February 12, 1903J 



NA TURE 



359 



of South Tyrol. Further, it corresponded to the horizon ol 

 the " Reichenhall Limestone " and the " Myophoria Beds " 

 in North Tyrol, and probably also to the well-known 

 " Roth " horizon in the North German Trias. Throughout 

 the Tertiary crust-movements in the Alps, this passage-zone 

 had been the great crush-zone of the district. It occurred 

 in Fassa below a massive development of calcareous rocks, 

 and above an almost equal thickness of mixed deposits; it 

 was, therefore, a well-marked " critical " zone, within the 

 earth's crust, interleaved between rock material presenting 

 strongly contrasted physical characters. One of the general 

 results of the lecturer's detailed survey had been to prove 

 that porphyrite sills and sheets had been intruded in Fassa 

 into the local fault lines and planes of crust deformation 

 which developed during Middle and Late Tertiary Alpine 

 movements. After indicating on her geological map the 

 complete sequence of the igneous rocks which she had proved 

 at Monzoni (see Geological Magazine, July, 1902), Mrs. 

 Gordon proceeded to describe her results regarding cross-fold 

 formation. Several deform.itional movements had affected 

 this district. In the first place, undulations directed east 

 and west had formed a steep southern face and a 

 long northern slope, the width of an undulation 

 being about four and a half miles. These had been 

 deformed by oblique cross-folds, which developed along 

 two directions, E.N.E., W.S.W. and W.N.W.-E.S.E., 

 the E.N.E. -W.S.W. direction being the principal axis 

 of deformation. During these " Asta " movements the 

 steep south faces of the original plications were overthrust 

 towards S.S.E., or locally towards S.S.W., and the first 

 inrush of molten rock occurred into zones of crust-attenu- 

 ation and fracture. Still later another duplex deform- 

 ational system (the Judicarian) was superinduced upon the 

 earlier; the principal axis was N.N.E.-S.S.W. in direction, 

 but the leading N.N.E.-S.S.W. faults were cut by N.N.W.- 

 S.S.E. companion faults. Horizontal differential move- 

 ments had occurred, and local thrusts and shear slips took 

 place again, fragmenting the previous thrust-masses and 

 igneous intrusions. Mrs. Gordon showed by reference to 

 her map that the most intense effects of crust-deformation 

 had been coeval with this advanced stage in the super- 

 position of duplex deformational systems upon the original 

 and fundamental east-west undulations. The larger in- 

 trusions of augite porphyrite had passed into fault-planes, 

 which were associated with the advanced stages of move- 

 ment. A subsequent epoch of crust-adjustment and surface- 

 erosion had ensued, characterised by local subsidences 

 taking place preeminently along the previous crust-frac- 

 tures. Local crumplings had then occurred, chiefly around 

 large masses of igneous rock or the larger deformation frag- 

 ments of Triassic Limestone. Small igneous intercalations 

 of highly differentiated rock material accompanied these 

 inthrows. Mrs. Gordon's interpretation of this remarkable 

 series of cross-movements was based upon the principle of 

 the simultaneous action of paired resultant strains acting 

 along N.E.-S.W. and N.W.-S.E. directions, the precise 

 directive angle varying in proportion as the east-west or the 

 north-south stresses due to crust-compression were the more 

 powerful, and also in accordance with particular local modifi- 

 cations of the regional strains. The address gave rise *o 

 prolonged discussion, in which Mr. Cadell, Mr. Clough, 

 Mr. Cunningham-Craig, Mr. Bailey and the chairman took 

 part. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, February 2. — M. Albert Gaudry 

 in the chair. — Remarks by M. Ph. van Tieghem on a 

 memoir " Sur les Ochnace^es." — Contribution to the history 

 of fossil man, by M. Albert Gaudry, Most of the fossil 

 remains of man date from the Glacial epoch, contemporary 

 with the reindeer and mammoth. But there are a few fossil 

 specimens which appear to be earlier than the Glacial epoch, 

 and to date from a warmer period of the Quaternary. It 

 has been generally concluded that, as a result of the ex- 

 tension of the Scandinavian glaciers, the existing animals, 

 including man, were driven south. The question of the 

 origin of the men of the warmer period is more difficult. 

