FEBRUARY 21, 1907 | 
NATURE 
W. N. Hartley and E. P. Hedley. o-Phthalic acid gives 
an absorption curve of the character that might be ex- 
pected from a comparison with that of benzoic acid. 
isoPhthalic acid has a shallow band in the same position 
as that of phthalic acid, but less persistent. Terephthalic 
acid has no band, but merely. an extension at or near 
where a_ band might be expected.—aay-Trimethyl- and 
aayy-tetramethyl-tricarballylic acids and aé- dimethylbutane- 
afé-tricarboxylic acid: H. Henstock and C. H. G. 
Sprankling.—A reaction of certain colouring matters of 
the oxazine series: J. F. Thorpe.—The alkylation of 
d-fructose: T. Purdie and D. McLaren Paul. The series 
of derivatives of fructose obtained by methylating this 
ketose is described.—A simple apparatus, with stirrer, for 
treating a liquid at its boiling point with two or more 
gases: N. L. Gebhard.—Note on the arsenates of lead 
and calcium: S. Pickering.—Camphor-f-sulphinic acid 
and camphorylsulphonium bases: S. Smiles and T. P. 
Hilditch. The sulphinic acid and the sulphonium bases 
prepared exhibit a strong lavorotatory power in distinction 
from the dextrorotatory sulphonic acid from which they 
were obtained. The authors conclude that this change is 
caused by the conversion of the sulphur from the sexa- 
valent to the quadrivalent state.—The condensation of 
salicylamide with aryl aldehydes: C. A. Keane and 
W. W. S. Nicholls.  Benzaldehyde, when heated with 
salicylamide in presence of hydrochloric acid or of sodium 
acetate, condenses to form a cyclic compound of the 
oxazine group, namely, 2-phenyl-1 : 3-benzoxazone. Homo- 
logues of this were prepared by condensing salicylamide 
with anisaldehyde and o-methoxybenzamide with benz- 
aldehyde.—The condensation of diethylmalonamide with 
aldehydes: H. Burrows and C. A. Keane. Diethyl- 
malonamide, when heated with benzaldehyde in presence 
of hydrochloric acid, condenses similarly to salicylamide 
(see note on preceding paper) to form a cyclic compound 
of the pyrimidine group, 4 : 6-diketo-2-phenvl-5 : 5-diethyl- 
hexahydropyrimidine. 
Mathematical Society, February 14.—Sir W. D. Niven, 
vice-president, in the chair.—Prof. A. R. Forsyth gave an 
account of the life and scientific work of the late Colonel 
A. Mannheim, an honorary foreign member of the society. 
—Repeated integrals : Dr. E. W. Hobson. When 
Riemann’s definition of integration is adopted, it may 
happen that the double integral of a function does not 
exist, although the repeated integral does exist if the 
integrations are performed in a certain order. The more 
extended definition of integration introduced by Lebesgue 
throws light on this and other anomalies in the theory of 
the relations of double integrals to repeated integrals.— 
The projective geometry of a binary quartic and _ its 
Hessian: Prof. E. B. Elliott. The quartic is regarded 
as the equation of four straight lines drawn through the 
origin, and is represented by the four points in which 
these lines meet a chosen conic drawn through the origin. 
The original quartic and its Hessian are members of a 
pencil of quartics, each represented by four points on the 
conic, and all the quadrangles which are thus obtained 
have the same harmonic triangle. Any quadrangle of the 
set is determined by the harmonic triangle and one vertex 
of the quadrangle. With this vertex a certain point on a 
chosen side of the harmonic triangle can be associated by 
a linear construction, and the quadrangle is determined by 
this point and the harmonic triangle. The determining 
point for the Hessian can be associated with that for the 
original quartic by a linear construction which is given 
in the paper.—A formula for the sum of a finite number 
of terms of the hypergeometric series when the fourth 
element is equal to unity: Prof. M. J. M. Him. The 
formula includes the well-known expression for the sum 
of the series, and gives an exact value for the remainder 
after s terms.—Groups defined by the order oe two 
generators and the order of their commutator : Prof. AY 
Miller.—An informal communication on hyper- ihe cal 
numbers was made by Lieut.-Colonel A. Cunningham. 
Dustin. 
