262 



NA TURE 



[JANUARY 15, 1903 



honours men are slightly heavier, have slightly longer and 

 broader heads, are not quite as tall or as strong as the poll men, 

 and are slightly more short-sighted. 



In no case, however, is the correlation sufficiently large to 

 enable us to group the honours men as a differentiated physical 

 class or to predict the intellectual capacity from the physical 

 characters of the individual. 



From the school measurements, the relation was investigated 

 of athletics to health and to intelligence ; there was found to be 

 a sensible, but not marked, correlation between good health 

 and intelligence ; a marked correlation (0'457o) between good 

 health and athletics, and a correlation ol 02133 between 

 intelligence and athletics. 



Thus, while the intelligent are only slightly the more healthy, 

 the athletic are notably the more healthy and are considerably 

 more intelligent than the non-athletic. 



It was found also that the athletic are the more popular and 

 the more noisy, and tend to quick rather than to sullen temper. 

 So far as the athletic character in the school-boy enables us to 

 form a general estimate, the expressions " flannelled fool at the 

 wicket" and "muddied oaf at the goal" seem hardly warranted. 



Mathematical Society, January 8. — Dr. Hobson, vice- 

 president, in the chair. — Dr. Larmor described the origin and 

 progress of the movement for presenting to Mr. R. Tucker a 

 permanent mark of appreciation of his services to the Society 

 during his long tenure of the office of honorary secretary. The 

 presentation was made by the chairman. — The following papers 

 were communicated : — Prof. A. Lodge, Note on a method of 

 representing imaginary points by real points in a plane. There 

 is a (2, 2) correspondence of pairs of imaginary points, repre- 

 sented by conjugate imaginary coordinates, with pairs of real 

 points. When the straight line joining the pair of imaginary 

 points is real, the straight line joining the corresponding pair 

 of real points cuts it at right angles. Examples of the appli- 

 cation of the method to problems relating to conies were shown. 

 ■ — Dr. J. Larmor, On the mathematical expression of the 

 principle of Huygens. The paper contains a direct intuitive 

 proof of the integral formula put forward by Kirchhoff as the 

 analytical expression of Huygens' principle. The proof is based 

 on a method, analogous to that used by Green in the theory of 

 potential, for determining, by means of its singularities, a 

 function which satisfies the characteristic differential equation 

 of wave propagation Extensions of the same method to the 

 conduction of heat in crystals and to electric waves are given. 

 The redundancy of the data in Kirchhoff's formula is noted, 

 and a comparison is made of the merits of this formula and of a 

 well-known integral formula given by Poisson, considered as 

 possible foundations for the principle of Huygens. — Prof. 

 A. E. II. Love, Wave motions with discontinuities at wave- 

 fron's. It is shown that when the wave motion is represented by 

 means of a function which is not itself discontinuous at the 

 front or rear of an advancing wave, the validity of the 

 integral formulae given by Poisson and Kirchhoff for the repre- 

 sentation of the function is not impaired by a discontinuity in 

 the differential coefficients of the function at the front or rear of 

 the wave. Certain classes of waves admit of being resolved into 

 series of pulses, propagated independently of each other, the 

 front and rear of a pulse being nodal wave-fronts presenting 

 discontinuities of this type. This is the case for spherical 

 sound waves and for electric waves of certain kinds. The paper 

 contains a new explanation of the approximately rectilinear 

 character of the propagation of light, according to which this 

 character does not depend upon the periodicity of the waves, but 

 upon the existence of a series of nodal wave-fronts. — Dr. H. F. 

 Baker, Of functions of several variables. The paper is concerned 

 wiih the problem of expressing a function of several variables, 

 without essential singularities at points where the variables are 

 finite, as a quotient of two integral functions. If p is the num- 

 ber of complex variables, the integral functions can be repre- 

 sented by integrals taken through (2p- I)-fold domains which 

 are bounded by (zf> - 2)-fold loci. The domains of convergence 

 of multiple power series are discussed, and the question of the 

 existence of series of simpler functions capable of representing 

 multi-periodic functions without finite essential singularities is 

 considered. — Mr. W. II Young, On non uniform convergence 

 and the term by term integration of' series. The case of 

 term by term integration considered ' in' the paper is the 

 most general possible. Incidentally, the most general distribution 

 of the points of non-uniform convergence of a series of point wise 

 discontinuous functions the sum of which 'is at mo;t paint-wise 



No. 1733, VOL. 67] 



discontinuous is found. — Prof. L. E. Dickson, Generational i 

 relations for the abstract group simply isomorphic with the linear 

 fractional group in the Galois field [2"]. — Rev. F. H. Jackson, 

 Series connected with the enumeration of partitions (second . 

 paper). — Prof. W. S. Burnside, (1) On the Jacobian of two 

 binary quantics considered geometrically, (2) On the resolution 

 of some skew invariants of binary quantics into their factors in 

 terms of their roots. — Mr. J. Brill, On the minors of a skew' 

 symmetrical determinant. 