 From a comparison of the dentition of a skull discovered at 

 Mentone, and dating from the latter period, with that of 

 the fossils of the Glacial period and of existing races, the 

 conclusion is drawn that these men were indigenous to the 



NO. 1737, VOL. 67] 



southern regions, but as these results are arrived at from 

 the examination of a single specimen, further confirmation 

 of this view is necessary. — On the heart of tuberculous sub- 

 jects, by MM. Ch. Bouchard and Balthazard. A pre- 

 liminary comparison of the hearts of healthy and tubercu- 

 lous subjects appeared to show that in tuberculous males 

 the heart is smaller than in healthy males, whilst in 

 tuberculous females the heart is very nearly normal. A 

 more detailed study of these subjects showed, however, the 

 influence of the stage of the disease and also the effect of 

 predisposition. The opinion which has often been expressed, 

 but never clearly demonstrated, that smallness of the heart 

 predisposes to tuberculosis is now confirmed by these 

 observations. — On the absorption of light in symmetrical 

 crystalline bodies and in certain disymmetrical media, such 

 as substances naturally isotropic, solid or fluid, affected by 

 magnetism and submitted to its action, by M. J. 

 Boussinesq. — On the latest comet, by M. Perrotin. The 

 Giacobini comet is not identical with the Tempel-Swift 

 comet, and is probably new. — Approximate algebraic ex- 

 pressions for transcendental, logarithmic and exponential 

 functions, by M. J. A. Normand. — On the viscosity in a 

 vitreous medium, by M. P. Duhem. — On the polarisation 

 of the X-rays, by M. R. Blondlot. All attempts made 

 hitherto to produce polarisation of the X-rays have been 

 without positive results, and the possibility of their being 

 actually polarised on emission from the tube seemed worthy 

 of examination. The use of a small electric spark, similar 

 to that already used by the author in his researches on the 

 velocity of propagation of the X-rays, as an analyser, showed 

 that this view is in accordance with the facts observed ; a 

 bundle of X-rays has the same asymmetry as a bundle of 

 polarised light rays. Quartz and sugar turn the plane of 

 polarisation of the X-rays in the same sense as that of light, 

 rotations up to 40 having been observed. The secondary 

 X-rays, or 8-rays, are equally polarised ; active substances 

 turn the plane of polarisation in the contrary sense to that 

 of light. The author regards it as extremely probable that 

 magnetic rotation exists both for the X-rays and the S-rays, 

 and further experiments upon this are in progress. — The 

 perpetual s<-_retary informed the Academy of the death of 

 M. Rebout, correspondent in the section of chemistry. — M. 

 Leon Labbe was elected a free academician in the place cf 

 the late M. Damour. — Observations of the comet 1903 a, 

 made with the 35 cm. equatorial of the Observatory of 

 Lyons, by MM. J. Guillaume and G. Le Cadet. — Pro- 

 visional elements of the new Giacobini comet (1903 a), by 

 M. G. Fayet. — Observations of the sun made at the Observ- 

 atory of Lyons with the 16 cm. Brunner equatorial during 

 the fourth quarter of 1902, by M. J. Guillaume. The re- 

 sults are summarised in three tables, giving the number of 

 sun-spots, their distribution in latitude and the distribution 

 of the facula? in latitude. — On a rectilineal band of Jupiter, 

 oblique abnormally to the equator, observed in December, 

 1902, and January, 1903, by M. Amann. — On groups of 

 substitutions, by M. G. A. Miller. — On active couples of 

 permutations, by M. Desire Andre. — On slipping in fluids, 

 by M. Hadamard. — On the reciprocal influence of two 

 neighbouring oscillators : the character of the discontinu- 

 ities, by M. Marcel Brillouin. — New researches on the ex- 

 pansion of nickel steel, by M. C. E. Guillaume (p. 352). 

 — On the esterification of mannite by phosphoric acid. 

 by M. P. Carre. — On the signification of experiments 

 made in balloons on the respiratory exchanges, by M. J. 

 Tissot. A criticism of some results published by Schrcetter 

 and Zuntz. The author sees no reason to doubt the 

 accuracy of the experimental results previously published by 

 him, and summarises the conclusions to be arrived at from 

 these experiments. — Contribution to the morphology of the 

 ligaments accessory to the temporomaxillary articulation 

 l.v M. J. Chaine. — On the presence of ergastoplasmic form- 

 ations in the follicular epithelium of birds, by Mile. Marie 

 Loyez. — Observations on the genesis of giant cells, by 

 M. V. Babes. Besides simple cell division, budding occu- 

 pies an important place in the growth of tissues, and a 

 large proportion of giant cells are only modifications of these 

 buds. This view is applied to the consideration of the growth- 

 of the placenta, giant tuberculous cell myxo-sarcoma, and 

 other cases. — The ratio of the weight of the liver to the 

 total weight of the animal, by M. E. Maurel. Except during 



