NATURE 



[June 2, 1904 



lypolytic action of the cytoplasma of the castor oil seed : 

 Maurice Nicloux. — On the hydrolysing properties of the 

 castor oil seed : Ed. Urbain and L. Saugon. — On the 

 modifications of the ergographic constants under different 

 experimental conditions : Mile. I. loteyko. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



THURSDAY, June 2. 

 TlOYAL SociETV, at 4.30.— On [he .Vurora Borealis and the Electric 

 Charge of the Sun: Prof. Svante Arrhenius.— Colours in Metal Glasses 

 and in Metallic Films: J. C. Maxwell Garnett.— On a Direct 

 Method of Measuring the Coefficient of Volume-elasticity of Metals : 

 A. Mallock, F.R.S.— A Method of Measuring Directly High Osmotic 

 Pressures : The Earl of Berkeley and E. G. J. Hartley.— The Advancing 

 Front of the Train of Waves Emitted by a Theoretical Hertzian Oscil- 

 lator : Prof. A. E. H. Love, FR.S.— On the General Circulation of the 

 Atmosphere in Middle and Higher Latitudes: Dr. W. N. Shaw, F.R.S. 

 — On the Magnetic Changes of Length in Annealed Rods of Cobalt and 

 Nickel: Dr. S. Bidwell, F.R.S.— On the Electric Effect of Rotating 

 a Dielectric in a Magnetic Field : Dr H. A. Wilson. 

 LiNNEAN Society, at 8.— The Species of Impatiens in the Wallichian 

 Herbarium: Sir Jos. D. Hooker, G.C.S.L, F.R.S.— Biscayan Plankton. 

 Part lU. Chaitognathia ; Dr. G. H. Fowler.— The Flow of Fluids in 

 Plant-stems ; Prof. R. J. Anderson. 

 RoNTGEN Society, at 8.30.— Experiments to Determine the Effects of 

 Fnrm and Winding upon Resonance Phenomena : Dr. Clarence A. 

 Wright. 

 Institution OF Mining Engineers, at 11 a.m.— Suggestions respecting 

 the Institution of Mining Engineers: Prof. R A. S.Redmayne. -Coal- 

 mining in the Faroe Islands : G. A. Greener. — Tin-mining in the Straits 

 Settlements, with a few Notes regarding Chinese Labour : W. T. 

 Saunders — Underground Temperatures, especially with regard to Coal- 

 mines: Dr. Hoefer.— The Hammer-Fennel Tachymeter-theodolite: A. O. 

 Eoll. — Notes on the Report of the Departmental Committee on the Use 

 of Electricity in Mines : Sydney F. Walker.— A Comparison of Three- 

 phase and Continuous Currents for Mining Purposes : Roslyn Holiday.— 

 Electric and Compre>sed-air Locomotives : B. S. Randolph.— Work of 

 Conveyors on Longwall Faces : Robert G. Ware. 

 Chemical Society, at 8.— rVoNitrosocamphor : M. O. Forster — Imino- 

 Ethers and Allied Compounds corresponding with the Substituted Oxamic 

 Esters: G. D. Lander.— The Action of Heat on a-Hydroxycarboxylic 

 Acids: Part I. a-Hydroxystearic Acid: H. R. Le Sueur.— The Basic 

 Properties of Oxygen. Additive Derivatives of the Halogen Acids and 

 Organic Compounds and the Higher Valencies of Oxygen. Asymmetric 

 Oxygen : E. H. Archibald and D. Mcintosh, 

 FRIDAY, June 3. 

 Royal Institution, at q. — The Development of the Theory of Electro- 

 lytic Dissociation ; Prof. Svante Arrhenius. 

