DECEMBER 10, 1903] 
and makes its way to the definitive nucleus. Meanwhile 
the other male gamete is carried up by the tube and emitted 
into the substance of the egg, with which it fuses after a 
short delay. A wall is now formed round the egg, and 
when a considerable amount of endosperm is present, 
segmentation of the egg commences. 
Royal Microscopical Society, November 18.—Dr. Hy. 
Woodward, F.R.S., president, in the chair.—Dr. Ed. 
Horder exhibited and described a metal clinical case for 
blood film work, &c.—Mr. Taverner exhibited on the screen 
two photographs of the leg of a water-mite which he had 
taken through the separate tubes of a binocular micro- 
scope to demonstrate that the images were dissimilar and 
capable of producing a true stereoscopic effect ; if they were 
alike, the apparent solidity of the object as seen through 
the binocular microscope would be only a mental effect. 
He also exhibited in a stereoscope enlarged prints of the 
pair of photographs, which clearly showed that a true stereo- 
scopic effect was produced.—Prof. J. D. Everett, F.R.S., 
read a note on Lord Rayleigh’s paper of 1896, one part 
of which he had found specially difficult, namely, that in 
which the transition is made from direct to oblique illumin- 
ation of a grating under the microscope. He-had recently 
found a more direct mode of deducing the results there 
established, and that was set forth in the present communi- 
cation.. Lord Rayleigh, to whom he had submitted the 
note, said that on a cursory examination the new method 
of deduction seemed to be correct. Prof. Everett then pro- 
ceeded to explain his proof by diagrams and formulz on 
the blackboard.—Mr. W. Wesche gave a résumé of his 
paper on the mouth parts of the Nemocera and their rela- 
tion to the families in Diptera, illustrated by a number of 
drawings shown on the screen by the epidiascope, and 
mounted specimens exhibited under microscopes. 
CAMBRIDGE. 
Philosophical Society, November 23.—Dr. Hobson, vice- | 
president, in the chair.—The horse in Iceland and the 
Feroes, by Mr. F. H. A. Marshall and Mr. Nelson 
Annandale.—Note on the proportion of the sexes in 
Carcinus maenas, by Mr. R. C. Punnett.—On the trans- 
mission of earthquake waves through the earth, by the Rev. 
O. Fisher.—The action of ultra-violet light on moist air, 
by Mr. J. H. Vincent.—Experiment to show that negative 
electricity is given off by a metal exposed to Rontgen 
rays, by Prof. Thomson, F.R.S. Dorn, as well as Curie 
and Sagnac, have in different ways shown that a metal 
exposed to Rontgen rays gives out kathode rays; this can 
be shown very simply by mounting a small gold-leaf electro- 
scope on a quartz support in a vessel in which a very good 
vacuum can be produced; when the vessel is exhausted and 
the gold leaves exposed to Rontgen rays they diverge, and 
on testing they are found to have a charge of positive 
electricity. If before exposure to the rays the leaves are 
charged negatively, then when the rays are applied the 
leaves at first collapse and then diverge, while if the initial 
charge is positive the divergence of the leaves increases 
from the time of putting on the rays. In this way is 
obtained a very direct proof that the gold leaves when 
exposed to the rays 
electricity. 
MANCHESTER. 
Literary and Philosophical Society, November 3.— 
Prof. W. Boyd Dawkins, president, in the chair.—A collec- 
tion of wind-worn pebbles of quartz and quartzite from an 
old raised beach near Waverley, North Island, New Zealand, 
acquire positive and lose negative | 
NATURE 
together with photographs, was exhibited by the president. | 
They have been cut by the sand driven by the wind into the 
characteristic Dreikanter, and might easily be mistaken 
for the work of the hand of man. The direction of the 
prevalent winds is shown by the amount of work done on 
each side or facet, the texture of the wind-worn: being quite 
different from that of the wave-worn surfaces. The collec- 
tion and photographs were made by Lady Constance Knox 
in 1900, and they will be given to the Manchester Museum, 
Owens College.—Mr. H, E. Schmitz gave an account of 
his experiments on the specific heats of metals at low 
temperatures. The author gave a summary of his deter- 
minations of the specific heats of various metals :—(1) 
NO. 1780, VOL. 69] 
143 
between the temperature of liquid air and the ordinary 
temperature ; (2) between the ordinary temperature and the 
temperature of steam. For the former temperature range 
two methods were used. Of these the first was the method 
of mixtures. The second method is similar in principle to 
Joly’s well-known method of steam condensation, but here 
the weight determined is that of a deposit of ice. The final 
results show a variation of specific heat considerable in all 
cases, but more marked for metals of low than for metals 
of high atomic weight. This is shown by the following 
ratios of specific heat for lower range to specific heat for 
higher range for various metals :—aluminium 0-79, nickel 
0-77, cobalt 0-78, copper 0-85, zinc 0-90, silver 0-92, tin 0-90, 
thallium 0-92, lead 0-96. 