Royal Irish Academy, January 14.—Dr. F. A. Tarleton, 
president, in the chair.—Infection of bovines by the avian 
tubercle bacillus: Prof. Mettam. The paper gave an 
account of experiments with cultures of avian tubercle 
NO. 1947, VOL. 75] 
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bacillus. Injected into the auricular vein of a heifer, the 
virus produced a fatal infection. In the other experiment 
a portion of a culture was given by the stomach-pump to 
a young bull. The animal became infected as shown by 
the tuberculin test. It recovered from the infection, how- 
ever, because just prior to slaughter the animal was re- 
tested, but did not respond, and the lesions found at post- 
mortem were sterile, and failed to produce a lesion in the 
rabbit in which they were inoculated. Both animals were 
shown to be free from tuberculosis prior to experiment by 
the use of tuberculin. The same author also read a note 
upon the development of tubercles in the lacteals of the 
villi of the small intestine in rabbits infected by feeding 
with tuberculous material from a bovine source. The 
tubercle has the same anatomical structure as ‘that develop- 
ing in the pulmonary capillaries or liver sinusoids—epi- 
thelioid cells of mononuclear leucocyte origin, lymphocytes, 
and giant cells. The epithelium of the villus may be 
intact.—The general solution in integers of the indeter- 
minate equation aX*+bY*+cZ°+dXYZ=o0: Dr. T. 
Stuart. The solution of this equation (or of special cases 
of it) has been considered by Sylvester, Lucas, Desboves, 
and other writers. The only known method (save that of 
trial) for finding a solution is by means of artificially con- 
structed identities. In this paper the various identities and 
theorems obtained by previous writers are coordinated and 
shown to be deducible from elementary geometrical con- 
siderations, and some statements of Sylvester and Desboves 
are also shown to require considerable modification. The 
geometrical method of attacking the problem leads to 
important results in high factorisation. 
January 28.—The river Shannon—its present regimen 
and geological history: J. R. Kilroe. The river admits 
of easy navigation, falling only about 1<> feet in 140 miles. 
It commenced to flow upon a plain of post-Eocene date 
2500 feet to 3006 feet above present datum, and a very 
trifling inclination to the north, west, or south would have 
permanently deflected the drainage. Retention of its course 
alone could have kept the gorge at Killaloe open, but at 
some time shortly prior to the Glacial epoch the river 
seems to have abandoned the gorge, until the ancient bed 
by Killaloe was lowered, at certain points below the sea- 
level, by glacier erosion. Upon the disappearance of the 
ice the river resumed its original course. 
Paris. 
Academy of Sciences, February 11.—M. A. Chauveau in 
the chair.—The preparation of acyleampholic esters, and 
on a new method of formation of phenyloxyhomicampholic 
acid: A. Haller and Charles Weimann. The cyano- 
campholic esters treated with alkyl magnesium iodides 
yield imido-compounds, the latter, with sulphuric acid, 
giving ketones. The cyanogen group of the cyano- 
campholic ester is here replaced by the group ——G@rkRe 
R being the alkyl group of the magnesium compound. 
Numerous examples of the application of this reaction are 
given.—The mechanism of the transformations in normal 
media of the Crustacee: E. L. Bouvier. At the com- 
mencement of the Quaternary epoch the formation of the 
Isthmus of Panama caused a separation of the crustaceans 
in this region, and each group has developed in a normal 
medium since that time. Typical species are compared 
to show the amount of the differences which have arisen 
during this period.cHas the African elephant a pleural 
cavity? Alfred Giard. The post-mortem examination of 
an African elephant, recently described by Mme. M. 
Phisalix, would appear to show that the African elephant 
has a pleural cavity. In the case of the Asiatic elephant 
there is clear evidence that the visceral and parietal layers 
of the pleura are closely connected together by matted 
elastic tissue, and it is highly probable that this is also 
the case in the African elephant. The diagnosis of pleurisy 
on account of thickness of the pleura and its adherences 
would, therefore, appear to be a mistaken one.—Various 
syntheses of dimethylisopropyl-carbinol: Louis Henry. 
The a-chloro-isobutyric aldehyde reacting with magnesium 
methyl bromide gives the expected pinacolic alcohol, but 
its tertiary isomer, dimethylisopropyl carbinol. A theory 
of this reaction, supported by experimental facts, is pro- 
posed.—Observations of the sun made at the Observatory 
of Lyons during the fourth quarter of 1906: J. 
