Bid 
aay 
NovEMBER 1906 | 
NARORE 
95 
bustion of hydrocarbons, ii.: W. A. Bone, J. Drugman, 
and G. W. Andrew. ‘The “‘ inflammation ’’ of mixtures of 
ethane or ethylene and oxygen has been studied. In each 
case, steam, aldehydes, ethylene, and acetylene are 
prominent during the initial stages of combustion, whilst 
carbon is a later product.—Contributions to the theory of 
solutions, i., the nature of the molecular arrangement in 
aqueous mixtures of the lower alcohols and acids of the 
paraffin series; ii., molecular complexity in the liquid 
state; iii., theory of the intermiscibility of liquids: J. 
Holmes.—The relation between natural and synthetical 
glyceryl-phosphoric acids, part ii.: F. Tutin and A. C. O. 
Hann. It is concluded from the results obtained that the 
natural and  synthetical glyceryl-phosphoric acids are 
differently constituted mixtures of the a and B acids.— 
Thiocarbonic acid and some of its salts: Miss I. G. 
O'Donoghue and Miss Z. Kahan. The acid has the 
formula H,CS,. The salts are very unstable even in a 
vacuum.—Studies in optical superposition, part ii.: T. S. 
Patterson and J. Kaye. The optical properties of 
di-l-menthyl-/-tartrate, di-l-menthy! diacetyl-l-tartrate, and 
sodium /-menthyl /-tartrate have been examined.—Optically 
active dihydrophthalic acid: A. Neville. When the 
hydrogen strychnine salt of trans-A*:°-dihydrophthalic acid 
is fractionally crystallised from alcohol, the acid is resolved 
into its laevo- and dextro-isomerides, which are described. 
Entomological Society, November 7.—Mr. F. Merri- 
field, president, in the chair.—Exhibitions.—H. J. Lucas: 
Photograph of Panorpa germanica, practically immaculate, 
from Sutherlandshire, and a typical form for comparison, 
corresponding apparently to the borealis of Stephens. 
Also a series of the genus to illustrate the range of spotting 
on the wings of both sexes.—G. C. Champion: A long 
series of a Henicopus (probably H. spiniger, Duval), from 
El Barco, Galicia, Spain, to demonstrate the dimorphism 
of the females.—H. St. J. Donisthorpe : Seven specimens 
of Prionocyphon serricornis, Miull., bred from larve taken 
in the New Forest in July, live larve, and a larva and 
pupa, figured, of the same, with a note on the species.— 
Dr. T. A. Chapman: (1) A collection of butterflies, made 
in Galicia (lat. 42° 16’ N., long. 6° 44’ W.) last July, in- 
cluding Lycaena idas, hitherto reported only from the 
Sierra Nevada, in the south-east of Spain. (2) L. argus 
(aegon) from the same district, which, though very close 
to the vars. hypochiona and bejarensis, differed in a certain 
proportion of the specimens presenting the red of the 
marginal “‘ peacock eyes’’ on the upper surface of the 
hind wings of the males.—Hon. N. C. Rothschild : 
Branches of Viburnum lantana showing the mines of Sesia 
andreniformis, now discovered as the food-plant of the 
species in Britain for the first time.—E. D. Jones: Two 
species of the genus Mollipa bred from Brazilian larve 
which were identical in form; also photographs of the 
larve in situu—Dr. F. A. Dixey: A case of female 
Pierine butterflies to illustrate various conditions under 
which white pigment might be replaced by black. He 
said that though melanism may occur as a_ sport, it 
owed its establishment to the principle of selective adapt- 
ation.—The President, mentioning a bug which Mr. Cecil 
Floersheim had found very destructive ‘to the eggs of 
Papilio machaon and P. asterias, said that it was remark- 
able to find one of the Heterotoma as a carnivorous species. 
Faraday Society Novemb-r 13.—Dr. F. Mollw> Perkin, 
treasurer, in the chair.—Some investigations relative to the 
depreciation of electrolytically produced solutions of sodium 
hypochlorite: W. P. Digby. This deals, in the first 
place, with depreciation taking place in bottles of various 
colours, in which dark amber bottles gave the best results, 
the loss in 1817 Gays being about 40 per cent. for a solu- 
tion containing 4.216 grms. of available chlorine per litre. 
