December 15, 1904J 



NATURE 



167 



to the acidic ion from the total rotation of the salt in 

 aqueous solution. The series of substituted ammonium 

 salts under investigation contain the phenyl, benzyl, and 

 methyl radicals with ethyl, isopropyl, isobutyl or i\soamyI. 

 The paper contains a brief account of the resolution of the 

 isopropyl compound by means of its dextro-brom-camphor- 

 sulphonate. 



Dublin. 

 Royal Dublin Society, November 15.— Dr. R. F. Schatff 

 in the chair. — Prof. T. Johnson gave an account of a 

 disease of swedes which has caused considerable loss in 

 different parts of Ireland, especially in the west. The small 

 leaves become "spotted," turn yellow, and fall off. The 

 attack is due to Cercospora Bloxami, Berk, and Br., which 

 causes disease in swedes in Germany and Switzerland. 

 Associated with the Cercospora from different localities, the 

 author found a Phoma-stage, suggestive of Phoma 

 Rrassicae, Thiim., and in one locality, associated also with 

 Cercospora, Pleospora herbaruin, $ Brassicae (Lasch), Sacc. 

 The swede disease shows a curious parallelism with the 

 disease of the sweet chestnut investigated by Berlese in 

 Italy, where Cercosporella, Phoma or Phyllosticta, and 

 Sphcerella stages are associated. — Prof. W. F. Barrett, 

 F.R.S., read a paper on a method of protecting the hands of 

 the operator from X-ray burns. The author stated that in 

 taking some radiographs of surgical cases during the first 

 three months of 1896 (shortly after Rontgen's discovery) 

 he noticed the extreme opacity to the X-rays of any band- 

 ages which contained a dressing of iodoform. This led to 

 a series of experiments on the relative transparency of bodies 

 to the X-rays, and it was discovered, early in March, 1896, 

 that all bodies of high molecular weight, such as iodoform, 

 were opaque to these rays. If, then, the burns produced 

 by the X-rays be due to those rays which cannot penetrate 

 a layer of iodoform, it is easy to construct gauntlets with 

 an inner lining tilled with iodoform which would entirely 

 protect the hands of the operator. Such gloves would be 

 far more flexible and far lighter than gloves with a lead 

 lining. The author added to his paper an historical note 

 on the relative transparency of bodies to the X-rays, giving 

 a brief summary of the work done. 



M.ANCHESTER. 



Literary and Philosophical Society, November 15. — 

 Prof. W. Boyd Dawkins, F.R.S., president, in the chair. 

 — Dr. W. E. Hoyle exhibited specimens of certain rare 

 Cephalopoda : — (i) Ancistrochirus lichtoisteini from the 

 Maldive Archipelago, the type specimen in the Paris 

 Museums being the only one previously known. (2) A 

 species of Cirroteuthis from the neighbourhood of the Cape 

 of Good Hope, beautifully preserved in formol, and exhibit- 

 ing the gelatinous appearance and rounded stumpy form 

 of the animal in a way never seen in examples preserved in 

 alcohol. (3) Section of an octopod embryo from Zanzibar 

 showing a number of peculiar chitinous rods in the epithe- 

 lium. — Mr. F. Nicholson communicated a note on the 

 mistaken idea that birds are seed-carriers, in which the 

 author stated that he had found no evidence from his own 

 observations, extending over many years, that entire seed 

 can pass through a healthy bird. In confirmation of this 

 view Mr. Nicholson quoted two passages from Macgillivray's 

 " A History of British Birds," in which the author states 

 that of many hundreds of berry-eating and seed-eating 

 birds which he had opened there were only two which 

 showed the presence of whole seed in their intestines, and 

 these two were in all probability cases of diseased action. 

 — Mr. R. W. Ellison exhibited a number of birds' eggs, in- 

 cluding specimens of the following : — the great black- 

 backed, the lesser black-backed, the herring, and black- 

 headed gulls, the Sandwich and lesser terns, the ring sand 

 plover, and the guillemot. The selection was made with 

 the view of demonstrating certain facts as to the coloration 

 of the eggs and its relation to that of their surrounding?. 

 Paris. 



Academy of Sciences, December 5.— M. Mascart in the 

 chair. — On the general formula giving the number of 

 double integrals of the second species in the theory of 



algebraic surfaces: Emile Picard On the nepheline rocks 



of Tahiti : M. Lacroix. A detailed examination of a series 

 of rocks from Tahiti constitutes a continuous series from a 

 petrographical point of view, in which the mineralogical 

 NO. 1833, VOL. 71] 



variations are essentially the result of an increase in the 

 amount of lime, iron, and manganese, accompanied with 

 a corresponding reduction in the amount of silica and 

 alkalis. — On differential equations of a parabolic type : Vito 

 Volterra — Observations on the Perseids for 1904, and the 

 determination of their heights above the ground : V. 

