24 



NA TURE 



[November 3, 1904 



shown that, independently of the principal period, the 

 antennse give rise to oscillations of a higher order, the laws 

 for which have been experimentally worked out. — Study of 

 the sea bottom of the North Atlantic ; the Henderson and 

 Chaucer Banks : M. Thoulet. The examination of the 

 deposits obtained from the bed of the North Atlantic by the 

 Prince of Monaco renders the existence of the Henderson 

 and Chaucer Banks improbable. The proportion of lime 

 found was remarkably uniform, whilst the amount of sand 

 was very variable. It results that the usual method of 

 classification by sand, although very useful near the coasts, 

 is useless for the study of great depths. — Remarks on a 

 recent series of calorimetric determinations : P. Lemoult. 

 Some recent calorimetric determinations with the Kroeker 

 bomb by E. Fischer and F. Wrede are re-calculated to con- 

 stant pressure, and the results compared with the original 

 figures of Berthelot and some later unpublished ones of 

 Landrieu. The numbers given by the formulae of the author 

 are also tabulated in parallel column. — The extraction of 

 vanadium from the natural lead vanadate and the manu- 

 facture of some alloys of this metal : H. Herrenschmidt. 

 The mineral is treated in a reverberatory furnace with 

 carbonate of soda and carbon, and a slag obtained contain- 

 ing the vanadate, aluminate, and silicate of soda along 

 with oxide of iron. This is again melted, and air blown 

 through until the vanadium is completely oxidised, and the 

 sodium vanadate lixiviated. — On a new' anhydride of 

 dulcite : P. Carre. The new anhydride is obtained by 

 heating dulcite with phosphoric acid at 135° C. It is 

 isomeric with mannide, and is named dulcide. — A new 

 method for preparing organic derivatives of phosphorus : 

 V. Augrer. The solution obtained by dissolving granu- 

 lated phosphorus in alcoholic soda is heated with an alkyl 

 iodide or bromide. An alkylphosphine is formed, recognised 

 after its oxidation to the corresponding alkylphosphinic acid. 

 — The influence of the products of the breaking down of 

 albuminoid materials on the saponification of oils by cyto- 

 plasma : Ed. Urbain, L. Perruchon, and J. Lancon. — 

 On the tyrosinase of the fly : C. Gessard. In Lucilia 

 Caesar, in both stages in the life of the insect, the coloration 

 of the integument is due. to the reaction of the tyrosinase. 

 — On a parasite of Audoiiinia tentaculaia, Angeiocystis 

 audouiniae : Louis Brasil. — Oscillations of coast-line 

 animals synchronous with the tide : Georges Bohn. — On 

 the geology of the Lower Engadine : Pierre Termier. — On 

 the toxicity of the chlorohydrate of amyleine : L. Launoy. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



THURSDAY, November 3. 



Chemical Societv, at 8.— Note on the Action of Nitric Acid on the 

 Ethers; J, B Cohen and J. GateclifT.— The Condensation of Form- 

 aldehyde with Acetone (Preliminary Note) : E. A. Werner —Union 

 of Hydrogen and Chlorine. Rate of Decay of Activity of Chlorine. 

 J. W. Mellor— The Action of Phthalic Anhydride on o-Naphlhyl- 

 roagnesium-bromide : S. S. Pickles and C. Weizmann. — The Con- 

 stitution of Nitrogen Iodide: O. .Silberrad.— The Available Plant 

 Food in Soils: H. Ingle.— The Combustion of Ethylene: \V. A. 

 Bone and R. V. Wheeler.— The Decomposition of Methylurea: C. E. 

 Fawsitt — The Influence of Certain .Salts and Organic Bodies on the 

 Oxidation of Guaiacum : Miss E. G. Willcock.— The Influence of Potass- 

 ium Persulphate on the Estimation of Hydrogen Pero.\idet J. A. N. 

 Friend. —The Dynamic Isomerism of a- and ^-Crotonic Acids (Preliminary 

 Note): R. S. Morrell and E. K. Hanson.— The Influence of Sunlight on 

 the Dissolving of Gold in an Aqueous Solution of Potassium Cyanide : 

 W. A. Caldecott: (i) The Fractional Hydrolysis of Amygdalinic Acid; 

 (2) I-oamygdaline : H. D. Dakin. 



RONTGEN Society, at 8.15.— The Presidential Address : C. Thurston 

 Holland. 



Civil and Mechanical Engineers' Society, at 8.— Presidential 

 Address, The Effect of Patent Law on Modern C ivilisation : C. T. 

 Hanssen. 



FRIDAY, NovEMCER 4. 



Geologists' Association, at 8.— Conversazione. 

 MONDAY, November 7. 



Royal Geographical Society (Albert Hall), at 8 30— The Work of the 

 National .\ntarctic Expedition ; Captain R. F. Scott, R.N. 



Society of Chemical Inhustry, at 8.— The Trend of Invention in 

 Chemical Industry : J. Fletcher Moulton, F.R.S. 



TUESDA Y, November 8. 



