JANUARY 7, 1807 | 
NATURE 
239 
carbonate rapidly split them up, the phosphorus passing into 
solution in organic combination. 
body is acid in nature, and ,possesses marked proteid-precipi- 
tating properties. It does not seem to be either nucleic or meta- 
phosphoric acid. It was not present in the products obtained 
This phosphorus-holding | 
from tryptic digestion of the nucleins of the red blood-corpuscles | 
of birds. 
obtained by the action of weak alkaline solutions upon the 
mother substance. The acid so obtained is not impure nucleic 
acid, as Altmann thought, because no nuclein bases appear 
among its decomposition products. It is very soluble even in 
cold water, and the solutions so obtained precipitate albumins, 
&c., out of their solutions. It gives a distinct Buiret reaction 
but no red colour with Milton’s reagent. It does not give any 
precipitate with ferrocyanide of potassium and acetic acid. It 
contains, on an average, about 78 per cent. phosphorus. From 
the nucleic acid of the thymus another acid can easily be 
obtained which still retains the proteid-precipitating power of 
the original acid, but no longer gives, on decomposition, nuclein 
bases, agreeing in these particulars with the paranucleic acid of 
the paranucleins. These point at least to means by which the 
nuclein series of proteids may be built up and decomposed in 
the animal organism.—A paper by Dr. Thomas Muir, on the 
expression of any bordered skew determinant as the sum of 
products of Pfaffians, was taken as read.—Lord Kelvin then, by 
permission of the Council, gave an extra paper describing the 
result of experiments conducted by him along with Drs. Beattie 
and Smolan as to the effect of Rontgen rays on air (see p. 199). 
PARIS 
Academy of Sciences, December 28, 1896.—M. A. Cornu 
in the chair.—On the method of Bruns, by M. Poincaré. An 
account of an exception to Bruns’ theorem, and an amendment 
to part of his proof.—A new theory of cicatrisation, and on 
the part played by the anterior epithelium of the cornea in the 
healing of wounds in this membrane, by M. L. Ranvier. 
Observations showing that cellular multiplication is not indis- 
pensable to the formation of a cicatrix, and that this multipli- | 
cation, when it occurs, is of only secondary importance in the 
process of healing.—New note on the application of radioscopy 
to the diagnosis of diseases of the thorax, by M. Ch. Bouchard. 
Several cases of diseases of the thorax were clearly made out by 
the use of the Rontgen rays with fluorescent screen, but a 
study of diseases of the abdomen has given much less satisfactory 
results. —The energy consumed by a muscle in static contraction | 
sustaining a load, studied by means of the respiratory exchanges, 
by MM. A. Chauveau and J. Tissot.—On the fossil hippopotami 
of Algeria, by M. A. Pomel. Some remarks on a monograph 
submitted by the author on the quaternary fossil hippopotami of 
Algeria. —New nebulz, discovered at the Observatory of Paris, 
by M. G. Bigourdan. The positions are given of nebule 
numbered 245 to 281.—On the transformations of differential 
systems, by M. Etienne Delassus.—On a series relating to 
the theory of linear differential equations with periodic coefh- 
cients, by M. A. Liapounoff.—On the movement of a solid in | 
an indefinite liquid, by M. W. Stekloff.—On the use of a system 
of numbered points in the representation of equations, by M. 
M. d’Ocagne.—On a thermic machine, by M. Delsol. An 
account of the theory of a machine designed to utilise the work 
done by the gas given off on heating a solution of ammonia.— 
On the problem of vibrating membranes, by M. Le Roy.— 
Methods of calculation in electromagnetism, by M. Vaschy.— 
Effect of the state of the polar surfaces of an exciter on the 
explosive potentials, static and dynamic, by M. Swyngedauw.— 
Action of the X-rays on gaseous dielectrics, by M. L. Benoist. 
It is shown that the law recently found experimentally by M. 
Jean Perrin, is really identical with that previously enunciated 
by MM. Benoist and Hurmuzescu.—New facts in the applica- 
tion of radioscopy to intrathoracic lesions, by M. J. Bergonié. 
The outline of the shadow cast by tubercular lesions was traced 
out in pencil on the body, with the aid of the fluorescent screen. 
The line thus drawn was found to coincide with remarkable 
precision with that previously marked out after a careful study 
by auscultation and percussion.—On a Crookes’ tube for 
use with alternating current dynamos, by MM. Oudin and 
Barthélemy.—The Hall-phenomenon in liquids, by M. H. 
Bagard. A reply to the criticism of M. Floris.—Action of 
lithium upon carbon and some carbon compounds, by M. 