 Fournier, A. Chaudot, and G. Fournier. The observ- 

 ations were carried out on the nights between August 9 

 and 16. 274 meteors were registered, 180 of which were 

 Perseids. Only 27 of these were of the first magnitude, 

 the greater part being of the third or fourth order. With 

 the view of determining the heights of some of the meteors 

 simultaneous observations were carried out on the night 

 of August 16 at Rouvray and at Morvan (C6te d'Or), two 

 stations loi kilometres apart. 32 shooting stars were 

 noted at the first station, and 52 at the second, 13 of these 

 being common to both, and of these 4 have been reduced. 

 The height at the first appearance varied from 107 to 283 

 kilometres, at disappearance from 35 to 66 kilometres, and 

 the length of the trajectory from 56 to 241^ kilometres. The 

 average height for the first appearance was 168 kilometres, 

 and of disappearance 53 kilometres, these figures being 

 greater than those obtained by M. Chretien in 1901. — On 

 groups of the order pm(p prime, ffl>4) of which all the 

 divisors of the order pm-^ are Abelian : M. Potron. — The 

 design of high-speed vessels : Vice-Admiral Fournier. — On 

 telestereoscopy : Paul Helbronner. The object of the ex- 

 periments was, whilst preserving the strong magnification 

 of the telescope objective, to get the details standing out 

 in clear relief. The arrangement described has been used 

 in geodesic work in the French Alps, and has been found 

 very useful. — Researches on dielectric solids : V. Cremieu 

 and L. Malcles. By means of a quantitative study of the 

 phenomena described qualitatively in a previous note, the 

 diminution of electrical influence through solid dielectrics 

 by the production in the dielectric of a reactive charge is 

 clearly established. — Experiments permitting of the demon- 

 stration of the »!-rays ; H. Bordier. With the view of re- 

 moving objections to the purely subjective experiments 

 which are used for the detection of the ii-rays, the author 

 has applied with success a photographic method, very long 

 exposures being employed on account of the feeble intensity 

 of the light emitted. — On the composition of colloidal 

 granules: Victor Henri and Andr(§ Mayer. The compo- 

 sition of the colloidal granules of copper ferrocyanide studied 

 by J. Duclaux may be considered as a particular case of the 

 phenomenon of adsorption. The granules may be looked 

 upon as formed by copper ferrocyanide which has adsorbed a 

 certain quantity of potassium ferrocyanide. It is not neces- 

 sary that compounds of indefinite chemical composition 

 should be assumed. — The action of methylene chloride upon 

 toluene in the presence of aluminium chloride : James 

 Lavaux. It is shown that the ditolylmethane and dimethyl- 

 anthracene isolated by previous workers on this reaction 

 are mixtures. From the former the author has isolated 

 dimeta- and dipara-ditolylmethane, and ;8-methylanthracene, 

 and from the latter three isomeric dimethylanthracenes. — On 

 the retrogradation of some cyclic secondary amines : P. 

 Lemoult. Amines of the type R — NHR' on heating with 

 PCI- give some of the primary amine RNH,, together with 

 R'Cl. The reaction was best marked with the methyl- 

 anilines. — On the organic combinations of metals in plants : 

 MM. SchlagdenhaufTen and Reeb. — On the synthesis 

 and chemical nature of sorbierite : Gabriel Bertrand. It 

 is shown synthetically that the sorbierite described by the 

 author in a previous paper is identical with the d-idite of 

 Fischer and Fay. — The biological rdle of the diffusion of 

 liquids : St^phane Leduc. — Researches on the germination 

 of the spores of some yeasts : A. Guilliermond. — On the 

 anatomical modifications which are produced in the course 

 of the evolution of certain rhizomes : Andr^ Dauphine. — 

 Biospeleology : .Armand Vire. A discussion of the bearing of 

 the evidence of the animals found in caves on the theory of 

 evolution. — Osmotic communication between the vital and 

 exterior media in certain marine Selacian fishes : Ren6 

 Quinton. — Lcrnaeenicus Spratlac, a parasite of the sardine 

 on the coasts of Vendfe : Marcel Baudouin. — The action of 

 calcium permanganate on alkaloids, and in particular on 

 strychnine : G. Baudran. — The nutritive value of cows' 

 milk, sterilised at 108° C, for artificial feeding: G. 

 Variot. .As the result of work carried on over a period of 