Paris. 
Academy of Sciences, November 30.—M. Albert Gaudry 
in the chair.—On the scapular and pelvic fins of fishes, by 
M. Armand Sabatier.—Observations made at the island 
of Réunion on the eclipse of the moon of October 6, by 
MM. Edmond Bordage and A. Garsault. The observ- 
ations were much hindered by clouds, only two good photo- 
graphs being obtained, one being at the moment of greatest 
shadow.—The last sun-spot minimum, and remarks on the 
subject of the law of zones, by M. J. Guillaume. It is 
suggested that the distribution of sun-spots in latitude has not 
followed the law of zones, due to Sporer.—The problem of 
Cauchy relating to a particular class of surfaces, by M. 
W. de Tannenberg.—On the effective representation of 
certain discontinuous functions, as limits of continuous 
functions, by M. Emile Borel.—On a class of functional 
equations, by M. S. Lattés.—Articulations with a flexible 
plate, by M. A. Mesnager.—On the temperature of flame, 
by M. Ch. Féry. After a critical examination of the errors 
involved in the use of thermocouples, an alternative method 
is proposed in which no solid body is introduced into the 
flame. The measurement is made by the production 
of the reversal of a metallic line, by means of rays emitted 
by a solid body carried to any convenient temperature. 
The method is accurate to about 10° C., and _ has 
been applied to the determination of the temperatures of a 
Bunsen flame, an acetylene flame, alcohol, hydrogen, and 
oxyhydrogen blowpipe flames.—On some phenomena pre- 
sented by mercury arcs, by M. de Valbreuze. Some of 
| the peculiarities observed in starting the arc appear to 
indicate the existence of a superficial membrane on the 
mercury which opposes the passage of the current, 
especially in the cold.—On the suppression of magnetic 
hysteresis by the action of an oscillating magnetic field, by 
M. Ch. Maurain. Some recent experiments by M. Marconi 
and M. Tissot on a new receiver for wireless telegraphy 
have directed attention to the action of a rapidly varying 
magnetic field upon magnetisation produced under ordinary 
conditions. This action is attributed by M. Marconi to the 
suppression of the time lag, by M. Tissot to a modification 
of ordinary hysteresis with respect to the field. The quanti- 
tative experiments of the author agree with the latter of 
these hypotheses.—On the law of regular distribution of 
total magnetic force of the earth in France on January 1, 
1896, by M. E. Mathias.—The magnetic anomaly of the 
Paris basin, by M. Th. Moureaux.—On the fusibility of 
mixtures of the sulphides of bismuth and silver, and of the 
sulphides of bismuth and antimony, by M. H. Pélabon. 
The fusibility curve of mixtures of bismuth and _ silver 
sulphides is a polygonal line presenting two minima and a 
maximum, the latter corresponding to a definite compound 
of the formula Ag,S.4BiS.—Stimulating or paralysing in- 
fluences acting upon manganese considered as a ferment, 
by M. A. Trillat. A study of the precise conditions under 
which the maximum oxidising effect is obtained from small 
quantities of manganese salts, acting as metallic ferments. 
—The systematic alkylation of arsenic, by M. V. Auger. 
An extension of Meyer’s reaction; sodium methylarsenate 
is reduced by sulphurous acid to methylarsine oxide, and 
this is treated with methyl alcohol, soda, and the alkyl 
iodide.—The separation of iodine in. the state of alkaline 
salt from bromides and chlorides by its transformation into 
iodic acid, and on the preparation of pure iodine, by MM. 
H. Baubigny and P. Rivals. The solution is oxidised in 
alkaline solution with potassium permanganate, the iodine 
