72 



NA TURE 



[May 19, 1904 



alkyl iodide can be added directly to the reaction product. 

 Tlie physical properties of several homologues of menthone 

 which have been prepared in this way are described. — An 

 arrangement allowing identical results to be obtained with 

 X-ray tubes on different occasions : M. d'Arsonval. The 

 current passing through the tube is measured by means of 

 a milliammeter of the d'Arsonval type. For a tube with a 

 given vacuum, the amount of X-rays given off, as measured 

 by their photographic effect, is proportional to the intensity 

 of the current passing through the tube, and this appears to 

 be true of various makes of tube. — M. Barrois was elected 

 a member in the section of mineralogy in the place of the 

 late M. Fouqu^. — Observations of the Brooks comet (1904 a) 

 made at the Observatory of Algiers with the 31 8 cm. bent 

 equatorial : MIVI. Rambaud and Sy. — The linear connexe 

 in space of n-i dimensions: L^on Autonne. — On the 

 radio-activity of gases given off from the water of thermal 

 springs : P. Curie and A. Laborde. The radio-activity of 

 samples of gas from various mineral waters was measured 

 arid its rate of decay determined, the results being compared 

 with the radio-activity of air which had been in contact with 

 a known amount of radium bromide. The radio-activity 

 was in all cases very small, and it hardly appears possible 

 to draw any conclusion as to the action the radio-activity 

 may play in the physiological actions of mineral waters. — 

 On the melting point of gold : Daniel Berthelot. It is 

 pointed out that all the recent values for the melting point 

 of gold fall between 1064° and 1067°. — On the fixity of the 

 solar rays : Maurice Hamy. The author has previously 

 shown that there is a slight variation in the wave-length of 

 the A 508 cadmium ray according as a tube with or without 

 electrodes is employed. Since the physical conditions in the 

 sun are liable to considerable variation at times, the question 

 is raised as to how far the solar lines can be regarded as 

 possessing absolutely fixed wave-lengths. — The proof of a 

 radio-activity induced on all bodies by the emanation from 

 incandescent metallic wires : Th. Tommasina. — The action 

 of anaesthetics on the sources of the u-rays : Jean 

 Becquerel. — On some points of technique for the examin- 

 ation of organs by means of the n-rays. First results re- 

 lating to a study of the brain : Andr^ Broca On the mode 



of propagation of nervous oscillations : Augustin 

 Charpentiev. — Electrical osmosis in methyl alcohol : 

 A. Baudouin. — On the atomic weight of samarium : 

 G. Urbain and H. Lacombe. The samarium salts were 

 obtained from three different sources, and atomic weight 

 determinations of the various fractions, together with the 

 spectroscopical examination, showed that the oxide was 

 homogeneous. The final value for the atomic weight of 

 samarium (0 = i6) is 15034.— The formation of hydrogen 

 silicide by direct synthesis from its elements : §.m, 

 Vig^ouroux. Remarks on a recent paper by M. Dufour 

 on the same subject. — The apparent volatilisation of silicon 

 in hydrogen : A. Dufour. In Geissler tubes filled with 

 hydrogen arsenide, the arsenic deposited by the discharge is 

 displaced by distillation pure and simple; in tubes filled with 

 hydrogen silicide, the displacement of the silicon under 

 similar conditions is explained by the formation of hydrogen 

 silicide in the warm parts of the tube and its decomposition 

 in the dark space. — On a property of tin-aluminium alloys : 

 Hector Pecheux. — The differentiation of the primary, 

 secondary and tertiary alcohols of the fatty series : Andri 

 Kling and Marcel Viard. The method adopted is based 

 on the fact that tertiary alcohols are decomposed at the 

 temperature of boiling naphthaline, whilst at the tempera- 

 ture of boiling anthracene only primary alcohols resist de- 

 composition. The vapour density of the alcohol under ex- 

 amination is taken in a Victor Meyer apparatus with the 

 above two liquids as vapour jackets, the deviation from the 

 theoretical density showing to which class the alcohol 

 belongs. About 250 determinations have been made by this 

 method, a summary of which is given. — On the formation 

 of^ the chloroanilines : Eyvind Boedtker. — On the saponi- 

 fying power of the castor oil seed : Maurice Nicloux. — On 

 the structure of the heart in Cephalopods : F. Marceau. 

 — The resistance of certain seeds to the action of absolute 

 alcohol : Paul Becquerel. The tegument of the moist 

 grain allowing of osmosis is permeable to absolute alcohol, 

 but when dried to a certain extent, osmosis no longer takes 

 place, and the skin is now absolutely impermeable to 

 alcohol. 



NO. 1803, VOL. 70] 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



THURSDAY, May ig. 



