April 20, 1905] 



NA TURE 



599 



thiosulphate with ethyl iodoacetate and methyl, ethyl and 

 sodium bromo- and chloro-acetates have been investigated, 

 and shown in all cases to be bimolecular reactions. — The 

 tautomerism of acetyl thiocyanate : A. E. Dixon and 

 J. Hawthorne. — A method of determining the specific 

 gravity of soluble salts by displacement in their own 

 mother liquor, and its application in the case of the allcali 

 halides : J. Y. Buchanan. — The combination of mercap- 

 tans with unsaturated ketonic compounds : S. Ruhemann. 

 — The existence of a carbide of magnesium ; J. T. Nance. 

 The yellow residue formed when magnesium is heated with 

 carbon evolves hydrogen and acetylene when dissolved in 

 acids, and may contain a carbide. — Isomeric salts of the 

 type NRiRjHj. A correction. Isomeric forms of d-bromo- 

 and d-chloro-camphorsulphonic acids : F. S. Kipping. 

 The further study of the isomeric a and salts has shown 

 that the isomerism of these compounds is not due to 

 difference in the spatial arrangement of the groups attached 

 to the quinquevalent nitrogen atom, but to the existence 

 of CIS and trans forms of d-bromo- and d-chloro-camphor- 

 sulphonic acids. — Isomerism of a-bromo- and a-chloro- 

 camphor : F. S. Kipping:. — Z-Phenylethylamine : F. S. 

 Kipping and A. E. Hunter. — The influence of the 

 hydroxyl and allcoxyl groups on the velocity of saponifi- 

 cation, part i. : A. Findlay and W. E. S. Turner. The 

 numbers obtained show that the hydroxyl group exercises 

 an accelerating influence on the velocity of saponification, 

 but that on replacing the hydrogen of the hydroxyl by an 

 alkyl group the rate diminishes, and the effect increases 

 regularly with the mass of the alkyl group. 



Linnean Society, April 6.— Mi. A. C. Seward, F. R.S., 

 vice-president, in the chair. — Specimens and drawings 

 of pitchers of Nepenthes, supplemented by slides, pre- 

 pared by Mr. L. Farmar, to illustrate the various types of 

 pitchers and their marvellous glandular systems : \V. 

 Botting Hemsiey, F.R.S. Mr. Hemsley first exhibited a 

 new species. Nepenthes Macfarlanei, which differs from all 

 other known species, except N. Loivii, in the underside 

 of the lip being thickly beset with stiff bristles, interspersed 

 with honey-glands. Other species were compared with 

 N. Macfarlanei. Briefly, all the complex arrangements of 

 these plants favour the descent of insects and other crea- 

 tures into the pitchers, and hinder almost all visitors from 

 getting out again ; once in, there is little hope of escape. 

 A few hybrids were also shown, notably one named " Sir 

 William Thiselton-Dyer, " which has produced the largest 

 pitcher known in cultivation, being a pint and three- 

 quarters in capacity. — The axillary scales of aquatic Mono- 

 cotyledons : Prof. R. J. Harvey Gibson. The author com- 

 pared the ligule of Selaginella with the scales in question, 

 and suggested that the latter may be looked upon as 

 evidence that the Monocotyledons may be regarded as 

 modern representatives of primitive Angiosperms, and in 

 turn may have been genetically related to some ancestral 

 form allied to Isoetes. — A further contribution to the study 

 of Pelomyxa palustris (Greeff) : Mrs. L. J. Veley. After 

 alluding to her previous memoir in the Quarterly Journal 

 of Microscopical Science, n. ser. xxxvi. (1S94), pp. 205-306, 

 the author explained that the " rods " present in Pelomyxa 

 palustris (Greeff) are symbiotic bacteria (Cladothrix pelo- 

 myxae, Veley) ; they complete their development within 

 the animal and are then ejected, breal-iing down into free 

 "swarmers," which are ingested by other Pelomyxae, and 

 immediately re-commence the cycle. The " refringent 

 bodies " are proteid in nature, viz. some form of albumin 

 which is a waste product of the metabolism of Pelomyxa. 

 They supply the bacteria with a point of attachment 

 necessary for development, and (probably) also with 

 nourishment. — Mansonieae, a new tribe of the natural order 

 Sterculiacese : Dr. D. Prain. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, April 10. — M. Troost in the chair. 

