NA TURE 



[July i i, 1901 



ganese and silica, is heated with charcoal in the electric furnace, 

 a fused mass of niobium and tantalum combined with carbon 

 being thus obtained. The two metals are separated by 

 Marignac's method, based on the different solubilities of sodium 

 fluoniobate and fluotantalate, the former salt being finally 

 calcined and fused with charcoal. Niobium is thus obtained as 

 a very hard, metallic mass, having a melting point above iSoo°; 

 it is almost unacted on by acids, and does not decompose water 

 vapour at a red heat. When heated in oxygen, it burns with 

 the production of niobic acid. — New nebulce discovered at the 

 Paris Observatory, by M. G. Bigourdan. — Observatiorts at sea 

 of the comet of May 1901, by MM. Doue and Rivet. The 

 observations were made in the course of a voyage from 

 Tahiti to Panama. — On a mechanical interpretation of the 

 principles of thermodynamics, by M. Andre Seligmann- 

 Lui. — On the indices of refraction of mixtures of liquids, 

 by MM. J. de Kowalski and Jean de Modzelewski. — 

 The dielectric constant of a mixture of liquids has been shown 

 not to be connected by any simple law with that of its con- 

 stituents, and it seemed of interest to determine whether this 

 anomaly held with regard to the index of refraction, which is 

 closely connected with the dielectric constant. Experiments 

 with mixtures of alcohol and benzene, alcohol and toluol, and 

 ether and chloroform have shown, however, that such is not 

 the case, the index of refraction of each of the pairs of mixed 

 liquids being readily calculated from the indices of its con- 

 stituents. — Hertzian waves in storms, by M. F. Larroque. A 

 demonstration of the production of Hertzian waves in storms 

 and their transmission to great distances. — Acidimetry of arsenic 

 acid, by MM. A. Astruc and J. Tarbouriech. If methyl orange 

 is employed as indicator, one molecule of arsenic acid is neu- 

 tralised by one molecule of potash, soda or ammonia and by 

 half a molecule of baryta, strontia or lime, identical results being 

 obtained in the cold and on heating. With phenolphthalein, 

 however, two molecules of an alkali or one molecule of an alka- 

 line earth are required ; on boiling, no difference is observed 

 in the case of the former, but one and a half molecules of 

 baryta, strontia or lime are then required for neutralisation. — 

 On the uncoloured compound of sodium tetrazotolylsulphite with 

 ethyl-/3-naphthylamine and its conversion into a colouring matter, 

 by MM. A. Seyewetz and Blanc. The coloured substance, a 

 red insoluble powder, is formed by the exposure to light of the 

 uncoloured compound, and is identical with the product of the 

 action of ethylnaphthylamine hydrochloride on tetrazotolidine 

 chloride. — On the action of benzaldehyde on sodium menthol 

 and new methods for the preparation of benzylidenementhone, 

 by M. C. Martine. Sodium menthol resembles sodium borneol 

 in its action on benzaldehyde, the product of the reaction 

 being benzylidenementhone ; this compound is also formed by 

 the action of benzaldehyde on the sodium derivative of men- 

 thone. — Combinations of camphor with j8-hydroxy-a-naphth- 

 aldehyde, by M. Andre Helbronner. The new compound, 

 C.,3H.,|;0.,, which is designated ethoxynaphthalcamphor, crystal- 

 lises in brilliant white crystals melting at 100° ; it is dextro- 

 rotatory. On reduction with sodium amalgam it yields a 

 <;ompound melting at 112°, which bears the same relation to the 

 parent compound as benzylcamphor to benzalcamphor. Metoxy- 

 naphthalcamphor, which has also been prepared, melts at 78° 

 and its reduction product at 96°. — Action of bromacetophenone 

 on sodium acetylacetone, by M. F. March. The reaction 

 studied gives rise to a triketone of the constitution (CHj-CO). 

 = CH - CHj- CO - CgHj, which forms large, colourless crystals 

 melting at 57-58° ; on treatment with soda it yields aceto- 

 phenonacetone. — Action of hydrogen sulphide on acetylacetone, 

 by M. F. Leteur. When hydrogen sulphide is passed into a 

 solution of acetylacetone in concentrated hydrochloric acid, an 

 abundant deposit of needle-shaped crystals is produced. This 

 compound melts at about 163°, and is shown byanalj'sis and by 

 cryoscopic molecular weight determinations to have the formula 

 (C-,HgS„)2. — Influence of sodium fluoride in the saccharification, 

 by seminase, of the carbohydrates contained in the seeds of 

 leguminous plants, by .M. H. Herissey. .Sodium fluoride, 

 which was used as an antiseptic in the study of the saccharifica- 

 lion, was found to exert a marked favourable influence on the 

 process. — On epithelial centrosomes, by M. P. Vignon. — 

 Observations on the root of vascular cryptogams, by M. G. 

