288 
NATURE 
[May 14, 1914 
an earthed conducting region overhead, such as might 
be originated by gradual discharge from a pointed rod. 
—Prof. A. Schuster; Newcomb’s method of investigat- 
ing periodicities and its application to Briickner’s 
weather cycle—E. N. Da C. Andrade: The flow in 
metals subjected to large constant stresses. The law 
connecting the extension with time for wires of 
various metals subjected to large stresses has been 
examined at different temperatures. The stress was 
kept constant throughout the flow by the device of a 
hyperbolic weight employed in former experiments. 
The different types of flow observed for . different 
metals at room temperature are only particular cases 
of one general law governing the flow of all single 
metals, and can ail be found for one metal by choosing 
an appropriate temperature; thus, soft iron at 450° C. 
behaves similarly to lead at 15° C.—G. I. Taylor: 
Eddy motion in the atmosphere. The paper contains 
a theoretical discussion of the function of eddies in 
conveying heat and momentum through a fluid. It 
is shown also that measurements of the temperature 
of the air over the Great Bank of Newfoundland made 
by the author last year, lead to the conclusion that 
eddies extend upwards over the sea to a height of at 
least 800 metres; and that there is no appreciable 
diminution in their size or intensity at this height. 
On the assumption of a uniform amount of eddy 
motion, the velocity of the wind at various heights 
above the ground is calculated, and shown to agree 
with the most recent observations carried out over 
Salisbury Plain.—Prof. Ernest Wilson: The properties 
of magnetically-shielded iron as affected by tempera- 
ture. In a paper recently read before the Royal 
Society, it is shown that if stalloy in ring form’ is 
shielded from the earth’s magnetism and subjected to 
a considerable magnetising force at atmospheric tem- 
perature, the permeability can be increased. The pre- 
sent experiments deal with the effect of allowing 
Stalloy to cool down through the temperature at which 
it regains magnetic quality when in a shield and when 
under the influence of a magnetising force due to a 
continuous current. Two specimens have been sub- 
jected to this treatment, and in each case the maxi- 
mum permeability has a value of above 10,000 when 
the specimen is at atmospheric temperature. 
Geological Society, April 29.—Dr. A. Smith Wood- 
ward, president; and afterwards, Mr. W. Hill, vice- 
president, in the chair.—A. S. Woodward: The lower 
jaw of an anthropoid ape (Dryopithecus) from the 
Upper Miocene of Lérida (Spain). The greater part 
of a mandibular ramus and symphysis of Dryopithecus 
fontani is described. The specimen is the latest jaw 
of an anthropoid ape hitherto discovered in Europe. 
The relatively small size of the’ first molar is to be 
regarded as a primitive character, lost in all modern 
anthropoids except some Gibbons. The shape of the 
mandibular symphysis is remarkably primitive, with 
the surface of insertion for the digastric muscle nearly 
as large as that of the ancestral Macaques. The 
anterior face of the symphysis slopes directly upwards 
from the front edge of this insertion, as in the 
Macaques, some Gibbons, and very young individuals 
of the chimpanzee, gorilla, and orang. It thus differs 
from the mandibular symphysis in adult individuals 
of these existing apes, in which the lower portion 
of the slope curves backwards into a4 flange or shelf 
of bone, while the digastric insertion is reduced in 
extent. So far as its lower jaw is concerned, Dryo- 
pithecus is a generalised form from which modern 
anthropoid apes and man_ have diverged in two 
different directions.—Prof. J. W. Gregory: The struc. 
ture of the Carlisle-Solway Basin, and the sequence 
of its Permian and Triassic rocks. The Carlisle- 
Solway basin has been generally represented as a 
NO. 2324,70n, 502 | 
syncline, with the Solway resting on a great thick- 
ness of Triassic rocks. A boring made near Gretna 
| in 1794 shows, on the contrary, that Lower Carbon- 
iferous rocks crop out thereat the surface. This 
boring shows that the basin is not a simple syncline. 
The evidence derived from the boring necessitates 
reconsideration of the Permo-Triassic sequence in 
north Cumberland, as to which the Geological Survey 
maps and memoirs are not in agreement. Arguments 
are given to show that the evidence for the existence 
of the St. Bees Sandstone at the bottom of the Abbey- 
town and Bowness borings is quite inconclusive, and 
the fact is improbable. The view adopted by the 
Geological Survey map that the area west and north- 
west of Carlisle consists of Keuper deposits, is also 
improbable. 
MANCHESTER. 
Literary and Philosophical, April 7.—Mr. ie Nichol- 
son, president, followed by Prof. F. E. Weiss, vice- 
president, in the chair.—W. C. Grummitt and Dr. 
H. G, A. Hickling : A preliminary note on the structure 
of coal. It was suggested that the essential con- 
stituent of coal is a homogeneous substance, red or 
orange in colour when thin enough to be transparent. 
This material under the microscope frequently shows 
evidence of ‘flow,’ and was doubtless a _ liquid 
vegetable decomposition product. This, in its purest 
form, constitutes the ‘“‘bright’’ layers of coal; with 
strongly developed ‘cleat’? or cleavage. Vegetable 
structures are preserved in coal in two forms: (1) in 
a ‘‘carbonised’’ condition, as is found pure in 
‘‘mother-of-coal,’” and is quite opaque even when 
less than 1 m thick; (2) impregnated with the 
transparent material described above, spores being 
the most readily distinguishable parts preserved in 
this manner. The ash from the various coals con- 
sists largely of fibrous material which is clearly an 
incombustible residue of vegetable structure and closely 
resembles the ash obtained by burning wood. The 
spores from certain coals can be isolated by macera- 
tion with Schultz solution. { i : 
April 28.—Mr. F. Nicholson, president, in the chair. 
—R. F. Gwyther: Specification of stress. Part v., An 
outline of the theory of hyper-elastic stress. The 
author dealt with the mathematical conditions of a 
body from the time of exceeding the elastic limit and 
when approaching to the conditions of rupture.—H. P. 
Walmsley and Dr. Walter Makower : The photographic 
action of a rays. Each a particle on striking a grain 
of silver in a photographic film affects that grain in 
such a manner as to be capable of photographic 
development. The path of the ray is thus apparent 
under the microscope. 
Paris. 
Academy of Sciences, May 4.—M. P. Appell in the 
chair.—The President announced the death of M. van 
Tieghem, perpetual secretary.—Maurice Hamy: The. 
position to be given to the astronomical observatory on 
Mont Blanc. Various possible sites have been 
examined from the points of view of uninterrupted 
horizon, accessibility and stability, and the advantages 
and disadvantages of each site discussed. The best 
position would appear to be the Petit Flambeau (3435 
metres).—Emile Picard: Some- reflections on certain 
results of Henri Poincaré concerning analytical 
mechanics.—Pierre Termier: Eduard Suess, the man 
and his work.—C,. Guichard: Certain special congru- 
ences of circles and spheres.—René Baillaud : A photo- 
graphic astrolabe.—N. E. Nérlund: Series of faculties. 
—Ernest Esclangen: The quasi-periodic integrals of 
linear differential equations.—Michel Fekete: A lower 
limit of the changes of sign of a function in an 
interval.—N. Lusin: a problem of M. Baire.—Lucien 
Godeaux : Double algebraic surfaces having a finite 