Royal Society, at 4.30.— The Bakerian Lecture will be delivered by 

 Prof. E. Rutherford, F.R S.. on the Succession of Changes in Radio- 

 active Bodies.— The following papers will be read in title -.—The Spec- 

 trum of the Emanation of Radium: Sir William Ramsay, K.C.B., 

 F.R. S.— On Saturated Solutions : Earl of Berkeley.^On the Liquefied 

 Hydrides of Phosphorus, Sulphur, and the Halogens, as Conducting 

 Solvents. Part i. : B. D. Steele and D. Mcintosh.— On the Liquefied 

 Hydrides of Phosphorus, Sulphur, and the Halogens, as Conducting 

 Solvents. Part ii. : D. Mcintosh and E. H. Archibald.— On the General 

 Theory of Integration ; Dr. W. H. Young. 



Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, at 8. — Miners' Phthisis — 

 its Causes and Prevention : Dr. J. S. Haldane and R. A. Thomas. 



Institution of Electrical Engineers, at 8. — Discussion on Messrs. 

 Parsons, Stoney and Martin's paper, entitled The Steam Turbine as 

 applied to Electrical Engineering. 



FRIDA V. May 20. 



Royal Institution, at g. — The Radiation and Emanation from Radium : 

 Prof. E. Rutherford, F.R.S. 



TUESDA y, May 24. 



Royal Institution, at 5.— The Solar Corona : H. F. Newall, F.R.S. 



Linnean Society, at 8. — Anniversary Meeting. 

 iVEDNESDAV, May 25. 



Geological Society, at 8. — Occurrence of a Limestone with Upper 

 Gault Fossils at Barnwell, near Cambridge : W. G. Fearnsides. — Age of 

 the Llyn-Padarn Dykes ; J. V. Elsden. 



Victoria Institute, at 4.30. — The Tanganyika Problem : W. H. Hudle- 

 slon, F.R.S. 



THURSDAY, May 26. 



Royal Institution, at 5. — Literature and the State : H. G. Wells. 



Institution of Electrical Engineers, at 8. — Annual General Meet- 

 ing. 



FRIDAY, May 27. 



Royal Institution, at 9. — The Progress of Oceanography : H.S.H. 

 Albert Prince of Monaco. 



Physical Society, at 5.— The Law of Action between Magnets and its 

 bearing on the Determination of the Horizontal Component of the 

 Earth's Magnetic Field with Unifilar Magnetometers : Dr. C. Chree, 

 F.R.S.— On the Ascertained Absence of Effects of Motion through the 

 Ether in Relation to the Constitution of M.Uter on the FitzGerald- 

 Lorentz Hypothesis: Prof. J. Larmor, Sec.R.S.— On Coherence and 

 Recoherence : Dr. P. E. Shaw and C. A. B. Garrett. 

 SATURDAY, May 28. 



Royal Institution, at 3. — Spitsbergen in the 17th Century : Sir W. 

 Martin Conway. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



The Structure of Austria-Hungary. By Prof. Gran- 

 ville A. J. Cole 49 



A New French Treatise on Chemistry 50 



Electric Trams. By Maurice Solomon 51 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Willoughby : " Milk, its Production and Uses." — Prof. 



R. T. Hewlett 52 



Cunningham: "A Treatise on the Principles and 



Practice of Dock Engineering " 52 



Maycock : "Electric Lighting and Power Distribu- 

 tion" 53 



Grubb :" Builders' Quantities " 53 



Letters to the Editor :— 



The Origin of the Horse. — Prof. T. D. A. Cockerell ; 



J. C. E S3 



Entropy. — James Swinburne ; Prof. John Perry, 



F.R.S 54 



Origin of Plants Common to Europe and America. — 



A. T. Drummond 55 



Moisture in the Atmosphere of Mars. — Arthur J. 



Hawkes 55 



Radium and Milk. — William Ackroyd .... 55 

 The Bantu Races of South Africa. {Illustrated.) 



By Sir H. H. Johnston, G. CM. G ... 55 



Prof. E. J. Marey 57 



Prof. Wilhelm His 58 



Notes 59 



Our Astronomical Column: — 



June Meteors 62 



A Spectroheliograph for the Catania Observatory . . 62 



The Parallax of A Andromed.t; 62 



The Repsold Registering Micrometer 62 



The Spectroscopic Binary /8 Auriga 62 



The Education of Examiners. (IVith Diagrams.) 63 



The Chemical Regulation of the Secretory Process. 

 By Dr. W. M. Bayliss, F.R.S., and Prof. E. H. 



Starling, F.R.S 65 



The Royal Society Conversazione 68 



University and Educational Intelligence 70 



Societies and Academies 7° 



Diary of Societies 72 