The corrosive action of hypochlorite solutions upon various 
metals is then discussed, and the depreciations due to 
graphite, copper, zinc, lead, and iron plates immersed in 
such solutions are set forth for a period of 480 hours. A 
much greater depreciation takes place, due to galvanic 
action, when two dissimilar metals immersed in the liquid 
are connected by an insulated wire; the paper gives records 
in the case of twenty-one different couples. When iron is 
present as one metal in such a couple, the depreciations 
are generally greater than for any two other metals.—The 
<€ . . r . 
Hermite electrolytic process at Poplar: C. V. Biggs. 
: NO. 1934, VOL 75]| 
This paper is a contribution to the data at present avail- 
able on the subject of the electrolytic productions of hypo- 
chlorites. It consists of a description of the plant in use 
at Poplar for the preparation of a solution containing 
about 4-5 grms. of available chlorine per litre, for use as a 
disinfectant in the borough. The author concludes that the 
magnesium hypochlorite, as made at Poplar, is sufficiently 
stable for practical purposes, and that it could be made 
in a warm climate without necessarily rapid deterioration. 
—The electrochemistry of lead: Dr. A. C. C. Cumming. 
CAMBRIDGE, 
Philosophical Society, October 29.—Dr. Fenton, vice- 
president, in the chair.—The procession of Cnethocampa 
pinivorax: H. H. Brindley. The processionary larva of 
this moth, one of the Eupterotida, which is common in 
the Pinus maritima districts of the Landes, marches in 
single file both in its nocturnal excursions from its nest 
in the pine to feed on the young leaves and also in the 
journey from the nest tree to pupate in the sand. The 
primite spins a thread which is added to by the satellites 
in succession. Fabre (‘‘ Souvenirs entomologiques,’”’ ser. vi.) 
describes many observations made in his laboratory near 
Avignon with imported families. The author found a 
procession of 114 larva in the Cap Ferret Woods, Arcachon, 
on April 2, in the final procession for pupation. Inter- 
ruptions and rearrangements of the procession were made 
with results in the main in accord with Fabre’s account, 
but in spite of much contact with bare hands the irritation 
from the poison hairs, found by Fabre to be at a maximum 
in this stage, was not noticed. Also the number of con- 
tiguous individuals removed was found to affect the mode 
of re-forming the procession. The procession was being 
attacked by a Tachinid fly, probably Dexodes machairopsis, 
endeavouring to lay eggs in the larva, and these seemed 
afraid of the hairs, though one fly ran over the back of 
a larva and lanced it near the hind end. As a rule, a fly 
propped itself on the edges of its wings and faced the 
larva, pushing it with its legs as it passed, and apparently 
trying to insert its ovipositor ventrally between the pro- 
podia. Failures to insert the eggs seemed very numerous. 
The larve evidently felt the lancing acutely, always start- 
ing violently when it succeeded. The intention to burrow 
seemed very little interfered with by interrupting the chain ; 
daughter chains started in different directions, the primite 
soon burrowing in the nearest depression and disappearing 
in ten to fifteen minutes, while the satellites quickly 
followed his example. The complete procession, and the 
daughter ones made by interference, seemed to march 
towards the greatest sunlight.—A note on a collection of 
Oribatidz from British Guiana: C. Warburton and 
N. D. F. Pearce. Our knowledge of such microscopic 
land animals as the Oribatide rests almost entirely on 
European and North American forms, because it is 
impracticable on scientific expeditions to collect individually 
creatures so minute. It has been found, however, that 
moss or other material in which the mites live, if packed 
in air-tight (preferably soldered) tins, reach England from 
the most distant countries in such a satisfactory condition 
that the animals in it may be examined alive. Some moss 
received in this way from British Guiana last June yielded 
a result which strikingly illustrates the importance of this 
method of collection. About forty species new to science 
were found in it—a fact the more remarkable in that the 
total number of satisfactorily established species of 
Oribatidze previously known did not exceed 250. Some of 
the new forms are extremely interesting, and will certainly 
necessitate a revision of the existing genera.—The influence 
of spectral colours on the sporulation of various species of 
Saccharomyces: J. E. Purvis and G. R. Warwick. The 
light of a strong lamp was filtered through various coloured 
screens and played upon the surfaces of several species of 
pure cultures of Saccharomyces in an incubator at a definite 
temperature of 24° C. to 25° C. The results were compared 
with the effect of ordinary white light from the same lamp 
and also when the yeasts were allowed to sporulate in the 
dark, but at the same temperature as the yeasts sporulating 
under the influence of the spectral colours of red, green, 
blue, and violet. The conclusions were (1) red rays 
appeared to accelerate the formation of spores more quickly 
than white light; (2) the green rays retarded the develop- 
ment of the spores; (3) the blue and violet rays retarded 
