini 114 



Evolution of Aerography 1 14 



A Simplified Form of Foucault's Pendulum 114 



Physical Chemistry Applied to Toxins and Anti- 

 toxins. {Illustrated.) Dr. A. Harden 114 



University and Educational Intelligence 116 



Scientific Serials 117 



Societies and Academies 117 



Diary of Societies 120 