Institution of Civil Engineers, at 8.- Coast Erosion : A. E. Carey.— 



Erosion on the Holderness Coast of 'Yorkshire : E. R. Matthews. 



WEDNESDAY, November 9. 



Geological Society, at 8. —On ilie Occurrence of EUplias miridionalis 



at Dewlisb, Dorset. No, II. Human Agency Suggested : Rev. 0>mond 



Fisher.— Notes on Upper Jurassic Ammonites, with Special Reference to 

 Specimens in the University Museum, Oxford. No. II.: Miss Maud 

 Healey.— Sarscn-Stones in a Clay-Pit : Rev. E. C. Spicer. 

 THURSDAY, November jo. 

 Institution of Electrical Engineers, at 8. — The premiums awarded 

 for papers read or published during the session 1903-4 will be presented, 

 and the president, Mr. Alexander Siemens, will deliver his inaugural 



Mathematical Society, at 5.30- — Annual General Meeting. — Presi- 

 dential Address on the Theory of Waves on Liquids; Prof H. Lamb. — 

 Note on ihe Application of the Method of Images to Problems of Vibra- 

 tions : Prof. V. Volterra.— On the Zeros of Certain Classes of Integral 

 Taylor's Series : G. H. Hardy.— The Linear Diflference Equation of 

 the First Order; Rev. E. W. Barnes. -Curves on a Conicoid : H. 

 Hilton. — Remarks on Alternants and Continuous Groups; Dr. H. F. 

 Baker.- On the Expansion of the Elliptic and Zcta Functions of 8K in 

 Powers of q : Dr. J. W. L. Glaisher.— Examples of Perpetuants : 

 J. E. Wright.— Two S inple Results in the Attraction of Uniform Wires 

 obtained by Quaternions, with, for comparison, their Verificaiion by 

 the Geometry of the Complex : Prof. R. W. Genese — On the Reduci- 

 bilily of Covariants of Binary l^)uantics of Infinite Order : P. W, 

 Wood.— On some Properties of Groups of Odd Order : Prof. W. Bum- 

 side. 



FRIDAY. November ii. 



RoYAi. Astronomical Society, at 5. 



Malacological Society, at 8. — Descriptions of Three New Species of 

 Opisthosloma from Borneo : E. A. Smith, I.S.O.— Two Apparently New 

 Species of Planispira from the Islands of Java and Gisser : Rev. R. Asb- 

 ington Bullen.— The Anatomy oi Sitiqua patida, Dixon; H. Howard 

 Bloomer.— On the Genus Tomigerus. with Descriptions of New Species : 

 H. von Ihering.— Notes on Some New Zealand Pleurotomida:: Henry 

 Suter.— Notes on Some Species of Chione from New Zealand : Henry 



Sociological Society, at 4. — Relation between Sociology and Ethics: 

 Prof. HOffding. 



NO. 1827, VOL. 71] 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Applied Electricity. By M. S I 



Adolescence. By W. G. S 3 



A Naturahst on the East Coast. By O. V. A. ... 4 



Chemical Analysis for Beginners. By J. B. C. . . . 4 

 Our Book Shelf :— 



Le Dantec : " Les Lois naturelles " 5 



Watts and Freeman : " Nature Teaching" 5 



Gowers : " Clinical Lectures on Diseases of ihe Nervous 



System " 6 



Hartog : " Lectures Scientifiques" . . . .6 



Dugast : " L'Industrie oleicole (Fabrication de I'Huile 



d'Olive)" 6 



Letters to the Editor :— 



A Note on the Coloration of Spider-. — Oswald H. 



Latter 6 



Sir John.Eliot's Address at Cambridge. — J. R. SuttDn; 



Sir John Eliot, K.C.I.E., F.R.S 6 



The Origin of Life. — George Hookham 9 



Thinking Cats.— Y. N 9 



Fish-passes and Fish-ponds. — Howietoun Fishery Co. 9 

 Average Number of Kinsfolk in each Degree. — Kiof. 



G. H. Bryan, F.R.S 9 



Misuse of Words and Phrases. — T. B. S 9 



Floods in the Mississippi. {Illustrated.) . . .10 



What is Brandy ? 11 



Notes 13 



Our Astronomical Column: — 



Astronomical Occurrences in November 16 



Encke's Comet 1904 i5. (Illustrated.). . . . 16 

 Simultaneous Occurrence of Solar and Magnetic Dis- 

 turbances .... t6 



The Third Band of the Air Spectrum . . . .17 



Pre-Glacial Topography. {Illustrated.) By I rof. 



Grenville A. J. Cole .... 17 



The Salmon Fisheries of England and Wales. By 



Frank Balfour Browne 18 



The Anatomy of Corals. {Illustrated.) By Prof. Sydney 



J. Hickson, F.R.S \ ... 18 



Seismological Notes 19 



The Racial Elements in the Present Population of 



Europe. By Dr. J. Deniker 21 



Report of the Survey of India. By T. H. H 22 



University and Educational Intelligence . . .22 



Societies and Academies 23 



Diary of Societies 24 