 Chauveaud. — On the vegetation of punctiform nostoc in the 

 presence of different carbohydrates, by M. R. Bouilhac. 

 Sucrose, maltose or starch may replace dextrose in the cultiva- 

 tion of nostoc, whilst with lactose or Kievulose only a very feeble 



vegetation is obtained. — Generality of the fixation of ntetals by 

 the cell-wall, by M. H. Devaux. The fixation of metals by 

 the cell-wall in plants, previously demonstrated in the 

 case of injurious metals such as copper, silver and 

 lead, is now shown to be a very general phenomenon. 

 The proportion of metal absorbed is always small, and is not 

 sensibly increased by the use of more concentrated solutions. — 

 On the optical data relative to the made of pericline, by MM. 

 F. Pearce and L. Duparc. — On the presence of Devonian strata 

 containing Caheola iaitdalina in the Western Sahara, by 

 M. G. B. M. Flamand. — Action of currents of high frequency 

 on the urinary secretion. Information furnished by chemical 

 analysis, by MM. Denoyes, Martre and Rouviere. During elec- 

 trical treatment there is an increase in the amount of urine, and 

 in the urea, uric acid, total nitrogen and salts contained therein. 

 — Passage of carbon monoxide from the mother to the foetus, by 

 M. Maurice Nicloux.— Cellular heredity, by MM. A. Charrin 

 and Gabriel Delamere. — On a reaction characteristic of pure 

 waters, by M. H. Causse. Pure, uncontaminated water restores 

 the colour of crystal violet which has been previously decolour- 

 ised by sulphurous acid, but has no action on decolourised 

 magenta or on paradiazobenzene sulphonate. In the presence, 

 however, of human or animal excreta the colour of the two last 

 mentioned reagents is restored, whilst the decolourised crystal ' 

 violet is unacted on. 



New South Wales. 

 Linnean Society, May 29. — Mr. J. H. Maiden, president, 

 in the chair. — Notes on the botany of the interior of the Colony, 

 part iii., by Mr. R. H. Cambage. Part iii. is descriptive of the 

 botany of the country extending from the Bogan to the Lachlan, 

 »7(? Nymagee. — Revision of the Genus Paropsis, part vi. , by 

 Rev. T. Blackburn. — The nature of the bacteroids of the 

 leguminous nodule and the culture of Rhhobiiim leguminosaiitm, 

 by R. Greig Smith. The bacteroids of the leguminous nodule 

 are neither higher nor lower types of growth, but are normal 

 bitcteria contained in a bulky branching capsule. A medium 

 prepared from leguminous plants is not essential for the growth 

 of kliizobiuii: as claimed by Hiltner. The author has grown 

 the organism for more than a year on media devoid of all plant 

 infusion. — On one of the so-called honeysuckles of Lord Howe 

 Island, by J. H. Maiden. In the Society's Proceedings for 

 189S (p. 126), the author described a tree under the name 

 Cupanta Howeana. He believes that this is identical with the 

 plant described by Radlkofer in 18S6 as Gitioa coriacea, and 

 gives the complicated synonymy of the species. The author 

 tabulates the radical alterations that Radlkofer proposes in the 

 nomenclature of Australasian Sapindacece and submits them for 

 further consideration of Australian botanists since they were not 

 adopted by Mueller. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Rothschild's Novitates Zoologicae 249 



The Metric System 250 



Prof. Max Muller's Last Essays 251 



Heterocyclic Organic Compounds. By W. T. L. . 252 

 Our Book Shelf:— 



Behrend : " The Induction Motor. A Short Treatise 

 on its Theory and Design, with Numerous Experi- 

 mental Data and Diagrams " . . ... 252 

 " Bulletin of the Philosophical Society of Washington " 253 

 Letters to the Editor : — 



On the Theory of Temporary Stars. (IlliistrateJ.)— 



Dr. J. Halm .... 253 



Vitality of Seeds.— Dr. Henry H. Dixon .... 256 

 .'\n Instance of .Adaptation among the Deer. — R. 



Lydekker, F.R.S 257 



Snow Conditions in the Antarctic— C. E. Borch- 



grevink . 257 



Photographic and Photometric Surveys of the 



Stars. By W. E. P 257 



The Treatment of Disease by Light. (Illustrated.) 259 



Notes 261 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Light Variation of the Minor Pknet (345) Tercidina 265 



United States Naval Observatory 265 



The Comptometer. By C. V. Boys, F.R.S 265 



Recent Reports of the Smithsonian Institution . . 269 



University and Educational Intelligence 270 



Societies and Academies 271 



NO. 1654, VOL. 64] 



