December 19, 191^ 



NATURE 



3i9 



Syllidae. Aftei discussing the histolog; of the mus- 

 cular gizzard! the author describes the reproductive 

 organs, the modification ol the nephridiii al maturity, 

 and Hi" fixation of the ova on the ventral or dorsal 

 surface of the mother, where the) undergo develop- 

 ment. One species, (>>/</><■, i pusilloides, is described 

 as hermaphrodite. The papei closes with an account 

 ol the earl) cleavage ol the ovum and the later 

 development. C. D. Soar; Coloured drawings ol 

 British mites. Th< drawings illustrate tin- whole 

 >? the Hydracarina found and recorded for the 

 British area. In all, there are -4 1 ' species, re- 

 presenting forty-two distinct genera. Mure than 

 forty species and four genera were figured and 

 i foi the first time as British, and of these 

 only four 01 five haw since been recorded on the 

 lent . 

 Mathematical Societ>, December 12. Mr, J. E. 

 Campbell, president, in the chair. <■. II. Hardy and 

 |. E. Littlewood ; Vpplications ol the method of Fare) 



lissection in the analytii theon ol numbers: (1) A 

 new solution of Wanng's problem, ti) Proof thai 



very large numbet is the sum ol al most thirty-three 

 biquadrates (3) The Riemann hypothesis and the 

 expression of a numbei .1- the sum of a stated number 

 of primes. N. M. Shah and B. M. Wilson-. Numerical 

 data connected with Goldbach's theorem. Prof. M. 

 Frechet : Integrals in abstract fields. 



M \\< HESTER. 

 Literar) and Philosophical Societ), Nmnnlin 20. Mr. 

 W. Thomson, president, in the chair. Prof. H. 

 I.amb : The movements of the eye. The theory of the 

 movements of the eye, as developed b) Helmholtz, 

 des some results of greal interest to mathe- 

 maticians as well as to physiologists. Unfortunately, 

 they haw scarcer) become familiar to mathematicians, 

 who have been apt to regard the whole matter ;is 

 outside their province. The analytical investigations 

 of Helmholtz are, moreover, long an. I intricate, and 



loubtli ss been an obstacle to mathematicians and 



physiologists alike. The author had found that with 



the help of one or two propositions in the theory of 



LOti. now well known, the whole question can be 



reated in a simple and purel) geometrical manner, 

 without the use of a single mathematical symbol, 

 ["he paper consisted of an exposition of the subject 

 from the above point of view. By the aid of diagrams 

 the classical theorems of Euler and Sir \V. Hamilton 

 on rotation were explained and used to illustrate 

 Listing's law, which governs the positions of the eye- 

 ball when the gaze is directed to various parts of the 

 Finally, the apparent distortion of straight lines 



md the theor) of those lines which are apparently 

 straight wen considered. The eve is necessarily im- 



I in these respects, and in obeying Listing's law 



- a compromise, which i- probahh the best 



tdmissible. 



I )i BLIN. 



Royal Irish Academ\, November 30.- II. Ryan and 

 !'. Ryan : The action of nitric acid and nitrous acid on 

 11 m I. nn i in . The action of the oxy-acidsof nitrogen 

 on diphenylamine in carbon tetrachloride solution is 

 similar to that which takes place between the same 

 bodies in a., lie acid solution. The products isolated 

 in the various stages of thi reaction at the ordinary 

 temperature and at low concentrations of the inter- 

 ai ting substances were : Dipheni Initrosoamine, 4-nitro- 

 diphenylamine, 4-nitrodiphenvlnitrosoamine, 4: 10- and 

 2 : 10-dinitrodiphenylnitrosoamines, 4 : 10-, 2 : to-, and 

 2 : 8-dinitrodiphenvlamines, 2 : 4 : 8-trinitrodiphenyl- 

 amine, and 2 : 4 : S : to-tetranitt odiphenvlamine. — H. 

