March 5, 1903 J 



NA TURE 



43' 



bar, in East Africa. — A communication was read from Dr. 

 Robert Broom on the axis, atlas and proatlas of the higher 

 Theriodonts. A description of these bones in the type speci- 

 mens of Gomphognathus and Trirachodon, now preserved 

 in the Grahamstown Museum, was given, and suggestions 

 thrown out as to the relationship of these forms and Pro- 

 colophon to the modern Sphenodon and crocodiles. — Mr. C. 

 Tate Regan contributed a paper entitled " A Revision of 

 the Fishes of the Genus Triacanthus," in which seven 

 species were described, one of them, T. indicus, being new 

 to science. — Mr. G. A. Boulenger, F.R.S., read a paper 

 on the geographical variations of the sand-viper (libera 

 ammodytes), in which he distinguished a geographical race 

 (var. meridionalis) from Greece, the Archipelago and Syria, 

 from the typical form found in Austria-Hungary and Bosnia. 

 — Mr. F. G. Parsons read an account, drawn up by Mr. 

 George Candler, of the habits of the hoolock (Hylobates 

 hoolock), as observed by him in the forests of Cachar, in 

 north-east India. 



Manxhester. 

 Literary and Philosophical Society, February 3. — Mr. 

 Charles Bailey, president, in the chair. — Prof. Osborne 

 Reynolds, F.R.S., exhibited and explained some models 

 illustrating his mechanical theory of the structure of the 

 universe, propounded in his paper on the submechanics of 

 the universe, read before the Royal Society. — Mr. C. E. 

 Stromsyer read a paper on parallax determinations by 

 photography, in which he dealt with the advantages photo- 

 graphy offers for rapid and accurate surveys. The principle 

 recommended was to superimpose the image of a photo- 

 graphic negative taken at one position on the image of a 

 photographic positive taken at another position, the parallax, 

 or angle which separates two positions as seen from any of 

 the objects in the photographs, being measured micro- 

 metrically by shifting one. of the images until the object 

 registers and disappears. It was suggested that the best 

 results would be obtained by placing the two photographs 

 in two lanterns and superimposing the images on a screen 

 or into a microscope eyepiece, but the instrument shown was 

 arranged to suit a single lantern, the negative and the 

 positive being placed film to film. — Mr. W. B. Baron read 

 a paper (communicated by Mr. Stromeyer) on the influence 

 of hydrogen in fuel on the composition of the resulting flue 

 gases. He showed that by making the gab analysis, usually 

 undertaken in boiler trials, with little more than ordinary 

 care, and applying various corrections thereto, the relation 

 of hydrogen to other combustible in the fuel can be accu- 

 rately found. 



Dublin. 



Royal Dublin Society, February 17. — Pro.. J. Joly, 

 F.R.S., in the chair. — Dr. G. Johnstone Stoney, F.R.S., 

 read a paper entitled " How to Introduce Order in the Re- 

 lations between British Weights and Measures." The paper 

 describes a proposal for legislation which the author sub- 

 mitted two years ago to the Board of Trade. Its aim is 

 to get rid of the irrationality between the two methods of 

 measurement, without its being necessary for Parliament to 

 call upon the inhabitants of this country to make any change 

 in their habits of thought, or the practice to which they are 

 accustomed, until they themselves choose to do so. The 

 main parts of the proposal are that an Act be passed making 

 the yard exactly nine-tenths of the metre, the avoirdupois 

 pound exactly nine-tenths of the metric pound or half kilo- 

 gram, and the imperial gallon exactly nine-tenths of the 

 metric gallon or half dekalitre. They at present differ from 

 these amounts by small but very troublesome fractions. — Mr. 

 David Houston communicated a paper on the value of 

 bacteriological tests in judging the butter exhibited at agri- 

 cultural shows. The author had submitted all the butter 

 exhibits that had gained prizes at the Society's winter show 

 at Ball's Bridge to a detailed bacteriological examination, 

 and had also visited many of the contributing creameries 

 with the object of checking laboratory results. The experi- 

 ments, it was claimed, proved the fallacy of ordinary 

 methods of judging the quality of butter, and demonstrated 

 the utility of bacteriological tests, at least as an auxiliary 

 to the usual method, in determining the real value of butter. 

 — Mr. G. H. Carpenter read a paper on injurious insects 



NO. I74O, VOL. 67] 



and other animals observed in Ireland during the year 1902. 

