IO) 
Islands; it has also been found in Ceylon.—R. 
Lydekker: The Malay race of the Indian elephant. 
The author made the young Negri Sembilan 
elephant, formerly living in the society’s gardens, the 
type of a new race, Elephas maximus hirsutus, subsp. 
n., characterised by the square, instead of triangular, 
form of the ear, the early date at which its upper 
margin is bent over, and the presence in the young 
condition—at least, in some cases—of a thick coat of 
black and in part bristly hair.—Prof. W. J. Dakin: 
The fauna of Western Australia : (1) the Onychophora, 
(2) the Phyllopoda. 
Mineralogical Society, March 17.—Dr. A. E. H. 
Tutton, president, in the chair.—F. P. Mennell: An 
occurrence of bornite nodules in shale from Mashona- 
land. The ore-body of the Umkondo mine in south- 
east Mashonaland consists of a bed of shale through 
which are scattered nodules of bornite, most probably 
pseudomorphous after concretionary pyrites. The en- 
closing rocks are of the same age as the Waterberg 
series of the Transvaal, and contain pseudomorphs 
after salt in some of the shale bands. The occurrence 
of copper and salt at nearly the same _ horizon is 
paralleled in the Lower Keuper beds of Europe.—A. 
Scott : Augite from Bail Hill, Dumfriesshire. It occurs 
in crystals, which are black in colour, but yellowish- 
green in thin sections, and of two types, simple and 
twinned, and have the axial constants a:b:c= 
0:5844 : 1: I-:0932, B=105° 48’, and refractive indices 
1-708, 1-713, 1-728. Sections parallel to the plane of 
symmetry show the hour-glass structure characteristic 
of titaniferous augite——Dr. G. T. Prior: A  sulph- 
arsenite of lead from the Binnenthal. Analysis of the 
crystals, on which the prism zone alone was developed, 
showed that the composition corresponded to the 
formula, 3PbS.2As.S,, which is that attributed to 
rathite; crystallographically, however, the crystals 
seem nearer to dufrenoysite.—Dr. G. T. Prior : Phaco- 
lite and gmelinite from co. Antrim. In both instances 
analyses of these minerals, which are varieties of the 
same species, differing in habit of crystal, showed an 
excess of hydrated silica over the composition repre- 
sented by the formula, (Ca,Na,)AI,Si,O,,.6H,O. 
Royal Meteorological Society, March 18.—Mr. C. J. P. 
Cave, president, in the chair.—Prof. A. C, Seward: 
Climate as tested by fossil plants. The difficulty of 
using fossil plants as tests of climate becomes increas- 
ingly great in proportion to the degree of difference 
between the extinct types and their nearest living 
relations. It is from the examination of petrified 
plants, the delicate tissues of which are almost per- 
fectly preserved, that data may be obtained throwing 
light on climatic conditions. This method of inquiry 
is best illustrated by a consideration of some of the 
anatomical features of the leaves, stems, and roots of 
trees which grew in the forests of the Coal period; 
the form and arrangement of cells in the leaves indi- 
cate fairly bright sunlight; large spaces in the cortex 
of roots point to growth in swamps. The geograph- 
ical distribution of plants during the latter part of the 
Paleozoic era affords evidence of the existence of two 
botanical provinces, a northern province characterised 
by a luxuriant flora living under conditions more 
genial than those to which the poorer flora of the 
southern hemisphere was exposed. The presence or 
absence of rings of growth in the petrified stems of 
plants may afford evidence of the occurrence’ or 
absence of seasonal changes. A general survey of the 
Jurassic flora of the world leads to the conclusion that 
the climate was comparatively uniform, and in Arctic 
and Antarctic regions much more genial than at the 
present day. The fossil floras of more recent geo- 
logical periods furnish clear evidence of subtropical 
conditions in Europe; in later times the occurrence 
NO. 231%, VOL. 92) 
NATURE 
/ 
[Marcu 26; 1914. 
of northern types in Britain heralds the approach of 
the Glacial period, and in post-Glacial beds are found 
fragmentary remains of immigrants from neighbour-. 
ing floras which have largely contributed to our pre- 
sent flora. 
Paris. 
Academy of Sciences, March 9.—M. P. Appell in the 
chair.—H. Deslandres and A. Perot: The design of an 
electromagnet capable of giving a magnetic field of 
100,000 gauss. The limits of the magnetic field are 
imposed by the saturation of the iron and the heating 
of the bobbins. By a special method of cooling the 
bobbins and modifying their position with respect to 
the iron core the authors have already obtained a 
field of 51,500 gauss. For the proposed magnet, 
keeping the same concentration of ampere-turns, the 
copper used is to be pure, and strongly cooled petrol to 
be utilised to carry away the heat generated in the 
coil. On account of the large consumption of elec- 
trical energy it will be necessary to set up the magnet 
close to a large generating station to reduce the cost 
of the current.—G. Gouy: The action of gravity on 
gaseous mixtures, notably in the terrestrial atmosphere. 
From a mathematical investigation it is concluded that 
the action of gravity on the composition of air is too 
slow to produce sensible effects except in the in- 
accessible region where the pressure is comparable with 
that in a Crookes tube.—Paul Sabatier and Léo Espil : 
The reduction of nickel protoxide and the exist- 
ence of a _ sub-oxide. The reduction of oxide 
of nickel NiO by hydrogen has been studied 
at varying temperatures, the reaction being fol- 
lowed by weighing the . water formed. Reduc- 
tion is more readily effected on an oxide which 
has been formed at a low than at a high temperature, 
and an increase in the velocity of the current of 
hydrogen also increases the reduction. The velocity 
of reduction is an exponential function of the tempera- 
ture. There are indications of the formation of a sub- 
oxide, Ni,O; this is also reduced but at a slower rate 
than the original NiO.—P. E. Gau: General trans- 
formations of differential systems.—G, Armellini; The 
general theorem on the problem of n bodies.—Victor 
Valcovici: Hydrodynamic resistance in non-uniform 
movement.—Charles Rabut: The calculation of the 
forces developed by the contraction of cement in 
armoured concrete.—Th. De Donder: The kinematic 
interpretation of Poynting’s theorem.—Louis Benoist 
and Hippolyte Copaux: The application of the laws 
of transparency of matter to the X-rays to the deter- 
mination of some contested atomic weights. Cases of 
thorium and cerium. From the opacity to the X-rays 
the values 232 and 140 are found to be the most 
probable atomic weights for thorium and cerium re- 
spectively.—Georges Claude: The light yield of neon 
tubes as a function of their diameter.—B. Szilard: A 
radium lightning conductor. A small dise carrying a 
radium preparation is placed beneath the point of the 
conductor. The electrical effects observed with. this 
in air are described.—H. Parodi: An arrangement of 
rings or brushes capable of replacing the collector in 
dynamos.—E,. Rothé and R. Clarté: The influence of 
the state of the atmosphere on the propagation and 
reception of hertzian waves.—Mme. N. Demassieux : 
Study of the equilibrium between the chlorides of lead 
and sodium in aqueous solution.—Léon Guillet ; The 
alloys of copper, nickel, and aluminium. Measure- 
ments of the elastic limit, breaking strain, hardness, 
and resilience of three sets of alloys containing 60, 
83, and go per cent. of copper, and varying propor- 
tions of nickel and aluminium.—R. Lespieau : Passage 
from the dimethyl ethers of the acetylene glycols to 
the glycols.—E. E, Blaise: The formation of rings 
from the 1:4 diketones.—H. Gault: Oxalacetic ester. 
