520 
NATURE 
[MarcH 31, 1904 
since the last list of Messrs. Nalder Bros. and Co. was 
published, a number of new instruments used for scientific 
instruction and research are included in the present cata- 
Icgue. 
A NEW impression of Sir Oliver Lodge’s ‘‘ Pioneers of 
Science,’’ which originally appeared in 1893 (see NaTURE, 
vol. xlvii. p. 268), has been published by Messrs. Macmillan 
and Co., Ltd. The book is an interesting narrative of the 
careers and investigations of great astronomers whose con- 
tributions are links in a chain of scientific history. Personal 
details give living interest to the work, and the essential 
points of progress are clearly displayed. But why has not 
Sir Oliver Lodge taken the opportunity which a new issue 
afforded him of substituting reproductions of astronomical 
photographs for the caricatures which appear as represent- 
ations of star clusters and nebula? Figs. 43, 48, 80, 87, 89 
and half a dozen others could easily have been superseded 
by pictures from photographs, instead of being left to 
irritate astronomers who know what beautiful illustrations 
are available and to mislead students who have not seen the 
objects depicted or photographs of them. Fig. 47, explain- 
ing the phases of the planet Venus, is upside down. 
Tue first part of the third volume of Biometrika has now 
been issued by the Cambridge University Press. In addi- 
tion to miscellanea the following papers are published :— 
on the resuit of crossing Japanese waltzing mice with 
albino mice, by Mr. A. D. Darbishire; graduation of a 
sickness table by Makeham’s hypothesis, by Mr. John 
Spencer ; the measurements of 130 criminals, by Mr. G. B. 
Griffiths, with an introductory note by Dr. H. B. Donkin; 
a preliminary note on the protective value of colour in 
Mantis religiosa, by Mr. A. P. di Cesnola; a first study of 
the weight, variability, and correlation of the human 
viscera, with special reference to the healthy and diseased 
heart, by Mr. M. Greenwood, jun.; and a paper in Italian, 
“Sui Massimi delle Curve Dimorfiche,’’ by Signor wa 
Fernando de Helguero. 
In the Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry for 
February 15 Messrs. R. S. Hutton and J. E. Petavel de- 
scribe methods for the preparation and compression on a 
large scale of pure gases for experimental work. The 
experimental plant required for the production of large 
quantities of hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon monoxide and 
ethylene, at a rate of about 100 litres per hour, is illustrated 
by diagrams, and interesting facts concerning the com- 
pression and storage of these gases are communicated. 
In a communication to the Journal of Physical Chemistry, 
vol. vii. p. 557, Dr. J. W. Mellor points out that the theory 
that water is in many cases essential to chemical change | 
is of much earlier date than is generally supposed. Mrs. 
Fulhame, in 1794, appears to have been the first to give a 
clear statement of the influence of water on chemical trans- 
formations, and her observations were published in a work 
entitled ‘‘ An Essay on Combustion with a View to a New 
Art of Dyeing and Painting wherein the Phlogistic and 
Antiphlogistic Hypotheses are proved Erroneous.’’ In 
many respects Mrs. Fulhame’s theory accords with present- 
day views. 
Ir has been known for a considerable time that the pro- 
ducts obtained in the electrolytic reduction of nitro- 
compounds depend upon the nature of the kathode plates. 
By the reduction of nitrobenzene in allaline solution azoxy- 
benzene is obtained with platinum and nickel kathodes, 
azobenzene with lead, tin and zinc kathodes, and by using 
kathodes of copper, aniline appears as the reduction product. 
NO. 1796, VOL 69| 
In the current number of the Zeitschrift fiir physikalische 
Chemie Messrs. Léb and Moore show that the essential 
factor in determining the reduction is the kathode potential, 
and with a given kathode potential the same products are 
obtained in approximately constant proportions independent 
of the nature of the kathode material. 
THE experimental determination of the density of fluorine, 
made by M. Henri Moissan shortly after the isolation of this 
element, gave the number 1-260, considerably lower than 
the figure required by the atomic weight of fluorine, 1-319, 
and on this account the suggestion has been put forward 
by Brauner that a certain proportion of free atoms was 
present in the gas, thus accounting for its remarkable 
chemical properties. In the current number of the Comptes 
vendus M. Moissan has again taken up this question, with 
minute precautions regarding the purity of the gas, the 
result of four experiments being 1-298, 1-319, 1-313, 1-312, 
or a mean of 1-31. The agreement between the experi- 
mental and theoretical figures is thus sufficiently close to 
disprove the existence of any considerable proportion of free 
atoms in the gas. 
Tue additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during” 
the past week include an Otter (Lutra vulgaris), British, 
presented by Mr. Radcliffe Saunders; a Red Fox (Canis 
fulvus) from North America, presented by Mr. E. W-~ 
Bishop; a Lesser Sulphur-crested Cockatoo (Cacatua 
sulphurea) from Moluccas, presented by Miss L. Newman; 
a Bateleur Eagle (Helotarsus ecaudatus) from Africa, pre- 
sented by Dr. W. J. Ansorge; a Jardine’s Parrot (Poeo- 
cephalus gulielmi) from West Africa, presented by Mr. A. 
Willoughby Osborne; a White-eared Bulbul (Pycnonotus. 
leucotis) from North-west India, presented by Mr. G. 
Dendle; four Common Pheasants (Phasianus colchicus),. 
British, presented by the Hon. Walter Rothschild, M.P. ; 
a Hybrid Pheasant (between Phasianus reevesi and Euplo- 
camus nycthemerus), presented by the Earl of Ducie; two 
Wharton’s Fruit Pigeons (Carpophaga whartoni) fron 
Christmas Island, two Yellow-eyed Babblers (Chrysomma. ° 
sinense), two Sepoy Finches (Haematospiza sipahi), three. 
Rose-coloured Pastors (Pastor roseus) from India, a Purple- 
capped Lory (Lorius domicella) from Moluccas, a Hybrid 
Duck (between Metopiana peposaca and Fuligula rufina),. 
a Hybrid Duck (between Aex sponsa and Dafila spintcauda), 
European ; five Tuatera Lizards (Sphenodon punctatus) frony 
New Zealand, fourteen Alpine Newts (Molge alpestris), six 
Marbled Newts (Molge marmorata), European; a Red’ 
Newt (Sperlepes rubra), a Californian Newt (Molge torosa) 
from North America, deposited; three Japanese Pheasants. 
(Phasianus versicolor) from Japan, three  Bar-tailed 
Pheasants (Phasianus reevesi), two Amherst Pheasants 
(Thaumalea amherstiae), two Silver Pheasants (Euplo- 
camus nycthemerus), two Manchurian  Crossoptilons. 
(Crossoptilon mantchuricum) from China, purchased. 
OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 
ASTRONOMICAL OCCURRENCES IN APRIL :— 
April 5. 4h. Ceres in conjunction with moon. Ceres 
Detuoe 
7. 10h, 38m. Minimum of Algol (8 Persei). 
10. 7h; 27m. Minimum of Algol (8 Persei). 
14. 5h. Jupiter in conjunction with Moon. Jupiter 
Ong N. 
15. Venus. Illuminated portion of disc=0°927, of Mars. 
=0°995. 
17. 8h. Mercury 7° N.W. of the Moon. 