 Ryan and \Y. O'Riordan -. The action of bromfne on somi 



derivatives of diphem lamine. Diphenylamine is generally 

 estimated by converting il b) means of bromine into 

 its leirabromo-derivative. and either weighing this or 

 determining the amount of bromine absorbed during 

 the reaction. The assumption thai the only product 

 formed from diphenylamine b) interaction with a cold 

 solution of bromine is tetrabromodiphenylamine is not 

 entirely justified, inasmuch as hexabromodipheriyl- 

 amine is also formed. In this connection the action 

 of bromine on some nitro-derivatives of diphenylamine 

 was also examined. Bromine reacted with 4-nitro- 

 diphem Initrosoamine, forming a dibromo-4-nitro- 

 diphenylamine melting at 216 ('., with 2 : 4-dinitro- 

 diphenylamine giving a dibrbmo-2 : 4-dinitrodiphenyI- 

 amine melting at 195-5° C., with 2 ; to-dinitrodiphenyl- 

 amine or 2 : 10-dinitrodiphen) Initrosoamine forming a 

 dibromodinitro-derivative melting at 1S5 ('., and with 

 4: to-dinitrodiphenylamine or 4 : 10-dinitrodiphenyl- 

 nitrosoamine yielding a dibromo-4 : to-dinitrodiphenyl- 

 amine melting at 247° C. At the ordinary tempera- 

 ture bromine did not react on a solution of 

 2:4:8: fo-tetranitrodiphenylamine. 



Edinburgh. 



Roval Society, December 2. -Dr. John Home, presi- 

 dent, in the chair. -Prof. J. Stephenson and Dr. Baini 

 Prashad : The calciferous glands of earthworms. The 

 simplest condition of these calciferous glands is that 

 in which there occur slight segmental bulgings of the 

 oesophageal canal, within which are a number of 

 transverse folds of the epithelium. In many forms 

 these bulgings become diverticula, such, for example, 

 as in Octochaetus barkudensis, where the glands ar< 

 lar«e lobed sacs communicating with the oesophageal 

 canal only bv a narrow neck or "duct." The condi- 

 tion in Eutvphosus mav be considered as having 

 arisen from the fusion, along their edges, of a series 

 of parallel epithelial lamellae. In the Lumbncid* the 

 condition originated in a series of longitudinal 

 lamellae The mode of evolution has been similar to 

 what has happened in Eutvphoeus, the inner edges 

 of the lamella? having fused. The epithelium of the 

 glands is in all cases continuous with that of the 

 oesophagus, and comparative anatomy shows that 

 the various forms of glands are essentially due to 

 various forms and degrees of complexity of the 

 epithelial folds. The glands are, therefore, not meso- 

 dermal in origin, and are not merely the walls of 

 blood-vessels, as has recently been contended.— Trot. 

 J Stephenson and H. Ram: The prostate glands ot 

 the earthworms of the family Megascolecidae. Typical 

 examples of the lobate and tubular prostates of the 

 Megascolecidas have been studied in detail. In both, 

 lie cells of the gland disintegrate to form the secre- 

 tion, which takes the form of granules; in the func- 

 tioning gland therefore, cell outlines are largely lost 



R, neration takes place in both bv the formation of 



discrete cells at the periphery of the gland. In the 

 tubular form all the cells probabl) reach the lumen 

 of the gland, and discharge directly into it. In the 

 lobate form it appears that a large number of ce Is 

 never reach the lumen of the intralobular ductule. 

 Evidence of various kinds was supplied in proof of 

 the fact that the glandular mass is in neither case 

 an invagination from the surface, but is derived from 

 tissues of mesoblastic origin.— Dr. A. M. Williams. 

 The adsorption isotherm at low concentrations. It 

 was shown that for very small adsorptions the adsorp- 

 tion law, both for gases and solutions, mav be 

 expressed in the form o=a„<-. where a is the amount 

 Ldsorbed and C the equilibrium concentration. 1 he 

 general form of the adsorption curve for solutions 

 was deduced from the above conclusion and found 



NO. 25(14. VOL. I02"| 