Geological Society, December 17, 1902. — Prof. C. Lap- 

 worth, F.R.S., president, in the chair. — Note on the magnetite-, 

 mines near Cogne (Graian Alps), by Prof. T. G. Bonney, 

 F. R. S. These mines are situated in the Val de Cogne, one of 

 the larger tributaries to the Val d'Aosta from the Graian Alps. 

 At Filon Licone, the mass of magnetite is probably about So or 

 90 feet thick and some five times as long. At the Filon Larsine, 

 the mass apparently is not nearly so thick. The ore is a pure 

 magnetite, jointed like a serpentine, a thin steatitic film being 

 ofren present on the faces. At both localities, the magnetite is 

 found to pass rapidly into an ordinary serpentine, the transitional 

 rock being a serpentinised variety of cumberlandite. The 

 serpentine is intercalated between two masses of calc-mica- 

 schists, with which green schists (actinolitic) are as usual 

 associated, no doubt intrusively. The author discusses the 

 relations of the magnetite and serpentine, which, in his opinion, 

 indicate that a magnetitic must have been separated from a 

 peridotic magma at some considerable depth below the surface, 

 and the former, when nearly or quite solid, must have been 

 brought up, fragment-like, by the latter ; as in the case of 

 metallic iron and basalt at Ovifak (Greenland). — The elk (Alces 

 machlis, Gray) in the Thames Valley, by Mr. Edwin T. Newton, 

 F.R.S. During the construction of the Staines reservoirs, some 

 mammalian remains were obtained from the alluvium of the 

 Wraysbury River, near the Thames at Youvenev, and the author 

 has recognised among them the skull and antlers, with other 

 parts of the skeleton, of a true elk (Alces machlis). These are 

 described. It appears that Alces machlis has been frequently 

 found in peaty deposits in many parts of Great Britain and 01 

 the continent of Europe, but never in Britain in association with 

 the mammoth ; and it seems probable that in Europe and North 

 America it was a rare animal in Pleistocene times, if indeed it 

 was present before the close of that period — Observations on 

 the Tiree marble, with notes on others from Iona, by Mr. 

 Ananda K. Coomaraswamy. The gneiss near Balephetrish 

 has a general south- westerly and north-easterly trend, and the 

 limestone occurs in it as lenticles. Descriptions of the varieties 

 of the limestone in this locality are given. The inclusions 

 comprise those of gneiss containing quartz, felspars, hornblende, 

 augite, scapolite and sphene as characteristic minerals, and 

 mineral-aggregates consisting of sahlite, coccolite, scapolite, 

 sphene, apatite, calcite and mica. The contact-phenomena are 

 not specially well displayed. The dynamic phenomena include 

 the rounding of the minerals and the formation of "augen." 

 The carbonates are present as a fine-grained granular matrix. 

 Although there are exceptions, gneiss-inclusions and mineral 

 aggregates have usually been protected from the effects of 

 extreme pressure. The description of minerals includes car- 

 bonates, pyroxene, amphihole, forsterite, scapolite, sphene, 

 mica, apatite and spinel. Various marbles are described from 

 Iona, where they are associated with actinolite- felspar schists 

 and others ; they are included in the gneiss. 



Manchester. 



Literary and Philosophical Society, January 6. — Mr. 

 Charles Bailey, president, in the chair. — Prof. F. E. Weiss 

 gave an account of some of the botanical features of Western 

 America. He began with a description of some of the work 

 done at the experimental farms, and mentioned that Dr. 

 Siunders, of the Experimental Station at Ottawa, had been able 

 to obtain a hybrid between the Siberian crab-apple and a larger 

 apple, which was able to grow and fruit freely in Manitoba. He 

 then described the vegetation of the Rockies and the Selkirks, 

 and pointed out the gradual change in vegetation in passing on 

 to California. 



Dublin. 



Royal Dublin Society, December 16, 1902. — Prof. 

 W. E. Thrift in the chair. — On the conservation of mass, 

 by J. Joly, F.R.S. — An account of preliminary experi- 

 ments made with a view to find if a mass change attended 

 such physical transformations as formed the suLj ct of Here 



