FEBRUARY 7, 1907 | 
NATURE 3 
on 
io) 
p-iodoacetanilide dichloride, and on the dichlorides derived 
from o-, m-, and p-iodotoluene: W. Caldwell and E. A. 
Werner.—Disalicylamide; J. MeConnan.—Benzoyl deri- 
vatives of N-methylsalicylamide: J. McConnan = and 
M. E. Marples.—The velocity of reaction of bromine with 
some unsaturated acids in aqueous solution: E. Barrett 
and A. Lapworth. The authors have been engaged in the 
examination of addition of bromine to some unsaturated 
acids in aqueous solutions in the hope of throwing some 
light on the mechanism of such reactions. The results of 
experiments with cinnamic, benzylidenemalonic acid, and 
B-bromocinnamic acids are described. They appear in- 
consistent with the view that bromine dissociates into ions 
‘efore addition at a double linking, and seem to show 
that the ions of the acids, as well as the acids themselves, 
unite with bromine directly.—Note on the molecular com- 
plexity of liquids: A. E. Dumstan and F. B. Thole. A 
criticism of Holmes’s results (Journ. Chem. Soc., 1906, 
Ixxxix., 1774). 
Zoological Society, January 15.—Dr. J. Rose Bradford, 
F.R.S., vice-president, in the chair—A new monkey from 
the Jturi Forest, obtained during the recent Ruwenzori 
expedition: Oldfield Thomas.—The “ bleating’’ or 
‘‘drumming’’ of the snipe (Gallinago coelestis): P. H. 
Bahr. The object of the paper was to prove that this 
phenomenon was produced by the tail-feathers of this 
species, a point which had been much disputed. It was 
found that if the feathers were attached to a cork in a 
special manner, the peculiar bleating sound could be pro- 
duced, and, furthermore, that only two feathers in this 
species were the active agents in producing the sound. 
Observation proved that these two feathers were held in a 
particular manner in front of the others during the bird’s 
flight in the breeding-season. [Feathers of both male and 
female were found to bleat, a fact which had been borne 
out by numerous observers in the field. These feathers 
were found to have a peculiar structure, differing materially 
from that of the other feathers in the tail. Microscopically 
they differed, and the number of hamuli was found to be in 
excess of those found in other feathers. The feathers of 
various exotic species had been experimented upon, and 
those of G. delicata, G. nobilis, G. frenata, G. paraguayae 
in the New World, G. australis and G. aucklandica in the 
Antipodes, and G. solitavia and G. megala in Asia, had 
been found to produce musical sounds. These . feathers 
varied in structure, and consequently the sound produced 
differed accordingly. The feathers of G. gallinula, G. 
major, and G. stenura were not found to be musical.—A 
collection of mammals from Annam sent home by Dr. 
Vassal: J. L. Bonhote. Twenty-four species were 
enumerated, of which the following four were described 
as new:—(1) Nycticebus pygmaeus, sp.n.; (2) Tupaia 
concolor, sp.n.; (3) Sciurus leucopus fumigatus, subsp.n. ; 
(4) Funambulus rufigenis fuscus, subsp.n.—Descriptions of 
seven new or little-known species of marmoset monkeys 
irom the Amazonian region: Dr. E. A. Goeldi.—Contribu- 
tions to the knowledge of the systematic arrangement and 
anatomy of certain genera and species of Squamata: F. E. 
Beddard.—A list, with descriptions of the new species, of 
Pyralidz collected by Mr. A. E. Pratt in British New 
Guinea in 1902-3: G. H. Kenrick. 
Royal Microscopical Society, January 16.—Annual 
meeting.—Dr. Dukinfield H. Scott, F.R.S., president, in 
the chair.—The president delivered his annual address, 
his subject being the flowering plants of the Mesozoic age 
in the light of recent discoveries. 
Geological Society, January 23.—Sir Archibald Geikie, 
Sec.R.S., president, in the chair.—The geology of the 
Zambezi basin around the Batoka Gorge (Rhodesia) : 
G. W. Lamplugh, with petrographical notes by H. H. 
Thomas. This paper contains an account of the physio- 
graphical and geological structure of the hitherto un- 
described country bordering the Batoka Gorge, which was 
investigated by the author in 1905 under the auspices of 
the British Association. An account of the results obtained 
by the author appeared in Nature of November 30, 1905 
(vol. Ixxili., p. 111). 