 The most important records were the flour moth (Ephestia 

 Kuehniella) in Belfast Mills, and a new species of Australian 

 weevil (Syagrius intrudens, Waterh.) as a greenhouse pest 

 in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin. Mention was 

 also made of the injury to various vegetable stems and roots 

 by Enchytraeid worms. — Dr. Henry H. Dixon presented 

 two criticisms on the cohesion theory of the ascent of sap. 

 In this paper Steinbrinck's objection, based on the perme- 

 ability of the walls of the conducting tubes to air, is shown 

 to be invalid. Air passing through the wet walls must be 

 in solution, and it has been shown by experiment that 

 saturation of water by air does not appreciably lessen its 

 tensile strength. Secondly, Copeland's criticism, founded 

 on experiments made with plaster of Paris, is shown to in- 

 volve perpetual motion. The true explanation of Cope- 

 land's results is to be found in the continued absorption of 

 plaster of Paris after setting, combined with its great re- 

 sistance to the passage of water. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, February 23. — M. Albert Gaudry 

 in the chair. — The law of electromotive forces in saline solu- 

 tions : the influence of temperature, by M. Berthelot. — On 

 tuberculosis and diaphysis of the long bones of the limbs 

 and its treatment, by M. Lannelongue, If the tubercu- 

 lous abscess or tuberculome is not too large, a cure may be 

 effected by a simple washing with an antiseptic liquid con- 

 taining iodoform, creosote, ether and olive oil. In more 

 severe cases the abscess must be opened, and the whole of 

 the inside surface scraped with a cuvette. If due care is 

 taken, the abscess is not liable to recur. — The action of a 

 polarised bundle of very refrangible radiations on very small 

 electric sparks, by M. R. Blondlot. The action of the 

 X-rays from a focus tube upon an electric spark has shown 

 that these rays are polarised ; it appeared to be of interest 

 to see if a similar action could be traced in the case of a 

 bundle of polarised light rays. The whole of the experi- 

 ments described show that a bundle of polarised light rays 

 produces a notable reinforcement of the spark when its 

 plane of polarisation is normal to the spark, and does not 

 act on it when its plane of polarisation is parallel to it ; in 

 other words, there is a plane of action of polarised light 

 upon the small spark, and this plane is normal to the plane 

 of polarisation. — Prof. Koch was elected a foreign associate 

 in the place of the late Prof. Virchow. — On a particular 

 class of triple orthogonal systems, by M. C. Guichard. — 

 On the resistance of perfect gases to the movement of 

 solids, by M. L. Jacob. — A hydro-tachymeter for regulating 

 hydraulic turbines, by M. L. Ribourt. The new form of 

 governor, a description of which with drawings is given, 

 has worked very satisfactorily in practice. In that form of 

 turbine most difficult to regulate, small power with a low 

 fall, the variations of velocity have been kept constant within 

 2 per cent., although the variations of resistance amounted 

 to 30 per cent. — The variations in the modulus of elasticity 

 in nickel steels, by M. C. E. Guillaume. The method em- 

 ployed consisted in observing at different temperatures a 

 chronometer furnished with a spiral of the alloy under ex- 

 amination mounted on a brass balance. Alloys containing 

 26 per cent, and 45 per cent, of nickel possessed the smallest 

 temperature coefficient. — On the spontaneous reduction of 

 the amount of carbon in steel, by M. G. Belloc. The 

 sudden heating of a hard steel wire spiral in a vacuum gives 

 a greyish metal, soft and incapable of being tempered. This 

 effect appears to be intimately connected with the presence 

 of occluded gases, since it is not produced if occluded 

 gases are absent. — On the influence of certain modes of 

 treatment on the microscopic structure of certain nickel 

 steels, by M. Leon Quillet. Micrographic observations 

 show the effects of tempering, annealing and hammering 

 on nickel steels more clearly than mechanical tests, and in 

 shorter time. — On the products of reduction of copper salts 

 by hydroxylamine, by M. E. Pechard. An ammoniacal 

 solution of copper sulphate is decolorised by sulphate of 

 hydroxylamine, nitrogen and nitrous oxide being evolved. 

 From an ammoniacal solution of copper acetate cuprous 

 acetate can be readily obtained by hydroxylamine sulphate. 

 — The action of urea upon pyruvic acid, by M. L. J. Simon. 

 — On some phosphorus derivatives of benzophenone and 