 — Remarks on the recognition of the solar corona at times 

 other than during total eclipses : H. Desiandres. A 

 criticism of the results recently obtained by Hansky, in 

 which the difficulties introduced by diffused light in the 

 apparatus do not appear to have been sufficiently taken 

 into account. The use of a simple concave mirror, as 

 employed by Huggins in 1SS3, is decidedly preferable to 



NO. 185 I, VOL. 71] 



the system of two lenses and a mirror used by Hansky. 

 Details are given of the method suggested by the author. 

 — The conclusions to be drawn from the study of homo- 

 geneous enclosures in petrography : A. Lacroix. — The 

 plants of the plateau of the Nilghirris : Gaston Bonnier. 

 The mean temperature of Ootacamund is practically the same 

 as that of Paris, and a detailed comparison of the flora 

 of the two places is given. The altitude of the Nilghirris 

 is not sufficient for the plants to acquire all the character- 

 istics of alpine plants, but they acquire certain alpine 

 characters. There are also special modifications induced 

 by the large difference between the day and night tempera- 

 ture. — On the Peneideze and Stenopideas collected by the 

 French and .Monaco expeditions in the eastern Atlantic : 

 E. L. Bouvier. — The conflict between the primary and 

 accidental images, applied to the theory of inevitable 

 variability of retinal impressions excited by objects illumin- 

 ated by sources of light of constant value : A. Chauveau. 

 The impression produced on the retina by a geometrical 

 figure is complex, and is a resultant formed by the super- 

 position of two images, the one objective, the other sub- 

 jective, and an e.xperiment is described showing how these 

 may be separated. The effects of colour, intensity of 

 illumination, motion of the retina, displacement of the 

 eye or the object, and accommodation are considered 

 systematically. The case of the «-rays is not actually 

 taken by the author, but the considerations here put for- 

 ward clearly suffice to explain many of the phenomena 

 ascribed to the action of these rays. — The heat of form- 

 ation of sodium hydride. The acidity of the molecule of 

 hydrogen : M. de Forcrand. — On the reduction of 

 oxyhaemoglobin : R. Lepine and M. Bouiud. The 

 oxyhajmoglobin is reduced with a titrated solution of 

 ferrous sulphate, and the time of reduction noted, the 

 colouring matter being considered as reduced when the 

 two absorption bands fuse together. In normal blood from 

 the dog the time of reduction is fixed, and is between 

 eighteen and twenty minutes, and this time is independent 

 of the dilution. In anaemia, with a quantity of the re- 

 ducing agent proportional to the amount of haemoglobin, 

 the time of reduction is much increased. Prolonged in- 

 halation of ether or chloroform also increases the time 

 of reduction. Human blood from antemic patients shows 

 the same characteristics. — On Rhabdocarpus, the seeds 

 and the evolution of the Cordaiteae : M. Grand'Eury. — 

 Report presented in the name of the committee charged 

 with the scientific control of the geodesic operations at 

 the equator. The operations have been much delayed by 

 the unfavourable meteorological conditions and by the ill- 

 ness of several members of the expedition. A short 

 account is given of the progress made in triangulation, 

 levelling, and pendulum observations. An astronomical 

 station has been installed at Cuenca, and another will be 

 set up near the fourth parallel. On account of the limited 

 financial resources of the expedition, it is proposed that a 

 portion of the original scheme be dropped. — Observations 

 of the Giacobini comet (1905 a) made at the Observatory 

 of Algiers with the 318 cm. bent equatorial : MM. 

 Rambaud and Sy. The observations were made on 

 March 28, 29, and 30, and give the apparent positions of 

 the comet with the positions of comparison stars. On 

 March 28, when the atmospheric conditions were excep- 

 tionally favourable, a nucleus could be clearly made out 

 of about the thirteenth magnitude. — Actinometric observ- 

 ations at the summit of Mont Blanc in 1904 : A. Hansky. 

 The weather conditions were not favourable. The most 

 probable value of the solar constant from the 1904 observ- 

 ations is 328 calories. — On integral functions : Eugene 

 Fabry. — On Monge's problem : P. Zervos. — On the 

 equilibrium of arches in circular arcs : M. Beizecki. — 

 On the longitudinal stability of aerostats : L. Torres. A 

 discussion of a paper on the same subject by M. Renard, 

 in which, as the result of a theoretical investigation, certain 

 modifications of the stern are suggested. In the present 

 paper it is shown that this investigation is not strictly 

 correct, and that the modifications suggested will not have 

 the desired effect. — On the diamagnetism of bismuth : A. 

 Leduc. Bismuth was fused in small spherical flasks and 

 allowed to solidify in a strong magnetic field (4000 to 

 5000 C.G.S. units). The sphere of solid bismuth, sus- 

 pended in the same field, took up the same position as it 