NO. 1945, VOL. 75| 
Dus.in. 
Royal Dublin Society, December 18, 1906.—Prof. J. A. 
McClelland in the chair.—The principal lines of the spark 
spectra of the elements: Dr. J. H. Potlok. The paper 
gave a collected table of the principal lines of all the 
common and rare elements, arranged in order of their 
wave-lengths, and described a convenient method of con- 
ducting spectrographic analysis with gold electrodes by 
photographing the electrodes first with a long slit, and 
then sparking the solution under examination with a short 
slit, giving long gold lines, with short lines between, of 
the element or elements under examination. Photographs 
of a number of spectra were given, with conspicuous gold 
lines marked upon them at convenient distances, to aid in 
identification.—The quantitative spectra of iron, aluminium, 
chromium, silicon, lime, manganese, nickel, and cobalt : 
Dr. J. H. Pollok and A. J. G. Leonard. This paper 
showed the progressive disappearance of the lines of these 
elements on dilution of their solutions, and gave tables of 
the residuary lines. 
January 15.—Prof. Sydney Young, F.R.S., in the chair. 
—Radium and geology: Prof. J. Joly (see NaTuRE, 
January 24, p. 294).—Method of finding the absolute dilata- 
tion of mercury: Prof. J. Joly. A mercurial barometer 
is raised in temperature by a steam jacket, and the change 
of reading observed. The construction is simple, and such 
as to eliminate errors of increased vapour tension. An 
accuracy of o-4 per cent. is attained with ordinary care in 
observation. 
Paris. 
Academy of Sciences, January 28.—M. A, Lacroix in the 
chair.—The mineralogical constitution of the recent cone 
of Mont Pelée: A. Lacroix. Conclusions drawn from a 
study of a series of specimens collected by M. Guinoiseau 
during a recent ascent of the new cone.—The superiority 
of the expenditure of energy arising from a flesh diet with 
respect to the expenditure arising from a diet in which 
foods of ternary composition predominate. Consequences 
from the point of view of the general theory: of food: A. 
Chauveau. A dog was submitted to diets in which meat, 
fat, and sugar respectively predominated. The respiratory 
exchanges of the animal were studied both during work 
and at rest, and the results shown graphically.—The pro- 
pagation of quasi-waves of shock: P. Duhem.—Researches 
on the orbit of the comet 1819 IV. (Blanpain), and on 
the possibility of the capture of this comet by Jupiter: I. 
Lagarde. A re-calculation of Encke’s results. It would 
appear to be a case of the transformation of an orbit 
originally parabolic into an elliptic orbit of slight eccen- 
tricity, but, owing to the small number of observations 
taken and their moderate accuracy, there is. still some 
uncertainty.—The coefficients of development of the per- 
turbation function: Armand Lambert.—Spherical func- 
tions: Emile Waelsch.—The representation by points of 
the most general equation of nomographical order 3: 
Maurice @Ocagne.—The curvature of the envelopes in the 
most general movement of a solid body in space: G. 
Koenigs.—The calculation of the compressibility of gases 
in the neighbourhood of atmospheric pressure by means 
of the critical constants: Daniel Berthelot. Two methods 
of reduction are compared, that of Van der Waals and 
the same modified by the author, and these are compared 
with the experimental figures. The author also criticises 
the method of reduction employed by M. Guye, and con- 
demns it.—The solubility of carbon in barium and stron- 
tium carbides: H. Morel Kahn. With barium, the 
amount of carbon dissolved varied with the time of. heat- 
ing from 1-25 per cent. to 6-2 per cent., and analogous 
figures were furnished by strontium carbide.—Copper meta- 
phosphate: V. Auger. Cuprous metaphosphate is formed 
by the action of metaphosphoric acid upon copper at a 
red heat. On cooling, the cuprous salt is decomposed into 
copper and the cupric salt.—The causes which modify the 
estimation of fluorine in mineral waters: P. Carle. It is 
pointed out that negative results for fluorides in mineral 
waters are commonly due to errors in manipulation, and, in 
particular, the method used for separating the silica. It 
is found that a solution of carbonic acid under pressure is 
capable of dissolving appreciable amounts of finely divided 
calcium fluoride. Fluorides are nearly always a con- 