 Institution of Mining Engineers, at 10.30 a.m.— The Firing of 

 Babcock Boilers with Coke-oven Gases : T. Y. Greener.— Explosives and 

 Lamp Testing Station at Frameries : Victor Watteyne.— The Transvaal 

 Kromdraai Conglomerates : A. R. Sawyer.— The Southern Rand Gold- 

 field : A. R. Sawyer.— The Occurrence of Cinnabar in British Columbia : 

 G. F. Monckton.- Prevention of Accidents in Winding: John H. 

 Merivale.— Petroleum and its Use for Illumination, Lubricating and Fuel 

 Purposes : P. Dvorkovitz.— The Analytical Valuation of Gas Coals : 

 G. P. Lishman.— A New Process of Chlorination for Mixed Gold and 

 Silver Ores : H. F. Brown.— Graphite-mining in Ceylon and India — 

 Parti. Ceylon: G. A. Stonier. 

 Geologists' Association, at 8.— The Geology and Prehistoric Anthro- 

 pology of the Hastings District, with Special Reference to the Excursion 

 of June It : W. J. Lewis Abbott. 



SATURDAY, }v^^ H. 

 Royal Institution, at 3.— Spitsbergen in the Seventeenth Century : Sir 

 W. Martin Conway. 



MONDAY, June 6. 



Society of Chemical Industry, at 8.— The loss of Nitre in the 



Chamber Process: J. K. H. Inglis.— Acetone— its Manufacture and 



Purification : A. Marshall.— A New Method for the Estimation of 



Tannin : J. Gordon Parker and E. E. M. Payne. 



Aristotelian Society, at 8.— Primary and Secondary Qualities : Prof. 



G. F. Stout. 

 Institute of Actuaries, at 5. — Annual General Meeting. 



TUESDAY, 'Sv'S^ 7. 



MiNERALOGlCAL SOCIETY, at 8. — On Cobaltiferous Mispickel from Norway : 

 Rev. Mark Fletcher.- On an Improved Form of Refractometer : G. F. 

 Herbert Smith —Notes on the Development of the Kimberley Diamond 

 Mines, with Lantern Illustrations: Prof. H. A. Miers, F.R.S. 



Zoological Society, at 8.30.— On some New or little.known Butterflies, 

 mainly from- High Elevations in the N.E. Himalayas: Lieut. .Col. J. 

 Malcolm Fawcett.— On Seasonal Phases in Butterflies : Dr. A. G. Butler. 

 — Note on an Apparently Abnormal Position of the "Brephos" within 

 the Body of a SVmV (C kahides linealm): F. E. Beddard, F.R.S.— On 

 the Rare Rodent Dinomys brankkii, Peters : Dr. E. A. Goeldi.— On 

 the Black Wildcat of Transcaucasia : C. Satunin.— On a Buffalo Skull 

 from East Central Africa : R. Lydekker. — On Two New Labyrinthodont 

 Skulls : Dr. A. Smith Woodward, F.R.S. 



WEDNESDAY, Ju.ve S. 



Geological Society, at 8.— The Pala;oniological Sequence in the Car- 

 boniferous Limestone of the Bristol Area: h. Vaughan.— The Evidence 

 for a Non-Sequence between the Keuper and Rh^tic Series in North- 

 west Gloucestershire and Worcestershire : L. Richardson. — On a Small 

 Plesiosaurus-Skeleton from the White Lias of Westbury-on-Severn : W. F. 

 Gwinnell. 



Victoria Institute, at 4.30. — Annual Meeting. The President, the Lord 

 Chancellor, F.R.S., will deliver the annual addrsss. • 



THURSDAY, June 9. 



Royal Society, at ^.^o.—Fyobahle Papers -.—On the Ossiferous Cave- 

 Deposits of Cyprus, with Descriptions of the Remains of Elcp'ias 

 Cypriotes : Miss D. M- A. Bate.— On the Structure and Affinities of 

 Palzodiicus and Agelacrinus : W. K. Spencer.— On the Physical Rela- 

 tion of Chloroform to Blood: Dr. A. D. Waller, F.R.S— Contributions 

 to the Study of the Action of Sea-Snake Venoms : Sir Thomas R. Fraser, 

 F.R.S., and Major R. H. Elliot, I. M.S. —On the Action of the Venom of 

 Bitnganis coeruleiis (Ait. Common Kmit) ; Maior R. H. Elliot, I. M.S., 

 W. C. Sillar and G. S. Carmichael.— On the Combining Properties of 

 Serum-Complements and on Complementoids : Prof. R. Muir and C. H. 

