274 



NATURE 



S^Fcb. I, 1872 



by the glacier. The total thickness of the glacier he 

 estimates at not less than 8,000 feet, and believes that by the 

 slow grinding motion of this ice-sheet all the surface of New 

 England became broken up to great depths. We have again a 

 number of chemical articles, and an interesting contribution to 

 geology by Mr. C. H. Hitclicock, on the Norian or Upper 

 Laurentian Group of New Hampshire. In this number there is 

 also, as usual, a variety of miscellaneous information on the 

 various branches of physical and natural science. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 



London 



Royal Society, January 25—" On the Action of Low Tem- 

 peratures on Supersaturated Solutions of Glauber's Salt." By 

 Charles Tomlinson, F. R.S. 



" On the Elimination of Alcohol." By A. Dupre, Lecturer r,n 

 Chemistry at Westminster Hospital. Communicated by W. 

 Odling, F.R.S. — Obviously three results may follow the inges- 

 tion of alcohol. All the alcohol may be o.\idised and none be 

 eliminated, or a portion only may be oxidised and the rest he 

 eliminated unaltered ; or, lastly, all may be eliminated again un- 

 altered. Assuming the last to be the case, it would follow that, 

 if a certain quantity of alcohol be taken daily, the amoiuU 

 eliminated would increase from day to day until, at last, the 

 amount eliminated daily would equal the daily consumption, be 

 this time five, ten, or more days. If, on the other hand, all 

 the alcohol consumed is either oxidised or eliminated within 

 twenty-four hours, no increase in the daily elimination will take 

 place in consequence of the continuance of the alcohol die'. 

 Guided by these considerations the author undertook two series 

 of experiments, in which the amount of alcohol eliminated by 

 both kidneys and lungs was carefully estimated. The analytical 

 processes employed are described in detail. First series : — 

 After a total abstinence from alcohol for eleven days, the urine 

 and breath were examined, after which, from the 12th to the 

 24th day, both inclusive, the author took 112 cub. centims. of 

 brandy daily (equal to 48-68 grms. absolute alcohol). The urine 

 and breath were examined on the 12th, the iSth, and the 24th 

 day. The urine was also cx.amined during the five days follow- 

 ing the cessation of the alcohol diet. The analytical results 

 obtained are given In a table. Second series :— After having 

 again abstained from the use of alcohol in any shape during ten 

 days, the author took 56 cub. centims. of bnandy (same as above) 

 at 10 A.M. on March the 29th. The urine was collected from 

 three to three hours up to the 12th, from the 12th to the 24th, 

 and during the next succeeding two days. The alcohol eliminated 

 in the breath was also estimated during the same intervals. 

 The analytical results are also arranged in a tabular form. 

 The results of both series may be summed up as follows :— 

 The amount of alcohol eliminated per day does not increase 

 with the continuance of the alcohol diet ; therefore all the 

 alcohol consumed daily must, of necessity, be disposed of daily ; 

 and as it certainly is not eliminated within that time, it must be 

 destroyed in the system. The elimination of alcohol following 

 the ingestion of a dose or doses of alcohol ceases in from nine 

 to twenty-four hours after the last dose has been taken. The 

 amount of alcohol eliminated, in both breath and urine, is a 

 minute fraction only of the amount of alcohol taken. In the 

 course of these experiments, the author found that, after six 

 weeks of total abstinence, and even in the case of a teetotaller, 

 a substance is eliminated in the urine, and perhaps also in the 

 breath, which, though apparently not alcohol, gives all the reac- 

 tions ordinarily used for the detection of traces of alcohol, viz., 

 it passes over with the first poitions of the distillate, it yields 

 acetic acid on oxidation, gives the emerald-green reaction with 

 bichromate of potassium and strong sulphuric acid, yields iodo- 

 form, and its aqueous solution has a lower specific gravity and a 

 higher vapour tenn-OT than pure water. The presence of a sub- 

 stance in human mine and the urine of various animals, which 

 yields iodoform, but is not alcohol, had already been discovered 

 by IVl. Lieben. The quantiiy present in mine is, however, so 

 small that the precise nature of tills substance has not as yet been 

 determined. Finally, the author points out an apparent connec- 

 tion be-.ween this substance and alcohol. It was found that, 

 after the elimination due to the ingestion of alcohol had ceased, 

 the amount of this substance eliminated in a given time at first 

 remained below the quantity normally excreted, and only 



gradually rose again to the normal standard. A caieful study of 

 this connection may perhaps serve to throw some light upon the 

 physiological action of alcohol. 



"The Absolute Direction and Intensity of the Earth's Mag- 

 netic Force at Bombay, and its Secular and Annual Variations." 

 By Mr. Charles Chambers, F.R.S., Superintendent of the 

 Colaba Observatory. — The observations discussed in this paper 

 were taken at the Colaba Observatory during the years 1S67 to 

 1870, and consist of observations of Dip, Dechnation, and Hori- 

 zontal Intensity. The principal results deduced by the author 

 from these observations are shown in the following statement : — 



In column 2 is entered the mean epoch to which the mean 

 value of each element, entered in column 3, corresponds. 



The absolute observations were taken at a height of 38 feet 

 above the ground, and by comparing them with observations 

 taken with differential instruments at a height of 6 feet above the 

 ground, they are shown to indicate distinctly a diminution of 

 terrestrial magnetic action -with increase of height, with respect 

 both to secular variation of Declination and Horizontal Force, 

 and to diurnal inequality of Horizontal Force. 



Royal Geographical Society, January 22. — Sir H. C. 

 Rawlinson, president, in the chair.— Mr. C. R. Markham, secre- 

 tary, read, at the request of the president, the folio -ung state- 

 ment regarding the proposed Exhibition for the Search and 

 Relief of Dr. Livingstone :— " Letters were received from 

 Livingstone, dated at Lake Bangweolo, on July 8, 186S, and the 

 last that have come to hand were dated Ujiji, May 30, 1869. 

 He announced that the work still before hiin was to connect the 

 lakes he had discovered ; and he intended to explore a lake to 

 the westward of Tanganyika, in the Manyema country, and 

 thence to complete his labours, but he was sorely in need of men 

 and supplies. The Arab traders interested in the slave-trade 

 were anxious to thwart him, and no one would take charge of 

 hii letters. He mentioned having -written thirty-four letters 

 which had been lost. This is the last positive news from Dr. 

 Livingstone. There was one Arab report in November 1870, 

 that he was at the town of Manakoso, with few followers, waiting 



* In English units. 



