5 i8 



NATURE 



[FEBRUARY 2J. 1919 



Heli Rome, and ■ Samoa. As 1 ei • 



was known about its dependence on latitude, 



and the distance, declination, and phase 



moon, .1 new and detailed discussion lias been 

 made of thirty and twenty-eighl years' records ol 



itrii pressure al Batavia and Hong Kong 



respectively, ["he results are described in this pap© 

 .ind considered alongside the pre-existing values from 

 the stations abovi named, together with the Green 

 wich determination recently published in the Quarterly 

 Journal oi thi society, Ii appears thai the ampli- 

 tude varies approximated as the fourth pour, ,, 

 the cosine of (he latitude, whil the phase varies 

 -mil, u h;ii irregularly from 33 (Samoa) to 114 

 (Greenwich), where qo° corresponds with the occur- 

 renci oi maximum pressure when the moon is on thi 

 meridian. No dependence on lunar phase or declina- 

 tion was detected, whil< as regards the moon's dis- 

 tance, an increase of amplitude from apogee to 

 perigee was observable, though less than the increase 

 in the tide-producing force. Distinct evidence of a 

 seasonal variation of amplitude and phase was shown 

 l,v l " ltl ' the Hong Kong and Batavia determinations. 

 The conclusion drawn from the various results is that 

 the lunar atmospheric tide is not a simple tidal pheno- 

 menon, but is complicated by other effects, notabh, 

 by resonance with an adjacent free period of vibra- 

 tion of the atmosphere, and possiblv also by more 

 local causes, such as the rise and fall of the ocean. 

 \l, Christy: The gunfire on the Continent during 

 tqi8: its audibility at Chignal St: James, near 

 Chelmsford. Observations on the audibility of the 

 Continental gunfire have been made bv the author 

 for four veils. The results for previous wars were 

 brought forward in earlier papers. In rqi8 tin first 

 sounds were heard on the evening- of Mav 8 and the 

 last on Ausrusl 26, thus confirming previous experi- 

 ence that then- is audibility at the writer's .post of 

 observation in Kssex only during- the summer months 

 The period of audibility in tqiS amounted to 

 15 weeks. 5 days. In previous years the periods 

 were: 1915. 17 weeks. -^ days; 1016, i« weeks; 

 iqi7. 10 weeks, 4 days. The average for the four years 

 is 17 weeks. A feature of 101S was that the sounds 

 wen- less loud and distinct than in Drevious years 

 and there were, none of the nerinds of extreme loud- 

 ness which had been noticed before. 



^111 1 in;r n. 



Sncieu ol (ilass Technology, February 19 Mr J 



Connolh in the -chair. J. I). Cauwood. Constance' 



Mu.rhead, and \\ . F. S. Turner: The properties of 



the lime-soda glassi s : (2) The resistance to water and 



" igents. Si vera! glasses had been melted 



on a small scale, and the lime content increased 

 o\ definite amounts. The resistance of each glass 

 following reagents water, caustic soda solu- 

 tion, sodium carbonate solution, hydrochloric acid- 

 bad been tested. In every ease it was found that 

 increasing ihe. lime content brought about increasing 

 resistance. S. English and \Y. E. S. Turner: The 

 properties oi the lime-soda glasses: (3) The thermal 



expansions. 1. ame series of glasses mentioned 



above (i.e. limi contents increasing to 10 Der cent.) 



had bun tested aid to thermal expansion. It 



bad been proved that the expansion decreased as the 



lime content increased. Both papers proved the value 

 of lime as a constituent of ordinary glasses. Prof. 