 Browning. — Notes on the Statolith Theory of Geotropism : F. Darwin, 

 For.Sec.R.S., and D. F. M. Pertz. 



Mathematical Society, at 5.30 —The Application of Poisson's Formula 

 to Discontinuous Disturbances: Lord Rayleigh.— Some Expansions for 

 the Periods of the Jacobian Elliptic Functions: H. Bateman.— Types 

 of Covariants of any Degree in the Coefficients of Each of Any Number of 

 Binary Quantics : P. W. Wood. 



Institution of Electrical Engineers, at 5. — .Annual General Meeting. 



FRIDAY, June to. 



Rovai. Astronomical Society, at 5. 



Physical Society, at B. 



Malacological Society, at 8.— On Daiimyantia smith!, Godwin- 

 Austen and Collinge : Lt.-Col. H. H. Godwin-Austen.— Descriptions of 

 Twenty-nine Species of Gastropoda from the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, 

 and Arabian Sea, dredged by Mr. F^ W. Townsend, i903-4_: J. Cosi 



Melvill.— C^«i« Coroinandcli 

 Systematic place in the family C< 

 tions of New Marine Shells from 

 Kepnel : G. B. Sowerby.— N6te on 

 I.S.O.— On Dorisplaiiata of Aldei 



nd 



its Probable Affi; 



inida::J. Cosmo Melvill.— Descrip 

 the Collection of the late Admiral 

 Voliiia brazicri. Cox : E. A.Smith, 



ind Hancock : SirC. Eliot, K.CM.G 



^ _ Helicoid Land Shell from Central .Australia: J, 



Ponsonby. — On Some Semi-fossil Land Shells found in the Hamak 

 District, Hawaii : C. F. Ancey. 



H. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Sir William Flower. By R. L 97 



The Identification of Organic Compounds. By 



J. B. C 98 



The Mind of the Child. By Dr. Charles S. Myers . 98 

 Our Book Shelf :— 



Castex : " Precis d'lilectricite Medicale, Technique 

 lilectrophysiologie, Electrodiagnostic Electro- 

 therapie, Radiologic, Phototherapie." — J. M. . . . 99 



Bottone : " Radium and all About It " 99 



Lowson : " Second Stage Botany " 100 



Hericourt : " Les Frontieres de la Maladie. Maladies 

 latentes et Maladies attenuees." — Prof. R. T. 



Hewlett 100 



Letters to the Editor : — 



0(J) Lines of Total Heat. {]Vith Di\^ram.)— Prof. 



John Perry, F.R.S 100 



The Nature of the a Rays Emitted by Radio-active 



Substances. — Dr. Harold A. Wilson .... loi 

 A Suggested Explanation of Radio-activity. — J. H. 



Jeans loi 



The First Record of Glacial Action in Tasmania. — 



Prof. J. W. Gregory, F.R.S loi 



The Origin of the Horse. — Nelson Annandale . . 102 

 Insular Races of Animals and Plants. — Prof. T, D. A. 



Cockerell 102 



Graphic Methods in an Educational Course in 



Mechanics.— W. Larden; W. J. Dobbs . ... 103 

 The Drumming of the Snipe.— F. W. Headley . . 103 

 The Present Position of Geodesy. {Illustrated.) By 



T. H. H 104 



The International Association of Academies . . . 106 



Robert McLachlan, F.R.S. By W. F. K 106 



Emile Sarrau lo5 



Notes. (Illuslralcd.) 107 



Our Astronomical Column: — 



The Extreme Ultra-Violet Spectrum of Hydrogen . . no 



Variable Radial Velocity of t; Piscium no 



Proposed New Observatories no 



Variability of Spark Spectra no 



Report of the Oxford University Observatory . ... no 



The Stereo-Comparator no 



Emergence and Submergence of Lard. By Sir 



Archibald Geikie, Sec. R.S in 



University and Educational Intelligence 115 



Societies and Academies n7 



Diary of Societies 120 



NO. 1805, VOL. 70] 