Guntz. When lithium, contained in a carbon boat, is heated 
NO. I419, VOL. 55] 
The combination between paranucleic acid and | 
albumin in ovovitellin is not a firm one, as the acid is easily | 
in nitrogen gas, the boat is attacked, lithium carbide and 
cyanide being formed. Lithium carbide alone is produced if the 
heating is performed in a vacuum. The same substance is found 
among the products of the action of CO and CO, upon heated 
lithium. At 700°, ethylene is completely absorbed by the 
metal, with the formation of a mixture of lithium carbide and 
hydride. Acetylene behaves similarly. Methane is only very 
slightly attacked by lithium at a red heat.—On cyanuric 
chloride, by M. Paul Lemoult. A thermo-chemical study of 
the chloride C,N,Cl,.—Action of carbonic acid of waters on 
iron, by M. P. Petit.—The action exerted on solutions of 
haloid alkaline salts by the corresponding haloid acid, by M. A. 
Ditte.—On the action of phosphorus on platinum, by M. A. 
Granger. At very high temperatures, the phosphide obtained 
appears to be Pt,P, at lower temperatures using platinum black 
a phosphide is obtained from which aqua regia extracts Pt,P,. 
—Action of hydrogen chloride in the gaseous state upon 
alkaline sulphates, by M. Albert Colson.—The reduction of 
wolfram by carbon in the electric furnace, by M. Ed. Defacqz. 
The metal produced contained 92°5 per cent. of tungsten, 
50 per cent. of carbon, and traces of iron and other metals.— 
New examples of normal rotatory dispersion, by MM. Ph. A. 
Guye and P. A. Melikian.—On the transformation of the 
sulphonated camphophenols into dinitro-orthocresol, by M. P. 
Cazeneuve.—On hexadiinediol, by M. R. Lespieau. Propargyl 
alcohol is converted into its cuprous compound by shaking with 
ammoniacal cuprous chloride, and this oxidised with potassium fer- 
ricyanide gives the alcohol, CH,. OH — C=C - C=C -- CH,.OH. 
—Contribution to the study of borneols and their ethers, by 
M. J. Minguin.—The freezing point of milk; reply to a note 
by MM. Bordas and Génin, by M. J. Winter.— Optical analysis 
of urine and the exact estimation of the proteids, glucosides, 
and non-fermentable saccharoid substances, by M. Frédéric 
Landolph.—General observations on wheat, by M. Balland.— 
Immunising properties of the serum of the eel against snake 
venom, by M. C. Phisalix.—On the morphology of Cryptococcus 
guttulatus, by MM. J. Kunstler and P. Busquet.—The regenera- 
tion of the vesical epithelium, by M. Etienne de Rouville.— 
On the presence of an oxydase in the branchia, palps, and blood 
of the Acephala, by MM. Pieri and Portier.-—Parasitism and 
evolution of two Monstrillidz in the interior of the vascular system 
of the Filigranzeand Salmacynz, by M. A. Malaquin.—New mosa- 
sauria found in France, by M. Armand Thévenin. The fossil de- 
scribed was found in the grey phosphatic chalk beds in the north of 
France, and appears to be che skull of a reptile closely allied to 
Mosasaurus giganteus (Moestricht). The teeth, however, 
show differences, and the name Josasaurus Gaudry? is given to 
the species. Another skull found appears to be allied to the 
American species Platecarpus, and the name /atecarpus 
Somenensis is proposed for it-—On the structure of the funda- 
mental protoplasm in a species of Mortzerella, by M. L, 
Matruchot.—A new micrococcus of the potato, by M. E. Roze.— 
Synthesis of hauksite, by M. A. de Schulten. The hexagonal 
crystals of 4Na,SO,.Na,COs3, obtained by pouring a hot solution 
of sodium sulphate and carbonate into a strong solution of 
caustic soda, possess the composition and properties of natural 
hauksite.—Observations on some asphaltic rocks and on the 
origin of asphalte, by M. Stanislas Meunier. The conclusion is 
drawn from the behaviour of bituminous rocks towards solvents, 
that bitumen is the result of purely mineral reactions, of the 
type of the double decomposition between metallic carbides and 
water.—On the identity of the phosphates from the Paris and 
London basins, and on the Tertiary age of this deposit, by M. 
N. de Mercey.—Documents serving for the geological study of 
the neighbourhood of Luang Prabang (Cochin China), by M. 
Counillon.—On the Foiba of Pisino (Istria), by M. E. A. 
Martel. 
New SourH WALEs. 
Linnean Society, November 25, 1896.—The President, 
Mr. Henry Deane, in the chair.—On the comparative anatomy 
of the organ of Jacobson in Marsupials, by Dr. R. Broom, —- 
Observations on the eucalypts of New South Wales, Part il.. by 
Henry Deane and J. H. Maiden..—On a new species of Jaca- 
damia : together with notes on two plants new to the colony, 
by J. H. Maiden and E. Betche. (a) Macadamia integrifolia, 
n.sp., is a small tree originally found near Camden Haven, 
N.S. W., now under cultivation in the Botanic Gardens, Sydney. 
It is very closely allied to the well-known Queensland nut, 47. 
ternifolia (also found in N.S.W.), from which it may be readily 
distinguished by the petiolate entire leaves, rather smaller fruits, 