 P. II. Bogwell: Impression of the glass industry of 

 In I nited Stalls gathered 1 recent visit. The 



author dealt fust with tire supplies of raw materials 

 as found in the States. Si\ sands win in general 

 tisi : "in of them, a beautiful sand from Rockwood, 

 V>. 2574, VOL. I02] 



Detroit, was used exclusively for optical glass. The 

 American "sands" are not found as such, but in 

 tin form oi sandstone (fairly soft). This is blasted, 

 washed b) water, under pressure, into tie bottom 



of the pit, whence it is dredged up In thi.- top of 

 lln pil. It is emptied into concrete bins, and works 



down through steam pipes until ii emerges as drv, 

 i lean-tunning sand. Prof. Boswell afterwards dealt 

 brief!) with American supplies oi potash and felspar, 

 mil then passed on to the question "I refractories. 

 Me showed a specimen of a glasshouse po( which 

 had been developed bv Dr. Bleininger, and this pot, 

 aftei iln nnli had been performed, was perfectly 

 white in colour and very close in texture. In making 

 their pots the Americans were substituting Cornish 

 kaolin by kaolin from Georgia, and using hall 

 from Tennessee and Kentucky in place oi those from 

 Devon and Cornwall. 



Paris. 

 Academy »f Sciences, February 10. M. I. eon 

 Guignard in the chair. — The president announced 

 the death of Jean Jacques TMophile Schlcesing, 

 member of the section of rural economy and the 

 oldest member of the Academy.— A. I.acroix : Dacites 

 and dacitoides, with reference to the lavas of Martinique. 



The name dacitolde is proposed for a class of mineral 

 hitherto classified as andesites and allied to dacites. 



twelve complete analyses of Martinique minerals 

 are given and discussed from the point of view of this 

 new classification. — J. Bergonie : The reconstitution 

 of isolated muscles or of muscular groups l>\ intensive 

 rhythmic faradisation. The method has special refer- 

 ence to the treatment of wounded men ; it causes no 

 nervous fatigue, and for the greater part of the time 

 of application is not felt. The improvement in main 

 directions is marked. — M. Jean Effront was elected 

 a corrcspondant for the section of rural economy in 

 succession to M. Leclainche, elected membei of the 

 section.- L. Roy : The dynamical resistance of steel. 

 — A. Sanfourche : The oxidation of nitric oxide by dry 

 air. The rate of oxidation of nitric oxide was studied 

 over a range of temperatures from 50 C. to 4.^0° C. 



The liisi stage of oxidation, to nitrous anhydride, is 

 very rapid, and is unaffected by temperature. lln 

 oxidation of nitrous anhydride to nitrogen peroxide 

 is a revi rsible reaction, takes an appreciable time, and 

 ihe rate is dependent on the temperature if 

 200 C. 1.. Joleaud : The migrations at the neogene 

 epoch of Hipparion, Hippotraginae, and Tr; 

 aphinas. M. Rouch : The land and sea breezes at 

 Bayonne. M. Mirande : The microchemical reactions 

 and localisations of the alkaloid of Isopyrum thalic- 

 troides.—J. Pantel : The r6le of calcium in the 

 mineralisation of the nucleus of iln excreting cells in 

 the Phasmides. — R. Fosse: The formation, bj oxida- 

 tion of organic substances, of an intermediate term 

 spontaneously producing urea. Proteins and amino- 

 acids, oxidised by potassium permanganate by 

 Beehamp's method, give appreciable proportions of 



urea, and (he amounts are increased il ammonia is 



present. The una formed is separated and estimated 

 bv the xanthydrol method previously described b\ the 

 author. Em. Bourquelot and JM. Bridel : Ihe bio- 

 chemical synthesis, with the aid of emulsin, of the 

 8-glucoside' of o-naphthyl alcohol. I'.. Dehains and 

 I ■ . Nicolas : lie causes oi death in horses immunised 



with dead bacteria or bacterial extrai - 



Ml 1 BOURNE. 



Royal Society ol Victoria. November ". iqi8. Mr. 



I. A. Kershaw, president, in the chair. R. 'I'. Patton : 



\'oles ,,n fossil Eucalvpl leaves from the Tertiary at 



Bulla. Or. I-'.. F. J. I.ove : The real significance of the 



